About this stop
Mungyeongsaejae Open Set is a large open-air set built for historical dramas inside Mungyeongsaejae Provincial Park in Mungyeong, North Gyeongsang Province. Its buildings recreate Joseon-era streets and houses, and many Korean period dramas have filmed there.
For The Scandal (Netflix, 2026), the only published confirmation so far is the Mungyeong Tourism Corporation’s August 2025 update on productions at the set, which names the series among recent OTT shoots. That is one source, so this stop is labeled Reported. The update does not say which scenes were filmed, so this guide does not name any.
Not a filming spot: Bukchon Hanok Village
In the series, the Joseon neighborhood of Bukchon and Lady Cho’s house are sets, according to Seoul Economic Daily and Elle Korea. Seoul’s present-day Bukchon Hanok Village is a residential area and is not a filming location for this show.
Getting there (transit)
Fares and schedules change. Prefer official pages on your travel day.
Seoul → Mungyeong (KTX-Eum)
The Central Inland Line KTX-Eum runs from Pangyo to Mungyeong in approx. 90 minutes, with 8 round trips per day (at opening, Nov 30, 2024; Yonhap, accessed Sep 23, 2026). For today’s trains, check Korail’s timetable page.
Busan → Mungyeong
Check Korail for today’s connections, or search the route on Naver Map (English UI).
Mungyeong Station → Open Set
Plan the last leg with the Kakao Map and Naver Map links on each place card.
Good to know: Seowon (서원): Confucian academies
This guide includes Donam Seowon, one of Korea’s historic Confucian academies. Here’s what a seowon is.
A seowon (서원) was a private Neo-Confucian academy of the Joseon dynasty — part school, part shrine, part think tank for the yangban aristocracy. Young scholars studied the Confucian classics here, prepared for the civil service exams, and debated state affairs; each seowon also enshrined a revered scholar whose spirit was venerated with rites. At their peak there were nearly 1,000 across Korea, though most were closed in the 1870s during a purge of their political influence. Nine of the best-preserved — including Dosan Seowon in Andong, Oksan Seowon in Gyeongju, and Dodong Seowon in Daegu — were inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage in 2019. What you’ll see: serene wooden lecture halls, shrines, and pavilions set against mountains and streams, following the Confucian ideal of learning in harmony with nature. Don’t miss the 400-year-old ginkgo trees at several sites, spectacular in autumn. Seowons appear in sageuks as the backdrop for scholar characters — if a drama shows young noblemen studying under pine trees, it was likely filmed at one. Visit quietly; these remain places of reverence.
Sources
All sources for this guide
Accessed Sep 26, 2026 (Asia/Seoul) unless noted.
- Asia Today — Mungyeong Tourism Corporation: Saejae Open Set popular with drama, film and OTT shoots (Aug 13, 2025)
- Netflix — The Scandal production announcement
- Seoul Economic Daily — Bukchon set
- Elle Korea — The Scandal sets
- Yonhap — Pangyo KTX to Mungyeong (accessed Sep 23, 2026)
- Korail — https://www.letskorail.com/
