It seems Netflix has found another Korean genre hit, because The East Palace has quickly become one of the platform’s biggest Korean releases of the year, climbing the streamers charts around the world, where the supernatural historical drama has reached No. 1 in 17 countries and landed in the Top 10 in 83 markets, turning what could have been a very niche Korean fantasy series into a global success story.
And, it is really not hard to see why, because The East Palace has taken the things that Korean genre dramas do best – creepy folklore, complicated family relationships, political secrets, and a healthy amount of the supernatural – and thrown them all together inside a haunted royal palace.
A Haunted Palace Filled With Secrets
If you haven’t watched The Haunted Palace yet, it is set during the Joseon era and follows Gu Cheon (Nam Joo-hyuk), a mysterious man with the ability to see spirits and move between the worlds of the living and the dead, where his unusual ability becomes impossible for the royal family to ignore when a series of strange deaths begins happening inside the palace, and the King, played by Cho Seung-woo, calls on Gu Cheon to investigate what is really happening, so alongside the palace maid Saeng Gang, Gu Cheon begins uncovering secrets that have been hidden for generations, and like many great Korean horror stories, the supernatural threat is connected to injustice, betrayal, and the mistakes people try to bury.
Netflix has obviously released plenty of successful Korean originals before, but The East Palace really does feel like the company’s first major historical fantasy horror series since Kingdom introduced global audiences to Korean period horror – the big difference here is that The East Palace is not interested in just one type of horror, because it combines ghost stories with palace drama, fantasy action, and emotional family conflicts.
I do think a big reason for the show’s popularity is that it does not feel like it is simply copying familiar fantasy ideas, because The East Palace builds its story around Korean folklore and traditional beliefs about spirits, curses, and the connection between life and death, which gives the horror a slightly different feeling compared to many Western supernatural shows, where the performances have also helped the series stand out too.
Meet Kkeomeoksal, the Internet’s New Favourite Ghost
Every hit Korean drama seems to have that one unexpected character who steals the attention, and for The East Palace, that character is Kkeomeoksal – The tiny ghost companion that follows Gu Cheon has become one of the biggest talking points of the series, and despite being a supernatural creature that feeds on human energy, Kkeomeoksal brings plenty of humour and personality to the series as well.
Fans have even nicknamed the character “Joseon Groot” because of its cute appearance and lovable personality, comparing it to Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy, and it has become the character viewers cannot stop talking about.
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