Sageuk Lover

It would be unfaithful to history if they ended at that episode, you can't show the love of Deokim and Yisan without showing her death.

He's so good in The Red Sleeeve, he won a baeksang for it. I really love his acting there. Consider my praise to be special as I usually dislike having idols in my dramas but his acting in The Red Sleeve is simply amazing, he knows how to adjust his voice and body well depending on his character's age.

She's a professional singer. She played Eponine in the Korean production of Les Miserables (a very popular musical). Her version of On My Own is as good as people well loved for singing it like Lea Salonga and Samantha Barks. Here's her version of On My Own: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OcpVuV9gxQ

I still dont understand why female lead Moon Chae Won wasn't nominated at Baeksang though, she did so well in this drama.

I don't think this needs a remake in Korea. Lee Joon Gi and Moon Chae Won can never be replaced.

I only heard of this drama now. Very interesting that Yoojung is in a drama set in Japanese colonial era of Korea.
Plus I like the fact that she's with a veteran actress rather than some mid actor! I'm excited to see this project (though it's not showing til 2026).

I'm watching for Nam Ji Hyun!

What I really like about this show is how they depicted what it feels for a free-spirited woman to live under the restrictions of the life of a court lady and then life of a concubine while respecting the historical facts about what happened to them in real life.

- You might check this one scene from episode 16 (when she’s a concubine already) to understand what she had given up when she agreed to be the king’s concubine (prior to this scene, she was telling her friends that she can’t ever leave the palace again so they enjoy their day-off without her): https://x.com/sha88so/status/1692760169464143884?s=46
- when she learned she was pregnant, king wanted to visit her but she ended up waiting for him the whole night because he had to visit the queen (his wife) to comfort her not having a child. Deok Im of course understands it, but it is still a reminder that she shares her husband with someone.
I really think people should check out episodes 16 and 17 to understand what Deokim gave up (and people should imagine themselves in her shoes as well to understand her). She was happy being loved by Yisan, but she doesn’t exactly like the life of a concubine of a king.

You should try to watch this one.Not just because it’s better than Moon Lovers (at least for me, but even Koreans, with its high ratings, and the awards shows think the same), but because the love story portrayed here is based on the love story of one of Joseon’s greatest Kings and his beloved concubine.

She miscarried twice before giving birth to her son. After her son was born, she also gave birth to a princess but that princess died. Then her son died when he was just a very small young boy, after which she also died while pregnant with her fifth child. We can't show all in the drama, the drama only showed the death of the son that lived past infancy and that the drama mentioned she was pregnant after her son was dead (just a few scenes before her death, so it means she died while pregnant)

The King has a wife (not shown in this drama but she is sometimes mentioned), she doesn't want to be a concubine. You might want to check out Episode 16-17 how it was really depressing for her being the King's concubine (especially when he's at work) despite the fact that she loves him.

Watch The Crowned Clown for Yeo Jin Goo's stellar lead sageuk role (Lee Se Young of The Red Sleeve is his female lead here)

The Princess's Man from 2011 - https://mydramalist.com/2591-the-princess-man
=> billed as Romeo and Juliet of Korea
=> female lead has some mistakes in the beginning but she became such a strong character, protecting the male lead so many times (she also helped his relatives)
=> some elements of My Dearest reminded me of Princess's Man, female lead in both dramas were riding a swing as male lead falls in love with her (though swing scene in Princess's Man is not the first time they met), female lead in Princess's Man also saves her male lead from an arrow just like what male lead in My Dearest did
=> this drama has 24 episodes, whole drama is good to me, but in case you're bored, I'll tell that it's between episodes 7-9 where very important events that would impact the OTP really happen
=> Trailers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQqNBTvMC3Q, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR1FOnc6gIo
=> video showing some pictures from the drama (song used for the video is one of the songs from the drama) => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKuKY-ZM7Bo
=> female lead is Moon Chae Won from 2020 drama Flower of Evil (drama starring Moon Lovers' Lee Joon Gi) and 2023 drama Payback (last drama of the late Lee Sun Kyun)

Yi San from 2007 - https://mydramalist.com/546-yi-san
=> I'm not sure if you'll like this (it has 77 episodes and has more politics involved) but it's also the love story of King Jeongjo/Yi San (same historical character that the male lead of Red Sleeve is based on) and his beloved concubine (her name is changed to Song Yeon but she's based on the same historical character Deok Im is based on), but she's a painter in this drama.
=> Theme song of the drama (with videos from the drama): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YHQ6Qzrf1o

she doesn't look exactly the same, but Lee Se Young sometimes reminds me of Half Filipina,Half American (of European descent) actress Liza Soberano. They have similar facial features and have a similar smile. Both are also beautiful since childhoood.
Lee Se Young Pics :
1. https://www.reddit.com/r/KDRAMA/comments/d4x48e/lee_se_young_one_of_the_great_actresses_in_korea/
2. https://kbizoom.com/lee-se-young-became-an-actress-because-of-a-weird-reason-and-a-famous-beauty-after-20-years/
Liza Soberano Pics:
1. https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fwhat-do-you-think-of-liza-soberano-v0-ezsoh30ftrcd1.jpg%3Fwidth%3D480%26format%3Dpjpg%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3Df130ca6f2c55936ebe385847b171e1c9340de676
2. https://www.facebook.com/LizaSoberano.abscbn/posts/2362099313932641/
3. https://in.pinterest.com/pin/838865868086638481/

I honestly think that he should be more famous for The Red Sleeve than King the Land, Red Sleeve after all, is the one that gave him the baeksang award.

The Queen is married to the Old King, the Princess is the Old King's daughter and aunt of the male lead (Crown Prince). The Crown Prince also technically has a wife but she's not shown in this drama though she's mentioned a few times. After Old King dies, the Queen shown in this drama becomes the Dowager Queen.

The king here is a real person and his favorite concubine really did die.

Know the Red Sleeve and the main character Deok Im? She's based on a real person Concubine Euibin Seong and the Red Sleeve wasn't the first drama to show the love story of that concubine and her King. Way back 2007, that very concubine's love story was shown in a drama called Yi San and Han Ji Min was the one who played her! Here: https://mydramalist.com/546-yi-san

she sees him as a brother and basically grew up with him. Meanwhile she had forgotten her early childhood knowing her master and she had already sort of loved him when she realized he was actually a family friend. as for the gisaeng, she was instantly attracted to her beauty. it's not weird for her to fall for whoever she's in love with.