Netflix’s ‘The Scandal’ Release Date, Plot, Cast, Trailer and Everything About Son Ye-jin And Ji Chang-wook’s Dangerous Joseon-Era Love Game

Netflix is about to test just how far desire can go when reputation, power, and forbidden longing collide in Joseon-era Korea. The streamer has set a September 18 global premiere date for ‘The Scandal,’ described as a daring and dangerous love game set in this historical period.

With a cast this stacked and a premise this steamy, fans of Korean period romance have plenty of reasons to circle their calendars. The series arrives packed with drama, romance, and scandal, and it is set to run for eight episodes.

‘The Scandal’ Release Date and What to Expect from the Trailer

Netflix officially announced the premiere date on Monday, August 4, confirming the period drama would debut on the platform on September 18. Interestingly, the release appears timed around the Chuseok holiday, the Korean harvest festival that falls on September 25 this year.

Netflix has already released an official teaser trailer for the series, giving fans their first proper look at the world of ‘The Scandal.’ The teaser hints at rising tensions as Cho Won pursues Hui-yeon while Lady Cho watches from the shadows.

With everything at stake, the wager threatens to have devastating consequences for all three characters involved. That kind of slow-burn tension is exactly what has generated buzz among K-drama fans eager for a new binge-worthy obsession.

It remains to be seen whether all eight episodes will drop together on September 18 or whether Netflix will opt for a weekly rollout instead. Either way, the wait is almost over for viewers who have been tracking this one since it was first announced.

The Plot Behind ‘The Scandal’s’ Dangerous Wager

At the center of the story are Lady Cho, a woman too extraordinary to be confined to women’s quarters, Cho Won, the greatest playboy in Joseon, and Hui-yeon, a lady who becomes entangled in their wager. Lady Cho is described as a sharp-minded and complex woman who lives as a devoted wife on the surface while secretly chafing against the societal restrictions placed on her.

Directed by Jung Ji-woo, ‘The Scandal’ reimagines Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s classic 1782 novel Dangerous Liaisons, infusing a modern sensibility into a period drama where characters defy social taboos to pursue their deepest desires. The newly unveiled teaser offers a glimpse into the wager that threatens to upend Bukchon, the heart of Joseon’s high society.

The series does not have to replicate any earlier adaptation scene by scene, since Jung Ji-woo is approaching the classic work from a contemporary perspective. The serialized format gives the story more room to dig into why Lady Cho creates the wager in the first place, how Jo-won mistakes conquest for affection, and what Hui-yeon risks by entering a relationship built on deception from the start.

Longtime fans of Korean cinema will recognize the DNA here immediately. The series is a television adaptation of the 2003 film ‘Untold Scandal,’ meaning the plot is expected to follow a similar throughline of forbidden love and irresistible seduction in an era when such passions simply were not permitted.

Untold Scandal and the ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ Connection

‘The Scandal’ reimagines ‘Les Liaisons dangereuses,’ the 1782 French novel written as a series of letters that exposes an aristocracy turning intimacy into a weapon of conflict. Its characters use reputation, desire, and trust to control one another until the game produces consequences none of them can manage.

The novel previously received a notable Korean adaptation back in 2003, when ‘Untold Scandal’ moved the story to Joseon and starred Lee Mi-sook, Bae Yong-joon, and Jeon Do-yeon in the leading roles. That film itself was adapted from the same 18th-century source material, originally titled Joseon namnyeo sangyeoljisa in Korean.

This layered history gives ‘The Scandal’ a lot to live up to, but it also gives the new series room to breathe in ways a two-hour film never could. The new series moves its game of manipulation to a Korean elite bound by strict rules of conduct and appearances, promising a fresh spin on a story that has already proven timeless across mediums.

Meet the Cast Bringing ‘The Scandal’ to Life

The central cast includes Son Ye-jin, who plays Lady Jo, Ji Chang Wook, who plays Cho Won, and Nana, who portrays the widow Hui Yeon. Son Ye-jin is best known to Netflix audiences for her role in ‘Crash Landing on You,’ along with credits including ‘Something in the Rain’ and the upcoming Netflix K-drama ‘Variety.’

She has also appeared in Park Chan-wook’s ‘No Other Choice,’ which reportedly received a standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival in Italy. Notably, it will have been four years since audiences have seen Son Ye-jin in a K-drama series by the time ‘The Scandal’ lands on Netflix.

Ji Chang Wook was last seen on Netflix in ‘Welcome to Samdal-ri,’ and he has also starred in ‘The Sound of Magic,’ ‘Lovestruck in the City,’ and ‘Backstreet Rookie.’ Director Jung Ji Woo, previously behind ‘Happy End’ and ‘Heart Blackened,’ takes the helm for this new period drama.

With a director known for genre-spanning storytelling and two leads who have proven their chemistry with audiences before, ‘The Scandal’ is shaping up to be one of Netflix’s most talked about Korean dramas this fall. Now the only question left is which of these three tangled hearts, Lady Cho, Cho Won, or Hui-yeon, will you find yourself rooting for once the wager starts to unravel?