Netflix is timing intrigue for the holiday couch. On September 18, 2026—as South Korea settles into Chuseok—the streamer premieres The Scandal, an eight-episode Joseon-era drama that returns to the Dangerous Liaisons template once popularized on Korean screens by the 2003 hit Untold Scandal.
Director Jung Ji-woo has framed the series as a fresh adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s novel rather than a shot-for-shot expansion of the earlier film. The longer format, he argues, lets relationships breathe—especially a newly emphasized bond that a two-hour feature could only sketch. At a Seoul press stop he pointed to character territory the 2003 movie never fully mapped.
Star power is the other wager. Son Ye-jin plays Lady Cho, the calculating noble who strikes a deal with Cho Won (Ji Chang-wook), a charming rake assigned to seduce Hui-yeon (Nana), a widow bound by chastity. Son has described the role as a chance to play desire against Joseon rules that treated longing as taboo. Production details lean traditional: pansori textures in the sound design, and hanbok palettes drawn from minhwa folk paintings so each lead reads as a distinct color story for global viewers.
Why now? Untold Scandal remains a landmark adult-oriented Korean hit; Netflix’s remount arrives as holiday binge bait with bigger wattage and room to linger. International subscribers may treat it as prestige costume intrigue or spicy comfort viewing—either way, the queue date is fixed.
For cast notes, remake context, and why the series lands on Chuseok weekend, this Netflix The Scandal preview gathers the essentials before September 18 unlocks the full eight episodes.
Whether Joseon’s Dangerous Liaisons still scandalizes on a streaming timeline is the open question. The bet is that classic intrigue plus holiday nights still mix.
