The Fiery Priest

The Fiery Priest (Korean: 열혈사제) is a 2019 South Korean television series starring Kim Nam-gil, Kim Sung-kyun, and Lee Hanee with Ko Jun and Keum Sae-rok in the first season, and Sung Joon, Seo Hyun-woo, and Kim Hyeong-seo in the second season. It was the first drama to air on SBS TV's Fridays and Saturdays timeslot. The first season was aired from February 15, to April 20, 2019, at 22:10 (KST),^[4][5] with a total of 20 episodes.^[a] The second season premiered on November 8, 2024, at 22:00 (KST).^[7]

The Fiery Priest
Promotional poster for season 2
Hangul	열혈사제
Hanja	熱血司祭
Lit.	Hot Blooded Priest
RR	Yeolhyeolsaje
MR	Yŏrhyŏlsaje
Genre	Comedy Crime action
Written by	Park Jae-beom
Directed by	Lee Myung-woo Park Bo-ram
Creative director	Kim Seon-woong (Martial arts)[1]
Starring	Kim Nam-gil Kim Sung-kyun Lee Hanee Ko Jun Keum Sae-rok Sung Joon Seo Hyun-woo Kim Hyeong-seo
Music by	Gaemi[1]
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	32
Production
Producers	Ahn Jae-hyun Shin Sang-yoon
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	35 minutes[a]
Production companies	Samhwa Networks (season 1) Studio S[2] Big Ocean ENM (season 2)[2] Red Nine Pictures (season 2)[2] Gilstory ENT (season 2)[2]
Budget	₩9.3 billion (season 1)[3]
Original release
Network	SBS TV
Release	February 15, 2019 (2019-02-15) – December 27, 2024 (2024-12-27)

The Fiery Priest is the highest rated miniseries drama that aired in 2019 on public broadcast according to Nielsen Korea.^[8] The drama was a huge success and was one of the most popular dramas aired in 2019. Kim Nam-gil won numerous accolades for his portrayal of a priest with anger management issues. The action comedy drama also featured parodies from other movies and dramas, notably from Mr. Sunshine, Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time, The Matrix, Reply 1988 and Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds.

Synopsis

Following the mysterious death of an elderly Catholic priest, an NIS agent turned Catholic priest attempts to bring the culprits involved before law. The hilarious journey in taking down the gangsters and corrupt officials in the city is what follows. The journey is not so smooth when the corrupt prosecutor of the city refuses to cooperate.

Cast

Main

• Kim Nam-gil as Father Michael/Kim Hae-il
  • Moon Woo-jin as young Hae-il

An ex-NIS agent who retired after an accident that happened during his last mission. He met Father Lee and eventually decided to take the path as a priest and hoped for his sins to be forgiven. He was very close to Father Lee and thus is crazy to punish those who killed him. On the contrary to a priest, he is a short-tempered person.

• Kim Sung-kyun as Goo Dae-young

A clumsy detective who is a pushover and always manipulated by his superintendent and seniors. Once a dedicated police, his life changed after the death of his former partner. He is Goo Jayoung's nephew.

• Ko Jun as Hwang Cheol-bum

A corrupt businessman who is the step-brother of Gudam's Head of Borough. He runs Daebum Trading and trade illegal things within. Once ranked as number two gangster in Yeosu, he often uses violence to achieve his goal. (Season 1)

• Lee Hanee as Angela/Park Kyung-sun

A fully corrupt prosecutor who covered up the crimes of Gudam's administrators including the police chief and head borough. She likes Hae-il for his good-looking face but constantly bickers with him.

