The Legendary Police Woman Female Detective Damo Damo: The Undercover Lady Detective Damo, the Detective in Chosun Damo ( Korean : 조선 여형사 다모 ; RR : Joseon yeohyeongsa damo ; lit. 'Female Detective Damo in the Joseon Dynasty' ; also known as The Legendary Police Woman ) is a 2003 South Korean fusion historical drama, starring Ha Ji-won , Lee Seo-jin , and Kim Min-jun . Set in the Joseon period, it tells the story of Chae-ok, a damo relegated to the low-status job of a female police detective who investigates crimes involving women of the upper class. It aired on MBC from July 28 to September 9, 2003 on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 for 14 episodes. Chae-ok is the daughter of a nobleman, who was framed for conspiracy and thereafter committed suicide. She got separated from her brother at the age of 7 when she was caught by the officer who then took her to be the slave of Hwangbo Yoon's family. Alongside him, she was raised in the mountains and learned martial arts and sword fighting. She has loved Yoon silently for years, knowing they cannot be together because he belongs to a higher social class. Instead when he becomes a police commander, she joins his bureau as a damo to continue being near him and working with him. When Chae-ok goes undercover while investigating a counterfeiting ring, she meets the rebel leader Jang Sung-baek. She must try to arrest Sung-baek, but despite her bravery and resolve, she finds herself falling for him. Ha Ji-won as Jang Jae-hui / Jang Chae-ok Jung Min-ah as young Jae-hui / Chae-ok Jung Min-ah as young Jae-hui / Chae-ok Lee Seo-jin as Commander Hwangbo Yoon [ 1 ] Baek Sung-hyun as young Yoon Baek Sung-hyun as young Yoon Kim Min-jun as Jang Jae-mo / Jang Sung-baek Supporting cast Lee Moon-sik as Ma Chook-ji Noh Hyun-hee as Ta Bak-nyeo Park Yeong-gyu as Jo Se-wook Lee Han-wi as Baek Joo-wan Kwon Oh-joong as Lee Won-hae Yoon Mun-sik as Ahn Nok-sa Kwon Yong-woon as Noh Gak-chul Ahn Kye-beom as Kato Masayuki Kim Min-kyung as Soo-myung [ 2 ] Shin Seung-hwan as Ahn Byung-taek Jung Wook as Jung Pil-joon Jung Ho-keun as Choi Dal-pyung Chae Young-in as Jo Nan-hee Hyun Seok as Jung Hong-doo Sunwoo Jae-duk as the King Cho Jae-hyun (cameo) Damo has a dual meaning. One is literally "tea servant," while the second is the implicit understanding that damos in the Police Bureau were female police detectives. [ 3 ] The drama presupposes that all people during the 17th century were aware of this dual meaning. In the Joseon Dynasty, rather than numbering political offices or government divisions with "first," "second," and "third," it was common to use, middle, right, and left. The use of "Left Police Bureau" and "Right Police Bureau" is not indicative of their domains over the city, but merely a numbering system in much the same way Americans have precincts and district numbers. With regards to the character Ma Chook-ji, "Chook-ji" is not his real first name. His real first name is never mentioned in the series. "Chook ji" literally means "compress space," more akin to a nickname like "Quick-foot Ma." Adapted from Bang Hak-gi's manhwa Damo Nam-soon and with an expensive budget of ₩200 million per episode, Damo took more than a year to complete. It was filmed in Taean County , South Chungcheong Province . [ 4 ] To help elevate the quality of the show, 80 percent of the series was pre-produced before airing, a rare occurrence among Korean dramas . It was also the first Korean drama completely shot with HD cameras (previously only used in documentaries). Steering away from traditional historical dramas (in Korean, sageuk ; or taiga in Japanese dramas ), Damo ushered in the new subgenre "fusion historical drama," with its use of flashy wuxia -style high-wire action , CG , and a soundtrack that combined traditional music with anachronistic modern rock / electronica . [ 5 ] [ 6 ] The series began with modest ratings (the first episode recorded 14 percent), but it soon began to gain popularity among viewers in their 20s and 30s. Damo was the first Korean drama in the Internet era to reach 1 million posts on the message board of its official website, which caused the site's servers to crash. It eventually passed 4 million posts. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] Dedicated online fans coined the tongue-in-cheek moniker pyein (a word play on pain), referring to themselves as "crippled by pain" because they spend hours in front of a computer writing comments and discussions about the drama and chatting online with other viewers, to an extent of not being able to lead a normal life. The cast and crew also interacted with these netizens online, to better "read" viewers' reactions. Even long after the series had ended, the Damo pyeins continued to generate content, such as a newsletter called Damo Ilbo written in Joseon-era Korean language, music videos edited by fans themselves, and thousands of drawings related to the show. Online popularity led to revenue, and MBC earned an estimated ₩10 million a day through Internet residual fees. At the end of the drama's last episode, a caption onscreen read "We would like to thank the Damo pyeins ." [ 6 ] Damo , which had recorded average ratings of more than 20 percent, became mainstream thanks to the huge popularity it enjoyed online, and it turned into a cultural phenomenon, forcing TV networks to thereafter change their approach to ratings, online content, and viewer feedback. [ 5 ] Damo' s cast, writer and director were recognized at the year-end MBC Drama Awards, and the 2004 Baeksang Arts Awards . [ 9 ] [ 10 ] 2003 MBC Drama Awards [ 11 ] Top Excellence Award, Actress - Ha Ji-won Excellence Award, Actor - Lee Seo-jin Best New Actor - Kim Min-jun

Special Writer Award - Jung Hyung-soo Popularity Award - Ha Ji-won Best Couple Award - Ha Ji-won and Lee Seo-jin 2004 Baeksang Arts Awards Best New Director for TV - Lee Jae-kyoo Best New Actor for TV - Kim Min-jun 2004 Asian Television Awards Best Drama Series ↑ Cho, Chung-un (December 11, 2006). "HERALD INTERVIEW: Actor Lee Seo-jin seeks versatility" . The Korea Herald via Hancinema . Archived from the original on November 27, 2013 . Retrieved April 27, 2013 . ↑ "Actress dies of stomach cancer" . The Korea Times . June 4, 2010. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016 . Retrieved April 2, 2013 . ↑ Kim, Hyung-eun (May 5, 2008). "Joseon cops similar to police today" . Korea JoongAng Daily . Retrieved April 2, 2013 . {{ cite web }} : CS1 maint: deprecated archival service ( link ) ↑ Chung, Ah-young (November 1, 2007). "Tour to Filming Sets" . The Korea Times . Archived from the original on December 14, 2014 . Retrieved April 2, 2013 . 1 2 "KOREAN TV DRAMA REVIEWS: 다모 (茶母, Damo)" . Twitch Film . February 16, 2006. Archived from the original on January 20, 2008 . Retrieved May 24, 2013 . 1 2 "Damo Pyeins Launch Drama To Digital Culture Heights" . Ewha Voice . October 1, 2003. Archived from the original on January 23, 2021 . Retrieved April 2, 2013 . ↑ "KOREAN TV DRAMA REVIEWS: 미안하다 사랑한다 (I'm Sorry, I Love You)" . Twitch Film . November 18, 2005. Archived from the original on April 14, 2009 . Retrieved April 2, 2013 . ↑ "Camera-Phones Voted Best Item of 2003" . The Chosun Ilbo . December 17, 2003. Archived from the original on February 10, 2015 . Retrieved April 2, 2013 . ↑ "Ask the Zealots for Best Actor and Actress!" . The Dong-A Ilbo . December 25, 2003. Archived from the original on May 3, 2022 . Retrieved March 18, 2014 . ↑ "TV Dramas - Actresses Line up for Award Ceremony Takeover" . The Chosun Ilbo . December 29, 2003. Archived from the original on June 17, 2013 . Retrieved April 2, 2013 . ↑ "2003 MBC Drama Awards" Archived March 19, 2022, at the Wayback Machine (in Korean). iMBC.com . Retrieved April 2, 2013. Damo official MBC website (in Korean) The Legendary Police Woman at MBC Global Media Damo at HanCinema Damo at the Korean Movie Database (in Korean) MBC TV television dramas 2003 South Korean television series debuts 2003 South Korean television series endings Korean-language television shows South Korean historical television series South Korean action television series Television series set in Joseon Television shows based on manhwa Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata Use mdy dates from April 2016 Articles containing Korean-language text CS1 maint: deprecated archival service Webarchive template wayback links Articles with Korean-language sources (ko) HanCinema film ID same as Wikidata