Title:  Chuno
Also known as: Pursuing Servants / Slave Hunter
Genre: Historical, fusion saeguk
Production Company: Chorokbaem Media
Director: Kwak Jung Hwan (Hometown Legends, Seoul’s Sad Song)
Screenwriter: Chun Sung Il
Episodes: 24
Broadcast Network: KBS2 , Wednesday & Thursday 9:55 PM
Broadcast period: 2010-Jan-06

Synopsis
After the end of the war with the Ch’ing Dynasty (Manchu Invasion), slaves talk about joining an uprising of a righteous army. With a new king everyone would be made equal, living a decent life irrespective of social standing.
Keunommee, a slave, is excited but anxious as he joins the uprising.
Dae Gil, a son of a noble, and Un Nyun, a slave girl, are in love. One day Keunommee, Un Nyun’s older brother, sets his master’s house on fire and runs away with Un Nyun. Because of the fire, Dae Gil loses his family and becomes a slave hunter to catch Keunommee and Un Nyun. Even so, Dae Gil still can’t give up his feelings for Un Nyun.
Tae Ha, a general-turned-slave, escapes when he hear about Crown Prince Seo Hyun being in danger. On the way he runs into Un Nyun who ran away on her honeymoon.
Dae Gil, the number 1 slave hunter in the country, is after Tae Ha.
The story of their entangled fate unfolds. (credit KBS Global Media)

Character Description

Lee Dae Gil, A Nobleman Turned Slave Hunter

Late 20s.
The only son of the yang ban/noble family preparing for state examination.
He only has eyes for the slave girl Un Nyun.
One day Un Nyun’s brother the slave Keunomee burned the house down. Dae Gil’s  whole family perished and he ran away and lived all alone.
After that he took the path as a slave hunter to catch Keunomee and Un Nyun. He is now known as the best slave hunter in Joseon.

He tries to forget Un Nyun’s face but he still cherishes her in his heart. After 8 years have passed even though Un Nyun is still in his heart he couldn’t turn back to the happy times because of his thoughts of revenge.
He learned martial arts from the streets. He is clever and skillful in transactions.
He seems cold hearted but he can’t ignore and kick people out of his heart.

Then came a request from the military training center to capture the escaped Song Tae Ha.
He overheard political talks and plots concerning the royal palace but with the pursuit of Song Tae Ha he found himself tangled in the center of royal power strife.
His only aspiration wasn’t that big one: he just wanted to find the Keunomee siblings and to make his left men – General Choi and Wang Soni – settled. But the world did not allow him to achieve this.
Or, his aspiration to live ‘outside’ the world must be a too big desire from the beginning.

Kim Hye Won (Un Nyun) , The Hunter’s First Love, The Hunted’s Last Love

Mid 20s.
When she was not aware of the status system, she just liked Dae Gil without any thought.
As she got older and found out how different they were, she still couldn’t give up her love to him that she should have finished, to her agony.
Hanyang (Seoul) was turned upside down during the Manchu invasion, Un Nyun was dragged by the troops.
Dae Gil saw this but couldn’t do anything as he came too late to the rescue.
Because of this Un Nyun suffered a lot.

After being flailed, accused of seducing the son of her master, she was to be sold off.
‘Being sold off’ was nothing to a slave girl who saw her mom and dad all sold off, but at this moment, that was so sad because that meant she should part with Dae Gil.
The day before she was to be sold off, her older brother Keunomee set the house on fire and ran away.
Keunomee begins working at a merchant business at Kyung Gang.
Un Nyun threw away her name and take on the name Kim Hye Won.

Choi Sa Gwa, who had backed Keunomee all the time, proposed Hye Won, and they got married. But on her first night she ran away.
How can a woman live in Joseon?
A woman is born as a man’s daughter and dies as a man’s wife,
A woman lives and moves at the will of a man
Un Nyun wants to end that kind of life.

