drama series - Page 2

When we talk about the role that introduced us to South Korean actor Lee Joon-gi, we have to talk about his role in The King and the Clown (2005).

In the movie, he plays the role of historical figure Gong-gil. It is an adaptation of a stage play, ‘Yi’ about a Joseon dynasty king named Yeonsangun and the court clown who mocks him.

Thanks for his performance in the film, Lee won a number of awards including the Best Newcomer at the Korean Film Awards. He was only 24 years old when he was cast for this role that led him to fame.

The film also led the Korean public to know him as the icon for all pretty boys.

However, Lee has proven over and over again since ‘The King and the Clown’ that he is more than just a ‘pretty boy’.

From historical to modern dramas, Lee is one of the top South Korean actors that K-drama fans always watch out for.

Here are 10 South Korean dramas to watch if you are a fan of Lee Joon-gi:

1.Time Between Dog and Wolf (2007)

This series played a significant role in Lee’s career as it was his first leading role in a drama.

He plays the role of Lee Soo-hyun, an NIS agent with a violent temper.

He infiltrates an organised crime syndicate as an undercover agent where he assumes the name Kay.

As a gangster, he goes on rampages to gain the trust of his fellow gang members.

In an interview, Lee revealed how he tried to break away from the image he received from acting in The King and the Clown (2005).

He said, “It’s an urgent matter for an actor to break away from a lingering image formed by a previous role. You don’t want to be typecast into specific roles. That’s probably the most difficult part about being an actor. After appearing in a great role in King and the Clown, I’ve been deliberately taking on different roles to reshape my image. And that has somehow been holding me back in my career and creating a mental barrier. In this miniseries, I’m just going to concentrate on playing my character like I did in the King and the Clown and try to block out all the extraneous stuff.”

This was also the drama that became Lee’s turning point in his career as viewers began to see him as an action star.

2.Iljimae (2008)

From Time Between Dog and Wolf (2007), Lee moved on to play a masked Robin Hood-esque character in this period action drama.

He plays the title role of Iljimae. The series is loosely based on the comic strip of the same name published in the newspaper the Daily Sports between 1975 and 1977.

The comic is written by Ko Woo-young who based it on a Chinese folklore from the Ming dynasty.

Lee’s character is a lazy gangster by day and a masked thief who protects the citizens at night.

Lee’s acting in the drama earned him the Top Excellence Award at the 2008 SBS Drama Awards.

3.Arang and the Magistrate (2012)

The first acting project they participate in after being discharged from mandatory military service is a huge deal for any famous South Korean actors.

Since their fans are not able to see them in any projects for at least 18 months, many anticipate their favourite actors’ first acting gig.

For Lee, his first project after being discharged was Arang and the Magistrate (2012).

In this series, he is a nobleman named Kim Eun-oh who has the special ability to hear, see and touch spirits but chooses to ignore them.

He comes across A-rang (Shin Min-ah) who lost all her memories, including how she died.

She begs for Eun-oh, the new magistrate to help her in finding the truth about her death.

The series was not only successful but it became the most expensive drama to be sold to Japan by MBC.

Moreover, Lee won the Outstanding Korean Drama Actor award at the Seoul International Drama Awards for his role in the drama.

4.Two Weeks (2013)

After he finished playing a magistrate in a historical drama, Lee moved on to a series set during the modern day.

Here, he plays the role of Jang Tae-san. He is abandoned by his father at a young age and his mother took her own life.

To survive, he becomes a small-time gangster.

Tae-san meets and falls in love with a college student Seo In-hye.

When Tae-san finds out that In-hye is pregnant with his child, Tae-san decides to leave the gangster organisation.

However, Tae-san’s gang boss threatens to kill In-hye if he does not become his fall guy for an assault charge and go to prison in his place.

In order to protect In-hye, Tae-san breaks up with her, asks her to get an abortion and then goes off to prison.

Eight years later, In-hye comes to him telling him that she had the baby after all.

But now their daughter Soo-jin has been diagnosed with leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant.

She asks Tae-san to go a test to see if he is a matching donor because she herself is not.

As it turns out, he is a match and the surgery is scheduled to take place in two weeks.

Unfortunately for Tae-san, a lot of things can happen in two weeks such as getting caught in a political conspiracy and falsely being accused of murder.

It was the first time Lee played the role of a father in dramas and the viewers were happy with his performance.

In an interview Lee revealed his response to that, “On the day when the first episode was aired, I was at the top of a mountain for outdoor filming and sometimes checked the news. When I read a review ‘Lee Joon-gi’s fatherhood acting is perfect.’ I was so happy and my heart was about to burst.”

5.Gunman in Joseon (2014)

Don’t we love watching Lee Joon-gi playing a bad boy? In this series, Lee is a highly skilled swordsman named Park Yoon-kang.

However, he has no ambition and likes to waste his life drinking and flirting at the gisaeng house.

Things change for him when his estranged father Park Jin-han is killed in a conspiracy and falsely branded a traitor.

Subsequently, all of his children, including Yoon-kang, are also punished.

With the help of the girl he loves, Soo-in, Yoon-kang manages to escape on a boat.

Unfortunately, he is shot and falls into the water.

Everyone presumes he is dead. Little do they know Yoon-kang is rescued by a group of men heading to Japan.

Three years later, Yoon-kang returns to Joseon to avenge the death of his family under the assumed name Hasegawa Hanjo.

This time, he has traded his sword for a rifle.

