Lee Gyeong-yeong - Heo Ok; Heungseon Daewongun’s henchman
Kim Hye-sun - Chuwol; Heungseon Daewongun’s concubine
Lee Hyeon-gyeong - Ok San
Ki Jeong-su - Shin Cheol-gyun
Lee Won-yong - Ahn Gi-yeong
Lee Woo-seok - Yi Jae-seon
Imo Incident
Kim Seong-hwan - Min Gyeom-ho; Grand Princess Min’s younger brother
Maeng Ho-rim - Kim Bo-hyeon
Lee Jae-yeon - Kim Chun-yeong
Kim Dae-hwan - Yoo Bok-man
Kim Jin-tae - Kim Jeong-son
Kim Ji-bok - Yoo Chun-man
Kim Tae-hyeong - Administrator Seon Hye-jeong
Yun Gwan-yong - Sim Sang-hun
Gapsin Coup
Lee Byeong-ok - Kim Ok-gyun
Cha Cheol-su - Park Yeong-hyo
Lee Won-hui - Hong Yeong-sik
Hong Jeong-ok - Seo Jae-pil
Lee Gi-chil - Yun Chi-ho
Donghak Peasant Revolution
Jeong Byeong-ok - Jeon Bong-jun
Lee Gye-yeong - Dong Hak-gun
Eulmi Incident
Hong Il-kwon - Hong Gye-hun; Palace Lady Hong’s older brother and palace bodyguard who protected Empress Myeongseong at the time of the Imo Incident and gained trust. After that, he continued to protect Empress Myeongseong, but was killed while resisting the Japanese during the Eulmi Incident.
Kim Jun-mo - Lee Gyeong-jik
Oh Seong-yeol - Woo Beom-seon
Kim Bong-geun - Yun Seok-woon
Yun Tae-sul - Hullyeondae soldier
Extended
Lee Yeong-hu - Prince Heungin; Heungseon Daewongun’s older brother
Eom Yoo-shin - Prince Heungin’s wife
Jeon In-taek - Lee Yong-ik
Kim Sang-sun - Jo Du-sun
Choi Sang-hun - Jo Yeong-ha; Grand Queen Royal Dowager Jo’s 5th cousin
Song Jae-ho - Kim Jwa-geun; Queen Cheorin’s relative and head of the Andong Kim clan
Park Yeong-ji - Kim Byeong-hak
Jeong Seong-mo - Kim Byeong-gi; Kim Jwa-geun’s adoptive son
Park Cheol-ho - Kim Byeong-guk; Kim Byeong-hak’s younger brother
Im Byeong-gi - Kim Byeong-si
Kwon Ki-seon - Kim Byeong-si’s wife
Kim Ju-yeong - Lee Gyeong-ha
Heo Gi-ho - Yi Jae-won; Heungseon Daewongun’s nephew and Gojong’s cousin
Jeon Seong-hwan - Shin Heon
Yun Sun-cheol - Lee Yu-won
Yun Deok-yong - Hong Sun-mok; Father of Hong Young-sik. He commits suicide when his son is murdered in the Gapsin coup
Lee Shin-jae - Sim Soon-taek
Seo Kwon-sun - Sim Soon-taek’s wife
Park Chil-yong - Kang Ro
Kim In-tae - Shin Eung-jo
Yang Yeong-jun - Jeong Gi-hoe
Kim Gyeong-ha - Yang Hyeon-su
Yu Byeong-jun - Han Gye-won
Kang Man-hui - Yun Ung-ryeol
Heo Hyeon-ho - Park Gyu-su
Jang Gi-yong - Kim Yun-sik
Kim Hyeong-il - Eo Yun-jong
Kim Tae-gi - Kim Hong-jib
Kang In-gi - Yi Wan-yong
Lee Dae-ro - Choi Ik-hyeon
Kim Rin - Lee Gyeong-ha
Japanese Legation Group
Lee Il-ung - Kuroda Kiyotaka
Seo Sang-ik - Hanabusa Yoshitada
Park Geun-hyeong - Inoue Kaoru
Im Hyeok - Miura Gorō
Kim Byeong-gi - Okamoto Ryūnosuke
Yun Ju-sang - Itō Hirobumi
Kang Tae-gi - Mutsu Munemitsu
Kim Ha-gyun - Saionji Kinmochi
Kim Sang-sun - Daekjoe Shinichiro
Lee Do-ryeon - Shiba Shirō/Tokai Sanshi
Kim Seong-ryeong - Michiko
Jeong Ui-gab - Japanese man Sasaki
Yang Jae-won - Japanese military officer
Qing Dynasty figures
Nam Il-woo - Li Hongzhang
Park Jin-seong - Yuan Shikai
