The best Korean dramas
It’s Okay to Not Be Okay (2020)
The Korean title translates to “You’re a Psycho, But It’s OK,” but this more positive title assures viewers that there will be comforting and happy moments in this incisive drama exploring mental health struggles and emotional healing. Gang-tae (Kim Soo-hyun) is a worker at a psychiatric facility who struggles to simultaneously care for his autistic brother. When dark, goth and ravishingly beautiful children’s book author Moon-young (Seo Yea-ji)–who writes tales to rival anything the Brothers Grimm ever penned–comes to read her book for his patients, the two have a strange reckoning. The brothers’ mother was murdered when they were younger, but Moon-young may be the key to healing their emotional wounds.
Stranger (2017)
Si-mok (Cho Seung-woo) is a successful prosecutor who suffers from awkwardness and lack of empathy after having surgery. Together with police lieutenant Yeo-jin (Bae Doona), he solves a crime, but there’s poison in the water. In the second season, a policeman’s death is ruled a suicide–but the pair think it’s not. Corruption and power struggles threaten to envelop the prosecutorial office and the police force, and it’s up to these two to keep both on the up and up.
Kingdom (2019)
This nail-biting horror series tells the story of ancient Joseon Dynasty Prince Lee Chang (Ju Ji-hoon), whose country is plagued by zombies. The source is a worm in a mysterious purple resurrection flower that was used to reanimate cadavers, who in turn defeated the Japanese during their invasion of Korea. Even the king has become a zombie, and must be restrained from biting anyone. The tricky virus spreads across the country, with Lee Chang struggling to save his dynasty and defeat the evil Haewon Cho clan.
The Crowned Clown (2019)
An embattled and paranoid Joseon Dynasty king puts a lookalike clown on the throne to imitate him, fearing his own death at the hands of his detractors. Both the king and the clown are played by one actor, Yeo Jin Goo. But the good-hearted clown soon finds himself in hot water, as the queen, unaware of the swap, enjoys the clown’s personality more than the king’s. This drama poses the question of whether true love can blossom even under the umbrella of deception.
The K2 (2016)
Action-packed with car chases, gun fights and martial arts, this drama will be enjoyed by fans of franchises like Mission Impossible. Former soldier Je-ha (Ji Chang-wook) is haunted by his time as a mercenary for a private military company. Framed for the murder of his girlfriend in Iraq, he goes on the run. He returns to Korea to work as a private bodyguard, but when he falls in love with An-na (Im Yoon-ah), the disfavored stepdaughter of his boss, he’s not sure where to place his loyalty.
Weightlifting Fairy (2016)
This peppy, humorous coming-of-age story features Bok-joo (Lee Sung-Kyung), a young female weightlifter with a crush on a foxy, svelte swimmer named Joon-hyung (Nam Joo-hyuk). Surrounded by other athletes, including gymnasts, weight lifters and swimmers at their athlete-centric campus, these fit, beautiful students have everything going for them. But there’s intense competition, too, both for athletic success and romantic success. Bok-joo knows that she must win Joon-hyung’s heart at any cost, even if it means traversing a comedy of errors that would astound Shakespeare.
My Love From Another Star (2013)
An alien lands in Korea in 1609, but 400 years later his handsome face hasn’t aged a day. Min-joon (Kim Soo-hyun) poses as a professor but can’t trust anyone with his true identity. Three months before he’s set to return to his home planet, he meets his snobby, disaster-prone actress neighbor Song-yi (Jun Ji-hyun). Though they fall in love, Min-joon knows he needs to leave and distances her. But when an evil man threatens her, he’s determined to save her life.
Winter Sonata (2002)
One of the most classic and important Korean dramas–one that is considered to have launched the popularity of K-dramas abroad–this show tells the story of a quiet teen named Joon-sang (Bae Yong-joon), who moves to a smaller town called Chuncheon. The meet-cute is this: adorable Yoo-jin (Choi Ji-woo) falls asleep on his shoulder while riding the bus to school. But Joon-sang isn’t just out for love–he’s looking for his biological father and believes he’s found his dad’s son, who he makes his rival. The plot twists, in grand K-drama style, get even soapier: when Joon-sang’s mom tells him he has to leave Chuncheon for America, she’s actually hiring a hypnotist to prevent him from finding out the truth about his father. If the winds of fate prevail, Joon-sang will find his way back to Chuncheon and into the arms of Yoo-jin–but it won’t be easy.
