Broadcaster Seo Kyung-seok will appear on ‘Secrets of Celebrity Soldiers’.
In the 23rd episode of KBS2’s ‘Secrets of Celebrity Soldiers’ airing on the 17th, the love triangle involving King Sukjong and two women, as well as the diseases that plagued him, will be thoroughly explored.
Jang Hee-bin, who was described as “quite beautiful” in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, which has almost no records about women's appearances, was an outstanding beauty. The conflict between King Sukjong, who was torn between Jang Hee-bin and his first wife Queen Inhyeon, is remembered as the most glamorous scandal in Joseon history, but in reality, he was an absolute monarch who wielded his authority more fiercely than the hem of a skirt.
The background of Jang Hee-bin leaving and then returning to the palace was an unusual epidemic that spread in Joseon, which even led to the death of Queen Myeongseong. The broadcast will continue with a medical interpretation of the identity of this disease.
After returning to the palace, the relationship between Jang Hee-bin and King Sukjong deepened, and Jang Hee-bin eventually went to Queen Inhyeon to plead for help, saying, “The king keeps teasing me.” This shocked Queen Inhyeon, and ultimately, King Sukjong made the unprecedented decision to depose the queen.
However, the actions that followed from King Sukjong left an unprecedented impact in Joseon history, and Mi-yeon and Jang Do-yeon could not hide their shock and anger upon hearing this.
The circumstances that forced King Sukjong to use the two women will also be revealed. Becoming king at the age of fourteen, Sukjong grew up watching his father (King Hyeonjong) being swayed by his ministers, and he resolved not to let that happen to him. Therefore, as soon as he ascended the throne, he confronted the greatest scholar of Joseon, Song Si-yeol, directly, which special guest Seo Kyung-seok humorously likened to “a middle school student challenging a chair professor.”
The interpretation that his indecision between the two women was actually a political calculation led Lee Chan-won to say, “Hearing this, I feel sorry for him,” completely changing his stance on King Sukjong.
This episode will also focus on the health of King Sukjong, who ranks second in the history of Joseon kings in terms of reign duration and lived until the age of 60. Throughout his long reign, he suffered from more than ten diseases, making him a classic example of “living with illness.” Among them, the representative ailment that plagued Sukjong for a long time was “boils,” which had claimed the lives of many kings. There are records that Sukjong, in the midst of his duties, removed his royal robe and lower garments to receive treatment from his officials for a boil that had developed in his groin.
Lee Nak-jun, the creator of the ‘Severe Trauma Center,’ raised the possibility that the disease in the area where the boils repeatedly appeared could have been the cause of Sukjong’s death. Jang Do-yeon mentioned that despite his weak image, Sukjong was known as “the most hot-tempered king of Joseon,” suggesting that his temper could have been a key factor in undermining his health. In addition to boils and temper issues, Sukjong suffered from various symptoms in his later years, including vision loss, lower abdominal pain, and hematuria.
Comedian Seo Kyung-seok, known as the “icon of certifications,” will appear as a historical storyteller. In February, he became the first celebrity to score full marks in the Korean History Ability Test, and he humbly stated, “I was lucky,” while introducing himself as “the god of exams,” which elicited laughter. The broadcast will also reveal his memorization tips for the history test, and upon hearing this, Lee Chan-won expressed surprise, saying, “I think I could still say it the same way even ten years later.”
The episode featuring King Sukjong on ‘Secrets of Celebrity Soldiers’ will air on the 17th at 8:30 PM.
