Gold Mask

Gold Mask^[3] (Korean: 황금 가면) is a South Korean television series starring Cha Ye-ryun, Na Young-hee and Lee Hwi-hyang.^[4] It is about a tragedy of three women, caused by greed and desire. The daily drama aired on KBS2 on May 23 to October 7, 2022, every weekday at 19:50 (KST) for 100 episodes.^[5]

Gold Mask
Promotional poster
Hangul	황금 가면
Hanja	黃金 假面
Lit.	Golden Mask
RR	Hwanggeum gamyeon
MR	Hwanggŭm kamyŏn
Genre	Melodrama[1] Revenge[1] Family[1]
Created by	KBS Drama Division
Written by	Kim Min-joo[2]
Directed by	Eo Soo-sun[2]
Music by	Baek Eun-woo (Music manager)
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	100
Production
Executive producer	Hong Seok-gu (KBS)
Producers	Kim Jong-sik Kim Nam-hee
Running time	40 minutes[3]
Production company	IWill Media[2]
Original release
Network	KBS2
Release	May 23 (2022-05-23) – October 7, 2022 (2022-10-07)

Synopsis

The drama tells the story of finding the answer to life in a mad fight between three women due to a tragedy caused by false desires and greed.

Cast

Main

• Cha Ye-ryun as Yoo Soo-Yeon^[6]

Grew up with ordinary parents, she falls in love with a man from a chaebol family and marries him. Her life seems to mirror that of Cinderella and she is envied by others, but her life isn't easy due to mistreatment from her in-laws.

• Na Young-hee as Cha Hwa-Young^[7]

She is full of greed and desire, and tries to keep her upper class life.

• Lee Hwi-hyang as Go Mi-Sook^[7]

She is a private moneylender and she owns a franchise restaurant chain. She is a good person.

• Lee Joong-moon as Hong Jin-woo^[8]

He is the son of Cha Hwa-Young, he is tricked by his mother into divorcing Soo-Yeon and into marrying Yoo-ra.

• Lee Hyun-jin as Kang Dong-ha^[8]

He is a director of a private investment company, he wants to avenge his father's death.

• Yeon Min-ji as Seo Yoo-ra^[8]

An evil and cunning designer who will become Soo-Yeon's arch-nemesis. She killed Soo-Yeon's father and will kill anyone who dares to stop her wicked plans.

Supporting

• Sunwoo Eun-sook as Kim Hye-kyung^[9]

Yoo Su-yeon's mother.

• Jung Min-joon as Hong Seo-jun^[10]

Yoo Su-yeon's son to Jin-woo.

• Gong Da-im as Hong Jin-ah^[10]

An aristocrat who secretly has a crush on Kang Dong-ha, She is also Cha Hwa-yeong's arrogant and violent daughter.

• Lee Joo-eun as Noh Young-ji^[11]

The cousin of Yoo Su-yeon. After a divorce from a violent husband she began living with her aunt, Kim Hye Kyung.

• Hwang Dong-joo as Ko Dae-cheol^[12]

Restaurant manager, but he has a remarkable history as a special forces soldier.

• Kim Ji-yoon as Lee Ji-eun^[13]

The butler in charge of the housekeeping of the SA group.

Production

The series is directed by Io Soo Sun, who has worked on series such as Angel's Revenge (2014) and Gracious Revenge (2019). It is written by Kim Min Joo, who wrote the series Sunny Again Tomorrow (2018) and I Wanna Hear Your Song (2019).^[5] It is planned by KBS Drama Department and produced by IWill Media.^[14]

Original soundtrack

Part 1

Released on June 15, 2022 ^[15]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Confidently" (당당하게)	30Billion Hwang Seung Min	30Billion Hwang Seung-min Kim Young-min	Hong Jin-young	4:15
2.	"Confidently" (당당하게; Inst.)		30Billion Hwang Seung-min Kim Young-min		4:15
Total length:					8:30

Part 2

Released on July 4, 2022 ^[15]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Always Love With You" (어느새 그대가)	Lee Ki-hwan	Soo Sang-han	Floody	3:24
2.	"Always Love With You" (어느새 그대가; Inst.)		Soo Sang-han		3:24
Total length:					6:48

