'The Scandal': Netflix's take on uniquely Korean story raises expectations

The 2003 film "Untold Scandal" is being reborn as a Netflix series. The new production goes beyond a simple remake, reinterpreting the original story from a contemporary perspective.

Released on Netflix on Friday, "The Scandal" follows Lady Jo, a woman of exceptional talent who finds life in the Joseon era too confining, and Jo-won, Joseon’s most notorious womanizer, as they engage in a provocative and dangerous wager over love. The story also centers on Hee-yeon, a woman who becomes entangled in their bet.

The French writer Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ novel "Les Liaisons dangereuses," which was adapted into the 2003 film "Untold Scandal" by relocating the story to the Joseon era, is once again being brought to the screen. The film, starring Bae Yong-joon, Lee Mi-sook and Jeon Do-yeon, drew widespread attention and attracted 4.15 million moviegoers despite receiving an adults-only rating. This time, Son Ye-jin, Ji Chang-wook and Nana take on the roles of Lady Jo, Jo-won and Hee-yeon, respectively.

One of the most notable aspects of the new production is its “new interpretation of a familiar story.” While the original film drew attention in Korea’s film industry at the time for its provocative subject matter and portrayal, the Netflix series has more room to explore the characters’ desires and relationships in greater detail.

According to director Jung Ji-woo, the newly completed movie is not simply a melodrama. The story has been given a modern reinterpretation by centering on protagonists who possess the modern concept of the self and ask, “Who am I?”

Ultimately, the key to the new film lies not in recreating the old story as it was, but in how it has transformed the desires of its characters in an old narrative so that contemporary viewers can relate to them.

Netflix as a platform also carries significance. Unlike the 2003 film, which was released in Korean theaters, the new series is being introduced from the outset to a global audience. It presents not simply a story that resonates in Korea, but one set in the specific time and place of Joseon, where love and desire unfold, to viewers around the world.

As Korean content continues to attract growing attention in global markets, there have been increasing examples of how what is “most Korean” can actually become a competitive advantage. Through content, audiences are being introduced not only to Korean food, music and fashion, but also to the country’s history, society, human relationships and emotional sensibilities.

"The Scandal" has emerged as a highly anticipated title. It puts the Korean setting of Joseon and the traditional structures governing relationships at the forefront. Love and desire are universal emotions that can be understood across national borders, while the social norms and historical setting surrounding them give the story a distinctly Korean character.

This is also an important point in the global strategy of Korean content. Rather than overly universalizing Korean subject matter to appeal to global viewers, the approach is to preserve Korea’s historical and cultural context while incorporating universal stories within it. "Squid Game" used the genre conventions of a survival game to portray the competitive structure of Korean society, while "Kingdom" combined the historical setting of Joseon with the zombie genre. "The Scandal," too, could offer a different kind of Korean story through love and desire in the Joseon era.

Of course, the social hierarchy of Joseon, the norms imposed on women and the social customs of the period may be difficult for global viewers to fully understand. But those very elements could also become a point of distinction. Unlike contemporary romances that audiences are already familiar with, the series offers relationships and conflicts that could only exist within a particular era and cultural setting, potentially providing viewers with a new kind of content experience.

Above all, "The Scandal" is significant in that it revisits a story from the past through the lens of a contemporary platform. A story that met audiences in theaters more than two decades ago is now reaching a much wider audience through a global streaming platform. A period drama that was considered provocative by Korean audiences at the time could be newly read in 2026 by global viewers as a story about distinctly Korean relationships and desires.

The series also has the opportunity to explore the story more deeply across multiple episodes rather than compressing it into a single film. This allows greater attention to the characters’ psychology, changing relationships and motivations behind their desires. In particular, if the relationship among Lady Jo, Jo-won and Hee-yeon expands beyond a simple love triangle to explore each character’s desires and choices, it could create a different kind of appeal from the original.

Set against Joseon, one of the most distinctly Korean backdrops, "The Scandal" places the universal emotions of love and desire at its center. For Korean viewers who remember the original film, it could feel familiar yet new; for global viewers encountering the story for the first time, it could offer an unfamiliar but intriguing Korean story. The question now is whether the series can deliver on that promise.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.