Splendid Politics
| Splendid Politics | |
|---|---|
![]() Promotional poster  | |
| Also known as | 
  | 
| Hangul | 화정  | 
| Hanja | 華政  | 
| RR | Hwajeong | 
| MR | Hwajŏng | 
| Genre | |
| Written by | Kim Yi-young | 
| Directed by | 
  | 
| Starring | |
| Composer | Kim Hyeon-jong | 
| Country of origin | South Korea | 
| Original language | Korean | 
| No. of seasons | 1 | 
| No. of episodes | 50 | 
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Son Ki-won | 
| Producers | 
  | 
| Cinematography | 
  | 
| Editor | Hwang Geum-bong | 
| Running time | 70 minutes | 
| Production company | Kim Jong-hak Production | 
| Original release | |
| Network | Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation | 
| Release | April 13 – September 29, 2015  | 
Splendid Politics (Korean: 화정; RR: Hwajeong) is a 2015 South Korean television series starring Cha Seung-won, Lee Yeon-hee, Kim Jaewon, Seo Kang-joon, Han Joo-wan and Jo Sung-ha.[1][2] It aired on MBC from April 13 to September 29, 2015 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 22:00 for 50 episodes.
The Korean title Hwajeong is a shortened version of Hwaryeohan Jeongchi (literally "Splendid Politics").
Plot
Prince Gwanghae (portrayed by Cha Seung-won), son of a concubine, usurps the Joseon throne from the direct bloodline of his father, King Seonjo (portrayed by Park Yeong-gyu).
After her younger brother, Grand Prince Yeongchang (portrayed by Jeon Jin-seo), is executed, Princess Jeongmyeong (portrayed by Lee Yeon-hee), who managed to flee the palace during the massacre, starts living as a commoner disguised as a man while plotting her revenge.
Cast
Main
- Cha Seung-won as Yi Hon, Prince Gwanghae[3][4]
- Lee Tae-hwan as young Yi Hon
 
 - Lee Yeon-hee as Princess Jeongmyeong[5]
- Jung Chan-bi as young Princess Jeongmyeong
 - Heo Jung-eun as child Princess Jeongmyeong
 
 - Kim Jae-won as Prince Neungyang, later King Injo
 - Seo Kang-joon as Hong Joo-won[6]
- Yoon Chan-young as young Hong Joo-won
 - Choi Kwon-soo as child Hong Joo-won
 
 - Han Joo-wan as Kang In-woo
- Ahn Do-gyu as young Kang In-woo
 - Lee Tae-woo as child Kang In-woo
 
 - Jo Sung-ha as Kang Joo-sun, Kang In-woo's father
 
Supporting
Royal Household
- Park Yeong-gyu as King Seonjo
 - Shin Eun-jung as Queen Inmok
 - Choi Jong-hwan as Prince Imhae
 - Jang Seung-jo as Prince Jeongwon, Prince Neungyang's father
 - Kim Gyu-sun as Princess Jeonghye
 - Jeon Jin-seo as Grand Prince Yeongchang
 - Lee Seung-ah as Queen Inryeol
 - Baek Sung-hyun as Crown Prince Sohyeon
- Shin Ki-joon as child Crown Prince Sohyeon
 
 - Kim Hee-jung as Crown Princess Minhoe
 - Lee Tae-ri[a] as Grand Prince Bongrim, later King Hyojong
- Song Jun-hee as child Grand Prince Bongrim
 
 - Kim Min-seo as Jo Yeo-jeong / Royal Consort So-yong of the Okcheon Jo clan
 - Choi Woo-jin as Yi Jing, Prince Sungseon
 
Northern Faction (Gwanghae Group)
- Jung Woong-in as Lee Yi-cheom
 - Kim Yeo-jin as Court Lady Kim Gae-shi
- Jo Jung-eun as young Kim Gae-shi
 - Shin Rin-ah as child Kim Gae-shi
 
 - Han Myung-koo as Chung In-hong
 - Yoo Seung-mok as Yoo Hee-boon
 - Jung Kyu-soo as Lee Choong
 - Lee Jae-gu as the Chief Eunuch
 
Western Faction (Injo Group)
- Jo Min-ki as Kim Ja-jeom
 - Park Jun-gyu as Kim Ryu
 - Jang Gwang as Yi Gwi
 - Kim Hyung-beom as Kim Kyung-jing, Kim Ryu's son
 - Lee Seung-hyo as Lee Si-baek
 - Kim Seo-kyung as Lee Si-bang
 - Jung Wook as a State Ceremony Eunuch
 