Part 3

Released on July 24, 2022 ^[15]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Like Now" (이렇게 지금)	Baek Eun-woo	RUNY Park Jeong-jun	RUNY	3:58
2.	"Like Now" (이렇게 지금; Inst.)		RUNY Park Jeong-jun		3:58
Total length:					7:56

Part 4

Released on September 14, 2022 ^[15]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Only One" (오직 한사람)	Neighbor's Bachelor	Neighbor's Bachelor	FeelTong	4:25
2.	"Only One" (이오직 한사람; Inst.)		Neighbor's Bachelor		4:25
Total length:					8:50

Part 5

Released on October 1, 2022 ^[15]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"I Can't Stop Crying" (눈물이 멈추질 않아)	Park Kyung-don	Park Kyung-don	Lee Sul	3:48
2.	"I Can't Stop Crying" (눈물이 멈추질 않아; Inst.)		Park Kyung-don		3:48
Total length:					7:36

Viewership

Gold Mask  : South Korea viewers per episode (millions)

Episodes		Episode number
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
	1–20	1.843	1.786	1.733	1.699	1.664	1.738	1.549	1.259	1.479	1.621	1.730	2.104	1.912	2.003	2.008	2.116	2.051	2.127	2.138	2.345
	21–40	2.214	2.192	2.143	2.470	2.057	2.347	2.482	2.208	2.303	2.236	2.513	2.534	2.348	2.472	2.164	2.441	2.591	2.394	2.353	2.127
	41–60	2.527	2.513	2.375	2.624	2.578	2.537	2.674	2.342	2.619	2.544	2.776	2.789	2.645	2.707	2.496	2.943	2.723	2.553	2.594	2.655
	61–80	2.864	2.744	2.524	2.578	2.658	2.661	2.738	2.612	2.461	2.466	2.700	2.922	2.596	2.805	2.671	2.998	2.763	2.611	2.603	1.235
	81–100	2.809	2.968	2.769	2.960	2.886	2.856	2.817	2.645	2.510	2.559	2.771	2.724	2.732	2.928	2.727	2.804	2.772	2.637	2.739	2.662

Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Korea.^[16]

