▲ This photo, provided by KBS, shows scenes from the 13th episode of "The King's Affection." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

 

SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Yonhap) -- The historical romance drama "The King's Affection," starring actress Park Eun-bin and K-pop boy group SF9's Ro-woon, has recorded double digits in viewership.

The ratings for the 13th episode of KBS 2TV's Monday-Tuesday drama, which aired at 9:30 p.m. the previous day, were recorded to be 10 percent, according to data from market tracker Nielsen Koreanclick.

"The King's Affection," which is set during the Joseon Dynasty, starts out with the Crown Princess delivering forbidden twins. When the Crown Princess is ordered to kill her daughter, she secretly sends her child out of the palace to protect her. Years later, the Crown Prince named Yi Hwi dies and his twin sister assumes the throne while keeping her identity as a secret.

In the latest episode, Jung Ji-un (Ro-woon), a librarian and Hwi's first love, finds outs that Crown Prince Yi Hwi (Park Eun-bin) is actually a woman.

Hwi carefully confesses the truth about deceiving everyone of her true identity while Ji-un is portrayed to be heartbroken by the thought of Hwi having had to struggle all these years by herself.

The two characters then embrace each other for the first time after making a promise to live a normal life together even if it means to live as a runaway for the rest of their lives.

However, King Hyejong (Lee Pil-mo), Hwi's father, dies due to an evil scheme made by Lord Sangheon (Yoon Je-moon), Hwi's maternal grandfather, to put Hwi on the royal throne. In order to protect her people from her grandfather, Hwi decides to end her relationship with Ji-un and ascends to the throne.

The historical romance is said to have well portrayed an affectionate love triangle between Hwi, who lives an unfortunate fate of having to hide her true self, Ji-un, who starts to develop feelings for Hwi despite thinking she is still a male, and Lee Hyun (Nam Yoon-su), who hides his loving feelings while knowing the truth about Hwi.

"The King's Affection," which is also uploaded on Netflix, has been often ranked within Netflix's Top 10 TV show rankings, according to data released by streaming analytics firm FlixPatrol.

 

 

▲ This photo, provided by MBC and tvN, shows the drama posters for "The Red Sleeve" (top) and "Secret Royal Inspector Joy." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Along with "The King's Affection," other ongoing historical drama romances such as "The Red Sleeve," which depicts a love story between the King of Joseon and a royal court lady, and "Secret Royal Inspector Joy," a historical comedy that follows the journey of a royal inspector and a divorced woman exposing corrupt politicians in the Joseon Dynasty, are also gaining popularity.

MBC's Friday-Saturday drama "The Red Sleeve," which first aired on Nov. 12, has slowly increased from 5 percent in the first and second episodes to 7 percent in nationwide viewership for its third and fourth episodes. "The Red Sleeve" depicts a love story between a court lady (Lee Se-young) who dreams of living an independent life and a crown prince (Lee Jun-ho) who believes his duty is to prioritize his country before love.

tvN's Monday-Tuesday drama "Secret Royal Inspector Joy," which first aired on Nov. 8 is also gaining popularity with 4-5 percent in viewership. Singer-actor Ok Taek-yeon's bubbly charm as Ra-lan, who unexpectedly becomes a secret royal inspector, and actress Kim Hye-yoon who plays a realistic woman named Kim Joy, leads the drama in a lively matter.

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