Park Gyeong-deuk - Wu Changqing
Kwon Hyeok-ho - Ding Ruchang
Park Yong-sik - Ma Jianzhong
Jeong Bong-yeon - Jubok
Moon Hoe-won - Wu Jo-yu
Lee Jong-gu - Yeo Seok-chang
Na Han-il - Zhang Peilun
Na Gi-su - Zhang Shusheng
Jo In-po - Ye Zhichao
Kim Mu-saeng - Li Qingfeng
Lee Jae-ryong - Jin Shudang
Kim Kang-il - Aesingakra Hyukhye
Jeon Il-beom - Huang Zunxian
German figures
Lee Cham - Paul Möllendorff, also known as Mok In-deok; A German who gained support from the Min family and was in charge of diplomacy and finances.
Lee Jong-rae - Edward Jape; a German Consulate General
Russian figures
? - Afanasy Seredin-Sabatin; Russian military officer
? - Karl Ivanovich Weber; He strives to expand Russian power in Joseon through the Imperial Russian Federation. When Empress Myeongseong leans toward her pro-Russia, she actively cooperates with it (discussing arms imports), but is consistent with a passive attitude when the Eulmi Incident takes place. Later, when the Agwan collapse occurred, he led the pro-Russian cabinet and tried to gain interest in Korea.
? - Weber’s wife
Kim Jin-ah - Marie Sontag; German-Russian woman. Executioner of Weber and interpreter of the Imperial Russian Legation. She speaks fluent Russian in a scene where Prince Weber and Empress Myeongseong discuss arms imports.
Britain figures
Kim Rin (Lynne Louise Kim) - Isabella Bird; An English geographer and writer who wrote Korea and its neighbors, a story of her travels to Joseon. In the first scene of episode 1, a western woman played Isabella Budd Bishop, who is clumsy in the Joseon Dynasty, but eats rice with chopsticks.
? - William Esden; British Consulate General
American figures
? - Dayi; A foreign training instructor who disbanded a training unit trained by a Japanese military officer and took charge of training the newly created demonstrators. At the time of the Eulmi Incident, he led the protesters against the Japanese army, but was defeated and taken prisoner due to the inferiority of the troops.
? - Mary F. Scranton; founder of Ehwa Girls' School (later Ehwa Woman’s University)
? - Pateu (Lucius Foote); an American corporate executive
? - Horace Allen; a Methodist missionary and doctor
? - Yang-ui; a doctor
? - Francis Ann; Horace Allen’s wife
? - Denny; the successor to Mok In-deok and a diplomatic adviser
? - Nickson
Two Empress Myeongseong Actresses
It was reported that Lee Mi-Yeon signed a contract with KBS for this drama for only 100 episodes. However, due to high viewership rates, KBS wanted to extend the episodes for more than 100 originally. Since Lee Mi-Yeon wanted to stick with the original contract, she refused to do more
than 100 episodes. However, KBS said still extended Empress Myeongseong and had Choi Myung-Gil for the role. Lee Mi-Yeon's last episode was Episode 81 and Choi Myung-Gil started at Episode 82. The viewers should not be confused as Lee Mi-Yeon also had a death scene which is actually a music video for the OST.