Average TV viewership ratings
Ep.	Broadcast date	Average audience share
		Nielsen Korea[16][17]		TNmS[18]
		Nationwide	Seoul	Nationwide
1	May 23, 2022	11.5% (3rd)	10.0% (3rd)	11.1% (3rd)
2	May 24, 2022	11.3% (2nd)	9.7% (2nd)	11.7% (2nd)
3	May 25, 2022	10.4% (2nd)	9.2% (2nd)	12.0% (2nd)
4	May 26, 2022	10.1% (3rd)	8.5% (3rd)	10.9% (2nd)
5	May 27, 2022	10.4% (3rd)	8.8% (4th)	11.1% (2nd)
6	May 30, 2022	10.4% (3rd)	8.8% (3rd)	11.7% (2nd)
7	May 31, 2022	9.7% (3rd)	8.1% (3rd)	10.9% (2nd)
8	June 1, 2022	7.9% (4th)	7.0% (4th)	N/A
9	June 2, 2022	9.0% (3rd)	7.4% (5th)	9.9% (2nd)
10	June 3, 2022	9.8% (3rd)	8.2% (4th)	10.6% (2nd)
11	June 6, 2022	10.9% (2nd)	9.5% (2nd)	10.5% (2nd)
12	June 7, 2022	12.6% (2nd)	10.7% (2nd)	12.1% (2nd)
13	June 8, 2022	11.5% (3rd)	10.3% (3rd)	12.7% (2nd)
14	June 9, 2022	12.0% (2nd)	9.6% (3rd)	11.9% (2nd)
15	June 10, 2022	12.7% (2nd)	11.9% (2nd)	12.2% (2nd)
16	June 13, 2022	12.9% (2nd)	11.1% (2nd)	13.3% (2nd)
17	June 14, 2022	12.9% (2nd)	10.8% (2nd)	13.6% (2nd)
18	June 15, 2022	13.0% (2nd)	11.9% (2nd)	14.1% (2nd)
19	June 16, 2022	13.0% (2nd)	11.5% (2nd)	13.6% (2nd)
20	June 17, 2022	14.3% (2nd)	12.9% (2nd)	13.9% (2nd)
21	June 20, 2022	13.8% (2nd)	12.4% (2nd)	13.9% (2nd)
22	June 21, 2022	13.5% (2nd)	11.6% (2nd)	13.9% (2nd)
23	June 22, 2022	13.0% (2nd)	11.4% (2nd)	15.0% (2nd)
24	June 23, 2022	15.0% (2nd)	13.1% (2nd)	14.9% (2nd)
25	June 24, 2022	13.0% (2nd)	11.0% (2nd)	13.0% (2nd)
26	June 27, 2022	14.7% (2nd)	12.6% (2nd)	15.1% (2nd)
27	June 28, 2022	14.8% (2nd)	12.5% (2nd)	15.6% (2nd)
28	June 29, 2022	14.1% (2nd)	12.7% (2nd)	15.0% (2nd)
29	June 30, 2022	14.3% (2nd)	12.7% (2nd)	13.9% (2nd)
30	July 1, 2022	13.8% (2nd)	11.6% (2nd)	13.8% (2nd)
31	July 4, 2022	15.3% (2nd)	12.8% (2nd)	15.1% (2nd)
32	July 5, 2022	15.4% (2nd)	13.3% (2nd)	16.1% (2nd)
33	July 6, 2022	14.5% (2nd)	12.0% (2nd)	13.5% (2nd)
34	July 7, 2022	15.3% (2nd)	13.4% (2nd)	15.7% (2nd)
35	July 8, 2022	13.7% (2nd)	11.3% (2nd)	N/A
36	July 11, 2022	15.3% (2nd)	12.9% (2nd)	16.2% (2nd)
37	July 12, 2022	15.7% (2nd)	12.8% (2nd)	16.3% (2nd)
38	July 13, 2022	15.0% (2nd)	12.3% (2nd)	16.6% (2nd)
39	July 14, 2022	14.6% (2nd)	12.1% (2nd)	14.5% (2nd)
40	July 15, 2022	13.9% (2nd)	11.7% (2nd)	14.0% (2nd)
41	July 18, 2022	15.8% (2nd)	13.1% (2nd)	17.1% (2nd)
42	July 19, 2022	16.0% (2nd)	13.9% (2nd)	15.2% (2nd)
43	July 20, 2022	14.5% (2nd)	12.8% (2nd)	14.8% (2nd)
44	July 21, 2022	15.9% (2nd)	13.5% (2nd)	15.5% (2nd)
45	July 22, 2022	15.5% (2nd)	13.6% (2nd)	15.1% (2nd)
46	July 25, 2022	16.1% (2nd)	13.9% (2nd)	16.9% (2nd)
47	July 26, 2022	16.0% (2nd)	13.2% (2nd)	16.0% (2nd)
48	July 27, 2022	14.8% (2nd)	12.5% (2nd)	15.6% (2nd)
49	July 28, 2022	16.2% (2nd)	14.5% (2nd)	15.5% (2nd)
50	July 29, 2022	15.5% (2nd)	13.2% (2nd)	16.6% (2nd)
51	August 1, 2022	16.4% (2nd)	13.4% (2nd)	16.9% (2nd)
52	August 2, 2022	16.4% (2nd)	13.7% (2nd)	15.5% (2nd)
53	August 3, 2022	15.5% (2nd)	13.1% (2nd)	14.9% (2nd)
54	August 4, 2022	16.8% (2nd)	14.6% (2nd)	15.6% (2nd)