Thanks for his role in Gunman in Joseon (2014), Lee won the Outstanding Korean Drama Actor for a second time at the Seoul International Drama Awards.

The series gained a lot of viewership internationally especially in China where it reached 200 million views in a month on Tencent QQ’s video streaming platform.

6.The Scholar Who Walks the Night (2015)

This series is based on the manhwa of the same name written by Jo Joo-hee and illustrated by Han Seung-hee.

It stars Lee Joon-gi, Lee Yu-bo, Shim Chang-min, Lee Soo-hyuk and Kim So-eun.

The drama is a historical-fantasy story in which Lee takes up the role of Kim Sung-yeol.

He is a loyal and courageous scholar who is close friend of Crown Prince Jonghyun.

Following the deaths of his family and friend, Sung-yeol turns into a vengeful vampire.

He has spent 120 years as a guardian vampire who is responsible for getting rid of any vampire who breaks the rule.

His special role allows him to go out in sunlight as long as he wears his special black robe.

Sung-yeol is hunting Gwi (Lee Soo-hyuk), the vampire who is responsible for killing his family and lover.

In order to do that, he needs to find the memorandum of his best friend, the late Crown Prince Jonghyun.

Inside the document, there is the secret to killing Gwi.

Through this acting project, Lee won the Top 10 Stars Award at the 34th MBC Drama Awards.

7.Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016)

How about a Korean historical drama with a dose of time-travel?

As if Lee was not popular enough before this drama, Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo actually brought more fame to him as his name consistently topped the real-time and weekly portal sites search ranking.

In the drama, he plays the role of the fourth prince Wang So.

He is initially known as the black sheep of his family, constantly feared and misunderstood by the people around him.

His character begins to change when he make acquaintance with Hae Soo.

Meanwhile, Hae Soo is a 25-year-old woman named Go Ha-jin from the 21st century.

She is accidentally transported back in time during a total solar eclipse to the Goryeo Dynasty.

The drama is one of the most expensive Korean dramas ever sold pricing at $400,000 per episode.

If you feel the storyline sounds familiar, that is because it is based on the Chinese novel Bu Bu Jing Xin.

Before this K-drama adaptation, there was a Chinese TV adaptation that went on air in 2011.

However, the Chinese drama version has a sequel in which the time traveling protagonist returns to her own time.

Although the original author never wrote a sequel, the fact there is a second season in the Chinese drama adaptation let K-drama fans hope that there will be a continuation of Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016).

8.Criminal Minds (2017)

This police procedural action drama is based on the American television series Criminal Minds.

It follows a group of highly trained profilers in the National Criminal Investigation (NCI) team on their job of solving cases.

Lee is Kim Hyun-joon in this series, the equivalent of Derek Morgan portrayed by Shemar Moore.

No, we don’t get to see Lee saying ‘Baby girl’ in this drama but we do get to see him in action chasing after criminals.

In the Korean version of the drama, Hyun-joon is a second-generation police officer.

He is initially a SWAT officer specialising in EOD.

However after watching one of his subordinates die when a bomb their team was defusing, exploded, he was transferred to the Violent Crimes Unit as an investigator.

At the recommendation of Kang Ki-hyung who is the the leader of NCI team, Hyun-joon becomes a profiler.

9.Lawless Lawyer (2018)

After playing a profiler, Lee returns to the small screen as a lawyer in the Lawless Lawyer (2018).

It is Lee’s first time acting in a legal drama.

Still, it is not a role for Lee if it doesn’t involve some action and fight scenes.

In the drama, he plays the role of Bong Sang-pil. He is a former gangster turned lawyer who takes advantage of loopholes in the law and his fist to earn an excellent win rate.

The story sets in the fictional city of Kisung where corruption and crime rate is high.

Even though he is a lawyer, he is not afraid to use his old gang connection and his fighting skills to solve a case.

His goal in life is to avenge the death of his mother and to fight against the corrupt judge Cha Moon-sok and her associates.

To date, the drama is one of the highest-rated Korean dramas in cable television history.

10.Flower of Evil (2020)

In this series, Lee reunites with his former co-star from Criminal Minds Moon Chae-won.

The story revolves around a couple in which the husband has a dark past while the wife is the police officer who is tracking down his past identity.

Cha Ji-won (Moon) is a detective and married with a daughter with Baek Hee-sung (Lee).

On the outside, Hee-sung is the ideal husband and devoted father.

He has a metal working studio where he works as a craftsman.

After taking on one particular cruel case, Ji-won begins to hunt down a psychopath criminal.

Her hunt leads her to the man who has been building a family with her all along.

Again, Lee’s portrayal of a double-faced character in the drama impressed viewers.

Plus, his chemistry with Moon as married couple has also gathered a lot of buzz.

We expect to see in the first half of 2022 in SBS drama Again My Life. It is based on a web novel of the same title published on KaKao Page which was also released as a webtoon.

What is your favourite K-drama starring Lee Joon-gi? Let us know in the comment.

In 1910, the Japanese empire formally annexed the Korean peninsula through the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1910.

Until the end of World War II in 1945, Korea was under Japanese rule which was administered by the Governor-General of Korea based in Keijo (now Seoul).

While Korea saw a growth in industrialisation and an improvement in infrastructure during this time, the country also suffered from exploitation of its people and marginalisation of Korean history and culture.

