From court titles to tavern gossip, here's how to decode Korea's historical dramas
Perhaps one of the most challenging forms of K-drama for international audiences to engage with is sageuk, or historical drama. Set within a rigidly hierarchical society governed by unfamiliar rules of speech, behavior and social rank, these series, whether playful or rich in historical detail, can all feel distant to viewers more familiar with contemporary storytelling methods.
Yet such conventions are what define the genre. Sageuk offers a window into how deeply social order structured everyday life in Korea's past and how traces of that order continue to shape relationships and cultural codes today.
Below are several key elements worth understanding before diving into any sageuk, a timeless format that K-drama creators continue to revisit.
Sageuk are filled with arcane Korean forms of address and calling someone by their given name is exceedingly rare. Characters almost always refer to one another by title or rank, even within families.
And these terms are more than just polite labels. They encode social distance, obligation, respect, and at times, affection. Paying attention to how a character is addressed can quickly reveal their position within the hierarchy and clarify the tensions shaping their relationships.
At court, multiple titles may refer to the king, including "jusang," "seongsang," "jeonha" and "pyeha," while "jeoha" denotes a prince or royal son. "Mama" is reserved for royal women such as the queen, queen dowager or grand queen dowager.
Among the elite above the commoner class, "naeuri" refers broadly to a "yangban" (educated gentry class) official holding office. "Daegam" is used for high-ranking officials of the second senior rank or above. "Yeonggam" can refer to middle- or lower-ranking officials or respected elders, while "doryeonnim" and "assi" denote unmarried noble men and women, respectively.
These terms appear frequently, and with subtitles often flattening them into generic English equivalents like "sir" or "my lord," much of their nuance is lost in translation. When a character suddenly abandons a title and calls them by another term -- or more strikingly, addresses someone by name -- the shift is deliberate. It may be the creators' hint that there is deepening intimacy or, less commonly, a surge in hostility.
While palaces dominate the visual imagination of sageuk, much of the genre's emotional and social texture also unfolds in back alley settings such as taverns, marketplaces and apothecaries. These recurring settings challenge the misconception that historical dramas are solely court-centered.
Places like jumak (taverns) and sijang (village markets) function as hubs of information exchange, where rumors and secrets circulate beyond the reach of formal power. More grounded and reflective of everyday life than the palace, they also offer characters rare moments to lower their guard.
Classic historical dramas such as "Flowers of the Prison," "Iljimae" and "The Slave Hunters" rely heavily on taverns and back alleys as sites of disguise, information gathering and brief emotional reprieve.
All dramas use costume to signal character and mood, but few do so as deliberately as sageuk. Often, in historical dramas, shifts in attire more loudly reveal changes in status or inner resolve than any said dialogue.
For example, in "The Red Sleeve," Deok-im's red sleeves mark her as the king's woman, while in "The Slave Hunters," Un-nyeon's gradual transition from ragged garments to increasingly formal court dress visually charts her rise in social standing.
Even subtle details, such as heavier hair ornaments for women, can signal growing political awareness or the loss of innocence. In sageuk, costume frequently functions as narrative subtext, foreshadowing changes in rank, allegiance or self-perception before the story presents them directly to the audience -- as clothes in ancient Korea largely dictated how people judged and perceived themselves.