Goong S - Se7en & Heo Yi Jae

Se7en - Kang Hoo/Lee Hoo

Heo Yi Jae - Yang Soon Yi

Kang Doo - Lee Joon

Park Shin Hye - Shin Sae Ryung

Myung Se Bin - the Queen


The current Empress of Korea was unmarried and recently, she has
been worried about a successor. Then they found out that the son
of the former King, the Queen's uncle has been living among the
commoners since he was born.

Kang Hoo grew up as a restaurant delivery guy under the care of Jo
Sang Ki. He has been living well for 20 years and has become Ilcheon's
most famous delivery guy. But one day, his life went at risk when a
group of people tried to kidnap him, thanks to Jo Sang Ki, he was able
to escape from them.

But then afterwards, he found out that his father, who died before he
was born was the former King of Korea and that the current reigning
Queen was his second cousin. And so as swift as things may be, in just
one night, he became a Gong-ja (Young Prince) and was now called Lee Hoo.

Meanwhile, the group of people who tried to kidnap him were working
under the Hyo Jang Dae Gong who happened to also be the Queen and
Hoo's uncle. Hyo Jang Dae Gong had always wanted to claim the throne of the Pye-ha (reigning Queen/King) and since he failed when the current Queen was installed this time, he was trying to let his son, Lee Joon be the Crown Prince. But he was threatened when he found out that Hoo has been found and since he was in the direct bloodline of the former king (of course because he's his son), he was possible to be the Crown Prince.

And so, Hyo Jang Dae Gong and his wife, has engaged Joon to the Deputy Prime Minister's daughter, Shin Sae Ryung. Pretty and intelligent, Sae Ryung has all the qualities to be the Queen but to do that, she has to marry the crown prince. This marriage would be of advantage for both of them. With the help of the Deputy Prime Minister, it'll be easy for Joon to be the crown prince and when Joon becomes the crown prince, Sae Ryung's dream to be the country's mother would come true.

Meanwhile, as he tried to adjust inside the Palace, Hoo met his grade school classmate, Yang Soon Yi who was working there as a Palace Maid. As impossible as it maybe, Lee Joon also happened to meet her and he became interested with her.

Things inside the Palace became very hard for Hoo when he started to feel something for Soon Yi while Joon has already confessed his love for her. Sae Ryung on the other hand was so jealous with Soon Yi since Joon ditched her because of him. But soon, Sae Ryung fell in love with Hoo.

Hoo also became more curious about his mother's exile from the Palace causing him to live as a commoner. He found out that Joon's dad was responsible for his mother's scandal and the Mother Queen was the one who made the decision of the exile.

Despite the circumstances and despite Joon's dad's dangerous tactics to put both Hoo and the Queen down, Hoo was still determined to become the Crown Prince so that he would be able to investigate further about his mother's exile. But being this way made him float away from Soon Yi and because he couldn't control his feelings anymore, he told Soon Yi how much he loves her.

Hoo and Soon Yi started going out but Joon and Sae Ryung were still determined to break them apart. Joon accepted his father's cheating methods so that he would win the competition for the Crown Prince position at the same time, he could win over Soon Yi. Sae Ryung on the other hand still encouraged her father to engage her with Hoo.

The Mother Queen knew about Soon Yi and Hoo's relationship and so, she persuaded the Prime Minister (the former PM has resigned due to illness so Sae Ryung's dad became the new PM) to engage Hoo with his daughter. But Hoo declined. Because of this, the Mother Queen had no choice but to let Soon Yi go abroad. Sacrifice...that's the true meaning of virtue. You give up your personal emotions and all your feelings to serve the people of your country. Because of this sacrifice, the Queen's own love has been rejected and Soon Yi left Hoo to study abroad.

Joon on the other hand has confessed to the Queen that he only won the competitions because he has cheated. And because of this, Hoo became the Crown Prince but he wasn't engaged with Sae Ryung because she declined the engagement and went to New York to see her mom.

Three years passed. But in these three years, has Hoo already forgotten about Soon Yi? And will Soon Yi continue to run away from him especially now that he was already the Crown Prince or will Crown Prince Hoo give up his throne so he could live happily with Soon Yi with the life he had back then?

This series has been inspired by the Goong series aired last year which starred Joo Ji Hoon and Yoon Eun Hye which was based on a manga. Just like Goong, this tells the story about having a monarchy in modern Korea.

But this has different twists as this story focused more on the political aspect and how much one should give up just to appear worthy in front of the people of Korea.

This series mainly focused on sacrifices. Sacrifices for your own happiness as well as sacrifices for the happiness of those who are around you. This would also show the injusttice of politics especially when it comes to position. Politicians may tend to rely on one another in able for them to keep their positions in their grasps.

As for the actors, it was Se7en's first time in acting but I'd say he was already good! Heo Yi Jae also portrayed her role well since she looked like a sweet and innocent young girl. Park Shin Hye has a change in attitude in this series. I've seen her in two dramas, always crying but this time, she has become a strong personality with a touch of greed and stubborness. What amazed me more was Kang Doo's character. He was the type who willdo everything to get what he wants, but in a fair way. Kang Doo's strong look fit his character very well for Joon was this kind of person who will never give up just to get what he desires. =]