[Drama 2015] Hwajung 화정

May 13, 2015

MBC 화정- Hwajung's BTS 7- Seo Kang Joon & Lee Yoon Hee

Cre MBC

May 13, 2015

[Happy Time 해피타임] 'Hwajung' Cha Seung-won

[Happy Time 해피타임] 'Hwajung' Lee Yeon-hee reunited with Seo Kang Joon

cre MBC

May 13, 2015

[Happy Time 해피타임] 'Hwajung' Princess Jeongmyeong, She is treated like a slave

[Happy Time 해피타임] NG Special - Cha Seung-won harmless prank

oyeleyeolusina · May 13, 2015

One more, would you have saved your half-brother and half-sister despite of their perceived threat to your seat on the throne?
According to the history, Gwanghae did not live as long as his kiddy princess sister.
This princess lived a very long life covering over the period of 4 or 5 kings' reigns. I don't know yet how she shaped the Joseon history but am hoping we can see from this drama.

@SMP567, King Gwanghae might have had no choice but to have killed them eventually if his subordinates didn't get to the kids first as although they were his siblings, their were also political enemies as we saw that some ministers with the excuse that Gwanghae wasn't fit for the throne were plotting treason and wanted to replace him with Grand Prince Yeongchang who was an eight year old.

For the time being, the princess is just focused on her revenge and we see the disaster the revenge had on Joseon with King Injo rule so maybe as she is the heroine of the drama, they would eventually make her contribute to Joseon in some way to offset what her revenge did to the country as the seer who came to the palace when was young said she had vibe of a ruler so who knows if a descendant of her would become a king or she acts as a counsel for a future king.

May 13, 2015

Staff member dies during making of MBC "Splendid Politics"; family claims for loss

The family of the deceased staff member has claimed for damages to MBC and the production company for their son's death which happened during the making of the MBC drama, "Splendid Politics".

According to the Seoul District Court, head of liaisons Ahn Eun-nam's family claimed 760 million won in damages for his death as it was due to overwork and stress.

Previously, Ahn was found dead in a motel in Naju and his death was confirmed sudden. He was staying at a motel after driving around a location hunting car for long hours at a time.

The petition claimed, "Part of the job required Ahn to work an average of 15 to 20 hours a day. Despite the feeble working conditions, the broadcasting and production companies composed a 'work commission contract' instead of a 'labor contract' to avoid restrictions from the labor regulations. They evaded all the standards of working hours assigned by the law".

"Ahn has received 7 prescriptions from the hospital in the last ten years which clearly shows he was a healthy man but overwork led to his sudden death".

Kim Joo-hwa, the legal attorney in charge of the case claimed, "Although Ahn has worked with MBC for about 20 years he wasn't signed under a labor contract but he was considered an 'outsource' so there was no way to obtain a claim for his death. Behind the scenes of the dramas that everyone watches, staff members are working in poor working conditions and under tremendous amounts of stress. Hopefully this leads to some improvements in cases of accidents or compensation".

A member of staff who used to work with Ahn said, "The irresponsibility of MBC and the production company is the reason they are being sued right now. They didn't even keep the promise of planting a tree under his name".

source: tenasia, credit: hancinema

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It's a really sad news. Looks like Hwajung's work environment is not that good. RIP to the staff and hope everything can be settle in a good way.

valsava · May 13, 2015

@smp567. All caught up this drama is really good now I'm just waiting for 10 to be subbed.. Hong works directly for Ming so yes he would go to Japan to see what GW is doing to report back to Ming keeping them from having fire power is to keep Joseon submissive to them and also Jin is breathing down they necks I see just why they throw him off the throne using Ming as a source to do it.. They have plenty of opportunity to free themselves of being slaves to Ming but political greed and revenge holds them back this is really sad..

@oyeleyeolusina, Welcome aboard, How are you it's been a while nice to see your here also.. I thought the princess didn't have kids oh well if she did she knows enough about the political arena in the palace and set things in motion to put one of her heirs on the throne considering her and her brother share the same bloodline and the throne they think should have went to him but if that 8 yr old child took the throne he would have been a puppet king the whole time he was on the throne.. This was why the Queen father was so mad at her for putting GW on the throne because it took his chance away to rule from behind the young king his G/son

tulip06 · May 13, 2015

Yes, @valsava I'm too beginning to wonder if this is a fictional story or is it close to the real story based on historic records. One thing for sure, whatever it is, King Gwanghae has a hard time sitting on the throne surrounded by so many conflicting parties killing each other and fighting for their own benefits.