Gu Family Book (2013)
Fans of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon will enjoy this epic martial arts-oriented historical fiction series about a half-man, half-monster seeking an ancient book that teaches the secret to becoming human. A young man named Kang-chi is the son of a mythical gumiho, or nine-tailed fox. When he meets a beautiful, skilled martial artist named Yeo-wool, he learns to control his powers and use them for good. Though they fall in love, their love is cursed, and they struggle to survive in a world of nefarious noblemen, wicked demons and a family secret so devastating it could tear them apart.
Mr. Queen (2020)
This sweeping historical drama pits powerful royal rivals against one another in an epic and deadly game of political wrestling. Fans of House of Cards and Game of Thrones will enjoy the story of Bong-hwan (Choi Jin-hyuk), a chef at the presidential residence, who accidentally drowns and is magically transported to 1851. When he wakes up, he’s in the body of a Joseon dynasty queen (Shin Hye-sun). Everyone thinks the queen’s speech is suddenly strange as they can’t understand her modern dialect. The true holder of power is the queen’s mother-in-law, Queen Dowager Sunwon (Bae Jong-ok), along with her conniving brother. The king, seemingly innocuous–and ineffective–has his own secrets.
Misaeng (2014)
Since work life is stressful and all-important in Korea, this work drama drew attention for its winning underdog story. Geu-rae (Im Si-wan) is an intern at a big trading company called One International, but he only has his GED, so he struggles to rise. But his knowledge of baduk, a strategic Asian chess game, is his weapon in navigating tricky waters. The trials and tribulations of work are no match for this strategic genius, who’s determined to game the game he’s playing.
Memories of the Alhambra (2018)
An apt drama for the virtual–or shall we say altered–reality age, this trippy drama centers on an investment firm CEO named Jin-woo (Hyun Bin), who voyages to Granada, Spain to investigate the promise of a revolutionary medieval augmented reality game. Though he’s set to meet Se-joo (Park Chan-yeol), the genius behind the game, he’s nowhere to be found. Instead, he finds himself entranced by Se-joo’s sister Hee-joo (Park Shin-hye), owner of the hostel he’s staying in. But when reality starts to blur, Jin-woo isn’t sure what’s real and what’s not.
Mr. Sunshine (2018)
This saga is a love story that unfolds during a fraught time in Korean politics. Mr. Sunshine tells the story of Eugene Choi (Lee Byung-hun), a Korean born as a slave in the latter part of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). Escaping to the United States with the help of a missionary, he returns to Korea as a U.S. Marine, where he falls in love with a noblewoman named Lady Ae-sin (Kim Tae-ri). When the Korean Empress is murdered by the Japanese, who seek expansion into Korea, Ae-shin takes up arms with a civilian militia to protect Joseon. When Japan seeks to colonize Korea, Eugene has to decide if he’s going to fight alongside his love for his birth country’s liberty.
Itaewon Class (2020)
Itaewon, a hip Seoul neighborhood, is the setting for this series that aptly encapsulates the lives of a struggling young group of friends. Sae-ro-yi (Park Seo-joon) has a classic Korean sob story of injustice–he was expelled from his high school for punching an important CEO’s son, who also happened to be a bully. Now released from prison, he runs a restaurant called DanBam in his trendy neighborhood, but his true aim is to destroy that CEO’s food company. With the help of Yi-seo (Kim Da-mi), he just might succeed.
My Mister (2018)
This dark, captivating drama continues the vein of what the film Parasite illustrated to the rest of the world and Korea itself about Korean society. My Mister displays the injustices of Korea’s loan sharks and vicious corporate world through the story of a young female temp worker and a middle-aged career man and his two brothers. Hounded by a loan shark, Ji-an (Lee Ji-eun) pursues criminal exploits to try to pay off her loan, but never seems to be able to escape from under his cruel thumb. Meanwhile, she works as a temp worker in a structural engineering firm where Dong-hoon (Lee Sun-kyun) is a middle-aged lifer, destined to be stuck in his middling position forever. When their lives intertwine, chaos and drama ensue, but Ji-an, who has suffered a tragic life, must learn to trust someone besides herself.
