If you are intrigued about Korean dramas aka K-dramas, below is my list of 31 Korean dramas that are really good and worth your (leisure) time.
So, I have been a Korean drama fan/addict for more than a decade now. I have watched a ton of Korean dramas, literally a lot, and most of which I have completed and a few that I did not continue to watch. The first ever Korean drama I have watched was Bright girl, dubbed in Tagalog (our language), when I was in high school. I also watched the popular drama Full House which also became a hit in our country and became one of my favorite dramas ever since. When I finally got to watch Korean dramas with Korean language and English subtitles, and the drama was Princess Hours, I became instantly hooked with Korean dramas.
The 31 Korean dramas I highly recommend were categorized into 7 genres/kinds/types below so that you can choose what to watch based on the genre. The dramas listed below are the ones I have recommended to friends/family and I have finished until the last episode (sometimes re-watched).
ROMANTIC COMEDY - Most of the dramas in this genre have a lot of cliches, but these are also the ones that make your heart flutter and make you laugh so hard. There are a lot of romantic comedy dramas that you can watch since these are very common and popular but listed below are the ones with great story lines and characters.
1. Princess Hours (2006)
2. Dal-ja's Spring (2007)
3. Emergency Couple (2014)
4. Marriage Not dating (2014)
5. Because this is my first life (2017)
FANTASY - These usually involve characters from Korean storybooks/history books so that the Korean audience can relate to the story. I have watched a lot of fantasy dramas since they are entertaining and include a lot of unique characters.
6. Secret Garden (2010)
7. My Girlfriend is a Gumiho (2010)
8. Queen In-Hyun's Man (2012)
9. My Love from the star (2014)
10. Goblin (2017)
11. Strong Woman Do Bong Soon (2017)
12. I'm not a robot (2017)
13. While you were sleeping (2017)
REALITY/ LIFE - There were only a few dramas that I listed in this category but the ones listed below really depicted real life issues that will make you realize a lot of things in life and in your own life too.
14. Baker King Kim Tak Goo (2010)
15. Dream High (2011)
16. Misaeng (2014)
17. Age of youth (2016)
FAMILY - If you are into stories with a lot of characters, then you may like the family drama genre. The development/progression of every character and the relationships with other characters unfolds with each episode.
18. Shining Inheritance (2009)
MELODRAMA - I usually don't watch these kind of dramas, since they are tearjerkers with a lot of intense scenes (confrontation/plot twist/crime), but these can be really entertaining when the plot is good such as the ones listed below.
21. Cain and Abel (2009)
22. Cinderella's Sister (2010)
23. Innocent Man (2012)
24. Good Doctor (2013)
25. It's Okay that's love (2014)
CRIME/THRILLER - Even though I got scared that I half watched (watch 1 episode in two separate days) episodes of these dramas, I still got hooked with the scenes which were nerve-wracking and mind-boggling. Since I also love detective stories, the suspense of how a case is solved, plot twists, and the fast turn of events made me want to watch more of these dramas.
26. Signal (2016)
27. Tunnel (2017)
28. Witch's court (2017)
29. Doubtful victory (2017)
HISTORICAL (SAEGUK) - A saeguk is a historical drama where the timeline dates back to Joseon Era (Old Korea) and the characters are usually based on (real life/fictional) kings, other royalties, and historical figures. These usually consists of 50 episodes or more so this takes a lot of time but a good saeguk is worth the time.
30. Jumong (2006-2007)
31. Sungkyunkwan Scandal (2010)
That's all for my list. I hope you get to watch a Korean drama in this list and enjoy it. My tip for you is to watch the first three episodes first and then decide if you want to continue to watch it if you like how the story is unfolding or if you don't want to watch it because the story is not to your liking. In my case, if I get hooked with the first 3 episodes, I will then continue to watch the drama with the anticipation that I will enjoy the rest of the episodes.
If you want to know what you can expect in Korean dramas, below is another list you can read.
Visually attractive and good characters
At first, the leading men are the main reasons why I watched several Korean dramas but these dramas have main characters that you will "ship" (want to end up together in real life) right away. There are also supporting characters that make the story more interesting and complete the drama.
Takes a bit of time to finish
It takes 16 hours or more to finish a drama. A Korean drama usually consists of 16 episodes (1 hour) but nowadays, there are dramas wherein an episode is cut into 2 episodes (almost 30 minutes each).
But when you get to watch a great drama, the time you spent watching will be all worth it.
Stunning Cinematography
All kinds of shots (I just searched these terms): aerial, arc, bridging,medium, long, deep focus, establishing, handheld, low angle, high angle, over-the-shoulder, pan, money, dolly zoom, the sequence, steadicam, tilt and a lot more shots are carefully added into the dramas to create ordinary scenes into more compelling or evocative than they are. I think they invest in expensive cameras that can create such high quality videos.
Wholesome love story
The couples in the dramas usually emphasize the progression of the love story through little acts of affection such as holding hands, looking into each others' eyes, piggyback riding, hugging, sitting beside each other, etc. to show the chemistry between the couple. There will be a few (sometimes one) kissing scene(s), and none of the intimate kissing like the ones you can see in Western entertainment in these dramas. However, I can guarantee that you can still feel the butterflies in your stomach while watching romantic scenes in Korean dramas.
Second lead syndrome
The second leading guys are (too) handsome/appealing/gorgeous and (too) kind/perfect where you will find yourself wishing that they end up with the female lead. Sadly, the main leads always end up together. Most, but not all, dramas have this second lead syndrome.