• Keum Sae-rok as Seo Seung-ah

A rookie detective at Gudam Police Station who is dedicated in helping Hae-il to reveal the truth behind Fr. Lee's death. She secretly has a crush on Hae-il. (Season 1)

• Sung Joon as Jacob/Kim Hongsik

A ruthless drug kingpin who established his empire in Southeast Asia then came back to Busan. He has a crush on Park Kyung-sun. (Season 2)

• Seo Hyun-woo as Nam Duheon

A corrupt and mysterious prosecutor who helps in spreading drugs in S.Korea for his personal gains. (Season 2)

• Kim Hyeong-seo as Goo Jayeong

An honest and straightforward police detective who stands against corruption but is forced to step back by her corrupt colleagues. Dae-young's aunt. (Season 2)

Supporting

Local cartel

• Jeong Young-ju as Jung Dong-ja

Gudam's Head of Borough and Hwang Cheol-bum step-sister.

• Kim Hyung-mook as Kang Seok-tae

Chief prosecutor of Gudam and boss of Park Kyung-sun.

• Jung In-gi as Nam Suk-goo

Gudam Police Station's corrupt superintendent and leader of Rising Sun, a nightclub with connections to the cartel.

• Han Gi-jung as Park Won-moo

A corrupt assemblyman representing Gudam.

• Lee Moon-sik as Ki Yong-moon

A con-artist and the leader of a religious cult "Maegak".

• Kim Won-hae as Vladimir Gozhaev

Leader of the Russian gang.

People at the Cathedral and believers

• Jung Dong-hwan as Father Lee Young-joon

He is looked up as a father figure by Kim Hae-il and is a wise, soft-spoken man. His murder was touted as a suicide.

• Jeon Sung-woo as Father Han Sung-kyu

A gentle young priest at Gudam's Church. He trained to replace Fr. Lee's position after his death. His real name is Han Woo-ram, a famous child actor who starred in an old, popular drama prior to becoming a priest.

• Baek Ji-won as Sister Kim In-kyung

Head nun at Gudam's church who constantly worry about Hae-il boldness in finding the truth. She is revealed to be a former well-known gambler nicknamed Ten-Tailed Fox who blamed herself for her brother's death.

• Ahn Chang-hwan as Song Sac

A young man from Thailand who came to Gudam and work as a delivery boy to support his family. He was often bullied by Jang-ryeong for being a foreigner and best-friend with Oh Yo-han.

• Ko Kyu-pil as Oh Yo-han

A cheerful yet chubby part-timer who majored in astronomy but struggles to make a living. He did many part-time work and is best friend with Song Sac.

• Yoon Joo-hee as Bae Hee-jung

A psychiatrist.

People at the Police Station

• Shin Dam-soo as Lee Myung-soo
• Jeon Jeong-gwan as Heo Lig-gu
• Ji Chan as Na Dae-gil
• Kim Kwan-mo as Kim Kyung-ryul

Others

• Kim Min-jae as Lee Jung-gwon

Former NIS agent and Hae-il's team leader.

• Lee Je-yeon as Kim Hoon-suk
• Eum Moon-suk as Jang-ryong
• Kim Joon-ha as altar boy
• Lim Seung-min as altar boy
• Ok Ye-rin as Lim Ji-eun
• Young Ye-na as Hyun-joo
• Jo Ah-in as Eun-ji
• Choi Kwang-je as Anton
• Jung Jae-kwang as Kim Keon-yong
• Jeon Eun-mi as Wangmat Foods staff
• Heo Jae-ho as Gi Hong-chan

The CEO of Great Taste Foods and Yong-moon's cousin.

• Kang Un as Wangmat Foods manager
• Lee Gyu-ho as Choco

A large chef who works at "Great Taste Foods" and acts as the muscle. Despite his towering size, he is easily knocked out by Hae-il but reemerges as backup later on.

• Cha Chung-hwa as Ahn Dul-ja
• Yoo Kyung-ah as nursery nun
• Song Young-hak as former detective

Special appearances

• Lee Young-bum as Father Kang Matthew
• Lee Ki-young as Oh Jung-kook
• Hwang Bum-shik as Kyung-sun's father
• Jung Shi-ah as Maegakkyo believer
• Kim Jong-goo as Kim Jong-chul
• Yoo Seung-mok as Oh Kwang-du
• Jang Ye-won as news announcer
• Kwon Hyeok-soo as President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in^[9]
• Kim Hong-fa as Lee Seok-yoon
• Byun Joo-eun as Kim Geom-sa
• Park Eun-kyung as announcer
• Kim Won-gi as prosecutor
• Bang Jun-ho as planning manager

Production

The first script reading took place on October 26, 2018 at the SBS Ilsan Production Center in Tanhyun, South Korea.^[10] The first season series was produced by Samhwa Networks for approximately 9.3 billion won.^[11]

Promotional poster incorporating several notable characters from the first season.

