# The Judge from Hell

The Judge from Hell (Korean: 지옥에서 온 판사) is a 2024 South Korean television series written by Jo Yi-soo, directed by Park Jin-pyo, and starring Park Shin-hye and Kim Jae-young. It aired on SBS TV from September 21, to November 2, 2024, every Friday and Saturday at 22:00 (KST). It is also available for streaming on Disney+ in selected regions.

## Synopsis

Justitia, a merciless demon judge from Hell, is exiled by Bael to Earth after wrongly condemning the innocent Judge Kang Bit-na to eternal punishment. As part of her penance, Justitia is placed in Bit-na's body, now tasked with living as a judge in the human world for a year while fulfilling a far darker mission: to track down and condemn ten ruthless individuals responsible for the deaths of others, all without a trace of remorse.
With no interest in the lives around her, Justitia's only focus is to carry out her mission and send these souls to Hell, knowing failure means her own demise.
Soon, she encounters Han Da-on, a sharp-witted detective of Violent Crimes Unit 2 at Nobong Police Station, who's known for his meticulous approach to justice. Unaware of Bit-na's true identity, he begins to investigate the strange cases connected to her judgments, and his own painful past gradually coming to light.

## Cast and characters
### Main

* Park Shin-hye as Kang Bit-na
    A judge of the 18th Criminal Division at Seoul Central District Court who died in an unexpected incident and her body is possessed by a demon named Justitia who came from Hell to complete its mission of killing and sending 10 criminals (now 20) to hell in a span of one year.
* Kim Jae-young as Han Da-on
    A kindly detective of Violent Crimes Unit 2 at Nobong Police Station

### Supporting
#### Bit-na's assistants

* Kim In-kwon as Gu Man-do
    Bit-na's assistant who is a working-level official at Seoul Central District Court. He is possessed by a demon named Valak, who is Justitia's assistant in Hell.
* Kim Ah-young as Lee A-rong
    A demon named Venato who punishes demons who became humanized or has fallen in love with humans and poses as Gremory
* Ha Kyung-min [ko] as Moon Dong-joo
    A demon named Seire and entered a body soldier who was killed in a rollover of a military transport vehicle 10 years ago, and after being discharged from the military. He runs a cleaning company called Byeongjang Cleaning with Jae-hyun in the human world.
* Lee Joong-ok as Kim Jae-hyun
    A demon named Dantalion and entered a body soldier who was killed in a rollover of a military transport vehicle 10 years ago. He runs a cleaning company called Byeongjang Cleaning with Dong-joo in the human world.

#### People at Hwangcheon Villa

* Kim Jae-hwa as Jang Myeong-suk
    Owner of Hwangcheon Villa where Bit-na lives and a devout believer who attends church every day without fail.
* Park Ji-yun [ko] as Yoo Jung-im
    A tenant at Hwangcheon Villa who works from 9pm to 9am at a 24-hour noodle restaurant and raises Min-jun alone.
* Oh Han-kyul [ko] as Yoo Min-jun
    Jung-im's son who is shy and gentle third-year middle school student.
* Kim Young-ok as Oh Mi-ja
    An elderly tenant at Hwangcheon Villa who lives alone and collects waste paper for a living. She is a disguise of an angel named Gabriel, who vowed to protect Da-on after his family's death.

#### People at Nobong Police Station's Violent Crimes Unit 2

* Kim Hye-hwa [ko] as Kim So-young
    Hyung-seok's wife who is a team leader of Violent Crimes Unit at Nobong Police Station, who started her career as a police officer and rose to the position of inspector through her own abilities.
* Kim Ji-hoon [ko] as Park Dong-hoon
    A veteran detective of Violent Crimes Unit 2 at Nobong Police Station.
* Park Ji-hoon [ko] as Ko Eun-seop
    A third-year detective of Violent Crimes Unit 2 at Nobong Police Station.

#### People around Da-on

* Han Sang-jin as Joo Hyung-seok
    So-young's husband and a detective at Nobong District Police Station. Unlike his blunt wife, he is infinitely affectionate and friend-like to his children, revealing his 'child-fool' side and warming them up.
* Lee Ga-yeon [ko] as Joo Da-hee
    So-young and Hyung-seok's daughter who is a second-year middle school student.

#### Jung Jae-geol's family

* Kim Hong-pa [ko] as Jung Jae-geol
    A five-term congressman who started out as a self-made businessman.
* Lee Kyu-han as Jung Tae-gyu
    Jae-geol's eldest son and the CEO of Taeok Construction. He has a handsome appearance with neat and well-mannered personality, and is a perfectionist who must do whatever he sets his mind to.
* Choi Dong-goo [ko] as Jung Seon-ho
    Jae-geol's youngest son. He is like an unbridled calf with an inferiority complex towards his socially prestigious father's sore finger.

#### People at Seoul Central District Court

* Lee Gyu-hoe [ko] as Na Young-jin
    Chief Judge of Seoul Central District Court. He appears to be noble on the outside, but he is actually a very vulgar person.
* Kim Kwang-kyu as Ahn Dae-young
    A 22-year veteran judge of the 17th Criminal Division at Seoul Central District Court with a gentle and kind personality like a neighborhood uncle.
* Lee Mi-do as Seo Hwa-seon
    A judge of the 16th Criminal Division at Seoul Central District Court. She is full of privilege and a sense of entitlement, and feels inferior to Bit-na, who is always ahead of her. She is also skilled in the art of subtly turning the tables on others by pretending to be worried about their mistakes.
* Do Eun-ha as Choi Won-kyung
    An officer in the 18th criminal division of the Seoul Central District Court. She is a fairy who leaves work on time who disappears at 6 p.m. and lives without much interest in others.

