SBS’s new Friday-Saturday drama The Haunted Palace made a powerful debut on April 18. The first episode captivated audiences with the turbulent fate of Yeori (played by Kim Ji-yeon), born with shamanistic powers, and the evil spirit Imoogi Gangcheol (special appearance by Kim Young-kwang), who possesses the body of palace scholar Yoon-gap (Yook Sung-jae).
The premiere episode achieved a nationwide rating of 9.2% and a peak viewership of 10.7%, making it the highest first-episode rating of any 2025 SBS drama so far. It also beat competing shows like “Perfect Secretary” and “Treasure Island,” and topped both its time slot and weekly mini-series rankings, according to Nielsen Korea.
The episode began with the backstory of Gang-cheol, a mythical serpent who failed to ascend to dragonhood after a thousand years of cultivation and instead became an evil deity feared by humans. In the village of Yongdamgol, famed shaman Neop-deok (Gil Hae-yeon) warned her young granddaughter Yeo-ri (played as a child by Song Ji-woo) that Gangcheol was targeting her pure spiritual energy.
As feared, Gang-cheol attempted to use Yeori to become a dragon, but was stopped by Neop-deok, who gifted Yeori a spirit-banishing stone called “Gyeonggwiseok.” When Neop-deok unexpectedly dies, Yeo-ri, devastated, vows never to serve the evil spirit.
Years later, Crown Prince Won-ja (Park Jae-joon), son of King Lee-jeong (Kim Ji-hoon), suffers from mysterious madness. Palace official Yoon-gap suggests bringing in spiritual aid, but the king, firm on royal protocols, refuses to allow shamanistic rituals within the palace.
Now an adult, Yeo-ri rejects her fate as a shaman and lives as a craftsman specializing in eyeglasses. But she continues to see malevolent spirits invisible to others. When she discovers a demon tormenting the daughter of ex-Prime Minister Choi Won-woo (Ahn Nae-sang), Yeo-ri uses her spiritual powers to perform an exorcism, suspecting Gang-cheol is behind the disturbance.
Meanwhile, Yoon-gap receives a secret royal order to recruit Choi Won-woo, and returns to his hometown, Yongdamgol. However, he also hopes to secretly bring Yeo-ri to the palace to treat the prince’s affliction. Under the pretense of requesting custom spectacles, he convinces her to come along—delighting Yeo-ri, who has long admired him. She accepts despite Gang-cheol’s warnings, having seen a divine vision of her future with Yoon-gap.
On their journey, tragedy strikes. Political rival Kwak Sang-chung (Yoon Seung) ambushes and kills Yoon-gap. Gang-cheol, lurking nearby, seizes Yoon-gap’s body to strip Yeo-ri of the protective Gyeonggwiseok. When Yeo-ri witnesses Gang-cheol in Yoon-gap’s body and the ghost of the real Yoon-gap beside him, she is devastated.
Gang-cheol declares, “Yeo-ri, you are mine now,” but is shocked to discover he’s trapped in Yoon-gap’s body. Yeo-ri escapes in a desperate attempt to retrieve the Gyeonggwiseok. Their chase ends in a dramatic fall off a cliff—watched helplessly by Yoon-gap’s ghost—as the episode concludes.
Episode 2 of The Haunted Palace airs tonight (April 19) at 9:50 PM KST.