The Fiery Priest was first scheduled to air as a Monday-Tuesday drama following My Strange Hero, but due to SBS deciding to cancel the weekend special drama time slot (Saturday nights at 21:05 KST) after Fates & Furies, it became the network's first Friday-Saturday night drama. Haechi was then chosen to follow My Strange Hero.^[12]

This series was Lee Myung-woo's last project for SBS, after 12 years of partnership. In October 2019, he moved to Taewon Entertainment.^[13]

The Fiery Priest 2, the sequel to the drama, was originally planned for a 2022 release but faced delays. In late 2023, lead actor Kim Nam-gil confirmed his return, and by January 2024, the series was officially announced as part of the SBS 2024 drama line-up. Filming reportedly began in February 2024. The series is a joint production between Studio S, Big Ocean ENM, Red Nine Pictures, and Gilstory ENT. The new season is directed by Park Bo-ram, who was the "Team B" director for the first season and is scheduled to premiere on November 8, 2024, at 10 PM.^[11]

Original soundtrack

The Fiery Priest OST
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Recorded	2019
Genre	Soundtrack
Language	Korean English
Label	Vlending SBS Contents Hub

Part 1

Released on February 22, 2019 (2019-02-22)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Our Neighbourhood HERO" (우리동네 HERO)	Hong In-ho Kim Soo-jung	Go Jin-young Lee Jin-ho	Norazo	3:11
2.	"Our Neighbourhood HERO" (Inst.)		Go Jin-young Lee Jin-ho		3:11
Total length:					6:22

Part 2

Released on March 8, 2019 (2019-03-08)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Breeze"	HaNa	ZigZag Note	Punch (feat. Gree)	3:53
2.	"Breeze" (Inst.)		ZigZag Note		3:53
Total length:					7:46

Part 3

Released on March 29, 2019 (2019-03-29)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Fighter"	Ra.L La.Q	Gaemi	Jung Dong-ha (feat. La.Q)	2:56
2.	"Fighter" (Inst.)		Gaemi		2:56
Total length:					5:52

Part 4

Released on April 5, 2019 (2019-04-05)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Paradise"	Chin Chilla Lee Myung-woo	Park Yoon-seo Gaemi	Chin Chilla (feat. Ga Eun)	2:52
2.	"Paradise" (Inst.)		Park Yoon-seo Gaemi		2:52
Total length:					5:44

Part 5

Released on April 12, 2019 (2019-04-12)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Joy"	Andy Platts	Andy Platts	Andy Platts	3:54
2.	"Joy" (Inst.)		Andy Platts		3:54
Total length:					7:48

Part 6

Released on April 19, 2019 (2019-04-19)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Victory"	Ra.L	Gaemi earattack	Kim Yeon-ji	2:54
2.	"Victory" (Inst.)		Gaemi earattack		2:54
Total length:					5:48

Viewership

The Fiery Priest : South Korea viewers per episode (millions)

Episodes		Episode number
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
	Ep.1–13	1.852	2.354	1.649	2.170	2.296	2.776	2.397	2.921	2.522	3.194	2.557	3.193	2.571
	Ep.14–26	2.990	2.508	3.304	2.687	3.260	2.707	3.610	2.688	3.127	2.805	3.467	2.838	3.414
	Ep.27–39	2.984	3.512	2.797	3.639	3.344	3.766	3.017	3.863	3.578	4.076	3.146	4.001	3.693
	Ep.40–52	4.325	2.212	2.001	1.984	2.210	2.255	2.289	2.085	2.296	1.968	1.875	2.182	2.053

Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Media Research.^[14][15]

Average TV viewership ratings (season 1)
Ep.	Original broadcast date	Title	Average audience share
			Nielsen Korea[14]		TNmS
			Nationwide	Seoul	Nationwide
1	February 15, 2019	A Priest in Trouble	10.4% (9th)	11.6% (7th)	9.3%
2		Hae-il Moves to Gudam	13.8% (4th)	15.6% (3rd)	11.9%
3	February 16, 2019	Hae-il Meets Cheol-bum	8.6% (14th)	9.5% (12th)	7.4%
4		Father Lee's Death	11.2% (9th)	12.6% (9th)	9.1%
5	February 22, 2019	Hae-il Investigates the Death of Father Lee	12.8% (5th)	14.7% (3rd)	11.0%
6		The Case Gets Closed	16.2% (2nd)	18.5% (1st)	13.3%
7	February 23, 2019	The Church Gets Desolate	13.0% (4th)	14.8% (4th)	11.1%
8		A Cooperative Investigation	15.7% (3rd)	18.0% (3rd)	13.4%
9	March 1, 2019	Cooperative Investigation Begins	14.0% (4th)	15.9% (3rd)	11.9%
10		Hae-il Investigates On His Own	17.2% (2nd)	19.5% (1st)	14.3%
11	March 2, 2019	Hae-il And Seung-ah Find The Witnesses	13.1% (4th)	15.0% (4th)	10.4%
12		Dae-young's Old Partner	16.0% (3rd)	18.2% (3rd)	12.8%
13	March 8, 2019	Kyeong-seon Meets Dong-ja	15.3% (4th)	17.1% (3rd)	11.9%
14		The Corrupt Food Service Company	17.7% (2nd)	19.7% (1st)	14.2%
15	March 9, 2019	To Tame A Fighting Dog	12.5% (5th)	14.6% (4th)	10.8%
16		Raid Wangmat Foods	16.1% (3rd)	18.3% (3rd)	13.7%
17	March 15, 2019	Hae-il Reports The Bribery Case	15.4% (4th)	17.4% (3rd)	11.5%
18		Kyeong-seon Is Back	17.5% (2nd)	19.5% (2nd)	13.7%
19	March 16, 2019	A New Lead Comes Up	14.2% (4th)	15.7% (4th)	12.0%
20		A Covert Infiltration	18.1% (3rd)	20.3% (3rd)	14.3%
21	March 22, 2019	Escape from the Villa	14.6% (3rd)	16.5% (3rd)	12.3%
22		Save Him	17.2% (2nd)	19.0% (1st)	14.9%
23	March 23, 2019	Hae-il's Past Is Revealed	14.8% (4th)	16.7% (4th)	12.6%
24		Hae-il Saves Kyeong-seon	17.9% (3rd)	19.6% (3rd)	15.5%
25	March 29, 2019	Break-in to Kyeong-seon's House	15.3% (3rd)	17.4% (3rd)	11.9%
26		Kyeong-seon Cooperating with Hae-il	18.5% (2nd)	20.9% (1st)	14.6%
27	March 30, 2019	Hae-il and Kyeong-seon Devising a Scheme	15.6% (4th)	17.4% (4th)	14.0%
28		Kyeong-seon and Seung-ah Entering the Lair of Anton	18.2% (3rd)	19.8% (3rd)	16.1%
29	April 5, 2019	Scheme to Find out the Owner of Rising Moon	15.5% (3rd)	17.7% (3rd)	13.0%
30		The Secret of Sister Kim	19.8% (2nd)	22.2% (1st)	16.9%
31	April 6, 2019	Let Me Teach You A Lesson	17.7% (4th)	19.9% (4th)	15.7%
32		Father Kim, Go to Argentina	19.4% (3rd)	21.6% (2nd)	17.3%
33	April 12, 2019	Scheme to Sneak in the Safe	16.2% (3rd)	18.6% (3rd)	—
34		The Safe and People Locked in There	20.3% (1st)	22.8% (1st)
35	April 13, 2019	Cheol-bum Asks Hae-il For Cooperation	17.2% (4th)	18.9% (4th)
36		Father Han Trying To Persuade Dong-ja	20.0% (3rd)	22.1% (2nd)
37	April 19, 2019	Father Han Falling into a Critical Condition	16.7% (3rd)	18.4% (2nd)	14.6%
38		The Truth of Father Lee's Death	20.3% (1st)	22.2% (1st)	18.1%
39	April 20, 2019	Showdown	18.6% (4th)	21.1% (4th)	15.9%
40		Unexpected Visit	22.0% (3rd)	24.7% (1st)	18.5%
Average			16.1%	18.1%	—[b]
In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. N/A denotes that the rating is not known.

