Goryeo-Khitan War Ep 9 has big ratings jump to highest ever against fierce competition

Photo courtesy KBS2

The ongoing historical drama Goryeo-Khitan War, Episode 9 aired on KBS2 last night in South Korea to a big jump in ratings, giving the K-drama its highest ever rating so far.

According to Nielsen Korea, Goryeo-Khitan War, Episode 9 (aka Korea-Khitan War) earned 8.9 percent of the ratings, which is a big increase from its previous episode’s 7.9 percent.

It is also an even bigger increase from its first episode’s premiere of 5.5 percent on November 11th.

In Seoul, the Kim Dong Jun, Choi Soo Jong, and Ji Seung Hyun-led drama also earned its highest ever rating, with 8.6 percent of the audience share.

That rating is a large increase from its previous episode’s rating of 7.1 percent.

Both ratings last night placed the KBS2 drama in third place on Korean TV for all of Saturday.

What is Goryeo-Khitan War about?

The Korean historical drama Goryeo-Khitan War (aka Korea-Khitan War) was produced to help celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Korean national TV network KBS.

It follows the based-on-historical-events story of King Hyeonjong of Goryeo (played by Kim Dong Jun) and his political teacher, Commander-in-Chief Gang Gam Chan (Choi Soo Jong) who lead a war against the Khitans (present day China).

The pair succeed in not only uniting Goryeo under King Hyeonjong’s monarchy, but also leading the country to victory.

Starting out with a 5.5 percent rating nationwide for its first episode on November 11th, Goryeo-Khitan War is now heading towards double digits as it becomes increasingly popular.

Fingers crossed it succeeds.

The next episode of the Saturday/Sunday K-drama will air tonight on KBS2 at 21:25 (KST), with some international viewers in Asia being able to watch it on Amazon.

About Michelle Topham

Brit-American journalist based in Austria, former radio DJ at 97X WOXY, and Founder/CEO of Leo Sigh. I've covered K-drama, K-pop, J-pop and music news for over a decade.