People around Princess Jeongmyeong
- Im Ho as Choi Myung-gil
 - Lee Jae-yong as Kim Sang-hun
 - Kim Chang-wan as Lee Won-ik
 - Kim Seung-wook as Lee Hang-bok
 - Um Hyo-sup as Hong Yeong, Hong Joo-won's father
 - Kim Young-im as Court Lady Jung
 - Gong Myung as Ja-gyung
- Kang Chan-hee as young Ja-gyung
 
 
Other subordinates
- Ahn Nae-sang as Heo Gyun
 - Lee Sung-min as Lee Duk-hyung
- Nam Da-reum as young Duk-hyung
 
 - Park Ji-il as Kim Je-nam, Queen Inmok's father
 - Jung Hae-kyun as Kang Hong-rib
 
Cameo
- Park Won-sang as Jang Bong-soo
 - Kim Kwang-kyu as Yi Yeong-bu
 - Kwak Dong-yeon as Yi Ui-rip
 - Jo Jae-ryong as Bang-Geun
 - Lee Seung-hyung as Yi-seo
 - Kim Hyun as Court Lady Inspector
 - Hwang Young-hee as Ok-joo
 - Baek Su-ryeon as Soo Ryun-gae
 - Lee Jae-gu
 - Kim Ki-bang as Gu-bok
 - Kim Kyu-chul
 - Kang Shin-il
 - Jung Ji-so as Eun-seol
 - Kang Dae-hyun as Su-Deok
 - Kang Moon-young as Lady Yoon, Kang Joo-sun's wife
 - Kim So-yi as Court Lady Choi
 - Baek Soo-ryun as Soo Ryun-gae
 - Jang Hyuk-jin as Maruno
 - Jung Sung-woon as Hong Taiji
 - Kim Joon-bae as Yong Gol-dae
 
