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the-inner-weebs · 4 years ago

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K-Drama Recommendation Masterlist

RICH GUY POOR GIRL

Coffee Prince (2007) 커피프린스 1호점 ~

Genre: Food/Friendship/Comedy/Romance/Drama

𝐆𝗼𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝗼𝗼 ~ Choi Han Gyul

𝐘𝗼𝗼𝐧 𝐄𝐮𝐧 𝐇𝐲𝐞 ~ Go Eun Chan

Choi Han Gyul is the grandson of chairwoman Bang of Dong-in Foods, a company that has a thriving coffee business. He has never had a job and does not care for responsibility. Han Gyul is hung up on his first love, Han Yoo Joo, who only sees him as a friend.

Go Eun Chan is a 24-year-old tomboy who is often mistaken for a guy. Her father died when she was 16 years old and since then she has taken over as the breadwinner in her family.

When Han Kyul and Eun Chan meet, he, not knowing that she is a girl, decides to hire her to pretend to be his gay lover so that he can escape the blind dates arranged by his grandmother. After getting an ultimatum from his grandmother, Han Gyul takes over a rundown old coffee shop, later renamed "Coffee Prince," to prove that he's capable, both to his grandmother and to Yoo Joo. In order to attract female customers, he only hires good-looking male employees. Eun Chan, desperate for money, continues to hide her gender to get a job at Coffee Prince.

Director: Lee Yoon Jung

Secret Garden (2010) 시크릿 가든 ~

Genre: Comedy/Romance/Drama/Melodramatic/Supernatural

𝐇𝐲𝐮𝐧 𝐁𝐢𝐧 ~ Kim Joo Won

𝐇𝐚 𝐉𝐢 𝐖𝗼𝐧 ~ Gil Ra Im

The drama tells the story of Kim Joo Won, an arrogant and eccentric CEO who maintains the image of seeming perfection, and Gil Ra Im, a poor and humble stuntwoman whose beauty and body are the object of envy amongst top actresses. Their accidental meeting, when Joo Won mistakes Ra Im for actress Park Chae Rin, marks the beginning of a tense, bickering relationship, through which Joo Won tries to hide a growing attraction to Ra Im that both confuses and disturbs him. To complicate matters further, a strange sequence of events results in them swapping bodies.

Director: Kwon Hyuk Chan/Shin Woo Cheol

Personal Taste (2010) 개인의 취향 ~

Genre: Comedy/Romance

𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝗼 ~ Jeon Jin Ho

𝐒𝗼𝐧 𝐘𝐞 𝐉𝐢𝐧 ~ Park Gae In

Jeon Jin Ho is a straight guy who is mistaken as gay when he applies to become Park Gae In's roommate. His hobbies include organization and ironing, and he's known for his stoic poker face. He's a stickler for cleanliness, but he also has a talent for figuring out a women's feelings. Gae In is very trusting even though she has a habit of being betrayed. However, that doesn't stop her from giving people the benefit of doubt and Jin Ho is no different. How will Gae In react when she finds out that her gay roommate is not actually gay at all and that he has fallen for her?

Director: Song Hyung Suk/Noh Jong Chan

What’s WrongWith Secretay Kim (2018) 김비서가 왜 그럴까 ~

Genre: Friendship/ Business/Comedy/Romance

Park Min Young ~ Kim Mi So

Park Seo Joon ~ Lee Young Joon

The series revolves around the narcissistic Lee Young Joon, the vice president of a company run by his family. He is very self-absorbed and thinks highly of himself, so much that he barely acknowledges the people around him. Lee Young Joon has a capable and patient secretary Kim Mi So who has remained by his side and worked diligently for 9 years without any romantic involvement. However, Mi So now wants to set her life & focus on herself so when she decides to resign from her job, hilarious misunderstandings ensue. After 9 years of their strictly-workplace relationship, can it now develop in something more?

Director: Park Joon Hwa

SUPERNATURAL

Goblin (2016) 도깨비 ~

Genre: Comedy/Romance/Fantasy/Melodrama/Supernatural

Gong Yoo ~ Kim Shin

Kim Go Eun ~ Ji Eun Tak

Kim Shin was once an unbeatable general in Goryeo's military who died a tragic death. He now possesses immortality but is tired of living while everyone else around him dies. For 900 years, Kim Shin has searched for his bride, a mortal who can pull out the sword and end his life. One day, he encounters Ji Eun Tak, a positive, upbeat high school student who can see the dead and has gone through tragic events, yet still stays strong. She claims to be the Goblin's bride who can end his immortal life, but what appears to be an easy task, only gets complicated, as the two fall in love.