Hye Won, who only knows live at a house, comes out on the road at that moment. She doesn’t know the harsh world.
Right before she is to be taken by bad men, Tae Ha’s help came like destiny and she went with him. They got entangled in a power struggle fight as Tae Ha went to look for Prince Suk Kyun.
After 8 years there is one name that she can’t forget for a moment-Dae Gil.
Consistently with Tae Ha, she missed Dae Gil when she hears the name of the demon like slave hunter with the same name. She was too late in finding out the slave hunter’s face is the face of Dae Gil.

Song Tae Ha, Best Joseon Warrior Turned Runaway Slave

Early 30s.
He is the best military warrior whose sword skills is unmatched in all of Joseon.
He became the best Joseon warrior while being an instructor at the military training center. During the Manchurian invasion he lost his family but he kept fighting until King Injo surrendered and the war ended.

He ventured into enemy territory alone and went head-to-head with Qing China general Yong Gol Dae but was defeated. He and Crown Prince So Hyun were headed to Qing China.
After 8 years he went back with Crown Prince So Hyun to achieve their big dreams together.
After returning home, So Hyun suddenly died. Tae Ha was framed and became a slave.
He lives quietly until he hears about So Hyun’s last son Suk Kyun in a death situation and escapes. He met Hye Won (Un Nyun) on the road.
Though part of the servant/lowly class, he never lost his self-consciousness of having been a yangban/noble class.
He reaches out to the undervalued low class in strengthening and enriching Joseon. He is building the dream that he had with crown prince So Hyun. Though So Hyun isn’t there anymore, Tae Ha believes in a new world with So Hyun’s son (in place).
He threw away everything to get So Hyun’s son who was in a deathly situation.
At the same time he protects Hye Won who goes along with him and whom he treasures as much.

Eop Bok-ee, Hunter of the Nobles

If we kill the yang bans (nobles) will the world really be ours?
He was previously a tiger catcher but because of debt he was sold off as a slave.
He worked as a farmhand at a ginseng farm. He escaped but Dae Gil left a cutting mark on his right cheek– a tattoo of runaway slave.
Because of his deep hatred for the yang ban (nobility) he joins a political party that wants the death of nobles.

As a tiger hunter he is stealthy as a ghost and at night he uses it to kill off the nobles one by one. Rather than running away he wants to create a better world. That is his way of thinking.
However he starts to feel conflicted.
To tiger hunters, hunting tigers would be much easier than undressing their wives, but hunting men was quite different.
Besides, he wasn’t sure if the world that would come after the extinction of the yangban would be the right one.

Eop Bok now works for ‘That Person’. He wants to meet ‘This Person’ but ‘This Person’ is so above him that he couldn’t meet him/her. Eop Bok lived a dangerous life until he encountered the same situation in the captured runaway slave girl Cho Bok-ee and they leaned on each other.
But, if Cho Bok was to be sold to a different place and thus they would part with each other, and almost at the same time, if ‘That Person’ gave a very important order to liberate the slaves, what could he do between two choices? What is the world that Eop Bokee dreams of?
When he found out there was a big conspiracy going on behind this question,
Eop Bokee realized that these men with pens are scarier than ones with swords…

Hwang Chul Woong, Second Place Josoen Warrior  Turned  Assassin

You’ve always thought you’re better than me
That is the reason why I will kill you now.

Early to mid 30s.
Studied under the same teacher for military service examination with Song Tae Ha. They passed the exam and entered military training together. He is overshadowed by Tae Ha and had to settle for second place.
When Tae Ha rushed towards the enemy camp, Chul Woong did not follow.
For him being alive is more valuable than a glorious death.
Afterwards there was a promotion at the military training center. Tae Ha who just came back was promoted to a higher position.
Then and now Tae Ha didn’t change and treated him (Chul Woong) as a friend, but Chul Woong couldn’t let go  his inferiority complex of being second place and decided to get rid of Tae Ha dishonorably.

After the now slave Tae Ha ran away, Chul Woong after receiving instructions from Lee Kyung Shik to assassinate Prince Suk Kyun and those supporting him, set out on the road for the mission, along with the infamous Chun Ji Ho gang.
From the beginning though he’s not the murderer, Chul Woong has caused the death of many innocent people. This made him increasingly lonely and desolate. As he encountered Dae Gil’s slave hunter gang, things were not going as he planned. He got more violent.

