Royal Secret Agent () is a South Korean historical comedy, detective television series. The series is directed by Kim Jung-min and stars Kim Myung-soo, Kwon Nara, Lee Tae-hwan, Lee Yi-kyung, and Jo Soo-min. Written by Kang Min-sun and Park Sung-hoon the series is about a government position in Joseon dynasty known as Secret royal inspector, who monitors corrupt government officials while remaining undercover. It aired on KBS2 every Monday and Tuesday at 21:30 (KST) from December 21, 2020, to February 9, 2021.
Synopsis
Set in the era of Joseon dynasty the series revolves around Sung Yi-gyum (Kim Myung-soo), a state examination top scorer who works in the administrative and research department of the government office. He is caught gambling and as punishment, he is reassigned to a new position as a secret royal inspector to investigate the corrupt practices of public officers. Yi-gyum carries out his new job with the help of Hong Da-in (Kwon Nara), a female inspector, and Park Chun-sam (Lee Yi-kyung), his talkative but affectionate servant.
Cast
Main
The three musketeers
Kim Myung-soo as Sung Yi-gyum, a secret royal inspector
Kwon Na-ra as Hong Da-in/Honglang/Lee Young-sin, female police posing as a courtesan whose beauty is comparable to Hwang Jini. She becomes a member of Royal Secret Agent's entourage. Lee Yi-kyung as Park Chun-sam, Sung Yi-gyum's servant.
Around three musketeers
Lee Tae-hwan as Sung Yi-beom, Sung Yi-gyum's half-brother, head of the band of vigilante Jo Soo-min as Kang Soon-ae, Sung Yi-gyum's ex-lover, daughter of a courtesan
Supporting
Ahn Nae-sang as Jang Tae-seung, Chief Royal Secretary
Son Byong-ho as Kim Byeong-geun, Chief State Councillor
Kim Young-cheol
Choi Jong-won as Kang In-chung, corrupt sheriff
Shin Ha-young as Kim Mi-ok
Park Joo-hyung as Seo Yong
Kim Kyung-sook
Lee Min-woo
Um Hyo-sup
Chae Dong-hyun as Kim Man-hee, Kim Byeong-geun's first son
Jong Ho as Man Deok
Shin Ji-hoon as Choi Do-kwan
Jo Deok-hee as Jung Moon-ho
Yang Byung-yeol as Civil servant Kim
Production
By July 2020 the main cast of the series with Lee Tae-hwan, Kim Myung-soo, Kwon Nara and Lee Yi-kyung was finalized. The broadcast was initially scheduled to be premiered on November 2, 2020, but due to re-proliferation of COVID-19, the production was delayed. In October group script reading was held. The still photos in the period costume, from the set of series were released by KBS as the filming progressed.
Original soundtrack
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Episodes
Viewership
As per the audience rating of AGB Nielsen Media Research, the second part of the final episode, recorded 14% average TV viewership ratings. This is the record for its own highest ratings.
Notes
International broadcast
The series is available same time as Korea, as an iQIYI Original and exclusively on iQIYI globally (except China and Korea) with multi-languages subtitles. It is also available non-exclusively on iQIYI in South Korea.