Jumong () is a South Korean epic series that aired on MBC from 2006 to 2007 as the network's 45th anniversary special. Originally scheduled for 60 episodes, MBC extended it to 81 because of its popularity.
The series examines the life of King Dongmyeong, founder of the kingdom of Goguryeo.
Plot Following the conquest of Gojoseon by Han China in 108 BCE, the surviving tribes and city-states of Manchuria and the northern Korean Peninsula are harshly subjugated as tributaries to the Han, who are portrayed as ruling with an iron fist from the Four Commanderies. Haemosu, the leader of the local resistance in the form of the Damul Army, covertly teams up with Prince Geumwa of Buyeo to defend and rescue Gojoseon refugees throughout the land. After being injured in a battle, Haemosu is rescued by Lady Yuhwa of the Habaek tribe (to whom Geumwa has taken a fancy), and they fall in love. Haemosu is subsequently ambushed and captured by Han forces (and after falling off a cliff is presumed dead by the outside world), and Lady Yuhwa is forced to seek shelter in Buyeo, where she becomes Geumwa's concubine and gives birth to a son, Jumong. They maintain that Geumwa is Jumong's father, when in fact Haemosu is his father.
Twenty years later, the young Jumong is a weak and cowardly prince overshadowed and scorned by his elder "half-brothers" Daeso and Youngpo, who are vying for inheritance of the Buyeo throne from their father (the now-King Geumwa). Because they believe Jumong is Geumwa's son, they assume that he has a justifiable claim to the throne, and their mother's hatred of Lady Yuhwa reinforces a feud between the half-brothers who aren't really brothers at all. This culminates in an assassination attempt by his brothers, setting in motion a sequence of events that leads to Jumong leaving the palace and, by a twist of fate, encounters his father, the now-elderly and blind Haemosu. Jumong becomes skilled in combat under Haemosu's covert tutelage, but is unaware of their father-son relationship. At the same time, Jumong forms a close relationship with Lady Soseono of the Gyeru trading clan of Jolbon. Following Haemosu's assassination by Daeso and Youngpo, Jumong learns the truth and vows to avenge his father and drive out the Han. He returns to Geumwa and leads the Buyeo army in a campaign against the Lintun and Zhenfan Commanderies, but is reported missing in action and presumed dead following an injury in battle. Subsequently, Daeso seizes power in Buyeo by colluding with Xuantu Commandery and forces Soseono to be his wife. In desperation, Soseono weds her trading partner Wootae (not knowing Jumong is still alive). Jumong, however, is rescued by the Hanbaek tribe and nursed back to health by Lady Ye So-ya, whom he weds. They return to Buyeo and Jumong feigns servitude to Daeso, thereby earning his trust. With Daeso's guard down, Jumong and his men manage to intercept and lead a large group of Gojoseon refugees into the wilds of Mount Bongye, where they establish a fortress and re-form the Damul Army, against Daeso's wishes, who holds Lady Yuhwa and a pregnant Yesoya hostage in the palace. After a solar eclipse, Geumwa regains the power with the help of the Prime Minister. He tries to convince Jumong to come back to palace and disband the Damul Army as part of the conditions given by the Prime minister in exchange for his reinstatement. Jumong refuses the offer and the Prime Minister tries to eliminate him and his men.
Over the next three years, the Damul Army grows and begins uniting various local tribes, to the discomfort of Buyeo and Han. Following Wootae's death in battle, Jumong and Soseono form an alliance and unite the five clans of Jolbon and the Damul Army into a single powerful entity, which succeeds in conquering the Xuantu Commandery and establishing the Kingdom of Goguryeo. When Yesoya and Yuri are reported missing from Buyeo (and presumed dead), a grieving Jumong weds Soseono and they become King and Queen of the new nation.
After ruling Goguryeo for fifteen years, Jumong succeeds in reuniting with Yesoya and Yuri (who had been living in exile after escaping from the palace). Following Geumwa's assassination by Han mercenaries, the newly-crowned King Daeso forms an alliance with Jumong, and the combined armies of Goguryeo and Buyeo succeed in conquering Liaodong Commandery with utter annihilation of the Han army in Manchuria. With Jumong's lifelong mission finally complete and in order to prevent internal strife due to Yuri's return, Soseono departs from Goguryeo and heads south with the pro-Jolbon faction and her teenage sons Biryu and Onjo, who subsequently becomes the founder of the Kingdom of Baekje on the Korean Peninsula. Buyeo eventually collapses following the battlefield death of Daeso at the hands of Jumong's grandson Muhyul. Jumong continues battling against Han China to consolidate his realm, and dies at the age of 40 after passing the crown of Goguryeo to Yuri.