Ratings
In the table below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.
| Episode # | Original broadcast date | Average audience share | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TNmS Ratings[7] | AGB Nielsen[8] | |||||
| Nationwide | Seoul National Capital Area | Nationwide | Seoul National Capital Area | |||
| 1 | 2015-04-13 | 10.0% | 12.3% | 10.5% | 12.0% | |
| 2 | 2015-04-14 | 10.5% | 12.4% | 11.8% | 12.8% | |
| 3 | 2015-04-20 | 9.0% | 11.6% | 10.9% | 12.6% | |
| 4 | 2015-04-21 | 10.4% | 12.6% | 10.8% | 12.1% | |
| 5 | 2015-04-27 | 9.7% | 12.1% | 9.9% | 11.2% | |
| 6 | 2015-04-28 | 10.0% | 12.0% | 10.9% | 11.6% | |
| 7 | 2015-05-04 | 9.2% | 10.9% | 9.4% | 10.2% | |
| 8 | 2015-05-05 | 9.9% | 12.0% | 10.3% | 11.7% | |
| 9 | 2015-05-11 | 8.3% | 9.8% | 9.5% | 10.8% | |
| 10 | 2015-05-12 | 9.3% | 10.6% | 10.1% | 11.4% | |
| 11 | 2015-05-18 | 8.2% | 9.9% | 10.6% | 12.4% | |
| 12 | 2015-05-19 | 9.2% | 11.2% | 11.4% | 13.0% | |
| 13 | 2015-05-25 | 8.3% | 10.2% | 10.4% | 11.5% | |
| 14 | 2015-05-26 | 8.9% | 11.0% | 12.2% | ||
| 15 | 2015-06-01 | 8.4% | 9.9% | 10.6% | 12.5% | |
| 16 | 2015-06-02 | 9.1% | 11.2% | 10.2% | 11.6% | |
| 17 | 2015-06-08 | 8.8% | 11.1% | 11.9% | ||
| 18 | 2015-06-09 | 11.0% | 13.4% | 11.0% | 12.7% | |
| 19 | 2015-06-15 | 10.3% | 12.1% | 10.7% | 12.4% | |
| 20 | 2015-06-16 | 9.3% | 11.1% | 11.0% | 12.5% | |
| 21 | 2015-06-22 | 10.1% | 11.8% | 11.6% | 13.3% | |
| 22 | 2015-06-23 | 9.9% | 12.1% | 10.7% | 12.2% | |
| 23 | 2015-06-29 | 9.2% | 10.8% | 10.0% | 10.8% | |
| 24 | 2015-06-30 | 9.7% | 12.0% | 9.8% | ||
| 25 | 2015-07-06 | 8.0% | 9.8% | 8.9% | 9.8% | |
| 26 | 2015-07-07 | 8.4% | 10.3% | 8.8% | ||
| 27 | 2015-07-13 | 8.3% | 10.6% | 9.1% | 10.2% | |
| 28 | 2015-07-14 | 7.6% | 9.2% | 9.8% | 10.8% | |
| 29 | 2015-07-20 | 7.8% | 9.8% | 9.9% | 10.9% | |
| 30 | 2015-07-21 | 9.4% | 10.9% | 11.4% | 12.3% | |
| 31 | 2015-07-27 | 7.5% | 9.2% | 10.3% | 11.5% | |
| 32 | 2015-07-28 | 9.2% | 10.4% | |||
| 33 | 2015-08-03 | 7.9% | 9.3% | 9.1% | 10.7% | |
| 34 | 2015-08-04 | 9.2% | 9.9% | 9.8% | 11.0% | |
| 35 | 2015-08-10 | 8.0% | 9.5% | 9.0% | 10.5% | |
| 36 | 2015-08-11 | 8.6% | 9.6% | 10.7% | 12.4% | |
| 37 | 2015-08-17 | 8.1% | 9.6% | 10.4% | ||
| 38 | 2015-08-18 | 8.8% | 10.7% | 9.7% | 10.6% | |
| 39 | 2015-08-24 | 7.9% | 8.7% | 8.8% | 10.5% | |
| 40 | 2015-08-25 | 8.2% | 9.0% | 9.9% | ||
| 41 | 2015-08-31 | 7.3% | 8.5% | 9.5% | ||
| 42 | 2015-09-01 | 8.5% | 10.1% | 8.9% | 9.6% | |
| 43 | 2015-09-07 | 7.3% | 7.6% | 8.1% | 9.3% | |
| 44 | 2015-09-08 | 7.8% | 8.3% | 9.1% | ||
| 45 | 2015-09-14 | 7.1% | 8.5% | 8.1% | 8.7% | |
| 46 | 2015-09-15 | 8.7% | 10.3% | 10.8% | 12.2% | |
| 47 | 2015-09-21 | 7.4% | 7.7% | 9.7% | 10.9% | |
| 48 | 2015-09-22 | 8.3% | 9.3% | 10.5% | 12.1% | |
| 49 | 2015-09-28 | 5.6% | 6.1% | 5.7% | 6.2% | |
| 50 | 2015-09-29 | 6.2% | 7.2% | 7.8% | 8.8% | |
| Average | 8.7% | 10.2% | 9.9% | 11.1% | ||
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 8th Korea Drama Awards | Grand Prize (Daesang) | Nominated | |
| Excellence Award, Actor | Seo Kang-joon | Nominated | ||
| Hot Star Award | Won | |||
| 4th APAN Star Awards | Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama | Nominated | ||
| 23rd Korea Cultural Entertainment Awards [9] | Best Actor Award, Drama | Won | ||
| 34th MBC Drama Awards | Grand Prize (Daesang) | Cha Seung-won | Nominated | |
| Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Special Project Drama | Nominated | |||
| Excellence Award, Actor in a Special Project Drama | Nominated | |||
| Excellence Award, Actress in a Special Project Drama | Nominated | |||
| Best Supporting Actor in a Special Project Drama | Nominated | |||
| Best New Actor in a Special Project Drama | Nominated | |||
| Top 10 Stars Award | Won | 
Notes
- ^ Credited as Lee Min-ho.
 
References
- ^ Kwon, Ji-youn (April 7, 2015). "Gwanghaegun returns in factional drama". The Korea Times. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
 - ^ Doo, Rumy (April 8, 2015). "Fact, fiction mingle in Splendid Politics". The Korea Herald. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
 - ^ Sung, So-young (January 30, 2015). "Cha stars as prince in drama". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
 - ^ Kim, Yeon-ji (March 25, 2015). "Cha Seung-won has to act hungry for power". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
 - ^ Han, Ji-hee; Choi, Veronica (March 25, 2015). "Hwajung Lee Yeon-hee confesses she is huge fan of Cha Seung-won!". Get It K. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
 - ^ 인터뷰 <화정> 서강준, "첫 사극이라 욕심 많아, 멜로 기대 중". enews (in Korean). MBC News. March 30, 2015. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
 - ^ "TNmS Daily Ratings: this links to current day-select the date from drop down menu". TNmS Ratings (in Korean). Archived from the original on November 28, 2013. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
 - ^ "AGB Daily Ratings: this links to current day-select the date from drop down menu". AGB Nielsen Media Research (in Korean). Retrieved April 13, 2015.
 - ^ "23rd Korea Cultural Entertainment Awards winners list". November 15, 2015. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
 
External links
- Splendid Politics official MBC website (in Korean)
 - Splendid Politics at HanCinema
 - Splendid Politics at IMDb
 - Hwajung, Princess of Light at MBC Global Media
 
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