General Choi , The Oldest in Dae Gil’s Gang. Dae Gil’s Right Hand.
Late 30s.
His nickname is General. He was disgraced for accepting bribes for military examination. He was ready to end his life when he met Dae Gil.
Dae Gil’s persuasion made him start doing slave hunter work. He threw away his real name and noone knows what his real name is. Dae Gil gave him the nickname General and since then he used General as if it is his real name.
In a fight with Dae Gil, Dae Gil had to admit to him as unni but he never once called him unni instead he treated Dae Gil with much love more than even a real older brother.
He becomes a sunbae (elder) in real life and he gives heartfelt advice.
Of course Dae Gil doesn’t listen to his advice well and gets in trouble…
He is the calm presence in Dae Gil’s gang.
He doesn’t let emotions cloud his judgment and takes time in decision
He never learned military strategy books but he seems to have a profound knowledge in strategy and tactics.

Wang Son
The youngest member of the slave hunter gang Wang Son whose character is in charge of cooking, doing laundry and other dirty work yet also very good in catching (slaves).

He delights in chasing after women, going after and leaving them. It’s hard for him to love with a woman. He is a natural playboy.

He complains about his work all the time yet he follows Dae Gil and General Choi with all his heart.

Sul Hwa
Her story in Chuno starts with her drifting around and forced to sell herself in the market. She meets Dae Gil by chance and throws herself in with the slave hunter gang and accompanies them. Regardless of the harsh treatments from the slave hunter gang, she is undeterred, stays chatty and keeps a cheerful persona. Viewers will embrace this different fun character Sul Hwa. On the other hand, because of her guilty feeling of having to sell her body and self, she couldn’t confess her love to Dae Gil. Instead she can only look at him from a distance, weakly guarding their hearts.

Credit : ocha soompi

Main Cast
Jang Hyuk as Lee Dae Gil
Oh Ji Ho as Song Tae Ha
Lee Da Hae as Un Nyun / Hye Won
Lee Jong Hyuk as Hwang Chul Woong
Gong Hyung Jin as Eop Bok
Han Jung Soo as General Choi
Kim Ji Suk as Wang Son
Kim Ha Eun as Sul Hwa
Choi Chul Ho as Prince So Hyun
Ha Si Eun as Lee Seon Yeong (Hwang Chul Woong’s wife)
Yoon Joo Hee as Jakeunjumo
Yoon Gi Won
Sung Dong Il as Chun Ji Ho
Jo Mi Ryung
Yoon Ji Min
Lee Han Wie
Jo Hee Bong
Danny Ahn as Baek Ho
Yoon Moon Sik
Kim Min Joo
Jo Jin Woong
Joo Da Young as Eun Sil
Jang Su Won
Jo Jae Wan as Kim Seong Hwan
Kim Young Ae
Kim Ha Yoon as Kang Bin
Yoon Dong Hwan as Yong Gol Dae

Official Website

OST

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Trailer

Other Poster

Rating

Episode 1 2010/1/6–22.9
Episode 2 2010/1/7–24.8
Episode 3 2010/1/13–27.2
Episode 4 2010/1/14–30.8
Episode 5 2010/1/20–30.3
Episode 6 2010/1/21–33.7
Episode 7 2010/1/27–31.6
Episode 8 2010/1/28–33.5
Episode 9 2010/2/3–34.6
Episode 10 2010/2/4–35.0
Episode 11 2010/2/10–32.5
Episode 12 2010/2/11–33.9
Episode 13 2010/2/17–32.5
Episode 14 2010/2/18–31.9
Episode 15 2010/2/24–31.9
Episode 16 2010/2/25–33.4
Episode 17 2010/3/3–31.6
Episode 18 2010/3/4–33.8
Episode 19 2010/3/10–33.5
Episode 20 2010/3/11–32.0

Episode 21 2010/3/17–31.2
Episode 22 2010/3/18–30.4

Episode 23 2010/3/24–32.8
Episode 24 2010/3/25–35.9