Archive · 21 Sep 2026
Ji Chang Wook Takes on Explicit, Scandalous Joseon-Era Drama
The Scandal is a period drama set in Joseon-era Korea.
It follows Lady Cho, Cho-won and Hee-yeon.
Lady Cho and Cho-won used to love each other but were forced apart.
Lady Cho asks Cho-won to seduce a young widow named Hee-yeon.
What begins as a game becomes complicated and emotionally painful.
The story examines how people use love and desire to gain power.
It also shows how strict social rules limited women’s choices.
Ji Chang Wook plays a very different and more mature character than in many of his earlier roles.
The Scandal stars Ji Chang Wook as Cho-won, a playboy nobleman involved in a dangerous seduction wager.
Lady Cho, played by Son Ye Jin, challenges her former lover and cousin to seduce the young widow Hee-yeon, played by Nana.
The story draws from Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s 1782 French novel Les Liaisons dangereuses and the 2003 Korean film Untold Scandal.
The drama explores desire, power, manipulation, social restrictions and the treatment of women in late-Joseon society.
The article says the production used standard protocols and body doubles for its highly explicit intimate scenes.
- Who
- Ji Chang Wook, Son Ye Jin and Nana portray Cho-won, Lady Cho and Hee-yeon.
- What
- The Scandal depicts a seduction wager involving former lovers, a young widow and explicit intimate scenes.
- When
- The article does not state when the drama is set for release; its story takes place during the Joseon era.
- Where
- The story is set in a Joseon-era Korean society.
- Why
- Lady Cho initiates the wager for personal satisfaction and to assert power amid restrictive social rules.
- Main cast
- Ji Chang Wook, Son Ye Jin and Nana
- Central wager
- Cho-won is challenged to seduce the young widow Hee-yeon.
- Primary source
- Les Liaisons dangereuses, a 1782 French novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
- Korean inspiration
- The 2003 Korean film Untold Scandal
- Major themes
- Desire, power, emotional manipulation and social restrictions
- Intimacy production
- The article says standard production protocols and body doubles were used.