EBS Revives Runaway Slave Choi Nam via AI... Broadcasting September 20 at 11 PM

"I will... become a slave again." After years of running away, Choi Nam, a slave who hid in a mountain cave, turns on a camera.

EBS 'Nobi Choi Nam' episode, broadcasting September 20 (Sun) at 11 PM on EBS 1TV.

- An episode of 'Revival Class' created with next-generation production processes - October 1794, a deep mountain cave. A confession left by a slave who fled his master's house and decided to become a slave again - Regarding the life of a man who could not escape even after fleeing, due to bad harvests, taxes, and the loss of his land and daughter... Dialogue reconstructed based on actual historical records such as Hogudanja (household registers) and Veritable Records, with academic consultation from experts (Lee Hye-jeong, Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies, Seoul National University)

*Broadcast Date/Time: September 20, 2026 (Sun) at 11 PM, EBS 1TV

The EBS 'Nobi Choi Nam' episode, which revives a historical figure through AI digital restoration, will be broadcast on EBS 1TV on September 6 (Sun) at 11 PM.

In this broadcast, a man whose name remains as a 'runaway slave' in an actual Hogudanja will be resurrected. Not as a king or a great figure, but as a person who tried to escape slave life only to decide to become a slave again. This is the third figure in 'Veritable Records of Joseon Commoners,' which highlights the lives of nameless commoners.

"I am Choi Nam." October 1794, a camera turned on in a mountain cave.

October 1794, a cave deep in the mountains where moonlight seeps in. A middle-aged man in shabby clothes sits before the camera, constantly looking around. "Uh... there's no one chasing me, right?" He is Choi Nam, a runaway slave who has wandered for a long time after fleeing his life as a slave. He says that when he fled in the middle of the night with his family, he thought he would never have to live such a filthy life again, but he did not know he would live a life of hunger and heartache. Then, with a determined gaze, he reveals an unexpected decision: "I will... become a slave again."

Revival Class is a program that uses AI technology to digitally restore historical figures and implement video messages they might have left while sitting before a camera. In the Nobi Choi Nam episode, the revived Choi Nam begins to pour out to the camera in a thick dialect why he fled and why he intends to return on that night he decided to return to a life of servitude.

A slave who once had land and a wife, now a slave whose name remains only on a single line of a slave register, Choi Nam.

The subtitle for the Nobi Choi Nam episode is '(Veritable Records of Joseon Commoners Part 3) Nobi Choi Nam, Confessions of a Runaway Slave.' In front of the camera, Choi Nam retraces his past life. Days when he worked like an ox, being called dozens of times a day, enduring it all because he believed the promise that he would be given a house and land if he worked hard. The period when he finally obtained a stony field and had a wife and child, thinking, 'Even a slave's fate can bloom like this.' However, from the moment he pleaded to postpone his tax duties due to consecutive years of bad harvests, two rolls of cotton became ten rolls, and the interest snowballed, eventually causing him to lose his land, daughter, and home. He explains calmly that he fled because he could not return to the time when he lived like a dog, but living was not easy.

"In this world now, even a commoner becomes a slave if they have no money." A question left to us by a runaway slave 232 years ago.

After a life of running away where neither day labor nor slash-and-burn farming was feasible, the conclusion Choi Nam reached was the path of becoming a slave again. Though it is bitter, he says he is not the only one living like this, and that in a world where even a commoner can become a slave overnight if they lack money. Even so, he shouts to himself, intending to make one loud declaration while he is still a free man: "Choi Nam! In your next life, make sure you are born into a wealthy family!" This cry left by a person from 232 years ago, who ultimately could not escape the chains of social status, comes as a moving resonance across two centuries.

An AI drama built upon actual Hogudanja and historical records.

The dialogue and story of the Nobi Choi Nam episode were reconstructed based on materials regarding Choi Nam, who was actually recorded as a 'runaway slave' in the 1792 Hogudanja of Kim Jin-gil, as well as contemporary historical records such as slave sale documents. Through academic consultation from visiting researcher Lee Hye-jeong of the Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies at Seoul National University, the slave system of the late Joseon period and the reality of taxes and runaway slaves were verified. The production principle of 'Revival Class'—where AI does not freely generate dialogue, but rather visualizes content that has undergone original source research, expert consultation, and human writing through AI technology—was applied to this episode as well.

Following the clown and the young maid, a runaway slave from the records is resurrected.

Revival Class is a program that uses next-generation production processes to revive historical figures through AI digital restoration technology and implement video messages they might have left. 'Veritable Records of Joseon Commoners,' which highlights those who perished without names beside kings and great figures, now gives a voice to a man who remains only as a 'runaway slave' in a single line of a Hogudanja, following the clown and the young maid of Joseon. Set against the most decisive day of each person's life, timeless questions are delivered, and each episode is produced through expert historical research and academic consultation.

Revival Class broadcasts every Sunday at 11 PM on EBS 1TV.

*Related photos are available on the EBS institutional website (about.ebs.co.kr) - Cyber PR Office - Highlights, on the corresponding broadcast date.

◆ At a Glance

· Issuing Organization: EBS

· Category: AI Drama - Revival Class

· Distribution: September 17

Source: EBS Press Release

Korea Social Welfare Journal strives to deliver press releases and welfare information more easily and accurately with the help of AI technology.