I think the Gae Shi character is real. And he only had his son and one daughter despite 8 concubines which suggests someone, maybe Gaeshi, maybe not, was keeping him from having more. Unless the stress did it. ..

tulip06 · May 13, 2015

@valsava I feel exhausted just watching Gwanghae's life from when he was young dealing with his father.
So... I have a few fun questions.
What would you do if you were in Gwanghae's shoes?
Do you think there could have had any other better ways to deal with in his circumstances?
Would you have killed Gai si and Yi chum when you discovered their crime?

No, I wouldn't have killed them, just as Queen Elizabeth I didn't kill the ministers who pushed for Mary, Queen of Scots' death. It's a dirty business, politics, and a secure throne trumps everything. But, personally, this is a position I would never take - like it's ever being offered, ha! - exactly bc of things like this.

valsava · May 13, 2015

No, I wouldn't have killed them, just as Queen Elizabeth I didn't kill the ministers who pushed for Mary, Queen of Scots' death. It's a dirty business, politics, and a secure throne trumps everything. But, personally, this is a position I would never take - like it's ever being offered, ha! - exactly bc of things like this.

@tulip06, I agree I understand he became the CP for the country sake but to me he was shown plenty of signs that his father dispised him for what he couldn't do and this also help set the courses of action when the king planned to denounce him he should have gave it up freely and walk away with his family those political parties would have fought to put him on the throne after the young grand prince would have proved to be a puppet there was other ways he could have inherit the throne without a fight between the two parties he could have quitely sat in his home and created a different group of members but no I wouldn't have wanted to be King after the war and taking over from his puppet of a father.. I just say GW rule wasn't his time to rule...

So the coup is only to put a puppet king on the throne.. GW is a threat to Ming and Jin and they want him off the throne because he's not going to bend to they will this is why it would have been better for the grand prince to sit there and watch his family succumb to Ming and Jin which in return would have turned the whole country against them..

SMP567 · May 13, 2015

@SMP567, King Gwanghae might have had no choice but to have killed them eventually if his subordinates didn't get to the kids first as although they were his siblings, their were also political enemies as we saw that some ministers with the excuse that Gwanghae wasn't fit for the throne were plotting treason and wanted to replace him with Grand Prince Yeongchang who was an eight year old.
For the time being, the princess is just focused on her revenge and we see the disaster the revenge had on Joseon with King Injo rule so maybe as she is the heroine of the drama, they would eventually make her contribute to Joseon in some way to offset what her revenge did to the country as the seer who came to the palace when was young said she had vibe of a ruler so who knows if a descendant of her would become a king or she acts as a counsel for a future king.

@oyeleyeolusina Hello, thank you for the insightful comments.

According to this drama, the queen originally did not want her son getting on the throne considering how capable Gwanghae was and how young the prince was at the time the king died. She surrendered the turtle seal to him asking him to be a good king. She hoped that Gwanghae would protect her and her children.

The grand prince turned into Gwanghae's potential political threat because he was being used by those ministers with treachery minds. That little boy did not understand anything, all he wanted was to play with his sister. So basically, if the party that used him did not succeed, this young prince had no chance to survive, be it King Gwanghae or anyone who won the throne. He was born a victim of his father, the ex-king, and those ministers and their selfishness. Speaking about life's injustices! The royal family was abused directly and indirectly by those greedy monsters.

I don't know if in real history it was the princess who was behind Gwanghae's dethroning or not. But in this drama, she is on the road to revenge. If her target is to take Gwanghae down, she must have enough wisdom to think about who the next king should replace Gwanghae since she is said to have the energy of a ruler.

SMP567 · May 13, 2015

I think the Gae Shi character is real. And he only had his son and one daughter despite 8 concubines which suggests someone, maybe Gaeshi, maybe not, was keeping him from having more. Unless the stress did it. ..

Hi @tulip06 Stress or not, isn't it a king's JOB to have a lot of children for national security? Being a king, the court must have done everything to make him relaxed with those many concubines. It is definitely fishy those wives do not produce him any heirs....

oyeleyeolusina · May 13, 2015

@oyeleyeolusina, Welcome aboard, How are you it's been a while nice to see your here also.. I thought the princess didn't have kids oh well if she did she knows enough about the political arena in the palace and set things in motion to put one of her heirs on the throne considering her and her brother share the same bloodline and the throne they think should have went to him but if that 8 yr old child took the throne he would have been a puppet king the whole time he was on the throne.. This was why the Queen father was so mad at her for putting GW on the throne because it took his chance away to rule from behind the young king his G/son

@valsava , not much is said about the princess life even when her name is put in a search engine so they is not much information about the kind of life she lived, this is a guess on my part but since she does have the aura of a ruler and we know that joseon never had any female ruler, I can only assume that a descendant of her would rule in her place for her prophecy to make sense.

