The Joseon rules you need to understand 'The Scandal'

In Netflix Korea’s "The Scandal," early 19th-century Joseon’s neo-Confucian social norms function as more than a historical backdrop, they serve as the primary engine driving the plot. Yet these strict historical codes — such as barring women from the gwageo (elite civil service exams) or pressuring widows into extreme acts of chastity — can feel alien to contemporary audiences, both globally and in South Korea. Without grasping this cultural subtext, audiences risk missing the true gravity of t