Series synopsis
King Sejong the Great, also known as 대왕 세종 is a South Korean drama television series that premiered on KBS1 on January 5, 2008. It ended on November 16, 2008. It stars Kim Sang-kyung, Kim Yeong-cheol, Kim Kap-soo and Lee Won-jong.
"The Great King, Sejong" is a full-scale political drama describing how King Sejong and his loyal retainers cooperate and contrive to make his dynasty a better place. While King Sejong was on the throne, the Joseon Dynasty enjoyed increasing prosperity. The drama shows the dramatic processes of how so many new cultural heritages have been devised. At that time, "Hangul", the native phonemic alphabet system for Korean language was first invented and introduced. Before it was made, Chinese charact ...
Premise
"The Great King, Sejong" is a full-scale political drama describing how King Sejong and his loyal retainers cooperate and contrive to make his dynasty a better place. While King Sejong was on the throne, the Joseon Dynasty enjoyed increasing prosperity. The drama shows the dramatic processes of how so many new cultural heritages have been devised. At that time, "Hangul", the native phonemic alphabet system for Korean language was first invented and introduced. Before it was made, Chinese characters had been used for a written communication, which makes it extremely difficult for ordinary people to learn and use. "Hangul" is easy to learn for its simple and scientific principles. Other than "Hangul" itself, there had been so many cultural heritages during his regime including a rain gauge, a sundial, an hourglass to name a few. Also, King Sejong’s pragmatic diplomacy is concentrated in the drama. Then, the Joseon Dynasty was facing a powerful Ming dynasty of China, and King Sejong demonstrates the essence of pragmatism with dignity.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Kim Sang-kyung as King Sejong the Great
- Kim Yeong-cheol as King Taejong
- Kim Kap-soo as Prime Minister Hwang Hui
- Lee Won-jong as Yun Hee
- Lee Chun-hee as Jang Yeong-sil
- Seo Jun-young as Grand Prince Suyang
- Oh Yeon-seo as Eori
- Lee Hyun-woo as Prince Choong-nyeong
Supporting cast
- Nam Ji-hyun as young Princess Shim
- Lee In as Prince Yangnyeong (young)
- Lee Jung-hyun as Lee Seon
- Jung Suk-won
- Park Sang-min as Prince Yang-Nyung
- Choi Myung-gil as Queen Won-gyeong
- Sun Dong-hyuk as Choi Yoon-deok
- Chang Gi-young
- Lee Yoon-ji as Queen so Heon
- Lee Dal-hyung as Shin Jang
Episodes
This series spans 1 season with 86 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 86 | January 5, 2008 | November 16, 2008 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Episode 1 | January 5, 2008 |
| 2 | Episode 2 | January 6, 2008 |
| 3 | Episode 3 | January 12, 2008 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | KBS1 |
|---|---|
| First aired | January 5, 2008 |
| Last aired | November 16, 2008 |
| Runtime | 50 minutes |
| Status | Ended |
| Schedule | Saturday, Sunday at 21:30:00 |