Untold Scandal (; lit. "Scandal: The Love Story of Men and Women in Joseon") is a 2003 South Korean romantic drama film directed by E J-yong, and starring Bae Yong-joon, Jeon Do-yeon, and Lee Mi-sook. Loosely based on the 1782 French novel Les Liaisons dangereuses, this adaptation takes place in late 18th century Korea, during the Joseon dynasty. In Korea the film was given an R-18 rating by the Korean Film Ethics Commission. The film was a major commercial success, and became the fourth highest grossing domestic film of 2003 with 3,522,747 tickets sold nationwide. Plot A beautiful but cynical and manipulative noblewoman makes a bet with her free-spirited womanizing cousin that he can have sex with her if he is able to seduce a young woman of great virtue. He accepts the challenge with enthusiasm though not suspecting the nasty trap he is walking into. Cast Bae Yong-joon – Jo-won (Vicomte Sébastien de Valmont) Jeon Do-yeon – Lady Jeong (Madame Marie de Tourvel) Lee Mi-sook – Lady Cho (Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil) Lee So-yeon – Lee So-ok (Cécile de Volanges) Jo Hyun-jae – Kwon In-ho (Cécile's music tutor Chevalier Raphael Danceny) Lee Mi-ji – So-ok's mother (Cécile's mother Madame de Volanges) – Madam Jo's husband (Merteuil's former love, the Comte de Gercourt) Choi Ban-ya – Chu Wol-yi Choi Sung-min – slave Jeon Yang-ja – Vice-Premier's wife Seo Yoon-ah – Jung-geum Han Yi-bin – Eun-sil Jung Jae-jin – elder 2 Kong Ho-suk – elder 3 Na Han-il – Nobleman Yoo Differences from the original novel Monsieur de Tourvel (Madame Marie de Tourvel/Lady Jeong's husband), who was away for a court case in the novel, was in the film deceased, making Lady Jeong a widow of nine years. Furthermore, Lady Jeong lived in Ganghwa Island, and in the film, she is living in Seoul as there was a plague at her hometown at that time. Jo-won (Vicomte Sébastien de Valmont) and Madam Jo (Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil) were in the film cousins (Jo-won the younger cousin), and it is revealed that Jo-won's first love was Madam Jo, whereas in the novel, they were rivals, yet using the same tools for their revenge: sex. Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil (Madam Jo)'s former lover is arranged to be Cécile's future husband in the novel, but in the film, his character is Madam Jo's husband. In So-ok's case, she is being made into a concubine