Jang Yeong-sil (TV series)

Jang Yeong-sil is a 2016 South Korean historical drama television series starring Song Il-kook, Kim Yeong-cheol, Kim Sang-kyung and Park Sun-young. It replaced The Jingbirok: A Memoir of Imjin War and aired on KBS1 from January 2, 2016 to March 26, 2016 on Saturdays and Sundays at 21:40 (KST) for 24 episodes.

Plot
A television series talk about Jang Yeong-sil, a popular scientist of Joseon in the 15th century. Born as a slave but with the remarkable talent and the profound passion for astronomy, he was known by King Sejong and was recommended to the court. Jang Yeong-sil had a lot of contributions for the science-technology of Joseon, he has left many great inventions such as the water clock, the sundial, the astronomical instruments, the rain gauge and also many research on weaponry.

Main characters

 * Song Il-kook as Jang Yeong-sil (or Jang Young-sil)
 * Jung Yoon-seok as young Jang Yeong-sil
 * Kim Sang-kyung as Yi Do, later King Sejong the Great (1397~1450)
 * Hong Hyun-taek as young Yi Do
 * Kim Yeong-cheol as Yi Bang-won, later King Taejong (1367~1422)
 * Park Sun-young as Princess Sohyun – King Taejong's daughter and Yi Do's older sister (fictional character)
 * Yoon Si-yeong as young Sohyun

Royal household

 * Kim Ki-hyeon as King Taejo
 * Lee Byung-wook (actor) as Prince Yangnyeong
 * Kim Bo-mi as Princess Gyeonghye
 * Han Jeong-woo as King Munjong
 * Choi Seung-hoon as young Yi Hyang (later King Munjong)
 * Choi Dong-ah as King Danjong
 * Go Young-bin as King Sejo

Court officials

 * Kim Do-hyun (actor) as
 * Son Byong-ho as
 * Jung Han-yong as Hwang Hui
 * Kim Byung-ki as Maeng Sa-sung
 * Lee Young-seok (actor) as
 * Han Ki-joong as Heo Jo
 * Kim Hyo-won (actor) as Jeong Cho (Joseon)
 * Kang Shin-goo as Jeong Heum-ji
 * Jeong Eui-gap as Jeong In-ji
 * Park Seung-gyu as Park Eun (born 1370)
 * Hwang Yi-geon as Kim Goo-nam
 * Lee Geon-myung (actor) as Park Yeon (born 1378)
 * Ahn Shin-woo as Choe Manri

Seoungwan people

 * Lee Byung-hoon (actor) as Lee Sun-ji
 * Seo Hyun-chul as Choi Bok (fictional character)
 * Im Hyuk as Yoo Taek-sang
 * Min Joon-hyun as Jeon Bae-cheon (fictional character)
 * Lee Joo-hyun as Ji Gyeong-chan (fictional character)
 * Kang Ji-hoo as Sung Sa-gook (fictional character)

Dongraehyeon people

 * Lee Ji-hoon as Jang Hee-je (fictional character)
 * Kim Dan-yool as young Jang Hee-je
 * Kim Myeong-soo (actor) as Jang Sung-hwi – a Goryeo's scientist, minister and Jang Yeong-sil's father
 * Kim Ae-ran as Eun-wol – a Kisaeng and Jang Yeong-sil's mother (assumed character)
 * Son Ho-gyun as Jang Gi-bae (fictional character)
 * Kang Sung-jin as Seok-goo – Jang Yeong-sil's best friend (fictional character)
 * Lee Joon-seo as young Seok-goo
 * Kim Dae-jong as Kim Hak-joo – a noble and Jang Hee-je's friend (fictional character)
 * Lee Kye-in as young Kim Hak-joo

Hanyang people

 * Yoon Ah-reum as Eul-seon (Chinese: 乙善; Pinyin: Yǐ Shàn) – princess Sohyun's maid, later Seok-goo's wife
 * N/A as Oh Goo-san
 * Lee Geon (actor) as Han Nae-gwan
 * Kim Mi-ra as Uhm Sang-goong

Ming dynasty

 * Im Dong-jin as Joo Tae-kang (Chinese: 朱太江; Pinyin: Zhū Tàijiāng) – a Ming dynasty old prince (fictional character)
 * Park Gyu-ri as Joo Bu-ryeong (Chinese: 朱副伶; Pinyin: Zhū Fùlíng) – Tae-kang's daughter (fictional character)
 * Im Chul-hyung as Yoon Bong (Joseon) – a Joseon person working as a eunuch in Ming dynasty
 * Kwon Bin as Zhengtong Emperor

Extended cast

 * Kwak Min-ho as Go Gil-soo – a trader between Joseon and Ming dynasty (fictional character)
 * Jo Sang-goo as Byun Dae-chi
 * Byun Joon-seok as Choi Yool
 * Jang Gwang as Jo Gwang
 * Hwang Chan-ho as Moo-san
 * Kim Min-hyuk (actor) as Oh Pil-gyo
 * N/A as Bae Kang-choon
 * Cha Ye-joon as Im Myung-deok
 * Kim Ae-ran as Eun-wol
 * Oh Ji-hyuk as Yoo Cheol
 * Cha Bo-sung as Sung Sam-moon
 * Jang Joon-nyung
 * Jin Hyun-kwang
 * Lee Je-kwan
 * Park Dae-kyu
 * Jeon Jin-ki
 * Seol Chang-hee
 * Choi Dong-yeob
 * Kim Moon-sik
 * Shin Chi-young
 * Jo Shin-geun
 * Jo Yeon-ho
 * Hwang Bi-ho
 * Lee Ho-yool
 * Lee Joo-yeon

Cameo appearances

 * Nam Il-woo (actor) as Jang Sung-bae – Jang Sung-hwi's oldest brother
 * Chae Dong-hyun as Kim Beob-rae
 * Yeo Hoe-hyun as Na Ki-soon
 * Song Triplets as three little beggars

Ratings
In the table below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.


 * Remark
 * Episode 12, scheduled to be broadcast on the evening of February 7, was canceled because South Korea was in emergency after the North Korea's missile launch (Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4) at 9:30 am in the same day.