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Gunman in Joseon

2014 Korean television program set in the late Joseon period

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 26, 2026
Entity authorityQ16690418 ↗
Source-derived summary

Gunman in Joseon (Korean: 조선 총잡이) is a 2014 South Korean television series starring Lee Joon-gi, Nam Sang-mi, Jeon Hye-bin, Han Joo-wan, and Yu Oh-seong. It aired on KBS2 from June 25 to September 4, 2014 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 for 22 episodes.

Synopsis

The story begins in 1876, the third year of Emperor Gojong's reign. It is a time of great upheaval and rapid modernization, with conflict brewing between the two leading political factions, the Sugu (conservative) and the Kaehwa (enlightenment). Those on the Kaehwa side support Gojong's enlightenment policies during this time of change; Joseon was known as a hermit kingdom through the nineteenth century, keen to isolate itself from foreign influence. In previous years, Joseon had rejected Western overtures to open trade lines, which had led to military clashes with American and French forces. While newer ideology advocated a more open policy, it had yet to take root. Adding to the mounting tensions, recently Gojong's Kaehwa supporters have begun, one by one, to fall victim to a mysterious figure toting a brand-new style of gun.

Park Yoon-kang (Lee Joon-gi) is the son of the last great swordsman of nineteenth century Joseon. After the tragic death of his father and the enslavement of his younger sister, Yoon-kang trades his sword for a Western-made lever action rifle as he embarks on a revenge mission, but ends up becoming a hero for the people.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Gunman in Joseon” as 2014 Korean television program set in the late Joseon period. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2014, 1876—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Gunman, Joseon and Korean can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 2014 Korean television program set in the late Joseon period. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16690418. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2014 and 1876.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Gunman in Joseon”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Gunman in Joseon primary sources, Gunman in Joseon archive and Gunman research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Gunman in Joseon”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Gunman in Joseon” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.