This part of history also inspired many films and dramas with their storyline set in Korea under Japanese rule:

If you are looking to watch a bit of history and plenty of entertainment, here are five K-dramas set in Korea under Japanese rule to watch:

1.Bridal Mask (2012)

During the Japanese occupation of Korea, local Koreans who worked for the Japanese were deemed as traitors by their fellow countrymen.

This drama shows how much these traitors were hated.

Set in the 1930s, Lee Kang-to (Joo Won) is a Korean who works with the Japanese police to capture Gaksital (Bridal Mask).

Gaksital is a masked vigilante who fights for Korea’s independence using his skills in traditional martial arts, taekkyeon.

What Kang-to does not know at first is that his estranged brother Lee Kang-san (Shin Hyun-joon) is the man behind Gaksital.

After Kang-to accidentally kills Kang-san, Kang-to decides to succeed his brother as Gaksital.

The drama is based on a popular Korean manhwa by Huh Young-man.

2.Inspiring Generation (2014)

Here is another drama set in Korea during Japanese rule which is based on a manhwa.

The manhwa Age of Feeling by Bang Hak-gi was published by Sports Seoul from June 1985 to June 1988.

Shin Jung -tae (Kim Hyun-joong)’s father died when a Japanese soldier shot him during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai.

Since then, he worked hard to become a street fighter in the back alleys of Shanghai.

Jung-tae later comes across a group of Korean freedom fighters who gather in Shanghai to fight for independence in their home country.

But why Shanghai? The Korean Provisional Government (KPG) or formally known as the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea was a partially recognised Korean government in-exile based in Shanghai, China.

Inspiring Generation was one of the more expensive series produced that year with the budget USD14 million.

It was filmed in a studio which was purposely-built to look like 1930s Shanghai.

3.Different Dreams (2019)

On Mar 1, 1919, over 1,000 demonstrations were held across different cities in Korea.

Attended by thousands of civilians and students, the event marks one of the first public displays of Korean resistance during the Japanese occupation of Korea.

Unfortunately, the event had a bloody ending with about 7,500 people killed, 16,000 others wounded and up to 46,000 arrested.

The drama Different Dreams (2019) was aired to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the March 1st Movement.

It follows the story of a group of freedom fighters with different ideologies but coming together with the same goal – to achieve independence for Korea.

One of the main characters Kim Won-bong (Yoo Ji-tae) is based on the real-life Korean anarchist and independence activist.

The director of Different Dreams, Yoon Sang-ho told The Korea Times that he wanted the second Eyes of Dawn, a classic hit drama which was aired between October 1991 and February 1992.

He stated, “That drama was a masterpiece that depicted the pains of Korea’s modern history. When I was young, the heart-touching drama captivated me so much that I thought I would like to do a project set in that period too.”

4.Mr Sunshine (2018)

If you are writing a fictional story based on a real-life past event, you have to be careful to avoid historical inaccuracies.

Take it from scriptwriter Kim Eun-sook, whose work Mr Sunshine (2018) received criticism for inaccurate portrayals of historical facts and being ‘pro-Japanese’.

Unlike other dramas which set in Korea under Japanese rule, this series depicts events that took place right before the annexation in the late 1800s to early 1900s.

It focuses on the work of the Righteous Army, who are real-life informal civilian militias that have appeared several times across Korean history, especially when the national armies were in need of assistance.

Moreover, the series features historical figures such as the last king of Joseon Emperor Gojong, Japanese politician Ito Hirobumi, Japanese diplomat Hayashi Gonsuke, American ambassador Horace Newton Allen and more.

To date, Mr Sunshine is the sixth highest ratings for cable television series and was the Drama of the Year at the 6th Apan Star Awards in 2018.

Watch the trailer here.

5.The Hymn of Death (2018)

Another Korean period drama based on true events, this one circles around a group of Korean students who furthered their studies in Japan.

Yun Sim-deok was the first Korean to study at the Tokyo Music School who later known as Korean first professional soprano singer.

While in Japan, she fell in love a fellow Korean student Kim U-jin who was studying English literature.

They both started a love affair as U-jin had a wife back in Korea.

The series follows the tragic romance between Sim-deok and U-jin.

It stars Lee Jong-suk and Shin Hye-sun who previously worked together in School 2013 (2013).

Watch the trailer here.

One of the many reasons why South Korean drama series do well not just domestically but internationally is because they know what they are good at and they stick to it.

You don’t see Korean dramas doing a superhero storyline or comedy drama in front of a live audience.

The first Korean drama genre that broke through to international audiences was romance which is why we have plenty of romantic Korean series going around.

Today, we have so many types of Korean romance dramas out there. From romance between an older woman with a younger man to love stories set in an office or campus, Korean series have them all.

On top of that, Korean dramas take romance to another level of unreal-ism by giving viewers love stories between mortal and supernatural beings.

These Korean romance-fantasy dramas show how true love prevails even when you are not of the same entity or universe.

So here are KajoMag’s pick for 15 Korean romance-fantasy dramas you need to watch:

1.Secret Garden (2010)

Kicking off the list is Secret Garden (2010), a classic Cinderella story. A poor stunt woman with no family falls in love with a good-looking but arrogant CEO.

The fantasy part of the story is the two swap bodies after drinking a mysterious drink in a secret garden.

Gil Ra-im (Ha Ji-won) works as a stunt woman who lost her father when she was in high school.

Meanwhile, Kim Joo-won (Hyun Bin) is a strict and rational CEO of a high-end departmental story who is secretly suffering from claustrophobia.

After a series of misunderstandings, Ra-im constantly bumps into Joo-won.