Director: Lee Eung Bok

Moorim School (2016) 무림학교 ~

Genre:Action/Romance/School/Drama/Martial Arts/Fantasy

𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐇𝐲𝐮𝐧𝐖𝗼𝗼 ~ Yoon Shi Woo

𝐇𝗼𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐢𝐧 ~ Wang Chi Ang

𝐒𝐞𝗼 𝐘𝐞 𝐉𝐢 ~ Shim Soon Duk

𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝗼𝗼 𝐉𝐢𝐧 ~ Hwang Sun Ah

The Moorim School is a hidden school that can only be seen by special individuals, it isn't focused solely on high academic scores but on physical abilities. The school teaches its students great virtues which include honesty, faith, sacrifice, and communication. The teachers and students at the school come from different countries and each has their own stories. Everything is very extraordinary and normal until a student who doesn't seem to fill the role wanders into the academy and changes the destiny of all the students.

Director: Lee So Yeon

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon (2017) 힘쎈여자 도봉순 ~

Genre: Action/Thriller/Comedy/Romance/Drama/Supernatural

Park Bo Young ~ Do Bong Soon

Park Hyung Shik ~ Ahn Min Hyuk

Ji Soo ~ In Gook Doo

Do Bong Soon is a petite, unemployed woman who is honest and kind. She appears little and sweet on the outside, but she is in fact very, very strong. In her family, for generations the women have been gifted Herculean strength to use for the greater good. If abused, however, their power will be taken away. Whilst standing up for herself after gang members bully her, she finds herself approached by Ahn Min Hyuk, the handsome and somewhat childish CEO of Ainsoft, a gaming company. Ahn Min Hyuk, who holds a great distrust towards the police, witnessed the whole exchange of Bong Soon's superhuman strength, and now wants to employ her as a bodyguard after being threatened by an unknown enemy. Min Hyuk falls in love with super-strong Bong Soon at first sight, but there's a catch. Bong Soon has eyes for someone else; police officer and childhood friend, In Guk Doo, whom she has known since high school. When chaos ensues after a series of kidnappings in Do Bong Soon's hometown of Dobong-dong, Dobong-gu, Bong Soon must decide whether to use her strength and stand up to evil, or play it safe and keep her powers hidden from the world. Combined with the love triangle she faces between In Guk Doo and Ahn Min Hyuk, as well as having to keep Min Hyuk safe, Bong Soon's life is thrown into turmoil. Can she use her strength for the greater good, or will it prove in the end to be too much?

Director: Lee Hyung Min

He is Psychometric (2019) 사이코메트리 그녀석 ~

Genre: Thriller/Mystery/Comedy/Romance/Drama/Fantasy

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐉𝐢𝐧 𝐘𝗼𝐮𝐧𝐠 ~ Lee Ahn

𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐘𝐞 𝐄𝐮𝐧 ~ Yoon Jae In

𝐊𝐢𝗺 𝐊𝐰𝗼𝐧 ~ Kang Sung Mo

After losing his parents in a fire, Lee Ahn acquires the power of psychometry, the ability to read a person or an object's past through physical contact, and he decides to use it to take bad people down. While he does not know how to control his power yet, he meets Yoon Jae In who tries her best to hide her painful secrets. Together with his foster guardian, prosecutor Kang Seong Mo, and the latter's colleague, investigator Eun Ji Soo, they team up to solve an elusive case that has been haunting the lives of Ahn, Sung-Mo, and Jae In. The case revolves around the life of prosecutor Kang his mother and father who were the main cause of the fire. Jae In and Lee Ahn heal each other through their past present and future and find the culprit.

