The Forbidden Marriage

The Forbidden Marriage (Korean: 금혼령, 조선 혼인 금지령) is a South Korean television series starring Park Ju-hyun, Kim Young-dae, and Kim Woo-seok. It is based on screenwriter Chun Ji-hye's own web novel of the same title, which was also released as a webtoon.^[4] It aired on MBC TV from December 9, 2022 to January 21, 2023, every Friday and Saturday at 21:50 (KST).^[6][7]

The Forbidden Marriage
Promotional poster
Hangul	금혼령, 조선 혼인 금지령
Hanja	禁婚令, 朝鮮 婚姻 禁止令
Lit.	Geumhollyeong, Joseon's Marriage Ban
RR	Geumhollyeong, Joseon honin geumjiryeong
MR	Kŭmhollyŏng, Chosŏn honin kŭmjiryŏng
Genre	Historical drama[1] Romantic comedy[1]
Based on	The Forbidden Marriage by Chun Ji-hye[2]
Developed by	Kim Ho-jun (planning)[3]
Written by	Chun Ji-hye
Directed by	Park Sang-woo[4] Jeong Hoon[4]
Starring	Park Ju-hyun Kim Young-dae Kim Woo-seok
Music by	Noh Hyeong-woo
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	12
Production
Executive producers	Yoon Gi-taek[3] Oh Jin-seung[3]
Producers	Moon Seok-hwan[3] Oh Kwang-hee[3] Lee Dae-yong[3] Son Sang-beom[3]
Running time	70 minutes[5]
Production company	Bon Factory[4]
Original release
Network	MBC TV
Release	December 9, 2022 (2022-12-09) – January 21, 2023 (2023-01-21)

Synopsis

Set in a fictional period within the Joseon period, the series follows the story of King Lee Heon who has issued a marriage ban after the death of his crown princess seven years ago, and scammer So-rang who claims that she can be possessed by the late crown princess's spirit.^[4][8]

Cast

Main

• Park Ju-hyun as Ye So-rang^[9][10]
• Kim Young-dae as Lee Heon^[11]
• Kim Woo-seok as Lee Shin-won^[12]

Supporting

• Choi Deok-moon as Gwaeng-i^[13]
• Jung Bo-min as Hae-young^[14]
• Yang Dong-geun as Jo Seong-gyun^[13]
• Seo Jin-won as Kwon Rip^[13]
• Jeon Jin-oh as Na Sang-ju^[13]
• Lee Doo-seok as Kim Ui-jun^[13]
• Lee Hyun-geol as Se-jang^[13]
• Hwang Jung-min as a court lady^[15]
• Kim Min-sang as First Secretary Kim Seol-rok^[16]
• Jo Seung-yeon as Lee Jeong-hak^[13]
• Park Sun-young as Seo Un-jeong^[17]
• Song Ji-woo as Ye Hyun-hee^[18]
• Um Hyo-sup as Ye Hyun-ho^[13]
• Kim Min-ju as Crown Princess Ahn (Ahn Ja-yeon)^[19] / Cha-nyeon^[20]
• Cha Mi-kyung as Grand Royal Queen Dowager^[13]
• Yoon Jeong-hun as Ja Chun-seok^[21]
• Lee Jeong-hyun as Oh Deok-hoon^[22]
• Kim Min-seok as Wang-bae^[23]
• Hong Si-young as Jung Do-seok^[13][24]

Extended

• Lee Yoo-kyung as Soo-hyang^[13]
• Yoon Tae-in as Bae Yong-bae^[25]
• Lee Seung-min as Ji-hwal^[26]

Special appearances

• Park Gyeong-ree as Cho-ran^[27]
• Han Sang-jin as Ahn Ji-hyung^[28]
• No Min-woo as Ban Ran-tan^[29]
• Jo Soo-min as Hwa-yoon^[30]

Production

On November 10, 2022, an official from MBC announced that filming for the series was suspended after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19, and was scheduled to resume on November 14.^[31]

Original soundtrack

Part 1

Released on December 17, 2022

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"How Can I Forget You" (어찌 잊으라 하시오)	Dong Woo-seok	Dong Woo-seok Yoo Jung-hyun	Seo Eun-kwang (BtoB)	4:35
2.	"How Can I Forget You" (어찌 잊으라 하시오; Inst.)		Dong Woo-seok Yoo Jung-hyun		4:35
Total length:					9:10

Part 2

Released on December 24, 2022

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Do You Know That" (알고 있나요)	Noah (Galactika)	Athena (Galactika)	Eunha	3:33
2.	"Do You Know That" (알고 있나요; Inst.)		Athena (Galactika)		3:31
Total length:					7:04

Part 3

Released on January 7, 2023

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"The Wall" (벽)	GDLO (MonoTree)	GDLO (MonoTree) Lee Gi-chul	Kim Min-seok (MeloMance)	4:02
2.	"The Wall" (벽; Inst.)		GDLO (MonoTree) Lee Gi-chul		4:02
Total length:					8:04

Part 4

Released on January 14, 2023

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Can You Hear Me" (혹시라도 들릴까)	Kim Won	Kim Won Takey	Lee Ah-young	4:13
2.	"Can You Hear Me" (혹시라도 들릴까; Inst.)		Kim Won Takey		4:13
Total length:					8:26

Viewership

The Forbidden Marriage : South Korea viewers per episode (thousands)

Season		Episode number												Average
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
	1	798	N/A	616	N/A	675	N/A	917	N/A	858	671	915	905	N/A

Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Korea.^[32]

Average TV viewership ratings

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Average audience share (Nielsen Korea)[32]
		Nationwide	Seoul
1	December 9, 2022	4.6% (17th)	4.6% (16th)
2	December 10, 2022	3.4% (22nd)	N/A
3	December 16, 2022	3.5% (20th)	3.8% (18th)
4	December 17, 2022	3.0% (25th)	N/A
5	December 23, 2022	4.0% (20th)	3.8% (19th)
6	December 24, 2022	3.1% (22nd)	N/A
7	January 6, 2023[a]	4.9% (14th)	4.5% (16th)
8	January 7, 2023[a]	3.2% (23rd)	N/A
9	January 13, 2023	4.7% (16th)	4.6% (15th)
10	January 14, 2023	3.8% (20th)	3.9% (16th)
11	January 20, 2023	4.8% (14th)	4.9% (12th)
12	January 21, 2023	4.7% (11th)	4.7% (11th)
Average		4.0%	—[b]
In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. N/A denotes rating that was not released.

Awards and nominations

Award ceremony	Year	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
MBC Drama Awards	2022	Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries	Kim Young-dae	Won	[34]
		Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries	Park Ju-hyun	Won
		Best Supporting Actor	Yang Dong-geun	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actress	Hwang Jung-min	Nominated
		Best New Actor	Kim Woo-seok	Nominated
		Best New Actress	Kim Min-ju	Won
		Best Couple Award	Kim Young-dae and Park Ju-hyun	Nominated

Notes

1. Episodes 7 and 8 aired on January 6 and 7, 2023, respectively, due to the broadcast of 2022 MBC Drama Awards on December 30, 2022 and 2022 MBC Gayo Daejejeon on December 31, 2022.^[33]
2. Due to some unpublished ratings, the exact average rating is unknown.