Despite their differences, Joo-won finds himself constantly thinking about Ra-im.

He then decides to pursue Ra-im, all of this happening while they are swapping bodies, literally walking in each other shoes.

Even to this day, the drama remains one of the highest rated Korean series.

2.Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (2017)

At first glance, the love story in this popular drama by Kim Eun-sook is bottom line disturbing.

The age difference between a thousand year-old deity and high school kid is huge.

But then again, even if the deity fell for a 100 year-old grandma, the age difference would still be huge.

Anyway, the story follows Kim Shin (Gong Yoo), a military general who is cursed to be an immortal goblin.

The only way to put an end to his immortality is the Goblin’s bride as she is the only who can see and pull out the sword and kill him.

His destined wife is Ji Eun-tak (Kim Go-eun), a plucky orphan and struggling high school student.

One day, Kim Shin’s nephew Yoo Deok-hwa (Yook Sung-jae) rents out his house without his knowledge to Grim Reaper (Lee Dong-wook).

Due to this, the Goblin and the Grim Reaper reluctantly become housemates.

Later, Eun-tak becomes homeless and join in the Goblin’s household.

At the same time, Eun-tak starts to work part time job at a chicken story run by Sunny (Yoo In-na).

As they spend more time together, Kim Shin, Grim Reaper, Eun-tak and Sunny never knew how deep the connection between them and how fate brought them together in the first place.

This Korean romance-fantasy series is currently the fifth highest rated drama in Korean cable television history.

Watch the trailer here.

3.Black Knight: The Man Who Guards Me (2017)

This drama follows the story of Moon Soo-ho (Kim Rae-won), a successful CEO who is still holding on to his first love.

His first love is Jung Hae-ra (Shin Se-kyung), a hardworking employee who works for a travel agency.

Both of them share two past stories together; one takes place in a current time and another happens two hundred years ago.

In the present time, Soo-ho is brought into Hae-ra’s home after the death of his parents.

They grow up like siblings but Soo-ho begins to have feelings for Hae-ra. They separate when Soo-ho goes oversea to study but he returns to Hae-ra as a successful CEO.

What both of them do not know is that they are the reincarnations of Lee Myung-so and his lover Boon-yi who died in the hands of Myung-so’s wife Choi Seo-rin (Seo Ji-hye).

Apart from that, the couple do not know that Seo-rin is cursed with immortality and still obsessed over her husband or now, the reincarnation of him.

Watch the trailer here.

4.My Girlfriend is Gumiho (2010)

This Korean romance-fantasy drama is old but gold. It follows the story of Cha Dae-woong (Lee Seung-gi), a college student who wants to be an action star.

He accidentally releases a gumiho (Shin Min-ah), a Korean mythological fox who was sealed in a painting.

Legend has it that gumiho takes men’s livers for food, causing Dae-woong to be afraid of the creature.

What he does not know is that the gumiho that he released has been wanting to turn into human for along time.

Gumiho takes advantage of Dae-woong’s fear to stay by his side.

As they spend more time with each other, love blossoms between the mortal man and gumiho.

5.The Bride of the Habaek (2017)

Based on the Korean manhwa Bride of the Water God by Yoon Mi-kyung, the series stars Shin Se-kyung, Nam Joo-hyuk, Lim Ju-hwan, Krystal Jung and Gong Myung.

The God of Water, Ha-baek (Nam Joo-hyuk) needs to come down to earth to retrieve the sacred stones in order for him to claim the throne of the Divine Realm.

To do so, he needs the help of So-ah (Shin Se-kyung), the descendant from a family fated to serve the gods for generations.

However, when Ha-baek arrives on earth, he loses his power and unable to convince So-ah that he is in fact a god.

So-ah, on her part treats him like a patient who is suffering from a mental illness.

While the storyline can be messy and confusing, the acting and performances by the cast is what makes this Korean romance-fantasy drama worth watching.

Watch the trailer for this Korean romance-fantasy drama here.

6.About Time (2018)

What if one day you wake up and can see the life spans of other people ticking? Will you save them from their deaths or walk away ignoring them.

For aspiring musical actress Choi Michaela (Lee Sung-kyung), this gift has been a curse rather than a blessing.

The worst part is the fact she can see her own life span.

Everything changes for Michaela when she comes across Lee Do-ha (Lee Sang-yoon), a chaebol son and CEO.

Michaela realises her life clock whenever she is with Do-ha.

Obsessed with living longer on earth, Michaela does everything in order to stay by Do-ha that she even becomes his personal driver.

Soon enough, Michaela and Do-ha’s relationship turns in to a problem especially to Do-ha with his business and family.

Watch the trailer here.

7.Extraordinary You (2019)

Imagine, one day you discover that the world you have been living is not real and actually a fantasy world of a comic.

To make matters worse, you find out that your character will be killed off in the end of the comic.

Eun Dan-oh (Kim Hye-yoon) is a high school girl born into a wealthy family, but with a heart disease.

At first, she believes that everything in her life is perfect despite her illness. Then, her world collapses when she finds out that everyone in her life is just characters in a teen comic book entitled Secret.

Moreover, Dan-oh is just a supporting character in the comic and the author is planning to kill her character off in the end of the story.

Dan-oh is not the only who has such ‘awareness’ as a small group of people around her start to become ‘aware’ of their identities.

One of them is Number 13 (Rowoon), an extra character in the comic who does not even have a name.

After spending time together, Dan-ah names him Ha-ru.

