The Veil (South Korean TV series)

The Veil (Korean: 검은 태양) is a 2021 South Korean television series starring Namkoong Min, Park Ha-sun, and Kim Ji-eun. Its screenplay, written by Park Seok-ho, won the 2018 MBC Drama Screenplay Contest.^[4][5] It aired on MBC TV from September 17 to October 23, 2021, every Friday and Saturday at 22:00 (KST).^[6][7]

The Veil
Promotional poster
Hangul	검은 태양
Hanja	검은 太陽
Literal meaning	Black Sun
Revised Romanization	Geom-eun Taeyang
Genre	Spy[1] Action[1] Thriller[2]
Created by	Hong Seok-woo (MBC)[3]
Written by	Park Seok-ho[3]
Directed by	Kim Sung-yong[3]
Creative director	Kim Ji-ha[3]
Starring	Namkoong Min Park Ha-sun Kim Ji-eun
Composer	Kim Jang-woo [ko]
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	12[4]
Production
Executive producers	Kim Myung (CP) Yoo Hong-ku Kelly SH Song Eun-do[3]
Producer	Kim Je-bok (MBC)[3]
Running time	60 minutes[2]
Production companies	MBC 3Mana Creative Ateod Co. Ltd.[3]
Budget	₩15 billion (US$13.7 million)[1]
Original release
Network	MBC TV
Release	September 17 (2021-09-17) – October 23, 2021 (2021-10-23)

A two-part spin-off of the series titled Moebius: The Veil, which was focused on the backstories of Park Ha-sun, Jung Moon-sung and Jang Young-nam's characters, aired on October 29–30, 2021.^[8]

Synopsis

It is about a top field agent in the National Intelligence Service (NIS). After going missing a year ago, he returns to the organization to find an internal traitor who dropped him into the abyss.^[9]

Cast

Main

• Namkoong Min as Han Ji-hyuk, the best field agent in the NIS who is admired by his colleagues for his shrewd and perfect performance.^[1][10]
• Park Ha-sun as Seo Soo-yeon, Ji-hyuk's co-worker at the NIS and the head of Criminal Information Integration Center.^[5]
• Kim Ji-eun as Yoo Je-yi, Ji-hyuk's partner who graduated early from KAIST, and is a promising field agent.^[5]

Supporting

Foreign Intelligence Bureau

• Jang Young-nam as Do Jin-sook^[11]
• Kim Jong-tae [ko] as Kang Pil-ho^[11]

Criminal Information Integration Center

• Kim Do-hyun as Ha Dong-gyun^[12]
• Park Jin-woo as Cha Min-chul
• Kwon So-hyun as Goo Hyo-eun^[13]

Domestic Intelligence Bureau

• Lee Geung-young as Lee In-hwan^[11]
• Kim Min-sang [ko] as Jung Yong-tae^[12]

Others

• Kim Byung-ki as Bang Young-chan^[11]
• Yu Oh-seong as Baek Mo-sa^[14]
• Woo Ji-hyun as Wie Goo-pyung
• Hyun Bong-sik as Cheon Myung-gi
• Jung Ji-yoon as Kim Yeo-jin^[15]
• Hwang Hee as Oh Kyung-seok
• Jo Bok-rae as Kim Dong-wook
• Ok Ja-yeon as Lin Wei

Extended

• Jung Moon-sung as Jang Chun-woo^[16]
• Kim Eun-woo as Pyo Jae-gyu^[17]
• Joo Jong-hyuk as Chang-gyu^[18]
• Ahn Ji-ho as Choi Sang-gyun^[19]

Special appearance

• Park Ji-yeon as Jung Eun-hee^[20]

Production

The series received a 15 billion won investment from MBC and Wavve for its production.^[4] It is labelled as "MBC's 60th anniversary special project".^[21]

It was reported that filming started in April 2021 and continued filming for six months until October 21.^[22]

Viewership

Season		Episode number
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
	1	1.239	1.579	1.814	1.562	1.753	1.594	1.534	1.350	1.468	1.440	1.297	1.590

The Veil : South Korea viewers per episode (millions)

Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Korea.^[23]

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Average audience share
		Nielsen Korea[23]		TNmS[24]
		Nationwide	Seoul	Nationwide
1	September 17, 2021	7.2% (9th)	8.2% (6th)	5.4% (14th)
2	September 18, 2021	8.0% (4th)	8.5% (4th)	7.9% (2nd)
3	September 24, 2021	9.8% (5th)	10.1% (5th)	8.4% (6th)
4	September 25, 2021	8.3% (4th)	8.6% (3rd)	7.5% (4th)
5	October 1, 2021	9.4% (5th)	9.8% (5th)	8.6% (6th)
6	October 2, 2021	8.6% (4th)	9.2% (3rd)	8.3%
7	October 8, 2021	8.4% (6th)	8.7% (5th)	7.1%
8	October 9, 2021	7.8% (4th)	8.6% (3rd)	7.6%
9	October 15, 2021	8.3% (6th)	8.4% (4th)	6.3%
10	October 16, 2021	7.6% (5th)	7.7% (4th)	6.7%
11	October 22, 2021	7.4% (7th)	7.5% (8th)
12	October 23, 2021	8.8% (3rd)	9.2% (3rd)	7.6% (3rd)
Average		8.30%	8.71%	7.34%
Special	September 18, 2021	4.3% (17th)	4.2% (18th)	4.6% (15th)
In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.

Awards and nominations

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination

Award ceremony	Year	Category	Nominee	Result	Ref.
APAN Star Awards	2022	Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries	Namkoong Min	Nominated	[25]
MBC Drama Awards	2021	Grand Prize (Daesang)		Won	[26]
		Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries		Nominated
		Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries	Park Ha-sun	Nominated
		Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries	Kim Jong-tae	Nominated
		Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries	Jang Young-nam	Won	[27]
		Best Supporting Actor	Kim Do-hyun	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actress	Kwon So-hyun	Nominated
		Best New Actress	Kim Ji-eun	Won	[28]