(뿌리깊은 나무)is a September 2011 tentative) South Korea.

Plot

Kang Jae-Yoon is a low level guard for the King. He investigates a case involving the serial murders of Jiphyeonjeon scholars in the Gyeongbok Palace 7 days before the issuing of the Korean written language.

Deep Rooted Tree, also known as Tree With Deep Roots (뿌리깊은 나무) is a 24-episode television series that aired on SBS in 2011. It is based on the novel by Lee Jeong-myeong (another Lee novel Painter of the Wind was also adapted by SBS in 2008). The drama stars Jang Hyuk, Shin Se-kyung and Han Suk-kyu. This is Han's TV comeback after 16 years of solely film work; he plays King Sejong the Great, whose younger version is played by Song Joong-Ki.

It tells the story of Kang investigating a case involving the serial murders of Jiphyeonjeon scholars in Gyeongbok Palace while the king(played by Han Suk-kyu) comes to create the Korean written language.

Synopsis

The drama takes its name from a poem (Yongbieocheonga) that says that trees with deep roots do not sway. Early in his reign, King Sejong accidentally causes the death of his in-laws and their slaves in an attempt to save them from his brutal father, King Taejong. Two young slaves, Ddol Bok and his friend Dam, survive but neither knows the other has. Ddol Bok blames the king and vows to kill him to avenge the deaths of everyone he loved. He spends several years becoming a great warrior. Dam, who has a photographic memory, becomes a court lady called So Yi (Shin Se-kyung), but she feels so guilty about her role in the other slaves’ deaths that she is mute.

Ddol Bok returns to the palace under the name of Kang Chae-yoon (Jang Hyuk) in order to kill the King. However, he becomes embroiled in the mystery surrounding the deaths of several Hall of Worthies scholars. The deaths were caused by a secret society called “Hidden Root”, which was created long ago by followers of Jeong Do-jeon, with the goal of giving more power to ministers and less to the king. King Taejong killed Jeong Do-jeon and all of his family except his nephew, Jeong Gi-joon, who now is the leader of Hidden Root and lives in disguise not far from the King Sejong.

It soon becomes known that the king, with the help of So Yi and the Hall of Worthies scholars, has been working for years on a secret project, which turns out to be the creation of the Korean alphabet. While tracking Hidden Root, Kang Chae-yoon and So Yi each realize who the other is. So Yi begins to speak, and when she shows Kang the simple alphabet and describes how it will give more power to commoners, he is convinced to work with the king instead of killing him.

However, Jeong Gi-joon believes that the new alphabet is a threat to Confucian order, and decides to stop it at all costs. He murders the king’s son, but this only makes Sejong more determined. Jeong is able to stop the king’s dissemination efforts, and on the day the alphabet is to be publicly announced, both So Yi and Kang are fatally wounded by Hidden Root members. However, through their sacrifices, the event is successful, and commoners begin to use Hangul.