Overall, this Korean romance-fantasy drama is light and entertaining with a good dose of suspense thrown into it.

8.My Love from the Star (2013)

How about a love story between an alien and a human being?

Do Min-joon (Kim Soo-hyun) is an alien who landed on Earth in 1609.

After saving a girl named Seo Yi-hwa from falling off a cliff, he misses his return journey to his home planet.

For the next four centuries, Min-joon roams around the Earth changing his identity every ten years as he never ages.

Meanwhile, Cheon Song-yi (Jun Ji-hyun) is a famous actress who happens to be Min-joon’s neighbour.

Later, Min-joon finds out that Song-yi at her young age resembles Yi-hwa, the girl he rescued 400 years ago.

The duo starts to spend time together after a series of incidents and mishaps. Song-yi eventually finds out Min-joon’s identity and he using his enhanced abilities of his vision, hearing and speed to help Song-yi in her troubles.

The drama marks Jun’s first comeback to the small screen after 14 years. It was definitely a notable comeback for her because she won the Grand Prize in Television at the 50th Baeksang Arts Awards for her role in the drama.

9.Legend of the Blue Sea (2016)

Written by the My Love from the Star’s screenwriter Park Ji-eun, this drama tells the story of a conman and a mermaid.

Perhaps because the drama stars two of the biggest Korean stars Jun Ji-hyun and Lee Min-ho, the series was one of the most popular ones in 2016.

It centers around Shim Cheong (Jun Ji-hyun), a mermaid who falls in love with a con artist named Heo Joon-jae (Lee Min-ho).

Their love story, however, starts from the Josean era but when they died almost Romeo and Juliet style, they are reincarnated in the 21st century.

Many of the key elements such as parallel time between the past and present as well as the romance between a human and a non-human are basically a recycled version of Park Ji-eun’s previous work My Love from the Star.

Even the same female lead actress Jun Ji-hyun switches her role from a human to a mermaid in this drama.

So if you love Jun’s performance and Park’s script writing style, this drama is definitely worth watching.

Watch the trailer here.

10.The King: Eternal Monarch (2020)

As if long distance relationship is not enough, imagine dating someone who is from another universe.

The series follows Emperor Lee Gon of Kingdom of Corea who accidentally comes across to another parallel universe where current South Korea exist.

In South Korea, the emperor who is without any identity comes across detective Jung Tae-eul (Kim Go-eun).

He recognises her from an identity card he obtained during his childhood when his father was assassinated.

The culprit is Lee Gon’s half-uncle, Lee Lim (Lee Jung-jin) who also finds his way to cross between the two universe.

Overall, the drama is an entertaining story of combining myth and science with amazing performance of a stellar cast.

Unfortunately, it was dampened by controversies over excessive use of product placement and historical inaccuracies.

Watch the trailer here.

11.W (2016)

Speaking of alternate universe, W centers on the clash between the real world and another that takes place inside a webtoon.

It follows the story of Kang Chul (Lee Jong-suk), the lead character of the popular webtoon W.

After being stabbed by a mysterious assailant, Kang Chul is rescued by Oh Yeon-joo (Han Hyo-joo).

What he doesn’t know is that Oh Yeon Joo comes from the real world and the daughter of the webtoon artist who created W.

The drama is directed by Jung Dae-yoon, who directed She was Pretty and writer Song Jae-jung who wrote Nine: Nine Time Travels and Queen In-hyun’s Man.

Watch the trailer here.

12.Queen In Hyun’s Man (2012)

Also securing a spot on this list is Queen In-hyun’s Man or Queen and I starring Ji Hyun-woo and Yoo In-na.

It follows the story of actress Choi Hee-jin (Yoo In-na) who falls in love with Kim Bung-do (Ji Hyun-woo).

Bung-do is a noble-born scholar from the year 1684 who finds himself time travels to 2012.

When the still-cut of the drama was released showing the two lead characters in front of Gwanghamun, the main gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace, it popularised the ‘Gwanghwamun Kiss’ trend.

The spot has become a famous backdrop for tourists to take photos.

13.Strong Girl Do Bong Soon (2017)

If you are looking for something cute and funny but creepy and thrilling in the same time, this is the Korean romance-fantasy drama for you.

Do Bong-soon (Park Bo-young) was born with superhuman strength, a trait inherited only by the women in her family.

Thanks to her strength, she gets a job as bodyguard to CEO of a gaming company Ahn Min-hyuk (Park Hyung-sik).

In the same time, a series of kidnapping cases targeting women happen in Bong-soon’s neighbourhood.

Bong-soon is determined to catch the culprit who targeted her best friend but managed to escape.

With help and training from Min-hyuk, Bong-soon slowly knows how to use and embrace her superhuman strength.

After it aired, the series became one of the highest rated Korean drama in cable television history.

Watch the trailer here.

14.Tomorrow, With You (2017)

This Korean romance-fantasy drama circles around Yoo So-joon (Lee Je-hoon), a successful CEO of a real estate company.

He has the ability to time travel whenever he takes the subway.

After going back and forth in time, he sees his future self living a sad and tormented life.

In order to change his future, he decides to marry Song Ma-rin (Shin Min-ah) thinking that it will bring him happiness.

There is one problem though, So-joon is not in love with Ma-rin. So how can a loveless marriage brings him happiness?

Watch the trailer here.

15.Tale of Nine-tailed (2020)

Imagine being so in love with someone that you are willing to live for a thousand years just to wait for your old flame to be reincarnated.

