By Reya Mehrotra
The Korean fever is running high and refusing to slow down. With Squid Game on Netflix being the talk of the town, as it became the OTT platform’s most watched series, others like Amazon Prime Video, ZEE5 and others too are ensuring that the supply of K-dramas and films remains uninterrupted for their viewers. In fact, Amazon Prime Video recently announced a host of new Korean titles on its platform. We
bring you a few popular K-dramas to binge watch.
The Secret Terrius
The 2018 South Korean television series stars So Ji-Sub, Jung In-Sun, Son Ho-Jun and Im Se-Mi. In the show, Go Ae-Rin loses her husband. She, along with her neighbour Kim Bon, an NIS agent, discovers the truth behind her husband’s role in a huge conspiracy. Bon had been living disconnected with the world since the woman he loved had died after his involvement in a failed secret operation. He has since become disconnected with the world and lives alone quietly. The series is available on ZEE5.
It’s Okay to Not be Okay
The Korean romantic drama by Jo Yong and directed by Park Shin-Woo stars Kim Soo-Hyun, Seo Yea-Ji, Oh Jung-Se and Park Gyu-Young. It revolves around a selfless psych ward caretaker and an antisocial children’s book writer. It premiered on Netflix in 2020 and was the most popular romance show of 2020 on Netflix in South Korea. In the show, Moon Gang-Tae, who works as a caretaker in a psychiatric ward, lives with his autistic older brother Moon Sang-tae and they move towns frequently. Gang-Tae meets a popular children’s book author, Ko Moon-Young, who is said to have antisocial personality disorder. Later, Moon-young becomes romantically obsessed with Gang-Tae after discovering about their pasts.
Descendants of the Sun
The 2016 South Korean television series Descendants of the Sun stars Song Joong-Ki, Song Hye-Kyo, Jin Goo, and Kim Ji-Won. The series became successful and broadcast across Asia. In the show, South Korean Special Forces’ captain Yoo Shi Jin and Dr Kang Mo Yeon, a surgeon at Haesung Hospital in Seoul, become romantically involved and find themselves amidst great events and natural disasters, both in homeland and in the fictitious and at war country of Urk. The show has a happy ending, leaving fans satisfied.
Squid Games
Netflix’s most watched show with 111 million views and counting, acclaimed South Korean drama Squid Games is a survival drama television series by Hwang Dong-Hyuk. It stars Lee Jung-Jae, Park Hae-Soo, Wi Ha-Joon, Jung Ho-Yeon and O Yeong-Su, among others. The show is about a game contest where 456 debt-ridden players risk their lives to win a 45.6 billion prize. It is said to be inspired from a similarly named Korean children’s game and its maker Hwang conceived the idea through his own economic struggles early in life as well as the disparity in class in South Korea. It released globally in September this year. The show has become Netflix’s most watched series till date.
Pinocchio
The 2014-15 South Korean television series Pinocchio stars Lee Jong-Suk, Park Shin-Hye. The show’s online broadcasting rights were sold in China at a record price of $280,000 per episode. This made it the most expensive Korean drama ever to be sold in China during that time. It is about Ki Ha-Myung who, in the year 2000, is leading a happy life with his family until his father, a firefighting squad captain, dies in a factory explosion with several of his colleagues.
Boys Over Flowers
The 2009 Korean drama Boys Over Flowers was based on the Japanese manga series of the same name. It revolves around a middle-class girl who gets caught up in the lives of a group of wealthy young men from her high school. She falls for a spoiled rich kid after she stands up to him. The show became popular throughout Asia and stars Ku Hye-Sun, Lee Min-Ho, Kim Hyun-Joong, Kim Bum, Kim Joon and Kim So-Eun. The show’s first season is currently available on Netflix to watch. The series also popularised the metrosexual or the “pretty boy” image and led to an increased interest in the South Korean men to wear cosmetics, and experiment with pinks and floral prints. The filming locations of the series too became popular tourist attractions Damyang Dynasty Country Club in South Jeolla Province, Ragung hanok hotel in Silla Millennium Park in Gyeongju and so on.
Crash Landing On You
The 2019-20 South Korean series stars Hyun Bin, Son Ye-Jin, Kim Jung-Hyun, among others. It narrates the story of a successful businesswoman and heiress who gets swept up in a sudden storm while paragliding in Seoul and crash lands in the North Korean portion of the DMZ. There she meets a man who is an army captain in the Korean People’s Army. He helps her hide and they fall in love despite belonging to disputing countries.
The widely popular show is available on Netflix.
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