Director: Kim Byung Soo

Memorist (2020) 메모리스트 ~

Genre: Action/Thriller/Mystery/Crime/Supernatural

Yoo Seung Ho ~ Dong Baek

Lee Se Young ~ Han Sun Mi

Dong Baek has an extraordinary ability. He can peer into the memories of whoever he touches. With his supernatural power, get it done attitude, and eye-pleasing looks, he is fervently revered worldwide as a superstar detective. However, when his punches meet with suspects before words, he can be a bit of a headache to his comrades. Starting from the age of twenty, Han Sun Mi is the youngest to have passed the bar exam, obtain a doctorate in criminal psychology, and become a senior superintendent in the police force. Having solved five cold cases that even a detective with supernatural powers couldn't do, she is a genius profiler. She has a secret that drives her to do what she does. These two highly-skilled professionals meet their match—a serial killer with abilities that transcend theirs combined. It's going to be a fight worth watching.

Director: So Jae Hyun, Kim Hwi

Tale of the Nine-Tailed (2020) 구미호뎐 ~

Genre:Action/Suspense/Thriller/Horror/Romance/Fantasy

Lee Dong Wook ~ Lee Yeon

Jo Bo Ah ~ Nam Ji Ah

The mythical nine-tailed fox, or gumiho, Lee Yeon had to settle in the city many centuries ago. Able to transform into human form, he eradicates supernatural beings that threaten the mortal world. His real aim is to find the reincarnation of his lost first love.

The talented television producer Nam Ji Ah works in a show that features urban myths. In the past, her parents were involved in a mysterious car accident and disappeared, and she suspects that Lee Yeon might be connected with this accident.

The half-brother to Lee Yeon is the captivating Lee Rang. Despite being half-human himself, he harbors a deep-seated contempt for all people. For sport, he will unleash his seductive prowess upon his human-du-jour, by promising to grant them their wishes, only to trick them into paying a hefty price for their earthly desires.

Director: Kang Shin Hyo

PSYCHOLOGICAL

Heal Me Kill Me (2015) 킬미힐미 ~

Genre: Psychological/Comedy/Romance/Drama

Ji Sung ~ Cha Do Hyun

Hwang Jung Eum ~ Oh Ri Jin

A traumatic childhood experience leaves Cha Do Hyeon, suffering from memory loss and dissociation. The latter has resulted in the creation of seven distinct personalities. Wanting to regain control over his life, he asks Oh Ri Jin, a first-year psychiatric resident, to help him, but she eventually falls in love with one of his personalities. Ri Jin’s twin brother, Oh Ri On, a famous mystery novelist, investigates Do Hyeon and his family.

Director: Kim Jin Man, Kim Dae Jin

It’s Okay to Not Be Okay (2020) 사이코지만 괜찮아 ~

Genre: Psychological/Comedy/Romance/Drama/Family

𝐊𝐢𝗺 𝐒𝗼𝗼 𝐇𝐲𝐮𝐧 ~ Moon Gang Tae

𝐒𝐞𝗼 𝐘𝐞 𝐉𝐢 ~ Ko Moon Young

𝐎𝐡 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐞 ~ Moon Sang Tae

The story of a community health worker at a psychiatric ward who lives on 1.8 million won (approximately $1,520) a month and a storybook writer suffering from an antisocial personality disorder. A man who denies love and a woman who doesn’t know love defy fate and fall in love, finding their souls and identities in the process.

Moon Gang Tae is a community health worker at a psychiatric ward who was blessed with everything including a great body, smarts, ability to sympathize with others, patience, ability to react quickly, stamina, and more. Meanwhile, Ko Moon Young is a popular writer of children’s literature, but she is extremely selfish, arrogant, and rude.

Director: Park Shin Woo/Jung Dong Yoon

MEDICAL

Emergency Couple (2014) 응급남녀 ~

Genre: Comedy/Romance/Drama/Medical

𝐒𝗼𝐧𝐠 𝐉𝐢 𝐇𝐲𝗼 ~ Oh Jin Hee

𝐂𝐡𝗼𝐢 𝐉𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐲𝐮𝐤 ~ Oh Chang Min

𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐏𝐢𝐥 𝐌𝗼 ~ Gook Chun Soo

Jin-Hee led a satisfying life as a dietitian. She then met medical school student Chang-Min. Despite his wealthy family's strong opposition, Jin-Hee and Chang-Min decided to get married. Chang-Min's family is full of doctors. Chang-Min though gave up his medical internship and began working as a pharmaceutical salesman. Their marriage life was not happy. Chang-Min's family looked down on Jin-Hee and even Chang-Min seemed to change. Chang-Min began to think terribly of Jin-Hee and they finally divorced. After their divorce, Jin-Hee became a medical student and now works as an intern. Chang-Min also graduated from medical school and begins to work as an intern. One day, they meet in the emergency room of a hospital where they will both work together.