Is it love or obsession? In the K-drama world, it is nothing but true love.

Lee Yeon (Lee Dong-wook) is a gumiho (nine-tailed fox) and former mountain spirit of Baekdudaegan.

After the death of his lover Ah-eum in the hands of Imoogi, a lesser dragon in human form, Lee Yeon works for the Afterlife Immigration Office to eradicate supernatural beings that threaten the mortal world.

He is searching for the reincarnation of Ah-eum.

Finally after almost a thousand years of searching, Ah-eum is reincarnated as Nam Ji-ah, a 30-year-old TV producer.

Many of the characters in the drama are based on Korean mythological figures so those who love legends and myth should watch this Korean romance-fantasy drama.

Watch the trailer here.

There is something about first love that it has always been romanticised about in movies and dramas.

South Korean movie A Millionaire’s First Love (2006) for instance, is a story about how a millionaire gives up his inheritance for his dying first love.

At the same time, these fiction stories show that not everyone ends up with their first love.

Bollywood film Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) tells the story of Naina Kapur (played by Preity Zinta) who falls in love for the first time with Aman Mathur (Shah Rukh Khan).

Sorry to spoil it to you but Naina ends up marrying her best friend, Rohit (Saif Ali Khan).

In reality, perhaps half of people out there carry a lot of baggage from their previous relationship when it comes to their new romances.

That being said, dramas and movies love to capture the warm, fuzzy feeling of being in relationship for the first time. From the first time holding hands to the first kiss, it is just the perfect plot buildup for any romance story.

If you are looking for Korean dramas about first love, here are 10 of them to watch:

1.My First First Love (2019)

The drama follows the story of Yun Tae-o (Ji Soo) who has been best friends with Han Song-yi (Jung Chae-yeon) since they were in elementary school.

Despite his growing feelings toward her, Tae-o pursues a relationship with another woman.

At the same time, Song-yi has feelings for her childhood best friend.

However, she develops a relationship with another man.

Things get messy and complicated when Song-yi moves into Tae-o’s house together with three other friends.

The five of them now must learn how to live in the same house while relying on each other during difficult time.

Watch the trailer here.

2.I’ll Go to You When the Weather is Nice (2020)

A man’s simple life running a bookstore and blogging in the rural area gets interrupted in a good way when his first love returns from the big city.

Hye-won (Park Min-young) gets tired of her life in Seoul and decides to move back to her hometown Bookhyun village.

There, she reconnects with her old classmates including Eun-seob (Seo Kang-joon).

Hye-won has never known that Eun-seob has been harbouring feelings toward her since high school.

As they spend time with each other, Hye-won slowly opens up with Eun-seob and subsequently falls in love.

Watch the trailer here.

3.Come & Hug Me (2018)

Let’s say you meet this girl and fall in love with her. When the girl reciprocates your feelings, you feel that heaven must be on your side.

Suddenly, the same heavenly feeling turns to hell when your psychopathic serial killer father kills the girl’s parents, turning your first love into an orphan.

This dramatic turn of events could only happen in Korean dramas.

Do-jin (Jang Ki-yong) and Jae-yi (Jin Ki-joo) were high school sweethearts. Unfortunately, their romance was cut short when Do-jin’s father killed Jae-yi’s parents.

From there, they both went into their separate ways.

Fast forward to present time, Do-jin is now a police detective as his way to atone for his father’s cruel actions.

In the meantime, Jae-yi becomes an actress. Ever since her parents’ deaths, she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

What happen when Do-jin and Jae-yi reunite again? Will the old flame reignite?

Watch the trailer here.

4.She was Pretty (2015)

Growing up, Kim Hye-jin was the pretty girl from a rich family. Meanwhile, Ji Sung-joon was the unattractive, chubby boy with low self-esteem.

Sung-joon then moves to the US but Hye-jin and Sung-joon keep in touch as friends.

Even though they never actually confess their feelings, they both consider each other as their first loves.

After they became adults, Sung-joon moves back to South Korea. The two decide to meet again.

However, Sung-joon does not recognise Hye-jin. She has become ‘ugly’ by Korean standards with her curly hair and dark skin.

Sung-joon on the other hand grows up to be a handsome and successful editor.

After Sung-joon couldn’t recognise her, Hye-jin becomes despondent and ashamed. She instead asks her attractive best friend Ha-ri to be ‘Hye-jin’ in front of Sung-joon.

And you guess it, that is when the drama and conflicts begin.

Watch the trailer here.

5.Love Rain (2012)

The truth is, not everyone marries their first love and this drama shows it.

Set in the seventies and the present day, Love Rain (2012) is a love story which spans over two generations with Jang Keun-suk and Im Yoon-ah playing dual roles.

Seo In-ha and Kim Yoon-hee fall in love with each other during their university days in the seventies.

However, circumstances led the two to go their separate ways.

Fast forward to 2012, In-ha’s son Seo Joon coincidentally bumps into Yoon-hee’s daughter Jung Ha-na.

Despite their differences, the two gradually falls in love with each other.

Meanwhile, In-ha reunites with Yoon-hee and they decide to rekindle their old loves.

They announce that they are getting married, unaware that their children are dating each other.

6.When My Love Blooms (2020)

Speaking of reuniting with your first love, here is another K-drama based on this type of plot.

Han Jae-hyun and Yoon Ji-soo first met when they were still university students and fall in love with each other.

