[2][3][4] Starring Lee Young-ae in the title role, it tells the tale of an orphaned kitchen cook who went on to become the King's first female physician.

At the outset, King Seongjong has ordered the execution by poisoning of his wife, the Deposed Queen Yun, mother of the crown prince (future Yeonsan-gun).

Haunted by the curse of the executed deposed queen and his prophesied fate at the hands of the third woman, he abandons his post and also becomes a hermit, refusing to take a wife.

The officers, fearful that Myeong-yi might reveal their conspiracy, attempt to murder her by framing her committing adultery with a royal guard, then executing her with poison.

They end up living peacefully in a remote village as lower caste commoners and raise a clever daughter named Seo Jang-geum.

When Jang-geum is eight years old, King Yeongsan learns about the murder of his mother and vows revenge, seeking and killing people who were previously involved.

The Right State Councillor Oh Gyeom-ho (the Choi clan's ally within the Royal Cabinet) frames Lady Han and Jang-geum as traitors in league with Jo Gwang-jo, the famous Joseon reformer.

Official Min Jeong-ho, who's in love with Jang-geum, follows her to Jeju Island and offers to help her escape, but she refuses since doing so would mean never being able to return to the palace to not only clear Lady Han's name, but obtain justice for her mother's death.

Jang-geum's friend, Jeong Woon-baek, an eccentric royal physician, disapproves of her decision to pursue medicine in order to take revenge, but, in spite of this, she perseveres and earns herself a post as a female doctor-in-training at the palace.

Torn between self-preservation and guilt, she wanders the countryside hallucinating, ends up falling off a cliff on Dongin Mountain and dies.

For her achievements King Jungjong makes Jang-geum a 6th rank official and appoints her to be his personal physician, the first woman to hold such a position.

The ministers and scholars of the court bitterly accept the decree, but demand the punishment of Min Jeong-ho for supporting Jang-geum's appointment.

While she celebrates her success, Jeong-ho laments the repressive social climate of Korea, and its inability to accommodate a woman with ambitions.

Ever since her parents died during a political massacre, she has suffered many hardships and obstacles, especially in the palace, but she overcomes them with strong determination and perseverance.

They become romantically involved as he moves to Nae Geum Wee (the Royal Military Guard) as Jong Sa Gwan, a senior officer.

But when his illness re-emerges, Jang-Geum want to use her newly discovered method, the anaesthesia and surgery but because they believed that the king's body is sacred for operations, he declined it.

As one of the sanggungs working in the royal kitchen (soorakgan), she possesses a talent in culinary art and is able to identify the source of the ingredients in a dish.

For the Philippine release, Faith Cuneta sang an entirely different song (in contrast with her earlier work for the Philippine broadcast of "Winter Sonata"), titled "Pangarap na Bituin" (a remake of the original sung by the singer's 2nd-degree aunt Sharon Cuneta as the theme song for her 1984 film "Bukas Luluhod Ang Mga Tala").

In Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese version was sung by Angeline Gunathilake and written by Athula Ransirilal; it was titled "Gaha kola mal gal gesee bala sitinawa" (The trees and flowers are looking at her).

Jewel in the Palace was part of the Korean Wave in East Asia, where it gained immense popularity had a significant cultural impact.

The Dae Jang Geum Theme Park was opened in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province in December 2004 at the site of these sets where much of the filming occurred.

In the final episode of the 2007 series, Yi San, a character played by Lee Ip-sae and her colleague have a moment of deja vu in the royal kitchen and come to believe that they worked there in their previous life.

In season 2, episode 9 of Learn Way, Im Ho reprised his role as King Jungjong to teach Mijoo about acting in historical dramas.

The palace was built incorporating the slanted geography of the surrounding mountain and boasts traditional beauty along with architecture rich with historical significance.

Keeping the colors, patterns, touches of the structures intact, the production used the natural backgrounds, traditional atmosphere and the outdoor characteristics.

While the story revolved around an historic palace from the Joseon Dynasty, the musical incorporated hip hop, fast tempos and a dynamic staging.

[18] The animated rendition of Jewel in the Palace, called Jang Geum's Dream is much the same story but focuses on Jang-geum in her younger years.

[20][21][22] In his opening speech at a cultural contents forum in Seoul in October 2013, MBC president Kim Jong-guk reaffirmed the project, saying, "We'll push for the production in the first half of 2015 after a year of pre-production.

"[2][23][24][25] In March 2014, writer Kim Young-hyun confirmed that the series would be aired in October 2014, and that lead actress Lee Young-ae who had previously turned down offers of a sequel since her semi-retirement from acting in 2006, is "positively considering" reprising her role.

[3] In China, Hunan TV purchased the rights to Jewel in the Palace for US$10,000 per episode following the success of the program in South Korea and Taiwan.