The Merchant: Gaekju 2015 ()The word gaekju literally translates to "innkeeper merchant," which refers to private or free traders who sold grain wholesale; gaekju is no longer used in present-day Korea but was commonly used in the Joseon era. is a South Korean television series based on Gaekju, Kim Joo-young's ten-volume novel which was serialized in daily newspaper Seoul Shinmun from June 1979 to February 1983. It aired on KBS2 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 for 41 episodes beginning September 23, 2015.

Plot In late Joseon, a poor man named Chun Bong-sam inherits a decrepit inn and honestly works his way up to becoming a powerful merchant. As tradesmen clash against the bureaucratic powers that attempt to oppress them by rigging bad deals, Bong-sam never loses sight of his humble beginnings as a peddler even after achieving great success and eventually shapes the way that industry and business are done in his time.

Cast Jang Hyuk as Chun Bong-sam Jo Hyun-do as young Bong-sam Yu Oh-seong as Gil So-gae Park Gun-woo as young So-gae Kim Min-jung as Mae-wol Han Chae-ah as Jo So-sa Park Eun-hye as Chun So-rye Seo Ji-hee as young So-rye Lee Deok-hwa as Shin Seok-ju Kim Il-woo as Maeng Gu-beom Kim Kyu-chul as Kim Bo-hyun Kim Hak-chul as Kim Hak-joon Jung Tae-woo as Sun-dol Ryu Dam as Gom-bae Yang Jung-a as Bang-geum Song Young-jae as Mung-gae Moon Ga-young as Wol-yi Choi Seung-hoon

Original soundtracks

Ratings In the table below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. Episode #Original broadcast dateAverage audience shareTNmS RatingsAGB NielsenNationwideSeoul National Capital AreaNationwideSeoul National Capital Area1September 23, 20155.2%(<6.7%)6.9%7.3%2September 24, 20154.5%(<7.2%)5.9%5.8%3September 30, 20154.1%4.0%6.0%5.8%4October 1, 20154.3%(<7.8%)6.7%6.7%5October 7, 20156.9%7.2%7.8%8.2%6October 8, 20157.4%7.7%9.5%10.0%7October 14, 20158.7%9.1%11.1%11.5%8October 15, 20158.4%9.2%10.0%9.8%9October 21, 20158.1%9.1%9.9%10.5%10October 22, 20158.0%8.5%10.9%11.2%11October 28, 20158.2%8.5%10.1%9.9%12November 4, 20157.7%8.2%11.1%11.3%13November 5, 20157.8%8.3%10.2%10.2%14November 11, 20157.9%8.7%11.3%11.7%15November 12, 20159.5%10.2%12.1%11.6%16November 18, 20158.4% —12.0%11.9%17November 19, 20158.0%8.9%11.7%11.6%18November 25, 20158.6%8.9%12.2%12.2%19November 26, 20159.2%9.6%13.0%12.8%20December 2, 20158.1%8.7%12.4%12.6%21December 3, 20159.7%10.6%12.2%12.3%22December 9, 20158.4%9.2%11.6%11.8%23December 10, 20158.5%9.4%11.4%11.6%24December 16, 20158.4%8.7%10.6%10.1%25December 17, 20157.4%7.6%11.6%10.9%26December 23, 20157.7%8.2%11.7%11.0%27December 24, 20157.6%8.0%11.0%11.1%201628January 6, 20167.7%8.5%9.8%9.7%29January 7, 20168.8%9.6%11.4%11.6%30January 13, 20168.0%8.5%10.7%10.4%31January 14, 20169.2%9.5%11.4%11.5%32January 20, 20168.4%8.1%10.8%10.2%33January 21, 20169.8%9.3%11.5%11.0%34January 27, 20169.1%9.1%10.2%9.9%35January 28, 20169.9%9.6%11.8%11.0%36February 3, 20169.1%9.0%11.2%11.1%37February 4, 20169.9%10.1%11.4%10.6%38February 10, 20168.7%8.9%10.4%%39February 11, 20168.4%8.5%11.1%10.4%40February 17, 20168.5%8.5%10.4%9.7%41February 18, 20168.8%9.4%11.2%10.9%

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Recipient Result20154th APAN Star Awards Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Serial Drama Jang Hyuk Excellence Award, Actress in a Serial Drama Kim Min-jung Han Chae-ah 29th KBS Drama Awards Excellence Award, Actor in a Mid-length Drama Jang Hyuk Excellence Award, Actress in a Mid-length Drama Kim Min-jung Han Chae-ah Best Couple Award Jang Hyuk and Han Chae-ah

International broadcast Country Network(s)/Station(s) Series premiere Title True4U พ่อค้าเร่แห่งโชซอน (Phor Kha Re Haeng Joseon; lit: "Vendor of Joseon") RTV Kemenangan Cinta ("Wonder of Joseon")

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