Hong Kil Dong is the hero of the story (in Korea, the family name - Hong - comes first, the given name - Kil Dong - second). He was born to Minister Hong, who was a nobleman with a high government position given to him by the king. Hong Kil Dong could never get such a position, because his mother was not a member of the nobility. She worked as a servant in Minister Hong’s household.

Long ago in Korea (and many other countries), a wealthy man often had more than one wife, all living in his household. Minister Hong’s wife is the woman he officially married, and the mother of In Hyung, Kil Dong’s half-brother. Cho Ran is another unofficial wife of Minister Hong.

Although the story of Hong Kil Dong is made up, King SeJong is an actual king who ruled Korea during the Yi (or Chosun) Dynasty. The ministers he appointed are the heads of the departments of the king’s government, and are supposed to serve the king and help him rule.

The Hwal Bin Dang, which means the “Save-the Poor” Army, is the name Hong Kil Dong chose for his band of men. Like Robin Hood’s Merry Men, their purpose is to bring justice to the common people, in particular by returning the goods which have been stolen from them.