Where to Start with K-Drama: A Beginners Guide to Korean-Drama’s

After the first appearance of the term Hallyu or “The Korean Wave”, many forms of Hangul media became popular globally. Following the increase in popularity of Korean pop since the 1980s, Korean drama gained international recognition beginning in the 2010s. If you are a beginner to K-dramas, this article will guide you through K-Drama recommendations to start your binge-watch.

From the popular rich guy/poor girl trope to time travel stories and dramatic family feuds, Korean dramas cover a huge variety of storylines. Next to watching K-Dramas as a way of entertainment, it also provides educational knowledge. You will learn about the Korean culture, values, norms, and practices, and gain a different perspective than you are used to.

Before starting with Korean TV shows, you will have to be familiar with the structure: Most K-dramas run one season with mostly 16-24 episodes, with each episode minimum of 40 minutes long duration. Due to Korean heavy censorship, TV shows are more conservative than what we are used to in sexually explicit American television. The romance between the female and male characters remains chaste throughout the series. For the first kissing scene, you might have to wait for at least 8 episodes, and the kiss itself is a mere lip press. Furthermore, because of cultural and structural differences in language, certain puns and sayings might get lost in translation leaving the foreign watcher confused, however, this does not take away from the storytelling and plot.

As a newbie here are 7 recommendations to start with:

1. Boys over flowers (2009)

(Romantic, Comedy, Drama) – 25 episodes

Probably the most popular Rom-Com in K-drama that is still loved today. The series could even be described as a classic or the beginning of where the guilty pleasure of watching Korean drama’s started for many. The story is about the bright high-school student Geum Jan-Di (Koo Hye-Sun), that despite coming from a low-income family gets transferred to an exclusive high school for the elites. Here she collides with a group of four wealthy men whom she befriends and falls in love with one of them.

The drama is an adaptation of the Japanese manga series Boys over Flowers (Hana Yori Dango). The literal translation of the drama name is ‘Dumplings over flowers’, which is a proverb that means to prefer the practical or value over the appearance.

2. Guardian: The Lonely and Great God A.K.A Goblin (2016)

(Fantasy, Romantic, Drama) – 16 + 3 special episodes

The fourth-highest rated Korean drama as of 2021, tells the story of Kim Shin (Gong Yoo), a military general from the Goryeo Dynasty, who becomes a cursed immortal Goblin after his death as a punishment by the Almighty. Only the human Bride of the Goblin (Kim Go-Eun) can make an end to his immortality. However, things get more difficult by the intervention of the amnesiac Grim Reaper Wang Yeo (Lee Dong Wook), who is the collector of souls for the afterlife.

3. SKY Castle (2018)

(Family, Drama, Education, Psychology, Mystery, Satire, Dark Comedy) – 20 + 1 special episodes

The drama follows the lives of upper-class 4 housewives living in an exclusive and luxurious neighborhood called SKY castle. Only the most wealthy and honorable individuals working in high-acclaimed professions are entitled to live here. They will do everything in every way possible to remain their husbands successful and to make their children study at top universities, even when it costs the destruction of other’s lives. Following tragic incidents caused by their greed for title and wealth, their fates become intertwined with each other.

“SKY” is the acronym for the 3 top universities in South Korea: Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University. The drama which evolves around (private) education and college entrance examination, became the highest-rated drama in Korean cable television history. In the 12^th Korea Drama Awards, the drama won Best Drama awards. One reason for its high rating is because the story finds similarity with the reality of South Korea’s pressure for academic success.

4. Crash Landing on You (2019)

(Romantic, Drama, Comedy) – 16 episodes

The story is about a South-Korean business heiress Yoon Se-ri (Son Ye Jin). One day, when she goes out testing her latest sportswear line paragliding, she gets caught in a typhoon and crashes on the forbidden North-Korean military line. Here she makes her fateful encounter with the North-Korean Special Forces Unit Captain, Ri Jeong-Hyeok (Hyun Bin), who, instead of killing her, decides to help her hide.

The story got its inspiration from a real-life event that occurred in 2008. One South Korean actress and three men went for a trial run of a boat and got lost and wandering between the waters of the Korean Peninsula. However, the rest of the drama is based on fiction. For more stories based on real-life events read this article.

5. It’s Okay to Not Be Okay (2020)

(Romance, Drama) – 16 episodes

The story follows the selfless Moon Gang-Tae (Kim Soo-Hyun) who works as a caretaker in a psychiatric hospital. Ever since his mother’s death, he and his older autistic brother Moon Sang-Tae (Oh Jung-Se) have to move from town to town. At the hospital he starts working, he meets the famous anti-social children’s book writer Moon-Young (Seo Yea-Ji). Their encounter opens a journey to healing each other’s emotional wounds. Even though It’s Okay Not To Be Okay is a romance, the story delivers an important message surrounding mental health, disorders, and trauma.

6. The Penthouse: War in Life (2020-2021)

(Suspense, Drama, Crime, Revenge) – 2 Seasons, 34 episodes

If you like suspense stories like SKY Castle, then you will love Penthouse. The drama is about 3 wealthy families obsessed with power living in the luxurious Hera Palace outing the Seoul skyline. The three women the story is centered around carry great ambitions for their family while hiding behind past traumas and secrets. Things start to get deteriorate when an unknown young girl named Nim Seol-Ah (Jo Soo-Min) falls to death, and the three women try to cover up any trace that could lead to the destruction of the Hera Palace reputation while suspecting each other of murder.

7. Itaewon Class (2020)

(Drama, Coming-of-age) – 16 episodes

The drama is an adaptation to the webtoon of the same name and is not like the typical Korean dramas we are used to. The drama is one of the few Korean shows to feature diversity in characters, sexuality, and discrimination. Unveiling all the traditional taboo topics and shining a light on inequality and hierarchical power, Itaewon Class became the seventh highest-rated drama in Korean cable TV history. The story follows the middle-school dropout and ex-convict Park Saeroyi (Park Seo-Joon), who, despite his reputation and past, makes his ambitions for a street bar come true together with his diverse set of friends in the multi-cultural area of Seoul: Itaewon.

As you can see there is a wide diversity of genres to choose from: from romance and drama to crime and suspense. For more newer K-dramas, you can read this article.

What K-drama do you think is worth mentioning on this list? Share with us in the comment section below!

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