Jumong

In 2004, when the Chinese government claimed that Goguryeo was "a regional regime of China and part of Chinese history," South Korea strongly objected, and "Jumong" was produced as part of a campaign to assert that Goguryeo was part of Korean history.

Initially planned as a 60-episode series, due to its enormous popularity, the work was extended by 21 episodes to enhance its quality, and ultimately ended with a total of 81 episodes.

The average viewership rate reached 40.98% (41.0%), and the highest viewership rate was recorded at 51.9%–53% in the final episode (Episode 81), becoming a massive hit that topped the nationwide viewership ratings for 35 consecutive weeks after 2000.

Airing at the same time were dramas on Goguryeo history titled "On the Beach" (Yon Gaesomun) and "The Great Jo Yeong" (Tae Jo Yeong), which engaged in viewership competition.

The production faced criticism regarding inadequate costumes and historical accuracy, as well as anachronistic settings such as iron-equipped armies and cavalry tactics. The production team explained the difficulty of achieving completely accurate historical recreation.

The drama shows only three princes of Buyeo—Dae-so, Yeon-po, and Jumong—but historically there were reportedly seven princes and Jumong.

The costumes worn by soldiers of the Damul Army in the drama were later reused as costumes for the soldiers of Jinjin-gong in the subsequent drama "Queen Sondok."

It was nominated for the 2006 Korea Broadcast Writers Awards in the drama category, but was disqualified as it did not meet the award criteria of "primarily pure creative works by a single screenwriter."

It was also broadcast in Iran in 2008, and according to Reuters, the most popular episode attracted over 90% of Iranian viewers, exceeding the 40% viewership in South Korea by a remarkable margin, making lead actor Song Il-guk an instant superstar in Iran.

The character Yeon-po was created as an original drama character, as he did not exist in historical records.

In the Japanese dubbed version, the young adult version of Jumong was voiced by Mamoru Miyano, and the middle-aged version by Juro Kosugi, with voice actors changing depending on age.

The Japanese dubbed version's ending theme "Sora yo" (Akira Fuse) is the Japanese version of the in-drama insert song "Ten yo... douka" (In Sunee), and similarly, "Aranka ~Atarashii Kuni e~" (J. SAKATA) was created as the Japanese version of the Korean version's main theme song "The World Calls Me" (In Sunee).

The Korean version was broadcast in a 70-minute time slot (actual 60–65 minutes), whereas the BS Fuji version was broadcast in a 54-minute time slot (actual 44–45 minutes), with over 15 minutes of cuts and editing made each episode. Because of this, the original audio did not fit properly during Japanese dubbing, making it necessary to produce a new soundtrack.