Director: Kim Chul Gyu

Doctor Stranger (2014) 닥터 이방인 ~

Genre: Thriller/Romance/Drama/Medical

𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐉𝗼𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐮𝐤 ~ Park Hoon

𝐉𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐞 𝐘𝐞𝗼𝐧 ~ Song Jae Hee

𝐊𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝗼 𝐑𝐚 ~ Oh Soo Hyun

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐇𝐚𝐞 𝐉𝐢𝐧 ~ Han Jae Joon

As a child, Park Hoon and his father were kidnapped by North Korea. In North Korea, he was trained to become a doctor by his father who was already a doctor. Park Hoon became a genius-like heart surgeon. He then flees to South Korea. Park Hoon begins to work as a doctor in South Korea's top hospital Myeongwoo University Hospital, but he feels like a complete outsider. To bring his love from North Korea, he does anything to make money.

Director: Hong Jong Chan/Jin Hyeok

Blood (2015) 블러드 ~

Genre: Action/Vampire/Romance/Drama/Medical/Supernatural

𝐀𝐡𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐞 𝐇𝐲𝐮𝐧 ~ Park Ji Sang

𝐆𝐮 𝐇𝐲𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝗼𝐧 ~ Yoo Ri Ta

Park Ji Sang is a doctor specializing in hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery in the best cancer research hospital in the country. He is also a vampire. Despite seeming cold and unfeeling, Ji Sang masks his soft heart and inner pain and yearns for closeness with people. He believes very strongly in the sanctity of human life and suppresses his thirst for blood to treat terminally ill patients and save lives.

Among his colleagues is Yoo Ri Ta, a hotshot physician who entered medical school at the age of 17 and is also the niece of the chaebol group chairman who owns the hospital. Ri Ta is highly capable but snooty and prideful, yet Ji Sang finds himself falling for her. He also gets drawn into a conflict between good and evil as he encounters Lee Jae Wook, a two-faced hospital chief who gains everyone's trust with his gentle demeanor but inwardly harbors a dangerous ambition for power and a talent for cruelty.

Director: Lee Jae Hoo/Ki Min Soo

D-Day (2015) 디데이 ~

Genre: Romance/Drama/Medical

Kim Young Kwang ~ Dr. Lee Hae Sun

Jung So Min ~ Dr. Jung Ddol M

An unprecedented 6.5-magnitude earthquake has struck Seoul, destroying roads and buildings, and preventing ambulances from reaching victims. Woefully unprepared for such a massive disaster, Korea can only watch the desperate situation and listen to the pleading cries for help. Hae Sung, a competent surgeon, can’t resist doing everything he can to help the injured people during the emergency. This upsets his hospital and they put him on a blacklist, as his benevolent help is against the hospital's profit. Ddol Mi, beautiful and ambitious, chased money and fame as a doctor, but now wants to become a truly compassionate doctor after meeting Hae Sung. Woo Jin has been building a successful career as Korea’s rising doctor, but secretly, he truly cares about being a genuine doctor, saving the lives of the sick. These three characters team up to rush into emergencies, holding onto hope in the most desperate situations, and taking all sorts of risks for the sake of saving lives.

Director: Jang Yong Woo

Hospital Ship (2017) 병원선 ~

Genre: Romance/Drama/Medical

Ha Ji Won ~ Song Eun Jae

Kang Min Hyuk ~ Kwak Hyun

Lee Seo Won ~ Kim Jae Gul

Army doctors board a hospital ship, which is a floating hospital that serves people who live on remote islands. But were these doctors interested in helping underprivileged people for free? Not at all. There is the non-army doctor Eun Jae, a cold perfectionist surgeon whose fast-track career was derailed. Kwak Hyun who practices internal medicine is the first army doctor to volunteer for duty on the hospital ship. Then there is the irritating Jae Geol, an oriental medicine doctor who drew the short straw and now has to serve on the hospital ship. A bunch of doctors with different backgrounds finds themselves afloat at sea. They are too old to be called youthful doctors as they are all in their thirties. Though they have skills obtained through long years of studying in medical school, their hearts and souls are barren. This is a coming-of-age story about doctors who have experienced setbacks in life that they are trying to bounce back from while they learn how to be a compassionate doctor and pursue fulfilling lives.

