Special Labor Inspector

Special Labor Inspector^[3][4] (Korean: 특별근로감독관 조장풍) is a 2019 South Korean television series starring Kim Dong-wook, Park Se-young, Ryu Deok-hwan and Kim Kyung-nam. It aired from April 8 to May 28, 2019 on MBC TV.

Special Labor Inspector
Promotional poster
Hangul	특별근로감독관 조장풍
Hanja	特別勤勞監督官 조장풍
Literal meaning	Special Labor Inspector Jo Jang-poong
Revised Romanization	Teukbyeolgeullogamdokgwan Jo Jang-pung
Genre	Social satire Action Comedy[1]
Created by	Kang Dae-sun
Written by	Kim Ban-di
Directed by	Park Won-kook
Starring	Kim Dong-wook Park Se-young Ryu Deok-hwan Kim Kyung-nam
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	32[a]
Production
Executive producers	Choi Jin-ho Kim Sung-jo
Producer	Hong Suk-woo
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	35 minutes[a]
Production companies	Silkwood Hello Contents
Original release
Network	MBC TV
Release	April 8 (2019-04-08) – May 28, 2019 (2019-05-28)

Synopsis

The series follows the story of a civil servant who is appointed as a labor inspector in the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

Cast

Main

• Kim Dong-wook as Jo Jin-gap, a pure-hearted, hardworking, and honest person with strong sense of justice. He was once a promising judo athlete but was forced to quit after trying to protest an unfair result. He then attempted to become a fitness teacher, but it did not last long as he was unable to control his quick temper in front of the chairman's son. He eventually studied and passed the level nine civil servant exam and becomes a civil servant for a secured government position. However, everything changes when he is assigned as a labor inspector for the Ministry of Employment and Labor.^[5][6]
• Park Se-young as Joo Mi-ran, Jin-gap's ex-wife who is a former judo athlete turned detective.^[7]
• Ryu Deok-hwan as Woo Do-ha, an ace lawyer of the legal department at Myeongseong Group.^[8]
• Kim Kyung-nam as Cheon Deok-gu, Jin-gap's former pupil who becomes his loyal secret investigator.^[9]

Supporting

• Seol In-ah as Go Mal-sook, the personal secretary of Myeongseong Group's chairperson.^[10]
• Oh Dae-hwan as Goo Dae-gil^[11]
• Lee Won-jong as Ha Ji-man^[12]
• Kang Seo-joon as Lee Dong-young^[13]
• Song Ok-sook as Choi Seo-ra
• Go Geon-han as Kim Sun-woo
• Shin Cheol-jin
• Yoo Su-bin^[14]
• Lee Sang-yi as Yang Tae-soo

Special appearance

• Lee Gyu-hyun as Lee Chang Gyu, as an intern doctor.

Production

The first script reading of the cast was held in early January 2019.^[15] Ryu Deok-hwan and Park Se-young have previously worked together in the 2012 series Faith.

Ratings

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Average audience share
		Nielsen Korea[16]		TNmS
		Nationwide	Seoul	Nationwide
1	April 8, 2019	4.3% (NR)	5.0% (NR)	4.0%
2		5.0% (NR)	5.8% (17th)	4.1%
3	April 9, 2019	3.9% (NR)	4.2% (NR)	4.3%
4		4.7% (NR)	5.2% (NR)	5.2%
5	April 15, 2019	5.4% (19th)	6.5% (14th)	4.3%
6		6.3% (15th)	7.7% (8th)	5.3%
7	April 16, 2019	5.8% (17th)	6.8% (10th)	N/A
8		6.8% (11th)	7.9% (8th)	5.5%
9	April 22, 2019	5.7% (18th)	6.6% (13th)	N/A
10		6.6% (14th)	7.6% (8th)	5.3%
11	April 23, 2019	5.9% (20th)	7.0% (13th)	N/A
12		6.4% (18th)	7.6% (10th)	5.7%
13	April 29, 2019	5.7% (18th)	6.5% (14th)	N/A
14		6.2% (17th)	7.0% (9th)	5.4%
15	April 30, 2019	5.5% (NR)	6.7% (13th)	N/A
16		6.7% (13th)	7.8% (6th)	5.7%
17	May 6, 2019	6.7% (10th)	7.5% (10th)	6.3%
18		7.7% (8th)	8.5% (5th)	7.4%
19	May 7, 2019	6.0% (16th)	6.8% (10th)	6.0%
20		7.4% (6th)	8.4% (4th)	7.2%
21	May 13, 2019	6.7% (15th)	7.8% (7th)	6.8%
22		7.7% (8th)	8.7% (5th)	7.4%
23	May 14, 2019	6.7% (10th)	7.6% (6th)	6.8%
24		8.7% (5th)	9.6% (4th)	8.3%
25	May 20, 2019	6.8% (10th)	7.4% (8th)	6.2%
26		7.7% (7th)	8.6% (5th)	7.0%
27	May 21, 2019	6.4% (10th)	7.2% (8th)	6.6%
28		8.4% (5th)	9.3% (4th)	7.9%
29	May 27, 2019	6.5% (14th)	7.3% (8th)	6.3%
30		8.3% (9th)	9.5% (5th)	7.8%
31	May 28, 2019	7.3% (9th)	8.3% (7th)	N/A
32		8.3% (5th)	9.1% (4th)
Average		6.5%	7.4%	—[b]
In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. NR denotes that the drama did not rank in the top 20 daily programs on that date. N/A denotes that the rating is not known.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result	Ref.
2019	14th Seoul International Drama Awards	Best Actor	Kim Dong-wook	Won	[17]
	12th Korea Drama Awards	Top Excellence Award, Actor		Won	[18]
	MBC Drama Awards	Drama of the Year	N/A	Nominated	[19][20]
		Grand Prize (Daesang)	Kim Dong-wook	Won
		Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Monday-Tuesday Miniseries	Kim Dong-wook	Won
		Excellence Award, Actor in a Monday-Tuesday Miniseries	Kim Kyung-nam	Nominated
		Excellence Award, Actress in a Monday-Tuesday Miniseries	Park Se-young	Won
		Best Supporting Cast in Monday-Tuesday Miniseries	Oh Dae-hwan	Won
			Seol In-ah	Nominated
		Scene Stealer Award	Song Ok-sook	Nominated
		Best One-minute Couple Award	Kim Dong-wook & Kim Kyung-nam	Nominated
		Writer of the Year	Kim Ban-di	Won

Notes

1. In order to circumvent Korean laws that prevent commercial breaks in the middle of an episode, what would previously have been aired as single 70 minute episodes are now being repackaged as two 35 minute episodes, with two episodes being shown each night with a commercial break between the two.^[2]
2. Due to some unpublished ratings, the exact average rating is unknown.