# Royal Secret Agent (2020)

> Secret royal inspectors of the Joseon Dynasty travel the provinces in disguise, listening to commoners and investigating corrupt officials.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/95119

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 16
- Episode runtime: 60 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy, mystery, drama
- Network: KBS2
- Cast: L, Kwon Na-ra, Lee Tae-hwan, Han Eun-seong, Lee Yi-kyung, Jo Soo-min, Ahn Nae-sang, Choi Jong-won
- TMDB rating: 7.3/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13400756/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: playful, witty, tense, earnest, cringe comedy

## Synopsis

Royal Secret Agent (2020-2021) is a South Korean historical comedy-drama series created for KBS2, set in the Joseon Dynasty. Its central figures are the Secret Royal Inspectors, undercover agents who serve the king as his eyes and ears. Sung Yi-gyum (L) leads the investigations, joined by Hong Da-in (Kwon Na-ra) and Sung Yi-beom (Lee Tae-hwan), with Kang Jong-Gil (Han Eun-seong) and Park Chun-sam (Lee Yi-kyung) rounding out the core team. The engine of the show is the inspectors' disguised travels through the provinces, where they listen to ordinary people's hardships and dig into the abuses of local officials. Each episode builds around a new corrupt official and a new injustice, while a broader thread about hidden identities and the cost of undercover work runs across its sixteen hour-long episodes. The show is a single season with sixteen episodes. Its tone blends playful banter and romantic tension with serious themes of justice and social inequality, though the comedy sometimes overshadows the critique. Fans of Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung and Mr. Sunshine will find a similar mix of period intrigue, justice, and character warmth in a Korean historical setting.

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