Actor Lee Sung-min will appear as Lee Seong-gye in the tvN·TVING original drama ‘Won-gyeong’ (directed by Kim Sang-ho, written by Lee Young-mi).

‘Won-gyeong’ is a story about a king and queen, a husband and wife, and the passionate stories hidden between them, centered around Queen Wongyeong (played by Cha Joo-young), who gained power with her husband, Taejong Yi Bang-won (played by Lee Hyun-wook). It creates and interprets the narrative of the couple, known as political partners, from Won-gyeong‘s perspective. The production team first summarized the logline as ‘We will ‘We will create and interpret and interpret points that could be distorted in history.’

According to the production team, Lee Sung-min will make a special appearance as Taejo Lee Seong-gye, the founder of the Joseon Dynasty. Lee Seong-gye is Yi Bang-won’s father and Queen Wongyeong‘s father-in-law. He stands in opposition to his son over the throne. He appears as a character who recognizes his daughter-in-law. This special appearance was made possible out of loyalty with Director Kim Sang-ho and Writer Lee Young-mi, with whom he worked on the tvN drama ‘Money Game’.

In the photo released on the 13th, Lee Seong-gye looks similar to the feeling he has shown in other works. He feels solemn and heavy. The production team said, “Thanks to Lee Seong-min’s passionate acting, which gives a strong sense of trust with his irreplaceable acting skills, the beginning of ‘Won-gyeong’ was able to shine with more weight. We are proud to say that his acting as a king on a different level is by far the best. At the same time, you can also look forward to the acting synergy between the daughter-in-law and sons Cha Joo-young and Lee Hyun-wook, who will be in sharp conflict with Lee Seong-gye,” he said.


However, the story of the work may differ from the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty or other historical dramas, so this is a point that viewers should be careful about when watching. Although it is based on real people, there are parts in the work that are quite different from what is well known, so it can be seen as a distortion of history. This is especially true because there have been works suspected of historical distortion on CJ ENM-related channels (tvN) and platforms (Tving) so far. It is up to the viewer to decide whether to view it as a simple fictional historical drama or a suspicious work of distortion borrowing from real people.

Episodes 1 and 2 of ‘Won-gyeong‘ will be released first on Tving at 2 PM on January 6, 2025. The first episode will air on tvN at 8:50 PM on the same day.

Hong Se-young, Donga.com reporter projecthong@donga.com