Goong

Title: 궁 (宮) / Goong (Gung)
Chines title : 宮
Also known as: Palace / Princess Hours (MBC Global Media) / Imperial Household
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Episodes: 24
Broadcast network: MBC
Broadcast period: 2006-Jan-11 to 2006-Mar-30
Air time: Wednesday & Thursday 21:55
Songs: “Perhaps Love” by HowL & J. , “You & I Are Fools” by Stay, “Parrot” by HowL
Inserts “Ice Pond”, “Give Me A little Try” by Leigh Nash

Synopsis

Goong is a story about young love in face of tradition, politics, and intrigue. In the imaginary world, modern-day Korea is a constitutional monarchy and the Royal Family lives in a grand Palace, the Goong. Story opens with the sudden death of the reigning the King. Faced with the decreasing popularity among the public for the Royalty, a grand wedding for the Crown Prince, Lee Shin, is decided to be the best publicity move to improve the image of the Royalty and at the same time prepare Shin for immediate succession. The intended bride? The headstrong, awkward, and sweet spirited Shin Chae Kyung that just happens to go to the same exclusive art school. Chae Kyung was betrothed to become the next Crown Princess by her grandfather and Shin’s grandfather.

After 14 years of living in England with his mom, Lee Yul appears all of a sudden. He is Shin’s cousin as well as the former Crown Prince. Everything seemed to be going normally until Chae Kyung’s optimistic spirit wins the heart of internally lonely, Yul. As the Crown Prince Shin and simple-minded Chae Kyung’s relationship appear to developing deeper feelings, a series of scandals are exposed to the public right after the pair were officially announced married. Will love prevail all in a world of political pressures and martial hardships? Or will being in the spotlight of the public be too much for the young newlyweds to endure?

Cast

Main cast

Yoon Eun Hye as Shin Chae Kyung
Joo Ji Hoon as Lee Shin
Kim Jeong Hoon as Lee Yul
Song Ji Hyo as Min Hyo Rin

Chae Kyung’s family

Im Ye Jin as Chae Kyung’s mother
Kang Nam Gil as Chae Kyung’s father
Kim Suk as Shin Chae Joon (younger brother)

Shin’s friends

Choi Sung Joon as Kang In
Lee Yong Joo as Jang Kyung
Uhm Sung Mo as Ryu Wan

Chae kyung’s friends

Jun Ji Ae as Lee Kang Hyun
Lee Eun as Kim Soon Young
Dan Ji as Yoon Hee Soong

Palace

Kim Hye Ja as the Queen Mother
Yoon Yoo Sun as the Queen
Park Chan Hwan as the King
Lee Yoon Ji as Princess Hye Myung (Shin’s sister)
Shim Hye Jin as Lady Hwa Yong (Yul’s mother)
Choi Bool Am as Emperor Seongjo
Yoon Hee Joo

Production Credits

Original Work: Manhwa 「궁」 by Park So-hee
Production Company: Eight Peaks
Director: Hwang In Roe
Writer: In Eun Ah

Awards

– 1st Seoul Drama Awards: Best Art Director
– 42nd Baeksang Awards: nominated for Best New Actor (Joo Ji Hoon) and Best New Actress (Yoon Eun Hye)
– 2006 MBC Drama Awards: won New Actor Award (Joo Ji Hoon) and New Actress Award (Yoon Eun Hye)

Episode Ratings

Date	Episode	Nationwide	Seoul
2006-01-11	1	16.2% (5th)	16.6% (5th)
2006-01-12	2	16.0% (6th)	16.5% (7th)
2006-01-18	3	14.3% (9th)	14.3% (8th)
2006-01-19	4	15.1% (9th)	15.3% (8th)
2006-01-25	5	19.7% (5th)	20.5% (4th)
2006-01-26	6	16.5% (8th)	16.5% (7th)
2006-02-01	7	13.7% (11th)	14.0% (10th)
2006-02-02	8	18.6% (6th)	19.1% (6th)
2006-02-08	9	24.0% (2nd)	25.2% (2nd)
2006-02-09	10	25.2% (2nd)	26.3% (2nd)
2006-02-15	11	24.5% (2nd)	25.7% (2nd)
2006-02-16	12	25.6% (2nd)	27.2% (2nd)
2006-02-22	13	25.0% (2nd)	25.8% (2nd)
2006-02-23	14	26.7% (2nd)	28.4% (2nd)
2006-03-02	15	27.9% (2nd)	28.8% (2nd)
2006-03-03	16	24.3% (3rd)	25.0% (3rd)
2006-03-08	17	25.8% (2nd)	26.1% (2nd)
2006-03-09	18	26.6% (2nd)	27.1% (2nd)
2006-03-15	19	27.0% (2nd)	27.3% (2nd)
2006-03-16	20	27.1% (2nd)	26.9% (2nd)
2006-03-22	21	24.6% (2nd)	25.2% (2nd)
2006-03-23	22	24.4% (2nd)	25.5% (2nd)
2006-03-29	23	25.4% (2nd)	26.9% (2nd)
2006-03-30	24	28.3% (2nd)	28.8% (2nd)