Thanks for the welcome, been very busy this last few months but am watching this drama so would be seeing you around this part of the forum.

oyeleyeolusina · May 13, 2015

I don't know if in real history it was the princess who was behind Gwanghae's dethroning or not. But in this drama, she is on the road to revenge. If her target is to take Gwanghae down, she must have enough wisdom to think about who the next king should replace Gwanghae since she is said to have the energy of a ruler.

@SMP567, The rage of the princess is aimed at Gwanghae as a result she is not thinking about the consequences of what might happen as right now she doesn't care about anything but to see the downfall of Gwanghae.

See from her conversations with Hong Joo-Won that she doesn't have any interest on what is going on with Joseon, even when Hong Joo-Won was telling her the importance of the sulfur concerning the defence of Joseon from foreign threats and she is instead focused on whether Hong Joo-Won is one of Gwanghae people.

The replacement of Gwanghae shows that it people who made the coup to dethrone him and put Injo on the throne that wanted a puppet to be the king as it was the ministers that held the power during Injo's rule and the people of Joseon suffered as a result.

SMP567 · May 13, 2015

No, I wouldn't have killed them, just as Queen Elizabeth I didn't kill the ministers who pushed for Mary, Queen of Scots' death. It's a dirty business, politics, and a secure throne trumps everything. But, personally, this is a position I would never take - like it's ever being offered, ha! - exactly bc of things like this.

Thank you for the insightful comments.

Just for the discussion's sake, so you had no interest in becoming a king, but you would have done the same thing that Gwanghae did, keeping those two in your court, by your side ( Gai si for one ).

Wouldn't you be wondering who else in your circle of family and friends these two might decide to kill next in the name of your throne?

And if they could kill anyone of your family without your permission, what was the possibility of them killing you for whatever reason they saw fit?

I'm just exploring if King Gwanghae had any other options in his situation and overall that might have changed Joseon history.

valsava · May 13, 2015

@valsava , not much is said about the princess life even when her name is put in a search engine so they is not much information about the kind of life she lived, this is a guess on my part but since she does have the aura of a ruler and we know that joseon never had any female ruler, I can only assume that a descendant of her would rule in her place for her prophecy to make sense.
Thanks for the welcome, been very busy this last few months but am watching this drama so would be seeing you around this part of the forum.

@oyeleyeolusina, We also have another great Saeguk coming out later this year called the 6 flying dragons. Supposed to be a story about 6 people who carries the aura of a ruler (dragon) right after Joseon comes into power one happens to be a girl when I think of these 6 people the drama the seer comes to mind..

I also tried looking information up on the princess and didn't find much about her so my guess she will eye the royal relatives and pick which male she thinks she can control in the political arena and put him on the throne.. It seems that our little princess has learned a great deal living as a slave and she knows how to make stuff happen so she will give GW hell but I just hate GW is being blamed for things that he didn't do.. All GW was concerned about was making Joseon adept to military powers of the neighboring countries and powerful enough to protect themselves from other countries that was so easily invading them.. You would think these minister would have taken a great lesson on how inadequate Joseon was from the war with Japan but they still not taken a lesson from all this and want to stay submissive to other countries.. It must have been really hard being King then and I don't see how GW put himself out there like that I think if I had to live in those times I would have rather lived as a merchant to me they seem to have the best life granted they dealt with pirates and bandits but respectable merchants was never bother after a while..

MadraRua · May 13, 2015

Prince Gwanghae may have been a better ruler in the long run than Injo, but he was no innocent. He may not have killed the young grand prince and princess but his silence and lack of action towards justice smacks of complicity. If Lady Kim had not done what she did then I believe he would still have had to kill in order to secure the throne for himself, maybe not the princess but her brother for sure who was a huge obstacle to stability.

After watching for a few episodes, I can't help but feel the older actors do not live up to the standards their younger counterparts set. Especially the actor who plays Hong Joo Won. He's very wooden. It's a shame because for me it does take away from some of the enjoyment slightly. I know the netizens were complaining about the woman who plays Princess Jungmyung but really she's not as bad as him. She's not great either but most definitely not the worst.

SMP567 · May 13, 2015

@valsava, @tulip06, @oyeleyeolusina, @MadraRua

Correct me if I am wrong. According to the history, those political fractions or parties removed the able and wise King Gwanghae from the throne and put the weak and unstable Injo to be the next king who eventually drove the country down to the ground...

This King Injo was the infamous Joseon king who killed his eldest son, Crown Prince Sohyeon, and Sohyeon's whole family including Sohyeon's wife, the Crown Princess, and their three children, Injo's very own grandsons.

Just wonder in this drama how Princess Jyeongmyeong will take part in the dethroning of Gwanghae...