Cast Song Il-kook as Jumong Han Hye-jin as Soseono Kim Seung-soo as Prince Daeso Jun Kwang-ryul as King Geumwa Oh Yeon-soo as Lady Yuhwa Kyeon Mi-ri as Queen Wonhu Song Ji-hyo as Ye So-ya Park Tam-hee as Yang Seo-ran Ahn Yong-joon as Yuri Jung Yoon-seok as young Yuri Kim Byung-ki as Yeon Ta-bal Jin Hee-kyung as High Priestess Yeo Mi-eul Lee Jae-yong as Prime Minister Bu Deuk-bul Huh Joon-ho as Hae Mosu Won Ki-joon as Prince Youngpo Bae Soo-bin as Sa-yong Kang Eun-tak as Chan-soo Im So-yeong as Bu-young Yoon Dong-hwan as Yang-jung Oh Uk-chul as Lord Hwang Yeo Ho-min as General Oi Ahn Jeong-hoon as Ma-ri Im Dae-ho as Hyeop-bo Lee Kye-in as Mo Pal-mo Seo Beom-sik as Moo-gol Kim Min-chan as Mook-geo Cha Kwang-soo as Jae-sa Park Kyung-hwan as Bu Beon-no Park Nam-hyeon as Na-ru Jeong Ho-bin as Wutae Lee Jae-suk as Biryu Kim Seok as Onjo Lee Won-jae as Do-chi Kwon Yong-woon as Moo-song Oh Ji-young as Jong-go Jo Myung-jin as Mu-duk Lee Seung-ah as Chun-rang Han Hee-jin as In-rang Kim Nan-hee as Ji-rang Min Ji-young as courtesan Kim Ho-young as Ma-ga Kim Won-suk as Song-joo Son Ho-kyoon as Heuk-chi No Hee-ji as So-ryeong Jeong Han-heon as Kye-pil Jang Hyo-jin as Baek Sun-in Hwang Bum-sik as Jin-yong Park Jong-kwan as Song-yang Bae Do-hwan as Tae Ma-jin Baek Na-young as Yeon Chae-ryeong Kim Jin-ho as Yang-tak Ha Yong-jin as Dong-sun Yoon Seo-hyun as Han-dang Lee Hwan as Sang-chun Han Kyung-sun as court lady Yoo Hee-jung as court lady Song Gui-hun as Bul-gae Kwon Eun-ha as Mauryeong Kang Moon-hee as Hyun-moo Dan So-young as Yoo-sung Jeon Ha-eun as Byeo Ri-ha Lee Sung as Hae Byeol-chan Hong Soon-chang as Jin Joong-moon Lee Chang-hwan as head of a tribe Park Geun-hyung as King Hae Buru Shin Joon-young as Bae-mang Han In-su as head of a tribe Kim Yong-hee as Sul-tak Oh Seung-yun as Chun-doong Son Sun-geun as Man-ho Lee Won-yong as fortune-teller Moon Hee-won as former Governor-general Yun Yong-hyeon as Boo Wiyeom Jang Hee-woong as Ha Hoo-chun Samuel Kang as warrior
Production
Jumong was filmed on location at Yongin Daejanggeum Park in Cheoin District, Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, where other period dramas (such as Dong Yi, Moon Embracing the Sun and Queen Seondeok) were also filmed.
Ratings Jumong received the highest viewership ratings of all the Korean dramas that aired in 2006.
Date Episode Nationwide Seoul 2006-05-15 1 16.3% (3rd) 17.5% (3rd) 2006-05-16 2 18.4% (3rd) 19.2% (3rd) 2006-05-22 3 21.8% (1st) 23.6% (1st) 2006-05-23 4 25.3% (2nd) 26.6% (2nd) 2006-05-29 5 28.0% (1st) 29.9% (1st) 2006-05-30 6 28.7% (1st) 29.6% (1st) 2006-06-05 7 27.9% (1st) 29.2% (1st) 2006-06-06 8 32.3% (1st) 33.7% (1st) 2006-06-20 9 29.4% (1st) 30.7% (1st) 2006-06-26 10 33.2% (1st) 35.3% (1st) 2006-06-27 11 32.9% (1st) 34.8% (1st) 2006-07-03 12 36.4% (1st) 38.1% (1st) 2006-07-04 13 37.6% (1st) 38.8% (1st) 2006-07-10 14 35.8% (1st) 37.5% (1st) 2006-07-11 15 37.2% (1st) 38.8% (1st) 2006-07-17 16 40.1% (1st) 42.8% (1st) 2006-07-18 17 38.7% (1st) 39.9% (1st) 2006-07-24 18 39.6% (1st) 41.1% (1st) 2006-07-25 19 39.9% (1st) 40.5% (1st) 2006-07-31 20 35.1% (1st) 36.1% (1st) 2006-08-01 21 36.8% (1st) 38.2% (1st) 2006-08-07 22 37.3% (1st) 37.9% (1st) 2006-08-08 23 37.4% (1st) 38.9% (1st) 2006-08-14 24 35.5% (1st) 35.8% (1st) 2006-08-15 25 39.3% (1st) 40.7% (1st) 2006-08-21 26 38.1% (1st) 39.6% (1st) 2006-08-22 27 39.5% (1st) 40.0% (1st) 2006-08-28 28 40.3% (1st) 41.7% (1st) 2006-08-29 29 40.3% (1st) 40.9% (1st) 