Average TV viewership ratings (season 2)
Ep.	Original broadcast date	Average audience share (Nielsen Korea)[15]
		Nationwide	Seoul
1	November 8, 2024	11.9% (1st)	12.4% (1st)
2	November 9, 2024	10.1% (2nd)	10.6% (2nd)
3	November 15, 2024	10.7% (2nd)	11.1% (1st)
4	November 16, 2024	11.2% (2nd)	11.6% (2nd)
5	November 22, 2024	12.7% (1st)	13.6% (1st)
6	November 23, 2024	12.8% (2nd)	12.6% (2nd)
7	November 29, 2024	11.6% (2nd)	12.0% (1st)
8	November 30, 2024	12.1% (2nd)	12.6% (2nd)
9	December 6, 2024	11.3% (1st)	11.6% (1st)
10	December 13, 2024	10.8% (1st)	10.8% (2nd)
11	December 20, 2024	11.9% (1st)	11.9% (1st)
12	December 27, 2024	10.9% (2nd)	10.5% (1st)
Average		11.5%	11.8%
In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result	Ref.
2019	55th Baeksang Arts Awards	Best Actor	Kim Nam-gil	Nominated	[16]
	Busan International Film Festival	Best Actor		Won
	Korean Broadcasters Association Awards			Won
	14th Seoul International Drama Awards	Excellent Korean Drama	The Fiery Priest	Won	[17]
		Best Actor	Kim Nam-gil	Won
	12th Korea Drama Awards	Best Drama	The Fiery Priest	Nominated	[18]
		Best Screenplay	Park Jae-bum	Nominated
		Star of the Year Award	Go Jun	Won
		Popular Character Award (Male)	Ahn Chang-hwan	Won
	32nd Grimae Awards	Best Actor	Kim Nam-gil	Won	[19]
		Best Picture (Drama)	Yoon Dae-young, Park Jong-ki	Won
	2019 SBS Drama Awards	Grand Prize (Daesang)	Kim Nam-gil	Won	[20]
		Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Mid-length Drama		Nominated
		Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Mid-length Drama	Lee Hanee	Won
		Excellence Award, Actor in a Mid-length Drama	Kim Sung-kyun	Won
		Best Supporting Team	The Fiery Priest	Won
		Best Supporting Actor	Go Jun	Won
		Wayve Award	The Fiery Priest	Won
		Producer's Award	Kim Nam-gil	Nominated
		Best New Actor	Eum Moon-suk	Won
		Best New Actress	Keum Sae-rok	Won
2024	2024 SBS Drama Awards	Grand Prize (Daesang)	Kim Nam-gil	Nominated	[21][unreliable source?][22]
		Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Seasonal Drama		Won
		Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Seasonal Drama	Lee Hanee	Won
		Excellence Award, Actor in a Seasonal Drama	Kim Sung-kyun	Won
			Sung Joon	Won
		Excellence Award, Actress in a Seasonal Drama	Kim Hyeong-seo	Won
		Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries Seasonal Drama	Seo Hyun-woo	Won
		Best New Actor	Seo Bum-june	Won
		Best Young Actor	Moon Woo-jin	Won
		Scene Stealer Award	Ko Kyu-pil	Won
			Ahn Chang-hwan	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.^[6]
2. Due to some ratings not recorded, the exact average rating is unknown.