Yangban - Korean aristocratic caste

"The Yangban, were part of the traditional ruling class or gentry of dynastic Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. The yangban were mainly composed of civil servants and military officers—landed or unlanded aristocrats who individually exemplified the Korean Confucian idea of a "scholarly official". They were largely administrators and bureaucrats who oversaw ancient Korea's traditional agrarian bureaucracy until the Joseon Dynasty ended in 1894. In a broader sense, an office holder's family and descendants as well as country families who claimed such descent were socially accepted as yangban. - Wikipedia"