# The Red Sleeve

The Red Sleeve (Korean: 옷소매 붉은 끝동) is a South Korean television series starring Lee Jun-ho, Lee Se-young, and Kang Hoon. It is a fictionalised account of the lives of King Jeongjo and his royal consort Ui-bin Seong. It aired on MBC TV from November 12, 2021, to January 1, 2022, every Friday and Saturday at 22:00 (KST).

## Synopsis

Based on a novel of the same name, The Red Sleeve tells the record of a royal court romance between the King of Joseon who places his duty to his country above love, and a court lady who wants to protect the life she has chosen. The story is told from the viewpoint of the court lady.

## Cast
### Main

* Lee Jun-ho as Yi San, later King Jeongjo
** Lee Joo-won as young Yi San
    The arrogant and perfectionist grandson of King Yeongjo. He constantly strives to become a benevolent King, but his father's death has left an emotional trauma in his heart.
* Lee Se-young as Seong Deok-im, later Royal Noble Consort Ui-bin Seong
** Lee Seol-ah as young Seong Deok-im
    A court lady who wants to live the life of her choice, rather than just be one of the numerous court ladies called "the King's women".
* Kang Hoon as Hong Deok-ro
** Choi Jeong-hoo as young Hong Deok-ro
    The Crown Prince's teacher who hides a cold personality beneath his warm-hearted appearance.

### Supporting
#### Royal family

* Lee Deok-hwa as King Yeongjo
* Jang Hee-jin as Queen Jeongsun
* Kang Mal-geum as Hong Hye-bin, later Lady Hyegyeong
* Kim I-on as Princess Cheongyeon
* Jo Seung-hee as Princess Cheongseon
* Go Ha as Royal Consort Suk-ui Moon
* Park Seo-kyung as Hong Dan, later Royal Noble Consort Won-bin Hong

#### Court ladies

* Park Ji-young as Head Court Lady Jo
* Ji Eun as Kang Wol-hye
* Cha Mi-kyung as Court Lady Park

#### People around Yi San

* Oh Dae-hwan as Kang Tae-ho
* Moon Jeong-dae as Seo Gye-jung
* Bae Je-ki [ko] as Jung Jae-hwa
* Kim Kang-min as Kim Du-seong
* Yoon Hyo-sik as Yi San's head eunuch

#### People around Seong Deok-im

* Jang Hye-jin as Court Lady Seo
* Lee Min-ji as Kim Bok-yeon
** Yoon Hae-bin as young Kim Bok-yeon
* Ha Yul-ri [ko] as Bae Kyung-hee
** Lee Seo-hyun as young Bae Kyung-hee
* Lee Eun-saem as Son Young-hee
** Jo Si-yeon as young Son Young-hee
* Yang Byung-yeol as Seong Sik

#### Yi San's political opponents

* Jo Hee-bong as Hong Jung-yeo
* Seo Hyo-rim as Princess Hwawan
* Kwon Hyun-bin as Jeong Baek-ik

### Extended

* Jo Chan-hyung [ko] as Yi San's guard warrior
* Kim Ja-young as Court Lady Kwon
* Kim Byung-chun as Shim Hwi-won
* Yi Seo as Royal Noble Consort Hwa-bin Yun

### Special appearances

* Ha Seok-jin as a magistrate
* Do Sang-woo as Crown Prince Sado
* Nam Gi-ae as Royal Noble Consort Yeong-bin Yi
* Lee Soon-jae as an elderly citizen

## Production and release

The lead roles were initially offered to Kim Kyung-nam and Park Hye-su. The first script reading of the cast was held in May 2021.
The series was originally scheduled to premiere on November 5, 2021, but it was delayed by a week due to program adjustment for the broadcast of a professional baseball game.
On December 9, 2021, it was announced that the series would be extended by one episode due to its popularity and would end with 17 episodes. Due to the extension, episode 13 aired on December 24, while episodes 14 and 15 aired on December 25.
It was reported that filming started in May 2021 and continued filming for about seven months until December 21. It was mainly conducted at Mungyeong Saejae Open Set, Jeonju Hanok Village, Gwanghallu Garden in Namwon, Naganeupseong Folk Village, Yeokrin Set in Damyang County, and Yeolhwajeong Pavilion—located in Ganggol Village, Deungnyang-myeon, Boseong County.