Twenty years later, the two reunite. Jae-hyun is now a successful businessman while Ji-soo is struggling with motherhood and putting food on the table.

Despite how much has changed in their lives, Jae-hyun and Ji-soo both realise that the feelings between them have not changed at all.

Watch the trailer here.

7.More Than Friends (2020)

At 18 years old, Woo-yeon (Shin Ye-eun) and her friend Lee Soo (Ong Seung-wu) are having the time of their lives.

They had dreams and ambitions as well as crushes on each other.

And they continue to fall in and out of love for each other for the next 10 years without having a proper chance to confess their feelings.

If you enjoyed American film When Harry Met Sally… (1989), you might love this drama.

Watch the trailer here.

8.My First Love (2018)

This romance fantasy Korean drama is based on the webtoon by the same title.

It follows the story of a man who cannot forget his first love.

When he is given the chance to return to 10 years in the past, he takes it in order to pursue his unrequited love.

The drama marks rock band CNBLUE bassist Lee Jung-shin’s first lead role in a drama.

If you are in need of a quick fix of K-drama, this one is for you because it has only 10 episodes.

9.Moments of 18 (2019)

A lot of things can happen when you are 18; school life, overbearing parents, great friends as well as first love.

The plot of Moments of 18 (2019) follows Choi Joon-woo who was forced to transfer to a new school as a punishment for something he did not commit.

In the new school, he becomes the subject of prejudice of his new classmates.

Thankfully, his school life improves when he becomes friend with Yoo Soo-bin (Kim Hyang-gi) who is the top student in class.

Soo-bin herself has her own issues with her life being controlled by her helicopter mother.

Besides the fuzzy feeling of first love, the drama is also a coming-of-age story of a group of high school students.

Watch the trailer here.

10.My ID is Gangnam Beauty (2018)

Raise your hand if you met your first love during your college days. Unlike dating as an adult where you have to juggle between working and your love life, dating in campus is more carefree.

During your college days, you have your boyfriend waiting for you after class or even better, taking the same class as you.

Based on the webtoon of the same name, this drama centers on the life of a college student Kang Mi-rae (Im Soo-hyang) who did plastic surgery after being bullied for her appearance.

Her plans did not go as well as she planned because after the surgery, she is ridiculed for her ‘artificial’ look and Mi-rae is still insecure of herself.

The one who helps her to regain her self-esteem is her classmate Do Kyung-seok (Cha Eun-woo) who happens to be her schoolmate in middle school.

Kyung-seok knows how Mi-rae looked before her surgery and it never changed the way he sees her.

This is because, miraculously, the male lead of this drama is unfazed by the superficial world so he never cares about physical appearances.

Watch the trailer here.

This Mother’s Day, we are giving tributes to mothers who exist in Korean drama-land. These mothers have the advantage over real mothers by being able to say and do the right thing at the right time, creating some perfect heartwarming moments.

So here are mothers from 10 Korean dramas we love :

1.Jo Kang-ja (Kim Hee-sun) in Angry Mom (2015)

How far would you go to protect your child from bullying? Are you willing to go as far as disguising yourself as a high school student because that was Jo Kang-ja did in Angry Mom (2015).

Kang-ja (Kim Hee-sun) was once the most feared troublemaker at her high school.

However due to her unexpected pregnancy, she had to drop out of school to raise her child.

In the present day, Kang-ja is now a 34-year-old woman with a teenage daughter Oh Ah-ran (Kim Yoo-jung).

They do not have the perfect mother-daughter relationship but Kang-ja really loves her daughter, like any mothers out there.

One day, Ah-ran was admitted to the hospital due to extreme bullying. This leads Kang-ja to do something that most conventional mothers would never do.

She enrolls in the same high school as her daughter under the false identity ‘Jang Bang-wool’.

At first, Kang-ja wanted to teach the bullies a lesson. Instead, she comes across the darker, corrupted side of the school.

This high school drama offers a bit of ‘noona’ romance with one of the boys falling in love with Kang-ja.

Watch the trailer here.

2.Kang Soo-jin (Lee Bo-young) in Mother (2018)

Just because a woman gives birth, it does not mean she deserves to be called a mother, especially if she abuses her own child.

This drama let viewers define what is the meaning of being a ‘mother’.

Kang Soo-jin (Lee Bo-young) works as a temporary teacher at an elementary school.

She realises one of her students is a victim of domestic abuse.

Soo-jin decides to do the craziest thing; she kidnaps her student and raises her as her own.

This award-winning drama is a remake of a popular Japanese drama Mother (2010).

Watch the trailer here.

3.Kim Soo-hyun (Lee Bo-young) in God’s Gift: 14 Days (2014)

Speaking of Lee Bo-young, she plays the another role of a strong-willed mother Kim Soo-hyun in God’s Gift: 14 Days.

In the drama, she works as a successful TV writer for a current affairs program.

One day, her young daughter Han Saet-byul is kidnapped and murdered.

After her daughter’s death, she comes across a miracle; a chance to go back in time exactly two weeks before the event.

No mothers who have lost their children would pass this chance, Soo-hyun goes back in time to save her daughter.

Can she save Saet-byul before she dies all over again?

4.Oh Dong-baek (Gong Hyo-jin) in When the Camellia Blooms (2019)

Over the years, we have seen more and more Korean dramas exploring the idea of a single parent or divorcee finding love all over again.

This type of storyline is more relatable because you see, romance does not happen only between two single people with no past at all.