55	August 5, 2022	15.3% (2nd)	12.6% (2nd)	16.2% (2nd)
56	August 8, 2022	17.0% (2nd)	14.7% (2nd)	16.8% (2nd)
57	August 9, 2022	16.1% (2nd)	13.8% (2nd)	17.6% (2nd)
58	August 10, 2022	15.6% (2nd)	13.1% (2nd)	N/A
59	August 11, 2022	16.2% (2nd)	13.3% (2nd)
60	August 12, 2022	16.0% (2nd)	13.6% (2nd)	15.3% (2nd)
61	August 15, 2022	16.7% (2nd)	14.0% (2nd)	17.7% (2nd)
62	August 16, 2022	16.6% (2nd)	13.8% (2nd)	17.8% (2nd)
63	August 17, 2022	15.1% (2nd)	12.3% (2nd)	15.9% (2nd)
64	August 18, 2022	15.5% (2nd)	13.6% (2nd)	17.2% (2nd)
65	August 19, 2022	15.9% (2nd)	13.5% (2nd)	16.3% (2nd)
66	August 22, 2022	15.8% (2nd)	13.3% (2nd)	15.8% (2nd)
67	August 23, 2022	16.4% (2nd)	13.4% (2nd)	18.2% (2nd)
68	August 24, 2022	16.0% (2nd)	13.7% (2nd)	14.9% (2nd)
69	August 25, 2022	15.2% (2nd)	12.3% (2nd)	18.7% (2nd)
70	August 26, 2022	15.2% (1st)	13.1% (1st)	16.3% (1st)
71	August 29, 2022	16.4% (2nd)	14.1% (2nd)	15.5% (2nd)
72	August 30, 2022	17.3% (2nd)	14.4% (2nd)	16.6% (2nd)
73	August 31, 2022	15.7% (2nd)	13.0% (2nd)	15.5% (2nd)
74	September 1, 2022	16.8% (2nd)	14.5% (2nd)	17.4% (2nd)
75	September 2, 2022	16.1% (2nd)	13.7% (2nd)	16.9% (2nd)
76	September 5, 2022	17.8% (1st)	15.3% (1st)	17.9% (1st)
77	September 6, 2022	16.8% (2nd)	14.5% (2nd)	18.6% (2nd)
78	September 7, 2022	16.1% (2nd)	14.4% (2nd)	16.4% (2nd)
79	September 8, 2022	15.6% (2nd)	14.1% (2nd)	17.0% (2nd)
80	September 9, 2022	7.2% (5th)	5.9% (7th)	N/A
81	September 12, 2022	15.5% (2nd)	13.1% (2nd)	17.8% (2nd)
82	September 13, 2022	17.2% (2nd)	15.1% (2nd)	17.7% (2nd)
83	September 14, 2022	16.2% (2nd)	14.0% (2nd)	16.8% (2nd)
84	September 15, 2022	17.4% (2nd)	15.4% (2nd)	17.9% (2nd)
85	September 16, 2022	16.4% (2nd)	14.1% (2nd)	16.8% (2nd)
86	September 19, 2022	17.4% (2nd)	14.7% (2nd)	18.2% (2nd)
87	September 20, 2022	16.7% (2nd)	14.1% (2nd)	18.6% (2nd)
88	September 21, 2022	15.8% (2nd)	14.0% (2nd)	16.9% (2nd)
89	September 22, 2022	15.3% (2nd)	13.3% (2nd)	15.2% (2nd)
90	September 23, 2022	16.2% (2nd)	14.5% (2nd)	17.4% (2nd)
91	September 26, 2022	16.8% (2nd)	15.2% (2nd)	17.9% (2nd)
92	September 27, 2022	15.9% (2nd)	13.6% (2nd)	18.5% (2nd)
93	September 28, 2022	16.0% (2nd)	13.6% (2nd)	17.7% (2nd)
94	September 29, 2022	17.2% (2nd)	14.8% (2nd)	17.4% (2nd)
95	September 30, 2022	15.8% (2nd)	13.4% (2nd)	17.4% (2nd)
96	October 3, 2022	17.1% (1st)	15.3% (1st)	17.1% (1st)
97	October 4, 2022	16.3% (1st)	13.7% (1st)	19.0% (1st)
98	October 5, 2022	15.5% (1st)	13.0% (1st)	16.4% (1st)
99	October 6, 2022	16.7% (1st)	14.1% (1st)	18.2% (1st)
100	October 7, 2022	16.0% (1st)	13.9% (1st)	17.2% (1st)
Average		15.203%	13.016%	15.844%[A]
In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest published ratings and the red numbers represent the highest published ratings. N/A denotes ratings that was not released.

Note

1. This average ratings is calculated based on the published ratings, the exact average ratings is unknown due to multiple ratings not published.