Crash Landing On You (2019)
This popular rom-com series was inspired by a real-life event when South Korean actress Jung Yang’s boat accidentally strayed into the boundary waters between North Korea and South Korea. In the show, however, it’s a paragliding incident that takes Yoon Se-ri (Son Ye-jin) into the northern country. The heiress to a Korean company, Se-ri is smart, determined and set to take over her father’s company–much to the dismay of her brothers and their wives–when she accidentally drifts into North Korea, propelled by strong gusts of wind. She meets a North Korean soldier (Hyun Bin) who promises to protect her in foreign territory and love blossoms.
Signal (2016)
A real Korean serial killer inspired this police procedural about a handsome, jaded officer named Hae-young (Lee Je-hoon) who finds a mysterious walkie-talkie. It’s through this relic of technology that Hae-young works with a socially awkward veteran cop named Lee Jae-han (Cho Jin-woong) to solve many cold cases from the past. Female detective Cha Soo-Hyun (Kim Hye-soo) is their partner in solving many difficult cases, from murders to rapes. This police procedural won Best Drama, Best Screenplay and Best Actress at Korea’s 2016 Baeksang Arts Awards.
When the Camellia Blooms (2019)
Dong-baek (Gong Hyo-jin) is a pretty young single mother with an adorable baby. Unfortunately, she meets the disapproval of the town ladies when she opens a bar called Camellia where all their husbands start hanging out. Struggling against Korean stereotypes of single mothers, she is determined to forge a path on her own when she meets cutie Yong-sik (Kang Ha-neul), a policeman who’s got a thing for her–and for hunting down criminals. When a serial killer stalks their town and threatens Dong-baek, Yong-sik is determined to find him and stop his reign of terror.
Let’s Eat (2013)
Could anything be more delicious than this series with extensive close-ups on all the Korean dishes you’ve been craving? LeeSoo-kyung plays a divorced woman who wants to eat alone, but in South Korea, very few women do so. Looking for a dining partner more than a date, she discovers chatty neighbor Dae-young, whose obsession with food rivals her own. Together with their cute neighbor Jin-yi, they form a dining club, and you get to live vicariously through them– though this show may have you ordering up some black bean noodles on Uber Eats before you know it.
Hello, My Twenties! (2016)
Five gals in a boarding house struggle to find their footing as modern Korean women. Through their fights with one another and their inner struggles, the girls learn to cope with the contradictions put upon them by Korean society. There are serious discussions of sex, marriage, alcohol, self-image and independence, but of course, being a Korean drama, there’s also a supernatural side plot–the boarding house is haunted by an ex-roommate’s ghost. If you liked Girls, you’ll like this look at the lives of young Korean women.
Naeil’s Cantabile (2014)
If you loved Mozart in the Jungle, try this colorful, quirky drama about pianist Nae-il (Shim Eun-kyung), a zany student at a South Korean music academy. This fun romp through the life of a wacky group of creative students is a remake of the Japanese show Nodame Cantabile. You’ll love watching punky blonde violinist Il-rak (Go Kyung-pyo) and snobby prodigy Yoo-jin (Joo Won) fight for the cute pianist’s affections. Another plot-point revolves around various students’ wars with their strict, overbearing professors to be allowed to play and conduct music as they’d like to–could anything be more millennial than this struggle of innovation versus tradition?
Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (2016)
The goblin (Gong Yoo) is a cursed immortal. But once upon a time, he was a handsome general who was executed by his young, jealous king. Seeking a human bride whose true love will allow him to transcend the mortal realm and rest in peace in the afterlife, he stumbles into the modern world. Unfortunately, the king has also been reborn as the grim reaper carrying on their rivalry. When a girl summons the supernatural goblin, he may have found his way out of cursed immortality–or another complication to fall in love with.