Director: Park Jae Bum, Kim Sang Woo

Doctor John (2019) 의사 요한 ~

Genre: Mystery/Comedy/Romance/Life/Drama/Medical

Ji Sung ~ Cha Yo Han

Lee Se Young ~ Kang Shi Young

“Doctor John” is a new medical drama about doctors specializing in pain management. In a refreshing take on the genre, “Doctor John” will portray the doctors’ search for the cause of their patients’ mysterious pain as a thrilling chase, almost like a detective hunting down the perpetrator behind an unsolved crime.

Cha Yo Han is a genius anesthesiologist, who is also the youngest professor at his medical school. The brilliant doctor goes by the nickname “10 Seconds,” referring to his ability to figure out his patients in the 10 seconds that it takes for them to enter an examination room and walk to their seats.

Kang Shi Young is a legendary anesthesiologist, who was always at the top of her class throughout medical school. The talented doctor inherited her skills from her cool-headed, rational mother, while she inherited her empathy, listening skills, and warm bedside manner from her father.

Director: Jo Soo Won

ROMANCE COMEDY

Pinocchio (2014) 피노키오 ~

Genre: Thriller/Mystery/Comedy/Romance/Melodrama

Lee Jong Suk ~ Choi Dal Po

Park Shin Hye ~ Choi In Ha

The idealistic Choi In Ha has her work cut out for her when she becomes a broadcast journalist, especially when she suffers from a condition known as “Pinocchio syndrome,” which makes her break out into hiccups whenever she tells a lie. Her rookie colleagues include Choi Dal Po, whose shabby appearance masks his true eloquence and sharp memory; Seo Bum Jo, a wealthy heir who has had everything handed to him in life; and Yoon Yoo Rae, whose fangirl knowledge comes in handy in covering the news. The 20-something newbie reporters pursue justice as they try to discover themselves in the process.

Director: Jo Soo Won

I am Not a Robot (2017) 로봇이 아니야 ~

Genre: Friendship/Comedy/Romance/Drama/Sci-Fi

𝐘𝗼𝗼 𝐒𝐞𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝗼 ~ Kim Min Kyu

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐞 𝐒𝗼𝗼 𝐁𝐢𝐧 ~ Jo Ji Ah

𝐔𝐡𝗺 𝐊𝐢 𝐉𝗼𝗼𝐧 ~ Hong Baek Gyun

Kim Min Kyu is the largest shareholder of a financial company. He suffers from a "human allergy", preventing him from normal interactions with other people. He becomes interested in a robotic project named Aji-3 created by the Santa Maria robotic team. The team is headed by Hong Baek Gyun, inventor of Aji-3 and world-renowned robotics professor. He modeled Aji-3 after his ex-girlfriend, Jo Ji Ah, a struggling inventor that also works as a personal shopper to make ends meet. Just when Kim Min Kyu wants to test the robot, an accident causes the malfunction of the robot's battery. Hong Baek Gyun begs Jo Ji Ah to take the place of Aji-3 and pretend to be the robot so they can get funding from Kim Min Kyu. But, Aji-3 becomes the closest thing that the lonely Min-Kyu has to real contact with another person.

Director: Jeong Dae Yun

My Shy Boss (2017) 내성적임보다 ~

Genre: Business/Comedy/Romance/Drama/Melodrama

𝐘𝐞𝗼𝐧 𝐖𝗼𝗼 𝐉𝐢𝐧 ~ Eun Hwan Ki

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐇𝐲𝐞 𝐒𝗼𝗼 ~ Chae Ro Woon

When a young, energetic employee joins a public relations firm with an introverted and severely misunderstood boss, she makes it her life’s mission to show the world who he really is.

Eun Hwan Ki is the boss at a PR company. He is really shy. So shy that even his employees don't know him that well. He prefers to hide in his office. Everyone thinks he is a cold, prickly, arrogant grouch. They call him the "Silent Monster".