When the Camellia Blooms follows the story of Oh Dong-baek (Gong Hyo-jin), a single mother who moves to the fictional town of Ongsan.

There, she opens a bar named Camellia while raising her son Kang Pil-gu (Kim Kang-hoon).

Six years later, policeman Hwang Yong-sik (Kang Ha-neul) moves back to his hometown Ongsan.

He meets and falls for Dong-baek. Despite his own mother’s disapproval, Yong-sik continuously pursue Dong-baek and protect her son Pil-gu.

Not long after that, Dong-baek’s peaceful life in Ongsan is interrupted with the presence of a serial killer.

The worst part is the serial killer’s next target is none other than Dong-baek.

In the meantime, her love life gets complicated when her ex-boyfriend and the father of her child Kang Jong-ryul (Kim Ji-seok) shows up wanting her back.

When the Camellia Blooms (2019) was second highest rated drama in 2019 with many critics praised it for its realistic storyline and a nice blend of romantic-comedy and thriller.

Watch the trailer here.

5.Kang Hye-soo (Uee) in Marriage Contract (2016)

Speaking of single mother, here is another Korean drama about the struggle of being a single parent.

Kang Hye-soo is a single mother who is left to raise her daughter while paying off her late husband’s debts.

As if her life is not difficult enough, she is diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour.

When all things seem to be in despair, Hye-soo is given a rare opportunity.

Marry the son of a chaebol and donate part of her liver to his mother, in exchange for enough money for her daughter until she becomes an adult.

What would a dying mother do? Understandably, she agrees for the contract marriage.

However in a classic tale of Korean drama, Hye-soo and the rich man start to have feeling for each other.

Watch the trailer here.

6.Lee Soo-im (Lee Tae-ran) in Sky Castle (2018)

First of all, all of the mothers except for Lee Soo-im in Sky Castle are crazy or abnormal.

Other mothers in the drama would definitely put real life helicopter mums to shame.

Soo-im on the other hand, is the most humble of all the mothers in the complex called Sky Castle. It is where wealthy doctors and professors live.

Unlike other mothers, she is the only mother who is a stepmother. However, it does not make her less of a mother.

For example when her stepson Hwang Woo-joo wants to take a time off from studying, she understands and supports his decision.

Overall, the drama is actually mocking the competitiveness of South Korean education system and parents who dictate their children’s study.

Watch the trailer here.

7.Cha Yu-ri (Kim Tae-hee) in Hi Bye Mama (2020)

When a surgery goes wrong, Cha Yu-ri (Kim Tae-hee) dies unexpectedly.

That was five years ago, through a reincarnation project, she is offered a chance to become human again if she succeeds in going back to her place within 49 days.

However, her husband Cho Gang-hwa (Lee Kyu-hyung) has now remarried with Oh Min-jung (Go Bo-gyeol).

Nonetheless, Yu-ri’s real reason wanting to be incarnated is for the sake of her daughter Cho Seo-woo who grew up the last five years without her.

Sometimes being a mother is not just about what you want for your child but what is the best for your child.

Watch the trailer here.

8.Ma Jin-joo and Kim Mi-kyung in Go Back Couple (2017)

Let’s say you are given a chance to go back in time to spend time with your dead mother to whom you were unable to say your last goodbye.

The price for the chance is that you need to leave your own child in the present. Would you give up your child for your mother?

Ma Jin-joo (Jang Na-ra) wishes to go back in time before she met her ex-husband Choi Ban-do.

Somehow the wish comes true and both of them are transported back to their college days.

They are both delighted, thinking that they now can change their lives, including not getting married to each other.

Furthermore, Jin-joo now can spend more time with her mother Go Eun-sook (Kim Mi-kyung) before her demise.

The more time they spend in the past, however, the more Jin-joo and Ban-do miss their son.

In the meantime, a mother’s instinct tells Eun-sook that there is something going on with her daughter.

Go Back Couple (2017) is one of those dramas that will make you want to hug your mother a little tighter tonight.

Watch the trailer here.

9.Park Hee-nam and Han Ki-ae in The Heirs (2013)

Set in a high school populated by the privileged and super rich, The Heir (2013) circles around students as they are about to take over their families’ business empires.

There are two mothers in the drama that we love.

First is Park Hee-nam (Kim Mi-kyung) who is the female lead Cha Eun-sang (Park Shin-hye)’s mother.

Putting aside her disability as a mute, she is kind and always wants the best for her daughter.

Then we have Han Ki-ae (Kim Sung-ryung) who is the male lead Kim Tan (Lee Min-ho)’s mother.

Though she seems to be self-absorbed at first, she actually cares for her son and put her son’s happiness first.

The two mothers also have great comedic timing and an adorable relationship with each other in the series.

Watch the trailer here.

10.All the Mothers in Reply 1988 (2015)

Reply 1988 revolves around five friends and their families living in the same neighbourhood in Seoul.

It is the fourth highest rated drama in Korean cable television history to date.

Interestingly, all the mothers in the main cast used their real names in the drama. For example, Lee Ill-hwa plays the role of Lee Il-hwa, a mother who loves to cook a huge amount of food.

Meanwhile, Ra Mi-ran is Ra Mi-ran, a hot-tempered mother who is always anxious over her family.

Then, Kim Sun-young’s character also goes by her real name. She is a widow who tries her best to make up for their father’s absence.

Overall, the drama focuses more on the filial bond in family. It is one of the most recommended series to watch with your family.

Watch the trailer here.