Coffee Prince (2007)
Han-kyul (Gong Yoo) is the wealthy heir to a Seoul coffee company, but like David Larrabee in the classic film Sabrina, he’d rather rest on his family’s pot of gold than work for them. Ordered by his family to run one of their coffee shops, he finds discipline and makes friends for life with his entire staff. After he hires an insolent tomboy, Eun-chan (Yoon Eun-hye), he finds himself falling for her, but they’re from different classes–often a no-no in Korea.
Boys Over Flowers (2009)
Fans of Gossip Girl will enjoy this teen Korean drama about a rich boy, Jun-pyo (Lee Min-ho), who walks around upper-crust Shinhwa High like he and his crew own it. But like many Korean dramas, there’s an upstart girl ready to show him he’s not all that. Jan-di (Koo Hye-sun) is underwhelmed by the boys, and she lets them know in no uncertain terms that they’re spoiled, cruel and unimpressive. This of course, makes two of them fall for her. The boys-versus-girls plot, class war and hilarious late-aughts haircuts (hello, huge sideswept bangs) are entertaining, to say the least.
Descendants of the Sun (2016)
When a soldier and a surgeon make eyes at one another, it’s tough to reconcile that one kills while the other heals. They are stationed together in a fictional country called Uruk and rekindle their love. When the captain is sent on a classified mission from which there may be no return, love must find a way. Nearly 40 percent of South Korean viewers tuned in to this story, resonating with its elements of danger, drama and romance in an uncertain, militarized modern world.
Reply 1994 (2013)
All of the realistic Reply series are hilarious and heartwarming, but Reply 1988 tends to get the most attention. This edition, though, deserves a look with its historical grounding in a time when K-pop was just beginning to blossom. Flash-back to 1994, when six provincial college students from across South Korea are rooming together at a Seoul boarding house owned by the parents of central character Sung Na-jung (Go Ara). Na-jung is obsessed with basketball, and player Lee Sang-min, to an extreme extent. In flashbacks of her friendships and crushes, along with the humorous effects of her country mouse parents being the owners of the boarding house, a tender and realistic story to rival Friends is told.
Reply 1997 (2012)
Oh, the 90s. The era of *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys in the U.S. was the era of H.O.T. in South Korea. Boy band mania was at an all-time high during the flashbacks of this drama, where high schooler and H.O.T. fangirl Sung Shi-won (Jung Eun-ji) and her friends rush to the latest H.O.T. concert with all their worship gear in hand. In flashbacks as the now 30-somethings look back on their teendom from their high school reunion dinner, they wish they could recapture the joy, enthusiasm and fresh-faced innocence of the era.
Reply 1988 (2015)
This nostalgic look at friendship during the 80s is like That 70s Show meets This is Us. A group of five friends jokes and teases their way through adolescence, influenced by the groundbreaking event of the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Duk-sun (Hyeri) is a spirited, optimistic young girl who’s set to be a flag bearer at the Olympics ceremony, but when the opportunity is taken away, her friends are there to cheer her up. The show inspired great nostalgia for the 80s in Korea, with its look at life in Seoul during the decade so many adults today lived through.
Strong Girl Bong-Soon (2017)
If you were inspired by Captain Marvel, you’ll love Do Bong-soon (Park Bo-young), a seemingly innocuous young woman who actually turns out to be a superhero. Bong-soon can only use her strength for good–in fact, any of her ancestors who used it for their own selfish benefit were immediately punished–so she toes a careful line and lives a pretty boring life. But when a neighborhood kidnapping wave takes hold, Bong-soon knows she has to pitch in.
Oh My Ghost (2015)
Soon-ae (Kim Seul-gi) is a virgin ghost moping about the earth until she can do the deed. Frustrated, she possesses the body of a shy cook named Bong-sun (Park Bo-young). Suddenly, Bong-sun is shy no longer, chewing out her gorgeous boss. Meanwhile, Soon-ae harbors a crush on a cute local policeman. As K-dramas often do, the show transitions from a paranormal romance to a spine-chilling thriller. The mystery of the show is who killed Soon-ae–and the twists, involving evil spirits, may surprise you. Next, get ready for the new Hulu documentaryKid 90.