#### Others

* Lee Kyu-han as Serial killer J
    A killer who committed 5 crimes across Seoul and murdered 12 innocent civilians from the year 1998 to 1999.
* Kim Sang-woo [ko] as Valak
    A young demon who is human despite being a devil due to the unclear distinction between good and evil since he was born not long ago.
* Park Jung-yeon as Cha Min-jeong
    Jeong-jun's girlfriend and a dating violence victim.
* Jang Do-ha [ko] as Moon Jeong-jun
    Min-jeong's boyfriend and a dating violence perpetrator.
* Choi Dae-hoon as Detective Jung Mun-jae
    A detective possessed by demon, Paimon, Bael's subordinate and Justitia's rival for 400 years.
* Kim Hyun-mok as Gabriel
    An angel who appears in disguise.

### Special appearances

* Yang Kyung-won as Yang Seung-bin
* Oh Na-ra as Justitia
    A demon who enters the body of Bit-na.
* Shin Sung-rok as Bael
    A demon of the highest rank, equivalent to the second-in-command of hell.
* Park Ho-san as Satan
    A demon who escaped from Hell with Kylum but lost it while escaping on Earth and possessed the body of Jeong Jae-geol to stay hidden for 26 years.

## Production
### Development

Produced by SBS' content production subsidiary Studio S, The Judge from Hell was written by Jo Yi-soo and directed by Park Jin-pyo.

### Casting

Park Shin-hye and Kim Jae-young were reportedly cast as the lead actors of the series in September and December 2023, respectively.
On December 29, 2023, Park and Kim were confirmed to appear in the series.

### Filming

Principal photography began in early 2024.

## Release

The Judge from Hell was confirmed to premiere on SBS TV on September 21, 2024, every Friday and Saturday at 22:00 (KST). The series would also be available for streaming on Disney+ in selected regions.

## Reception
### 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 | Average |
| Season | Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Average |
| | 1 | 1.339 | 1.757 | 1.487 | 1.787 | 1.841 | 2.475 | 1.962 | 2.594 | 2.096 | 2.274 | 2.387 | 2.352 | 2.384 | 2.444 | 2.084 |
Average TV viewership ratings :
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Average audience share | Average audience share |
| Nielsen Korea ||
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Nationwide | Seoul |
| 1 | September 21, 2024 | 6.8% (6th) | 7.2% (4th) |
| 2 | September 21, 2024 | 9.3% (2nd) | 9.8% (2nd) |
| 3 | September 27, 2024 | 8.0% (4th) | 8.5% (2nd) |
| 4 | September 28, 2024 | 9.7% (2nd) | 9.8% (2nd) |
| 5 | October 4, 2024 | 9.3% (2nd) | 9.2% (2nd) |
| 6 | October 5, 2024 | 13.1% (2nd) | 13.5% (1st) |
| 7 | October 11, 2024 | 11.0% (1st) | 11.1% (1st) |
| 8 | October 12, 2024 | 13.6% (2nd) | 13.7% (1st) |
| 9 | October 18, 2024 | 11.5% (1st) | 11.7% (1st) |
| 10 | October 19, 2024 | 11.4% (2nd) | 10.9% (2nd) |
| 11 | October 25, 2024 | 12.6% (1st) | 12.5% (1st) |
| 12 | October 26, 2024 | 11.7% (2nd) | 11.5% (2nd) |
| 13 | November 1, 2024 | 11.9% (1st) | 12.0% (1st) |
| 14 | November 2, 2024 | 11.9% (2nd) | 11.3% (2nd) |
| Average | Average | 10.8% | 10.9% |
| In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. ||||

### Accolades
#### 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 / Work | Result |
| APAN Star Awards | 2024 | Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries | Park Shin-hye | Nominated |
| APAN Star Awards | 2024 | Excellence Acting Award, Actor | Kim In-kwon | Nominated |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2024 | Grand Prize (Daesang) | Park Shin-hye | Nominated |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2024 | Director's Award | Park Shin-hye | Won |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2024 | Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries | Kim Jae-young | Won |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2024 | Lifetime Achievement Award | Kim Young-ok | Won |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2024 | Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries | Kim Jae-young | Nominated |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2024 | Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries | Lee Kyu-han | Nominated |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2024 | Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries | Kim Ah-young | Won |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2024 | Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries | Kim In-kwon | Won |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2024 | Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries | Kim Jae-hwa | Won |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2024 | Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries | Kim Hye-hwa [ko] | Won |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2024 | Best Performance | Lee Kyu-han | Won |
| SBS Drama Awards | 2024 | Best Couple Award | Park Shin-hye and Kim Jae-young | Won |

#### Listicles

Name of publisher, year listed, name of listicle, and placement :
| Publisher | Year | Listicle | Placement | Ref. |
| Time Magazine | 2024 | The 10 Best K-Dramas of 2024 | 6th place | |