''West Palace'' () is a 1995

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

starring Lee Young-ae,

Kim Kyu-chul Kim Kyu-chul (born April 6, 1960) is a South Korean actor. Kim spent more than a decade as a stage actor before he made his onscreen breakthrough in 1993 with Im Kwon-taek's '' Seopyeonje'', considered one of the classics of Korean cinema. Kim ...

and

Lee Bo-hee Lee Bo-hee (born 25 May 1959) is a South Korean actress. Lee won a number of awards for her film roles in the 1980s, including Best New Actress for ''The Green Pine Tree'' at the 22nd Grand Bell Awards, Best Actress for '' Eoudong'' at the 22nd ...

. It aired on

KBS2 The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) () is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in February 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters. KBS operates seven radio networks, ten television channels, a ...

from July 7 to December 26, 1995, on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:40 for 52 episodes.

Synopsis

The series is based on the reign of

Gwanghaegun of Joseon Gwanghae-gun or Prince Gwanghae (4 June 1575 – 7 August 1641), personal name Yi Hon (Hangul: 이혼, Hanja: 李琿), was the 15th ruler of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea. As he was deposed in a coup d'état, he did not receive a temple name. ...

, and his conflict with his stepmother, Queen Inmok, along with his scheming concubine, Kim Gae-shi. Kim Gae-shi (portrayed by Lee Young-ae) is given ''Seung-eun'' (승은) by the regent Crown Prince, Crown Prince Gwanghae (portrayed by

). Although Kim receives seung-eun, she already has a lover, Won-pyo (portrayed by Kim Bo-sung), an excellent swordsman, who then enters the palace to stay next to her. However, Won-pyo dies after trying to protect her during the rebellion. Meanwhile, Queen Inmok (portrayed by

) is a virtuous lady that fell victim to palace politics and is subsequently banished to the West Palace along with her children,

Princess Jeongmyeong Princess Jeongmyeong (27 June 1603 – 8 September 1685) was a Joseon Royal Princess as the tenth daughter of King Seonjo, from Queen Inmok. During her older half-brother's reign, she suffered hardships, and her title was revoked, but later it w ...

(portrayed by Park Rusia) and Grand Prince Yeongchang (portrayed by Choi Kang-won) after her stepson, Gwanghaegun, is bewitched by his scheming concubine, Kim Gae-shi, whose ambitions and insatiable thirst for power leads to her downfall.

Cast

Main

* Lee Young-ae as Court Lady Kim Gae-shi / Gae-dong **Lee Jung-hu as young Kim Gae-shi *

as Yi Hon, Crown Prince Gwanghae, King Gwanghae *

as Queen Dowager Inmok (Soseong) **Park So-ra as young Queen Inmok

Supporting

Royal Household

*Kim Sung-ok as Yi Yeon, King Seonjo *Park Jin-hyung as Yi Jong, Prince Neungyang King Injo *Lee Han-na as Royal Noble Consort In of the Suwon Kim clan *

Jang Seo-hee Jang Seo-hee (born January 5, 1972) is a South Korean actress. She has starred in numerous television dramas, including ''Miss Mermaid'' (2002) and '' Temptation of Wife'' (2008), which were both extremely successful in the ratings and earned J ...

as Crown Princess Consort Yu, Queen Yoo *Im Hyuk-joo as Yi Jin, Prince Imhae *Park Nam-hyun as Yi Je, Prince Heungan *Choi Kang-won as Yi Ui, Grand Prince Yeongchang *Park Rusia as

*Lee Jae-yun as Yi Bu, Prince Jeongwon, King Wonjong

Ministers and nobles

Seo In-seok Seo In-seok (born February 22, 1949) is a South Korean actor. Seo made his acting debut in 1976, and among his notable television series are the historical dramas '' Emperor Wang Gun'' (2000) and ''Jeong Do-jeon Jeong Dojeon ( Korean: 정도� ...

as Yi I-cheom *Han In-soo as Kim Je-nam, Queen Inmok's father. *Ahn Dae-yong as Kang Hong-rip *Moon Chang-kil as Yoo Geun *Kim Jong-kyul as

Heo Gyun Heo Gyun (Hangul: ; Hanja: , 10 December 1569 – 12 October 1618) was a Korean novelist, poet, and politician during the Joseon period. He was also known by his pennames, Gyosan (교산 蛟山) and Seongso (성소 惺所). Life Heo Gyun was bo ...

