The King and I () is a South Korean historical series that aired on SBS from August 27, 2007 to April 1, 2008 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55. Starring Oh Man-seok, Koo Hye-sun, and Go Joo-won, the series was moderately successful, with its ratings peak at 25%. Plot The King and I revolves around the life of Kim Cheo-sun, considered the best eunuch attendant who lived during the Joseon Dynasty. Cheo-sun secretly loves his childhood friend So-hwa, but he cannot confess his love because of their difference in social class. Eventually, when So-hwa becomes betrothed to King Seongjong, he castrates himself and enters the palace as an eunuch, determined to watch over and protect her. Initially the King's concubine, So-hwa is later elevated to the rank of Queen. But she becomes a pawn of the intense strife among warring political factions, and is stripped of her title and cast out of the palace in disgrace. Despite Cheo-sun's attempts to help her, she is sentenced to death. Cheo-sun carries out his orders by handing her the bowl of poison and he watches as the woman he loved all his life dies before his eyes. After her death, he looks after her son, Prince Yeonsan. Cast Main characters Oh Man-seok as Kim Cheo-sun Joo Min-soo as young Cheo-sun Koo Hye-sun as Yoon So-hwa, later Deposed Queen Yun Park Bo-young as young So-hwa Go Joo-won as King Seongjong Yoo Seung-ho as young Prince Jalsan (later Seongjong) Jun Kwang-ryul as Jo Chi-gyeom, head of the eunuchs Yang Mi-kyung as Grand Queen Dowager Jaseong (later known as Queen Jeonghui), Seongjong's grandmother Jeon In-hwa as Queen Dowager Insu, Seongjong's mother Ahn Jae-mo as Jung Han-soo, a eunuch Baek Seung-do as young Han-soo Jeon Hye-bin as Seol-young, Chi-gyeom's adoptive sister Lee Jin as Queen Yun (later known as Queen Jeonghyeon) Supporting characters Shin Goo as Noh Nae-shi, Chi-gyeom's adoptive father / former eunuch Kim Soo-mi as old woman So-gwi, in charge of discipline at the eunuch training house Yoon Yoo-sun as Wol-hwa, Cheo-sun's foster mother / Soginopa's daughter) Kang Nam-gil as Choi Cham-bong, eunuch trainer Jung Tae-woo as Yi Yung, Prince Yeonsan, King Seongjong and So-hwa's son Jung Yoon-seok as young Yi Yung Kim Sa-rang as Eoudong Extended cast Yang Jung-a as Lady Oh, Cheo-sun's mother Lee Il-jae as Kim Ja-myung, Cheo-sun's father Sunwoo Jae-duk as Yoon Ki-kyun, So-hwa's father Choi Jung-won as Lady Shin, Ki-kyun's