## Viewership

| Season | Season | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Episode number | Average |
| Season | Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Average |
| | 1 | 0.992 | 1.111 | 1.308 | 1.417 | 1.501 | 1.696 | 1.937 | 1.998 | 1.930 | 1.918 | 2.242 | 2.522 | 2.399 | 2.516 | 2.749 | 3.534 | 3.668 | 2.081 |
Average TV viewership ratings :
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Average audience share | Average audience share | Average audience share |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Nielsen Korea | Nielsen Korea | TNmS |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Nationwide | Seoul | Nationwide |
| 1 | November 12, 2021 | 5.7% (12th) | 5.7% (10th) | N/A |
| 2 | November 13, 2021 | 5.6% (11th) | 5.2% (8th) | 4.8% (15th) |
| 3 | November 19, 2021 | 7.0% (9th) | 6.3% (10th) | 6.6% (9th) |
| 4 | November 20, 2021 | 7.5% (4th) | 7.6% (3rd) | 6.3% (9th) |
| 5 | November 26, 2021 | 8.8% (4th) | 8.1% (4th) | 6.7% (11th) |
| 6 | November 27, 2021 | 9.4% (2nd) | 8.5% (2nd) | N/A |
| 7 | December 3, 2021 | 10.7% (2nd) | 10.5% (2nd) | N/A |
| 8 | December 4, 2021 | 10.5% (2nd) | 10.3% (2nd) | 7.8% (2nd) |
| 9 | December 10, 2021 | 10.9% (3rd) | 10.9% (3rd) | 8.9% (7th) |
| 10 | December 11, 2021 | 10.2% (2nd) | 10.2% (2nd) | 9.1% (2nd) |
| 11 | December 17, 2021 | 12.8% (2nd) | 12.7% (2nd) | 10.8% (3rd) |
| 12 | December 18, 2021 | 13.3% (2nd) | 13.6% (2nd) | 10.2% (2nd) |
| 13 | December 24, 2021 | 12.8% (2nd) | 12.8% (2nd) | 10.8% (4th) |
| 14 | December 25, 2021 | 13.0% (3rd) | 12.7% (3rd) | N/A |
| 15 | December 25, 2021 | 14.3% (2nd) | 13.8% (2nd) | N/A |
| 16 | January 1, 2022 | 17.0% (3rd) | 16.4% (3rd) | 12.3% (2nd) |
| 17 | January 1, 2022 | 17.4% (2nd) | 16.8% (2nd) | 11.8% (3rd) |
| Average | Average | 11% | 10.7% | 8.8% |
| In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. N/A denotes ratings that were not released. |||||

## Awards and nominations

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination :
| Award ceremony | Year | Category | Nominee(s) / Work | Result |
| APAN Star Awards | 2022 | Best Director | Jung Ji-in and Song Yeon-hwa | Won |
| APAN Star Awards | 2022 | Drama of the Year | The Red Sleeve | Won |
| APAN Star Awards | 2022 | Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries | Lee Jun-ho | Won |
| APAN Star Awards | 2022 | Best Writer | Jung Hae-ri | Nominated |
| APAN Star Awards | 2022 | Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries | Lee Se-young | Nominated |
| Asia Artist Awards | 2022 | Grand Prize (Daesang) – Actor of the Year | Lee Jun-ho | Won |
| Baeksang Arts Awards | 2022 | Best Actor | Lee Jun-ho | Won |
| Baeksang Arts Awards | 2022 | Best Actress | Lee Se-young | Nominated |
| Baeksang Arts Awards | 2022 | Best Director | Jung Ji-in | Nominated |
| Baeksang Arts Awards | 2022 | Best Drama | The Red Sleeve | Nominated |
| Baeksang Arts Awards | 2022 | Best Supporting Actor | Lee Deok-hwa | Nominated |
| Baeksang Arts Awards | 2022 | Best Supporting Actress | Jang Hye-jin | Nominated |
| Baeksang Arts Awards | 2022 | Technical Award | Kim Hwa-young (Cinematography) | Nominated |
| Bechdel Day | 2022 | Bechdel's Choice 5 | The Red Sleeve | Won |
| Bechdel Day | 2022 | Best Director | Jung Ji-in | Won |
| Korea Broadcasting Awards | 2022 | Best TV Drama | The Red Sleeve | Won |
| Korea Communications Commission Broadcasting Awards | 2022 | Grand Prize | The Red Sleeve | Won |
| Korea Communications Standards Commission | 2022 | Terrestrial TV Division – Good Program of the Month (January) | The Red Sleeve | Won |
| Korea Drama Awards | 2022 | Top Excellence Award, Actor | Lee Jun-ho | Nominated |
| Korea PD Awards | 2022 | Best Actor | Lee Jun-ho | Won |
| Korea PD Awards | 2022 | Best TV Drama | The Red Sleeve | Won |
| MBC Drama Awards | 2021 | Best Couple | Lee Jun-ho and Lee Se-young | Won |
| MBC Drama Awards | 2021 | Best New Actor | Kang Hoon | Won |
| MBC Drama Awards | 2021 | Best Supporting Actress | Jang Hye-jin | Won |
| MBC Drama Awards | 2021 | Best Writer Award | Jung Hae-ri | Won |
| MBC Drama Awards | 2021 | Drama of the Year | The Red Sleeve | Won |
| MBC Drama Awards | 2021 | Lifetime Achievement Award | Lee Deok-hwa | Won |
| MBC Drama Awards | 2021 | Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries | Lee Jun-ho | Won |
| MBC Drama Awards | 2021 | Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries | Lee Se-young | Won |
| MBC Drama Awards | 2021 | Best New Actress | Ha Yul-ri | Nominated |
| MBC Drama Awards | 2021 | Best Supporting Actor | Oh Dae-hwan | Nominated |
| MBC Drama Awards | 2021 | Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries | Kang Hoon | Nominated |
| MBC Drama Awards | 2021 | Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries | Park Ji-young | Nominated |
| Popular Culture and Art Production Staff Award | 2022 | Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Awards | Kim Eun-young | Won |
| Seoul International Drama Awards | 2022 | Outstanding Korean Drama | The Red Sleeve | Won |