Innocent Defendant (Korean: 피고인; RR: pigoin; lit. 'Defendant') is a South Korean television series starring Ji Sung, Um Ki-joon, Kwon Yu-ri, Oh Chang-seok, and Uhm Hyun-kyung. It aired on SBS from January 23 to March 21, 2017 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 22:00 (KST) for 18 episodes.
Contents
Synopsis
Park Jung-woo is a prosecutor at Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. One day, he wakes up and finds himself a convict on death row. Suffering from temporary amnesia, Jung-woo has no idea what landed him in prison. He struggles to recover his memory and clear his name.
Cast
Main
Ji Sung as Park Jung-woo
A Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office. The head of the violent crimes investigative division who never loses a case.
Um Ki-joon as Cha Sun-ho / Cha Min-ho
Han Ki-won as young Cha Sun-ho
Han Ki-woong as young Cha Min-ho
Cha Sun-ho is the President of Chamyung Group and Cha Min-ho's older brother.
Cha Min-ho is the Vice President of Chamyung Group and the younger brother of Cha Sun-ho. He is neglected and abused by his father.
Kwon Yu-ri as Seo Eun-hye
A defense lawyer who strives to be eloquent and rational, but loses in court every single time. She takes up Jung-woo's case.
Oh Chang-seok as Kang Jun-hyuk
Jung-woo's best friend and fellow Prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office.
Uhm Hyun-kyung as Na Yeon-hee
Sun-ho's wife and daughter of a bankrupt chaebol, who has a fiery ambition to succeed.
Supporting
Son Yeo-eun as Yoon Ji-soo, Jung-woo's wife.
Shin Rin-ah as Park Ha-yeon, Jung-woo's daughter.
Kang Sung-min as Yoon Tae-soo, Jung-woo's brother-in-law. A prison officer.
Sung Byung-suk as Oh Jung-hee, Jung-woo's mother-in-law.
Park Ho-san as Choi Dae-hong
Lee Shin-sung as Ko Dong-yoon
Han Ji-woo as Yeo Min-kyung
Jung Dong-gyu as Deputy Prosecutor General
Kim Min-seok as Lee Sung-gyu
Born on 16 December 1990, Lee Sung-gyu is a convict charged with assault. The prison's quick-witted mood maker, who helps take care of Jung-woo.
Jo Jae-yoon as Shin Cheol-sik
Jung-woo's jail-mate who was serving life imprisonment for murder. He was jailed by Jung-woo for killing his boss, later to be revealed that he was falsely accused of the crime.
Yoon Yong-hyun as Chief Priest
Woo Hyun as Han Sang-wook aka Milyang
A former doctor, he had been imprisoned for 20 years by the time he became Jung-woo's cell-mate.
Oh Dae-hwan as Cheon Pil-jae / Moong Chi aka Bundle
Jung-woo's helper.
Jo Jae-ryong as Oh Hyuk-joo aka Rockfish
Extended
Kim Seung-hoon as Prison Security Chief
Baek Ji-won as Eun-hye's aunt
Seo In-sung as Cha Eun-soo, Yeon-hee's son.
Lee Jung-hun as Yeo Sung-soo
Oh Seung-hoon as Kim Seok, Cha Min-ho's henchman.
Seo Jeong-yeon as Kim Sun-hwa, a psychiatrist.
Hwang Young-hee as Cheon Pil-jae's older sister
Special appearances
Kim Hwan as News Anchor (ep. 1)
Seo Dong-won as Detective Oh Jong-min (ep. 3, 7-8)
Han Kyu-won as Lee Chan-young (ep. 6)
Oh Yeon-ah as Jennifer Lee (ep. 7 & 8)
Lee Deok-hwa as Prisoner #2460 (ep. 8)
Lee Si-eon (ep. 18)
Production
Innocent Defendant is directed by Jo Young-kwang of 49 Days, and written by Choi Su-jin of City Hunter. Its first script reading took place on November 18, 2016 at the SBS Studio in Ilsan, South Korea.
Original soundtrack
In December 2016, co-producer Signal Entertainment Group signed a deal with KT Music for the soundtrack of Innocent Defendant.
Reception
The series was a commercial success with over 25% ratings and topped popularity charts. It received praise for its plot-focused narrative, impressive acting performance of lead actors Ji Sung and Um Ki-joon and its ability to resonate with the public. The Korea Times said the drama is like a "warning sign to the evil and powerful figures of the real world"; and Yonhap News Agency praise Ji's character as "putting a relatable human face on a tale that is often disturbingly grim and somber". However, it also had criticisms about its unrealistic plot and its tendency to repeat the same pattern of twists and turns to keep viewers hooked.
Ratings
In the table below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.
Adaptations
The series was adapted in Turkey as "Mahkum - Şehrin Kralları" and it has been broadcast on Fox TV.
The series was adapted in Russia as "Подсудимый" and it has been broadcast on NTV.