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Princess Hours (Korean: 궁, Hanja: 宮, romanized as Goong and also known as The Imperial Household, Love in Palace, Palace Love or Palace, its literal translation and alternate official title) is a popular soonjong manhwa (Korean girls' comic) by Park So-Hee. It was adapted into an even more well-known live-action comedy/drama series, which had its first season run from January 11 to March 30, 2006. It was distributed by Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation, which ran episodes on Wednesdays and Thursdays every week until the show's completion. The original manhwa (which, as of July 2007, has run for 15 volumes) is being published in English as Goong, while the drama has been released on DVD in North America as Palace by YA Entertainment.
Princess Hours became one of MBC's most popular dramas of 2006, second only to Jumong[1]. Overall, the show was the tenth most popular drama of 2006, according to TNS Media. Due to the success of the first season, a second season has been produced, a rare occasion in the Korean television industry. However, there was controversy over who had the rights to make the sequel, and as a result, two separate parties planned different seasons. The sequel, Goong 2 will no longer be produced due to the withdrawal of two main actors and the spin-off Goong S started its run on January 10, 2007.

[edit] Season 1

[edit] Synopsis
Set in an alternate 21st-century reality where Korea possesses a royal family, this show revolves around the lives of the Crown Prince (Wangsaeja) Lee Shin, and his new bride, Chae-kyeong. The depicted royal family in the show is modelled after the last royal family of Korea, which in reality reigned until the start of the Japanese Occupation in 1911 and was not reinstated after Japanese surrender in WW2.
The series starts off with the news that the King, Shin's father, is very ill. With the grim outlook on the King's health, the royal family scrambles to find a wife for Shin, so as to allow him to take over the royal throne if the situation requires. Despite being in love with another girl, the ambitious and talented ballerina Hyo-rin whom Shin initially proposed to (she rejects him to pursue her ballet dreams), Shin eventually marries a commoner to whom he was betrothed by his late grandfather in an old agreement with the girl's grandfather. Shin marries the headstrong yet lovable Chae-kyeong after Hyo-rin's rejection. Despite initially feeling nothing for Chae-kyeong, love eventually blossoms between the couple.
In the meantime, however, matters are further complicated with the return of Lee Yool and his mother Lady Hwa-Young, who was once the Crown Princess (Bingoong) before the death of her husband, the late Crown Prince, older brother of the current King. Yool and his mother were chased out of the palace some time after the death of his father, and it is later revealed that this was due to the King's discovery of an affair between Yul's mother and the current King who was his father's younger brother. Yool's mother had returned with a sinister motive in mind; to restore her son back to the throne, which would have been his eventually, if his father had not died. A series of events befall the palace with the schemes Yul's mother carries out, and is further intensified by the various scandals involving the royal family, which are inclusive of the Shin's continuing relationship with his old flame Hyo-rin, and the budding love Yool develops for Chae-kyeong, his cousin's new-found bride.
Shin and Chae-kyeong get married once more in a Catholic church in Macau (since they haven't married for love yet), and it is strongly implied that Chae-kyeong is pregnant at the end of the series.

[edit] Main Characters

[edit] Shin Chae-Kyeong (신채경)
Portrayed by Yoon Eun Hye, Shin Chae-kyeong is a very effervescent, normal high school girl. She attends the same school as Lee Shin, the Crown Prince of Korea. Her grandfather was best friends with the previous King. To honor his friend, the previous King dictated that Chae-kyeong is to become the Crown Princess, which means that she is to marry whoever is the Crown Prince at the time of the marriage. Although she often seems immature and irritating, she is a kindhearted, innocent, honest person. Often called "Pig" by her younger brother, Chae-kyeong marries the prince to save her family from bankruptcy. Her initial reaction to Lee Shin is one of irritation but she falls in love with him in the earlier part of the series, not knowing that he, in return, feels the same way, until the last few episodes. Although she regards Lee Yul only as a friend and cousin-in-law, he falls in love with her.

[edit] Lee Shin (이신)
The crown prince of Korea, Lee Shin, as portrayed by model and actor Joo Ji Hoon, is seen as a smug, indifferent, insensitive young man. After getting rejected by his girlfriend when he proposes to her, he decides to go along with his elders' arranged marriage with Shin Chae-kyeong. At first, he was irritated by her naivete and enthusiasm, but as he recognizes how genuinely sweet she is, he begins to open his heart to her, and falls in love. Throughout the series, it becomes obvious that inside, he is just a lonely, sensitive, warm and kind young man. He also owns a teddy bear, Alfred, the only thing that he can let his guard down for, which is used as a focal point throughout the series. As his cousin re-enters the picture after being forced out of the country many years earlier, the prince quickly butts head with him[a few fist fights], as Lee Yul is a contender not only for the throne, but for the crown princess Chae-kyeong's love. Chae-kyeong does not realize this until later on in the story.

[edit] Lee Yool (이율)
Kim Jeong Hoon plays Lee Yool, Shin's cousin. He returns from a long stay in England with his mother, the widow of the former crown prince. The opposite of Shin, he is warm, kindhearted, sweet, and romantic--an instant hit with the girls. Interested in Chae-kyeong, their friendship grows to love on his side, while she remains innocently unaware of it until much later. Although the position of the Crown Prince originally belonged to him, it was given to his cousin when Yool's father died in a car accident and his mother was found to have had an affair with his uncle, who she was originally in love with, but she decides to marry his brother,the crown prince, wanting her son to inherit the title of crown prince. Originally uninterested in the throne, Yool decides to follow his mother's wishes and compete with Shin for the throne after falling in love with Chae-kyeong. In the end, after realizing that Chae-kyeong and Shin truly love each other, and after discovering his mother's affair with the King, he passes up both the chance of being King and having Chae-kyeong as a wife.

[edit] Min Hyo-rin (민효린)
Portrayed by Sung Ji Hyo, Hyo-rin is a skilled ballerina. She is beautiful, intelligent, accomplished--basically, perfect in every way possible. In the beginning, she is Shin's girlfriend, and he proposes to her. However, she rejects him, not only because she thinks he is joking, but also because she does not wish to give up her dreams of becoming a star ballerina. When she sees Chae-kyeong and Shin's wedding and how Chae-kyeong is loved by the people (similar to Diana, Princess of Wales), she regrets her hasty decision, and does everything she can to oust Chae-kyeong from her position. Hyo-rin finds ways to draw Shin back to her, including a "chance" meeting in Thailand, but simply ends up hurting herself, resulting in attempting suicide. Later, however, she decides that Shin does truly love Chae-kyeong, and she ultimately gives him up and decides to just concentrate on her ballet.