*Su-hak as Ki Ja-hun * Shin-goo as Yi Won-ik *Park-woong as Jung Chul *Park Chil-yong as Yi San-hae *Tae Min-yung as Yoo Hee-boon *Im Byung-ki as Park Seung-jong *Kim Si-won as Yi Duk-hyung *Park Yung-mok as Yi Hang-bok *Lee Jung-woong as Yi Gwi *Park Seung-kyu as Yi Gwal *Kim Sung-chan as

Kim Ja-jeom Kim Ja-jeom (; 1588 – January 27, 1652) was a Korean scholar-official of the Joseon dynasty period and Ming-Qing transition. He was one of the disciples of Seong Hon and came from the Andong Kim clan. He was Joseon's Chief State Councillo ...

*Kim Chang-bong as Yi Kwang-jung *Kim Sung-won as Kim Yoo *Lee Doo-sup as Kim Yook *Sun Dong-hyuk as Choi Myung-kil *Lee Han-wi as General Jang Soo *Yoo Byung-han as Ha-sam *Choi Dong-joon as Lee Duk-hyung *Lee Kyung-yung as Park Ja-heung, Crown Prince Gwanghae's relative *Heo Hyun-ho as Yi Soo, Prince Gwichun *Kang In-duk as Seo Yang-kap *Kim Kyung-eung as Shim Woo-yung *Seo Yung-jin as Park Eung-su *Ahn Gwang-jin as Park Chi-ui *Kim Jung-hoon as Im Sook-yung *Park Kun-shik as Han Hee-kil *Lee Han-seung as Yun Bang *Lee Yong-jin as Kwon Pil *Jo Jae-hoon as Jung Hang *Jin Woon-sung as Yi Jung-pyo *Ki Jung-soo as Han Hyo-soon *Park Yong-shik as Yi Heung-rip *Heo Jung-kyu as Yi Ahn-jin *Jang Ki-yong as Kim Kyung-su *Park Hae-sang as Shin Kyung-jin *Sun Dong-hyuk as Choi Myung-kil *Kim Dong-wan as Choi Kwon *Choi Hun-chul as Uhm Il-goe *Lee Chun-shik as Choon Bo * Kim Bo-sung as Won-pyo **

Jung Tae-woo Jung Tae-woo (정태우) is a South Korean actor. Much of his work has been in the genre of Korean historical dramas such as '' Taejo Wang Geon'', '' Dae Jo Yeong'', and ''The King and I''. Career Like many South Korean actors Jung, Tae-woo b ...

as young Won-pyo *Seo Sang-ik as Jeong In-hong *Park Jung-woong as Eo-ui

Palace maids and eunuchs

*Kim In-moon as Eunuch Ham *Lee Jong-man as Eunuch Han * Kim Eul-dong as Court Lady Uhm *

Jang Jung-hee Jang Jung-hee (; born June 20, 1958), is a South Korean actress. She mostly plays supporting roles in television dramas. Filmography Television drama Film References External links * * 1958 births Living people South Korean ...

as Court Lady Ji * Kim Min-hee as Maid Eum-duk

Other families

Yang Geum-seok Yang Geum-seok (born January 22, 1961) is a South Korean actress. Filmography Film Television series Variety show Awards and nominations References External links

* * * 1961 births Living people South Korea ...

as Lady Kang, Kim Gae-shi's mother. *Uhm Yoo-shin as Lady No, Kim Je-nam's wife. *

Park Joon-geum Park Joon Geum (born 29 July 1962) is a South Korean actress. An alumnus of Kyung Hee University, Department of Dance, she is also a visiting professor in College of Culture and Arts Engineering, Kangwon National University. She made her actin ...

as Lady Lee, Lee Yi-cheom's wife. * Kim Young-ok as Lady Ryu, Lee Yi-cheom's mother. *Ko Hee-joon as Won-pyo's adoptive father.

Extended cast

*Park Byung-ho as a missionary ambassador *Park Yong-gi as a Buddhist monk *Lee Hyo-jung *Seo Yung-ae *Moon Su-in *Yoo Byung-hwan *Kwon Oh-hyun

Production

#It was Lee Young-ae and Choi Dong-joon first appearance in a historical drama. #The series emphasized Kim Gae-shi's role as Gwanghae's concubine so the production team added a fictional character, ''Won-pyo,'' who is Lady Kim's lover, to promote a love conflict.

References

{{reflist Korean Broadcasting System television dramas South Korean historical television series Television series set in the Joseon dynasty 1995 South Korean television series debuts 1995 South Korean television series endings