Stealer: The Treasure Keeper

Stealer: The Treasure Keeper (Korean: 스틸러: 일곱 개의 조선통보) is a 2023 South Korean television series starring Joo Won, Lee Joo-woo, Jo Han-chul, Kim Jae-won and Choi Hwa-jung. It aired on tvN every Wednesday and Thursday at 22:30 (KST) from April 12 to May 18, 2023.^[3][8] It is also available for streaming on TVING in South Korea, and Viu in selected regions.^[9][10]

Stealer: The Treasure Keeper
Promotional poster
Also known as	Stealer[1]
Hangul	스틸러: 일곱 개의 조선통보
Hanja	스틸러: 일곱 개의 朝鮮통보
Literal meaning	Stealer: Seven Joseon Coins
Revised Romanization	Seutilleo: Ilgop Gaeui Joseontongbo
Genre	Action[1] Comedy[1] Crime[2]
Developed by	Studio Dragon (planning)[3]
Written by	Shin Kyung-il[4]
Directed by	Choi Joon-bae[5] Min Jung-ah[5]
Starring	Joo Won Lee Joo-woo Jo Han-chul Kim Jae-won Choi Hwa-jung
Music by	Park Se-joon
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	12
Production
Executive producer	Lee Hye-young (CP)[6]
Producers	Kim Tae-hoon[6] Seo Jeong-hyun[6]
Running time	70 minutes[7]
Production companies	Curo Holdings [ko][3] Studio V+[3]
Original release
Network	tvN
Release	April 12 (2023-04-12) – May 18, 2023 (2023-05-18)

Synopsis

Hwang Dae-myung (Joo Won) is a government official who is suddenly suspected of having a connection with a mysterious cultural property thief known as Skunk. He then joins an unofficial cultural asset recovery team named Karma to hunt down the thief and fight those who cannot be judged by the law.^[1][11]

Cast and characters

Main

• Joo Won as Hwang Dae-myung and Skunk^[11][12]

1. Hwang Dae-myung is a civil servant of the Special Investigation Division of the Cultural Heritage Administration.
2. Skunk is a mysterious thief who wears a black mask and steals the country's cultural assets that are illegally taken by high-ranking members of society.

• Lee Joo-woo as Choi Min-woo

An elite police officer assigned to the cultural heritage team of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.^[13]

• Jo Han-chul as Jang Tae-in

The founder of Karma, who is the former leader of the Violent Crime Section's Drug Squad.^[14]

• Kim Jae-won as Shin Chang-hoon

A former homicide detective.^[4]

• Choi Hwa-jung as Lee Chun-ja

A member of Karma who has unmatched hacking skills.^[13]

Supporting

Special Investigation Division of the Cultural Heritage Administration

• Min Su-hwa as Jin Ae-ri

The youngest civil servant of the Cultural Heritage Administration and Dae-myung's direct subordinate.^[15][16]

Cultural property offenders

• Lee Deok-hwa as Kim Young-soo

A person who stands at the peak of wealth with numerous cultural assets, but is blinded by endless greed.^[8]

• Kim Jae-chul as Jo Huin-dal

Young-soo's right-hand man who is a thief specializing in antiques and a cruel killer.^[17]

• Choi Jung-woo as Dr. Ko

A legendary grave robber and treasure hunter.^[18]

• Jung Eun-pyo as Choi Song-cheol

The director of the Institute of History and Culture.^[18]

• Jeon Jin-oh as Kim Young-chan

An antique and cultural property thief.^[19]

• Jang Gwang as Chairman Yang

An antique collector.^[18]

Others

• Lee Seol-ah as Ahn Yeon-ji

An orphan who lives alone with her younger brother in Taebaek Coal Mine Village.^[20][21]

• Jung Min-joon as Ahn Yeon-seok

Yeon-ji's younger brother.^[20][21]

Extended

• Shim Jin-hwa as Shim Mi-young^[22]
• Kim Won-hyo as Mi-young's husband^[22]
• Lee Seung-il as Seung-il^[23]
• Song Jae-hee as Jang Chun-peong^[24]

Production

Early working title of the series was Karma: Seven Joseon Coins (카르마 – 일곱 개의 조선통보; Kareuma – Ilgop Gaeui Joseontongbo).^[25]

Viewership

Season		Episode number												Average
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
	1	968	705	764	846	738	651	537	580	511	567	428	536	653

Stealer: The Treasure Keeper : South Korea viewers per episode (thousands)

Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Korea.^[26]

Average TV viewership ratings

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Average audience share (Nielsen Korea)[26]
		Nationwide	Seoul
1	April 12, 2023	4.678% (2nd)	4.964% (2nd)
2	April 13, 2023	3.668% (2nd)	4.397% (2nd)
3	April 19, 2023	3.582% (2nd)	3.913% (2nd)
4	April 20, 2023	3.766% (2nd)	3.926% (2nd)
5	April 26, 2023	3.638% (2nd)	4.224% (2nd)
6	April 27, 2023	3.140% (2nd)	3.677% (2nd)
7	May 3, 2023	2.396% (3rd)	2.951% (3rd)
8	May 4, 2023	2.225% (2nd)	2.213% (2nd)
9	May 10, 2023	2.418% (3rd)	2.739% (3rd)
10	May 11, 2023	2.325% (2nd)	2.521% (2nd)
11	May 17, 2023	1.939% (3rd)	2.287% (3rd)
12	May 18, 2023	2.320% (2nd)	2.812% (2nd)
Average		3.008%	3.385%
In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. This series aired on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC and EBS).