2006-09-04 30 39.7% (1st) 40.6% (1st) 2006-09-05 31 40.3% (1st) 41.4% (1st) 2006-09-11 32 39.3% (1st) 40.6% (1st) 2006-09-12 33 38.5% (1st) 39.2% (1st) 2006-09-18 34 39.5% (1st) 40.3% (1st) 2006-09-19 35 43.0% (1st) 43.9% (1st) 2006-09-25 36 42.8% (1st) 43.9% (1st) 2006-09-26 37 43.6% (1st) 44.4% (1st) 2006-10-02 38 42.6% (1st) 43.2% (1st) 2006-10-03 39 44.9% (1st) 44.8% (1st) 2006-10-09 40 44.2% (1st) 45.0% (1st) 2006-10-10 41 43.6% (1st) 43.8% (1st) 2006-10-16 42 43.1% (1st) 43.6% (1st) 2006-10-17 43 42.4% (1st) 42.2% (1st) 2006-10-23 44 44.5% (1st) 45.4% (1st) 2006-10-24 45 45.0% (1st) 45.2% (1st) 2006-10-30 46 44.6% (1st) 45.1% (1st) 2006-10-31 47 43.8% (1st) 43.7% (1st) 2006-11-06 48 46.6% (1st) 47.9% (1st) 2006-11-07 49 47.2% (1st) 48.3% (1st) 2006-11-13 50 43.6% (1st) 43.5% (1st) 2006-11-14 51 48.1% (1st) 49.2% (1st) 2006-11-20 52 44.8% (1st) 45.4% (1st) 2006-11-21 53 44.0% (1st) 44.5% (1st) 2006-11-27 54 45.1% (1st) 45.2% (1st) 2006-11-28 55 44.4% (1st) 44.9% (1st) 2006-12-04 56 44.0% (1st) 44.4% (1st) 2006-12-05 57 42.9% (1st) 43.2% (1st) 2006-12-11 58 46.4% (1st) 46.1% (1st) 2006-12-12 59 41.5% (1st) 42.6% (1st) 2006-12-18 60 44.4% (1st) 45.3% (1st) 2006-12-19 61 46.6% (1st) 47.1% (1st) 2007-01-01 62 44.8% (1st) 45.8% (1st) 2007-01-02 63 45.2% (1st) 45.3% (1st) 2007-01-08 64 45.5% (1st) 45.4% (1st) 2007-01-09 65 46.8% (1st) 47.1% (1st) 2007-01-15 66 46.8% (1st) 47.5% (1st) 2007-01-16 67 47.1% (1st) 47.9% (1st) 2007-01-22 68 49.8% (1st) 50.5% (1st) 2007-01-23 69 42.0% (1st) 43.6% (1st) 2007-01-29 70 47.9% (1st) 48.3% (1st) 2007-01-30 71 50.3% (1st) 51.0% (1st) 2007-02-05 72 47.1% (1st) 48.5% (1st) 2007-02-06 73 46.0% (1st) 47.2% (1st) 2007-02-12 74 47.6% (1st) 48.1% (1st) 2007-02-13 75 47.1% (1st) 47.8% (1st) 2007-02-19 76 41.9% (1st) 42.1% (1st) 2007-02-20 77 49.7% (1st) 49.9% (1st) 2007-02-26 78 47.2% (1st) 47.1% (1st) 2007-02-27 79 50.6% (1st) 50.9% (1st) 2007-03-05 80 49.8% (1st) 50.0% (1st) 2007-03-06 81 51.9% (1st) 52.7% (1st) Average 40.98% 41.83%
Awards and nominations +AwardCategoryRecipientsResultRefMBC Drama AwardsGrand Prize (Daesang)Song Il-gookDrama of the YearJumongDirector of the YearLee Joo-hwanWriter(s) of the YearChoi Wan-kyu and Jung Hyung-sooTop Excellence Award, ActorJun Kwang-ryulSong Il-gookTop Excellence Award, ActressHan Hye-jinOh Yeon-sooExcellence Award, ActorKim Seung-sooSpecial Award, Actor in a Historical DramaHuh Joon-hoSpecial Award, Actress in a Historical DramaOh Yeon-sooSpecial Award, Veteran ActorLee Kye-inBest New ActorWon Ki-joonBaeksang Arts AwardsGrand Prize (Daesang)JumongBest DramaBest DirectorLee Joo-hwanBest ActorSong Il-gookBest ActressHan Hye-jinBest ScreenplayChoi Wan-kyu and Jung Hyung-sooBest New ActressSong Ji-hyoKorea Drama AwardsBest DramaJumongSeoul International Drama AwardsBest ActorSong Il-gook
International broadcast Broadcast rights for Jumong were sold to Iran (Channel 3), Turkey, Moldova (TV8), Romania (TVR1), Kazakhstan, Georgia (Imedi TV), Armenia, Japan (Fuji TV), Mongolia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam (VTV1), Singapore (Mediacorp Channel U), Indonesia, Thailand (Channel 3), Malaysia, Brunei, Philippines (GMA Network, Q, GTV, Heart of Asia), Fiji (Fiji One), Iraqi Kurdistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan (TV SMT), Cambodia (Cambodian Television Network), United States (AZN Television), Myanmar (Myawaddy TV & MRTV-4), and Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation).