Why were Joseon concubines accepted even though men already had legal wives? Learn how heirs, Confucian family succession, legitimate and illegitimate sons, and social status shaped this system often seen in historical K-Dramas.
Why Were Joseon Concubines Connected to Producing an Heir?
If you watch historical K-Dramas, you may come across scenes where family elders pressure a married man to take a concubine because his wife has not given birth to a son.
For international viewers, this naturally raises a question: if a man was already married, why was he allowed to bring another woman into the household?
Having more than one female partner has existed in different forms across many societies throughout history. Joseon Korea, however, was based on a system in which a man had one legally recognized principal wife while concubinage was also socially and legally tolerated.
Under the Neo-Confucian family system, producing a male descendant was especially important because sons were expected to continue the family line and perform ancestral rites. If the principal wife did not have a son or was unable to have children because of illness, taking a concubine could be seen as one way of securing an heir.
But producing an heir was not the only reason for Joseon concubines. Men might take concubines because they lived far from their main household for official duties, because of problems within the marriage, or simply because of personal desire. Among elite yangban families, having a concubine could also be socially tolerated in ways that would be unacceptable in Korea today.
Why Were the Children of Joseon Concubines Discriminated Against?
In Joseon society, who your mother was could strongly affect your social position.
Children born to the principal wife belonged to the legitimate line, while children born to a concubine were classified differently. In English, these children are often described as “illegitimate sons” or “children of concubines,” although the Joseon categories of jeokja (적자) and seoja (서자) had meanings rooted in Korea’s own family and status system.
Even if two sons had the same father, they did not necessarily have the same rights or social standing.
In elite families, sons of concubines, often discussed within the broader category of seoeol(서얼), faced restrictions in government careers, inheritance, ritual succession, and family status. These rules changed over time, but discrimination remained a major social issue for much of the Joseon period. KBS’s introduction to the classic story of Hong Gil-dong, for example, explains that he was the son of a nobleman and a concubine and was prevented from pursuing government office because of his birth.
For Western viewers, Jon Snow in Game of Thrones may offer a familiar comparison. His struggles over being born outside a formal marriage can help explain the emotional idea of being treated differently because of birth.
The comparison is not exact, however. Joseon discrimination against the children of Joseon concubines was tied specifically to Neo-Confucian lineage, official status, ancestral rites, and Korea’s own social hierarchy.
Why Are Joseon Concubines Such a Powerful K-Drama Plot Device?
In historical K-Dramas, a concubine is rarely just a “second wife.”
The relationship between a principal wife and a concubine, and between their children, can involve inheritance, family succession, political power, and social legitimacy.
In royal dramas, the stakes are even higher. A royal concubine may give birth to a prince who becomes involved in a struggle for the throne. Under the Queen’s Umbrella, for example, features multiple royal concubines and princes born to them, making maternal status central to questions of succession.
The same idea can also appear in modern K-Dramas when a story looks back at an older generation.
In Our Blues, Kang Ok-dong, played by Kim Hye-ja, becomes the concubine of another man after losing her husband and daughter. Her son Dong-seok grows up being labeled the “child of a concubine” and suffers humiliation and abuse because of that family situation. The storyline shows that the social stigma surrounding concubinage did not disappear instantly when the Joseon Dynasty ended.
Today, Korean family law no longer gives children fewer basic legal rights simply because they were born outside marriage. Concubinage is not a recognized marriage system in modern Korea either.
So when Joseon concubines and their children appear in K-Dramas, they should be understood primarily as part of historical family structures and the social inequalities connected to lineage and status.
Conclusion
It is too simple to say that Joseon men took concubines only because they wanted sons.
Family succession, ancestral rites, social convention, marital circumstances, official duties, and personal desire could all play a role.
One of the deepest contradictions of the system was that children born to concubines could share the same father as legitimate children while still facing very different social expectations and opportunities.
The next time you see a principal wife, a concubine, and their children in conflict in a historical K-Drama, it is worth looking beyond the family melodrama. Behind those relationships were Joseon concubines, strict ideas about lineage, and a society in which birth could shape a person’s opportunities long before they were old enough to make choices of their own.