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Most of the Korean historical drama genre is set in the backdrop of the Joseon period. In this period, a class system ruled the society. The Yangban class enjoyed privileges as the ruling class. They aimed to become government officials through state exams. The next class is the Jungin. They were working-level people below the Yangban class but belonged to a relatively ruling class. The Sangin class means ordinary people. They engaged in the agricultural, commercial and industrial sectors and paid taxes and served as soldiers. By law, they were able to become government officials through state exams. But they were unable to take the exam as they were too busy making a living. Lowly people were at the bottom stratum of society. They included slaves, butchers, shamans and clowns.

 

This side of the strict class-based society was reflected in Korean films too. Period films about royals became the mainstream in the 1960, the golden era of Korea’s period films. More diverse classes appeared within period films about ordinary people that gained popularity in the 1980s. Some exceptional films that break the class system came out as well. A perfect example is Eoh Wu-dong (1985). EOH Wu-dong, a former gisaeng, cajoles hypocritical Yangban people and tempts even the king. She keeps the king under her control through her seduction. Many period films in the 1980s linked greed to classist issues. The link was none other than eroticism. Female slaves became an object of Yangban’s sexual desires. Housewives of Yangban families coveted the healthy bodies of male slaves. The relationship of the latter is reminiscent of Lady Chatterley's Lover and paradoxically reveals the realities of women who are socially suppressed.  

 

But up until the 1980s Korean period films did not approach class issues, at least not with much sincerity. A sign of change began from the 1990s. One representative work is Fly High, Run Far (1992), an IM Kwon-taek film about the history of the Donghak Revolution which advocated equality. The Uprising (1999) directed by PARK Kwang-su shows LEE Jae-su born out of slave parents who becomes the center of a historic tragedy amid invasions by the foreign power and tyranny. The two films stand out from past historical films by way of focusing on historic persons who resisted the then class-based society. This flow continued to Blades of Blood (2010) directed by LEE Joon-ik. The hero is LEE Mong-hak who lives as a Jungin man, but not being able to become a Yangban since he is a son of a concubine. In a chaotic world, LEE starts a riot by assembling people and tries to overthrow the dynasty, but his ambition is not realize. KUNDO: Age of the Rampant (2014) tells a similar story. A lowly man and butcher DOL Moo-chi (HA Jung-woo) stands up to JO Yun (GANG Dong-won) who was the best military officer of the Joseon Kingdom to avenge his family.    

 

After 2000, classes were shown in a wider variety of stories in Korean historical films. Musa–The Warrior (2001) set in the last period of the Goryeo Dynasty depicts a difficult journey back home of a group of people who are of various classes from generals to slaves. Meanwhile, King and the Clown (2005) directed by LEE Joon-ik conducts a test to check how interesting dramas the highest and lowest classes can create when they meet. KARM Woo-sung and LEE Jun-ki are clowns, the lowliest people. They bump into a man of absolute power, King Yeonsan (JUNG Jin-young) and the king gets hooked on them. Masquerade (2012) has a theme similar to that of King and the Clown. Ha-seon (LEE Byung-hun) who takes after the king plays a fake king instead of the real king who is marked for assassination. In I Am the King (2012), King Sejong, the greatest king of Joseon Dynasty (JU Ji-hoon) accidentally goes through the lives of slaves and gets to know the joys and sorrows of his people.   

 

Lately, many historic films about the Jungin people have been made. The Face Reader (2013) and The Royal Tailor (2015) typify them. The lead characters of this film are Jungin men who read faces and design clothes although they work in the palace. In the Detective K series, KIM Min (KIM Myung-min) and SEO Pil (OH Dal-su) are a Yangban man and a Jungin man, respectively. In the film, they show comedic combinations that transcend the gap between their social positions in the film.