Splendid Politics

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.

Splendid Politics
Promotional poster
Also known as	Hwajung Hwajung, Princess of Light
Hangul	화정
Hanja	華政
RR	Hwajeong
MR	Hwajŏng
Genre	Historical Political Romance
Written by	Kim Yi-young
Directed by	Kim Sang-ho Choi Jung-kyu
Starring	Cha Seung-won Lee Yeon-hee Kim Jaewon Seo Kang-joon Han Joo-wan Jo Sung-ha
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	Lee Chang-sub Yoo Hyeon-jong Park Bo-kyung
Cinematography	Kim Jong-jin Lee Tae-hee
Editor	Hwang Geum-bong
Running time	70 minutes
Production company	Kim Jong-hak Production
Original release
Network	Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation
Release	April 13 (2015-04-13) – September 29, 2015 (2015-09-29)

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)	Cha Seung-won	Nominated
		Excellence Award, Actor	Seo Kang-joon	Nominated
		Hot Star Award		Won
	4th APAN Star Awards	Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama	Cha Seung-won	Nominated
	23rd Korea Cultural Entertainment Awards [9]	Best Actor Award, Drama	Kim Jaewon	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	Kim Jaewon	Nominated
		Excellence Award, Actress in a Special Project Drama	Lee Yeon-hee	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor in a Special Project Drama	Jung Woong-in	Nominated
		Best New Actor in a Special Project Drama	Seo Kang-joon	Nominated
		Top 10 Stars Award	Cha Seung-won	Won

Notes

1. Credited as Lee Min-ho.