Office of Royal Decrees

Son Gil-seung

Hyeon Gyeong-muk

Hwang Jang-goon

Seong Seo-kwon

An Hong-ik

Kim Chi-guk

Heo A-ran

Oh Eun-im

[insert short paragraph about the ORD here]

#### Officer Yang Si-haeng

* The leader of the *Hanrim* and an overall seventh-rank government official. He initially is against the idea of hiring female historians, but ultimately defends the apprentices as government officials from the Inner Palace court ladies.
* In the hazing ritual for the apprentices, he loses the drinking competition against Hae-ryung and spends the next day recovering.
* Although the leader, he often delegates difficult choices or tasks to Officer Min Woo-won, until deciding to stage a protest against the King's orders to read Goo Hae-ryung's *sachaek*.
* At the end of the series, he kneels with the other historians and continues writing as the people beg for the King to pardon the previous dethroned King. In the epilogue, Officer Yang has retained his leadership.

#### Officer Min Woo-won

* The second-in-command. Highly principled and upright, his decisions to challenge government corruption leads to his attempted impeachment, resignation, and imprisonment.
* At the end of the series, he is welcomed back into the Office of Royal Decrees.

### Second Historians

#### Son Gil-seung

* Nicknamed the "Black Bear" for his immense strength, although Prince Dowon describes him in Episode 10 as the historian with a 'kind face'.
* It is stated that he already has numerous grandchildren, and missed his second granchild's first steps due to work.

#### Hyeon Gyeong-muk

* Determinedly ambitious, he is among the officials trying to get into Minister of Personnel Song Jae-cheon's good books in order to get a promotion
* When Officer Min hands in his resignation, Officer Hyeon sits at Min's desk, trying to imagine himself at the second-in-command
* He is vocal against the apprentices
* At the end of the series, he has been promoted to a Seventh-Rank Government Official in the Royal Secretariat

### Third Historians

#### Hwang Jang-goon

* The leader of the third-rank historians.

#### Seong Seo-kwon

* Along with Officer Son, Seong Seo-kwon is the most accepting of the apprentices, introducing himself to them in Episode 1 and offering to assist Goo Hae-ryung with the clerk's tasks in Episode 6.
* He falls asleep in Episode 8 while recording a royal lecture and has to write a letter of apology
* He helps hide Jean Baptiste Bartelemey from the palace guards in the historian library in Episode 13.
* It is revealed that Officer Seong is a Catholic, a forbidden religion at the time. He threatens Crown Prince Jin with revealing the contents of his *sachaek*, which details Prince Dowon aiding the western intruder in Episode 14. Because this is against the laws of the historians, he chooses to give up his job and Officer Min asks for his impeachment
* He is exiled. Seong tells Officer Min in Episode 15 that he no longer wishes to work for the government and will instead help others learn to write and with their legal matters.
* It is mentioned that he spends a lot of his wages on buying his father's medicine.

#### An Hong-ik

* Also ambitious, he is found trying to garner support from government officials to get a promotion as well
* He states that out of 1000 days of scolding in order to become a fully-fledged historian, he is only 500 days through.
* He is married with no children

#### Kim Chi-guk

* He is nineteen, and the youngest
* He is the only child of three generations

### Former Historians

#### Kim Il-mok

* A historian from 20 years before the events of *Rookie Historian*
* Was loyal to the dethroned King, Hamyeong Yi Gweom
* Recorded the true circumstances of the dethroned King's death, of Seoraewon, and of Prince Dowon's birth in the year of *gyeongo*
* Refused to turn in his daily record and hidden the records at *Nokseodang* - he confided the location to a loyal colleague and was then executed

#### Officer Sim

* Was a historian from 20 years before the events of *Rookie Historian*
* Stepped down from his position after the historians were ordered to edit their daily records
* Is the only remaining living historian from 20 years prior out of the three historians who stepped down
* Lives as a drunk, but reveals what he knows to Goo Hae-ryung and Prince Dowon which helps them find Kim Il-mok's hidden records
* Studied at Sungkyunkwan underneath the tutelage of Seo Moon-jik (Goo Hae-ryung's father), and knew of Seoraweon, but did not know what the school was

## Other Employees

### Apprentices

#### Song Sa-hui

* Was stated to have the highest score in the Civil Servant's Exam among the female historian applicants
* Wanted to become a historian in order to gain freedom
* Becomes a teacher at the end of the series

#### Goo Hae-ryung

* Becomes a historian at the end of the series

#### Heo A-ran

* Hails from a very wealthy family, but her brothers are all drinkers or gamblers and her mother is a philanderer
* Applied to become a historian so she could rebel against her family
* Becomes an administrator at the Office of Royal Decrees at the end of the series

#### Oh Eun-im

* A noblewoman who is not as wealthy as Apprentice Heo or Apprentice Song - her father is a senior Eight-rank civil officer - and had to take out a loan to pay off their drinks for the hazing ritual
* Becomes an administrator at the Office of Royal Decrees at the end of the series

### Clerks

#### Clerk Park

* The senior of the clerks at the Office of Royal Decrees
* Instigates a strike after Goo Hae-ryung petitions the clerks at the Ministry of Personnel to stop being involved in stipend corruption
* Is depicted to be proud
* It is implied that Officer Min has a mental record of Clerk Park's (and others') irregularities