So, I have been a Korean drama fan/addict for more than a decade now. I have watched a ton of Korean dramas, literally a lot, and most of which I have completed and a few that I did not continue to watch. The first ever Korean drama I have watched was Bright girl, dubbed in Tagalog (our language), when I was in high school. I also watched the popular drama Full House which also became a hit in our country and became one of my favorite dramas ever since. When I finally got to watch Korean dramas with Korean language and English subtitles, and the drama was Princess Hours, I became instantly hooked with Korean dramas.
The 31 Korean dramas I highly recommend were categorized into 7 genres/kinds/types below so that you can choose what to watch based on the genre. The dramas listed below are the ones I have recommended to friends/family and I have finished until the last episode (sometimes re-watched).
ROMANTIC COMEDY - Most of the dramas in this genre have a lot of cliches, but these are also the ones that make your heart flutter and make you laugh so hard. There are a lot of romantic comedy dramas that you can watch since these are very common and popular but listed below are the ones with great story lines and characters.
1. Princess Hours (2006)
2. Dal-ja's Spring (2007)
3. Emergency Couple (2014)
4. Marriage Not dating (2014)
5. Because this is my first life (2017)
FANTASY - These usually involve characters from Korean storybooks/history books so that the Korean audience can relate to the story. I have watched a lot of fantasy dramas since they are entertaining and include a lot of unique characters.
6. Secret Garden (2010)
7. My Girlfriend is a Gumiho (2010)
8. Queen In-Hyun's Man (2012)
9. My Love from the star (2014)
10. Goblin (2017)
11. Strong Woman Do Bong Soon (2017)
12. I'm not a robot (2017)
13. While you were sleeping (2017)
REALITY/ LIFE - There were only a few dramas that I listed in this category but the ones listed below really depicted real life issues that will make you realize a lot of things in life and in your own life too.
14. Baker King Kim Tak Goo (2010)
15. Dream High (2011)
16. Misaeng (2014)
17. Age of youth (2016)
FAMILY - If you are into stories with a lot of characters, then you may like the family drama genre. The development/progression of every character and the relationships with other characters unfolds with each episode.
18. Shining Inheritance (2009)
19. Reply 1988 (2016)
20. Father is strange (2017)MELODRAMA - I usually don't watch these kind of dramas, since they are tearjerkers with a lot of intense scenes (confrontation/plot twist/crime), but these can be really entertaining when the plot is good such as the ones listed below.
21. Cain and Abel (2009)
22. Cinderella's Sister (2010)
23. Innocent Man (2012)
24. Good Doctor (2013)
25. It's Okay that's love (2014)
CRIME/THRILLER - Even though I got scared that I half watched (watch 1 episode in two separate days) episodes of these dramas, I still got hooked with the scenes which were nerve-wracking and mind-boggling. Since I also love detective stories, the suspense of how a case is solved, plot twists, and the fast turn of events made me want to watch more of these dramas.
26. Signal (2016)
27. Tunnel (2017)
28. Witch's court (2017)
29. Doubtful victory (2017)
HISTORICAL (SAEGUK) - A saeguk is a historical drama where the timeline dates back to Joseon Era (Old Korea) and the characters are usually based on (real life/fictional) kings, other royalties, and historical figures. These usually consists of 50 episodes or more so this takes a lot of time but a good saeguk is worth the time.
30. Jumong (2006-2007)
31. Sungkyunkwan Scandal (2010)
That's all for my list. I hope you get to watch a Korean drama in this list and enjoy it. My tip for you is to watch the first three episodes first and then decide if you want to continue to watch it if you like how the story is unfolding or if you don't want to watch it because the story is not to your liking. In my case, if I get hooked with the first 3 episodes, I will then continue to watch the drama with the anticipation that I will enjoy the rest of the episodes.
If you want to know what you can expect in Korean dramas, below is another list you can read.
 |
At first, the leading men are the main reasons why I watched several Korean dramas but these dramas have main characters that you will "ship" (want to end up together in real life) right away. There are also supporting characters that make the story more interesting and complete the drama.
 |
| Image source |
 |
| Stills from the I'm not a robot (Image source) |
It takes 16 hours or more to finish a drama. A Korean drama usually consists of 16 episodes (1 hour) but nowadays, there are dramas wherein an episode is cut into 2 episodes (almost 30 minutes each).
But when you get to watch a great drama, the time you spent watching will be all worth it.
 |
| Image source |
Stunning Cinematography
All kinds of shots (I just searched these terms): aerial, arc, bridging,medium, long, deep focus, establishing, handheld, low angle, high angle, over-the-shoulder, pan, money, dolly zoom, the sequence, steadicam, tilt and a lot more shots are carefully added into the dramas to create ordinary scenes into more compelling or evocative than they are. I think they invest in expensive cameras that can create such high quality videos.
 |
| Image source |
The couples in the dramas usually emphasize the progression of the love story through little acts of affection such as holding hands, looking into each others' eyes, piggyback riding, hugging, sitting beside each other, etc. to show the chemistry between the couple. There will be a few (sometimes one) kissing scene(s), and none of the intimate kissing like the ones you can see in Western entertainment in these dramas. However, I can guarantee that you can still feel the butterflies in your stomach while watching romantic scenes in Korean dramas.
 |
| A scene in Shining Inheritance (Image source) |
Second lead syndrome
The second leading guys are (too) handsome/appealing/gorgeous and (too) kind/perfect where you will find yourself wishing that they end up with the female lead. Sadly, the main leads always end up together. Most, but not all, dramas have this second lead syndrome.
Hope you have a great time watching Korean dramas!
