Secret Investigation Record

Ji Seung, Hyung-do, Yoon-yi and Jang Man

Secret Investigation Record (기찰비록), also called Joseon X-Files, is a 12 episode Korean Drama which aired on the cable network tvN in 2010.

August 25, 1609. An unnatural light appears in the skies above the province Gangwon-do, accompanied by a massive flying vessel. The sole governor who dares to report the sighting to the king is immediately arrested for treason.

Kim Hyung-do, an upright investigator, is assigned to the case. He immediately recognizes the accused governor as his former mentor. As he investigates the sighting in a desperate attempt to save his mentor from execution, Hyung-do runs into the mysterious Ji Seung, who's shadowy organization, Shin-muh-wai, is in charge of secretly investigating and recording "bizarre and mysterious incidents that nobody can explain." Ji Seung later recruits Hyung-do.

Together with his side-kick Jang Man and the enigmatic Heo Yoon-yi, the skeptical Hyung-do attempts to discover the truth behind the inexplicable events which occur in Joseon.

Tropes used in Secret Investigation Record include:

Action Girl: Yoon-yi
Agent Mulder: Lee Bang-hyun
Agent Scully: Hyung-do
Alien Abduction
Apologetic Attacker: After Hyung-do steals from the Shin-muh-wai vault to save Ji Seung's life, he apologizes as he attacks the guards.
Artifact of Death: The cursed gold
Aside Glance: Yoon-yi looks directly at the camera as she secretly burns Hyung-do's book.
Bad Liar: Jang Man
Bad News in a Good Way: Lord Lee Do announces that his house is haunted with a smile.
Badass Bookworm: Yoon-yi, the bookstore owner, knows how to shoot a gun long before Hyung-do and Jang Man even know what a gun was.
Badass in Distress: When Hyung-do finds himself trapped in "Paradise" (New Land), the other members of Shin-muh-wai have to come to the rescue.
Berserk Button: Ji Seung says to Lord Lee Do, "What can we (Shin-muh-wai) accomplish if we're afraid of rats?"
Blind Seer
Bottomless Magazines: Averted. It's the 1600s, after all. There is no magazine. So there's only one shot per loaded gun.
Cassandra Truth: Though she's never seen in the series, Psychic Baek-yi, who predicted the Japanese invasion(s) in the late 1500s, was thrown out of court for treason.
Dirty Old Man: The blind seer
The End - or Is It?
Establishing Character Moment: Hyung-do, in his first appearance, is gambling undercover.
Flying Saucer: And glowing blue, flying metallic tennis balls
Good Cop, Bad Cop: Jang Man/Hyung-do
Government Conspiracy
Haunted Mansion: Lord Lee Do's mansion
Hidden Supplies: As he is facing the Cult of Dubak, Hyung-do pulls out a gun. Shoots a guy. Pulls out another gun. Shoots another guy. Pulls out yet another gun ...
Historical Fantasy: The story is set on the Korean Peninsula, or Joseon as it was known at that time.
I'm a Humanitarian: Or, as Lee Bang-hyun dubs the creature, 창귀 (chang-gwi)
Iconic Item: Ji Seung and his pipe. When the team finds it without him, they immediately know Ji Seung's in danger.
Implausible Deniability: The new governor Hyung-do questions in episode 1 claims his predecessor (Hyung-do's mentor) was lying and that the flying object was "just a meteor."
Ironic Echo: Drunken Jang Man first says to Hyung-do, "The truth doesn't matter. All that matters is reality." Later, Hyung-do says it to Jang Man to prove that all is forgiven.
It Was a Dark and Stormy Night: Episode 6 starts out like this at a mansion.
Killed Mid-Sentence: Just as he was about to tell Hyung-do where all the strange events happened, the escaped prisoner is shot in the back by an arrow.
Lovable Coward: Jang Man
Mind Screw:
- Episode 7, Village of the Fourth Dimension. Includes Anachronic Order, Groundhog Day Loop, and All Just a Dream. Or Was It a Dream?
- Also, the ending.
Mister Seahorse
Monster Mash
Mysterious Past: Yoon-yi possesses many strange skills but does not remember her own past. Or so she says.
Mysterious Waif: Yoon-yi
Older Than They Look: The blind prisoner
The Order: Shin-muh-wai
Plucky Comic Relief: Jang Man
Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Kim Hyung-do, Heo Yoon-yi, and Jang Man
Running Gag: Jang Man sprinkles salt to ward off spirits and monsters.
Schrödinger's Butterfly: The ending. Is Hyung-do dead? Alive? Trapped in another world? Abducted by aliens? Trapped in his own head? Re-born? Is Yoon-yi real? A copy? A time traveler? A figment of Hyung-do's imagination?
Superpowerful Genetics: Naturally, Oh Kyung-woon develops pre-cognizant abilities from his mother, Baek-yi.
Title Drop: As he makes Hyung-do write down a personal account of the mysterious events, Ji Seung says that, not for truth but for history, the "기찰비록" (ki-chal-bi-ruk) has to be kept.
Trail of Bread Crumbs: Hyung-do leaves a trail behind as he is carted off by the Cult of Dubak.
Very Loosely Based on a True Story
Will They or Won't They?: Hyung-do/Yoon-yi
Working Through the Cold: No matter how sick he gets, Hyung-do always insists on working.