The story line feels pretty gloomy. The princess returns for the revenge and succeeds in ridding of Gwanghae. Later Injo comes into picture as the king. The writer is going to have to work hard to write interesting plots for a part of the history that is dark.

MadraRua · May 14, 2015

@SMP567

No, your right. He also was crazy, responsible for a rebellion, two manchu wars and destroying the economy...... It'll be interesting to see how they justify Jungmyungs involvement in his enthronement.

Look's like the cat's out of the bag ...

SMP567 · May 14, 2015

@SMP567
No, your right. He also was crazy, responsible for a rebellion, two manchu wars and destroying the economy...... It'll be interesting to see how they justify Jungmyungs involvement in his enthronement.
Look's like the cat's out of the bag ...

Yeah, a big cat...

SMP567 · May 14, 2015

Ep 10 RECAP
by Kihui Kim

Hong Joo Won (Seo Kang Joon) hands Yi Ja kyung (Gong Myeong) a key of prison where Hawi (Lee Yeon Hee) is fettered in. He decides to take the distrained sulfur into dock while the male slave saves her from the jail. Hawi is in danger of putting to death as soon as Joseon Tongsinsa leaves for Joseon. She stamps her foot waiting for the guy who will come to save her before the vessels set off.

The guard of Joo Won sets fire to a warehouse to lure soldiers into a trap and Ja Kyung watches his opportunity to extricate Hawi out of danger. Joo Won reaches a crossroad where he has to decide to leave with the sulfur or to save her as the delegation is about to make an early start due to bad weather.

"Haurry up! Go! You have but one thing to do in Joseon. You have still survived to get even with your enemy for your dead brother. I will surely find you wherever you are. Please go, Princess!" Ja Kyung says to Jeongmyeong shedding tears.
The warrior violently fights against the soldiers despite of an injury. Joo Won secretly directs his man to bring him the navigator's chart before the whistle blows to give notice that the boat is about to leave.
Princess Jeongmyeong wails miserably watching the ships moving gradually farther away. At the moment, she finds a ferryboat carrying Joo Won approaches slowly toward her.
"Are you alright? I'm so so sorry to late. The plan didn't go quite right." he worries about a wound.
"What took you so long, richard simmons? I... I left Ja Kyung alone." She cries a lot.
A male attendant treats a cut on Gwanghae (Cha Seung Won)'s shoulder in a barrack without a court physician. The King adjusts his dress in a hurry when Yi Icheom (Jung Woong In) comes to see him.
The minister of Culture and Education reports that a group of Ming border guards visited the Joseon's military camp because of a commotion near the border last night. Gwanghae shuts his eyes to the fact, but Yi Icheom wants to know there is something cooking. The King makes him feel emotional highs calling him 'the Minister of War.' He rides a cockhorse when he hears the good news, but he doesn't stop doubt about the King's behavior.
The ship heading to Joseon doesn't move because of a breakdown. Joo Won speaks loudly about a pintle caused the failure to make Kang Joo Sun (Jo Sung Ha) stop his doubt when Joo Sun's man is reporting about Joo Won haven't 's seen all day long.

Joo Won wraps his handkerchief the around the wound to stop the bleeding.
"Why did you say 'this time'? Have we met before?" He asks but she doesn't answers.
"You promised that you will find me and insure me against risks. However, you are Gwnaghae's man now..." she thinks to herself looking at him.
The next day, Hwai standing on the deck has the handkerchief swept off by the wind.
"Mother! I'm coming to get lost things back." she makes a promise to herself.

Joo Won enters the palace to look at the King. Gwanghae loses his reason because of the retainer who shows ridicule in front of the King.
"You would be beheaded, if you didn't come with the sulfur. Why didn't you ask me that you was availed of for political gain?" he expresses anger to the subject who says that he brought the sulfur not for the King but the nation.
"I don't deserve it because I brought them not to give in to you." he confidently added looking the King in the eye about to give a prize.
After he left, Gwanghae orders Kim Gae Shi (Kim Yeo Jin) to let Heo Gyun (Ahn Nae Sang) find out a man controlling from behind. Heo Gyun intentionally runs into by Yoon Do Ha.
Jeongmyeong manages to find a house where Queen Inmok (Shin Eun Jung) is under house arrest. She asks some people about the whereabouts, but they are afraid to speak out about the former queen. She is afflicted at the miserable situation, but she has hope looking at two senior statesmen who still visits her mother.

Jeongmyeong draws a sword as there is a sense of someone approaching when she comes into Joo Won's house. But she is rather threatened by Kang In Woo (Han Joo Wan). He notices that she disguises herself as a man.
"Do you live alone because of 'a secret woman'?" In Woo asks his friend with amusement. Jeongmyeong is embarrassed and Joo Won gazes at her face in surprise.