Chae Ro Woon is a recent hire at the same company. She is energetic, bubbly, loves to be the center of attention, and always has something to say. The exact opposite of her boss, who she seems to have an old grudge against. Her goal in life is: to expose the big boss man for who he really is and take her revenge.

The same company also employs Kang Woo Il, co-boss at the company. He, unlike his partner, is warm, sensitive, and well-liked.

Eun Yi Soo is a chaebol heiress who has been engaged for three long years.

Director: Song Hyun Wook

Thirty But Seventeen(2018) 서른이지만 열일곱입니다 ~

Genre: Friendship/Music/Coemdy/Romance/Life/Drama/Family

Shin Hye Sun ~ Woo Seo Ri

Yang Se Jong ~ Gong Woo Jin

Woo Seo Ri, a violin prodigy at 17 who was about to study in Germany, got into a bus accident and fell into a coma waking up 13 years later. Mentally she is still only 17, while physically she is now 30.

Due to a trauma he experienced 13 years before, Gong Woo Jin does not want to have a relationship with others.

This series is about a man and a woman whose lives in their own ways essentially stopped when they were 17. Together, they use all their might to try and open the door to the happiness that they once thought had been closed to them.

Director: Jo Soo Won

Romance is a Bonus Book (2019) 로맨스는 별책부록 ~

Genre: Frienship/Business/Comedy/Romance/Life/Drama/Melodrama

Lee Na Young ~ Kang Dan Yi

Lee Jong Suk ~ Cha Eun Ho

Cha Eun Ho is a successful and handsome writer who is also the youngest chief editor at a publishing company. He has a calm demeanor and remains reasonable at work. He then becomes involved in the life of his childhood friend, Kang Dan Yi who was once a popular copywriter. She is now divorced, a single mother, unemployed and struggling in life though still attempts to find a job, but even with her once good career, she cannot.

However, in a desperate attempt to find a job, she lies about her background and begins to work as a temporary worker in the same building under none other than Cha Eun Ho. As they become involved in each other’s life more than often, a love story begins to unfold.

Director: Lee Jeong Hyo

DoDoSolSolLaLaSol (2020) 도도솔솔라라솔 ~

Genre: Music/Comedy/Romance/Drama/Melodrama

Go Ah Ra ~ Goo Ra Ra

Lee Jae Wook ~ Sun Woo Joon

Goo Ra Ra is a naive rich girl, who dreams of being a great pianist with her father's love guiding her. But her path becomes rocky when her father passes away, and she finds herself going bankrupt. Being scammed of home and needing an escape, she goes on a ride where she encounters an accident trying to avoid Sun Woo Joon, a diligent worker trying to meet ends. Being hospitalized with a broken arm and no place to go, guilty Sun Woo Joon decides to take responsibility and take care of her. With Go Ra Ra’s naive personality, she slowly begins creeping into Sun Woo Joon's heart, while trying to deal with the challenges of living an adult life.

Director: Kim Min Kyung

YOUTH/LIFE

You’re beautiful (2009) 미남이시네요 ~

Genre: Friendship/Music/Comedy/Romance/Drama

Jang Geun Suk ~ Hwang Tae Kyu

Park Shin Hye ~ Go Mi Nam

Jung Yong Hwa ~ Kang Shin Woo

Lee Hong Ki ~ Kang On Yu

The management company of the idol group A.N.JELL insisted on adding a new singer to the group as the lead vocal, Tae Kyung's voice was hurting. However,the new member, Mi Nam, had to go to the States to repair a botched eye job just before signing the contract. His agent came up with the idea of having his twin sister, Mi Nyu,to stand in for him and pretend that she was her brother. The two of them grew up in an orphanage and Mi Nyu, who was all set to become a nun, agreed to this charade as she didn't want to spoil her brother's chance of fame which would make it easier to look for their mother.

Director: Hong Sung Chang

Boys Over Flowers (2009) 꽃보다 남자 ~

Genre: Friendship/Comedy/Romance/School/Youth/Drama

Gu Hye Seon ~ Geum Jan Di

Lee Min Ho ~ Goo Joon Pyo

Kim Hyun Joong ~ Yoon Ji Hoo

Kim Bum ~ So Yi Jung

Kim Joon ~ Song Woo Bin

Geum Jan Di comes from a poor family who owns a dry-cleaning shop. One day, she visits Shinhwa High School, a prestigious school for the wealthy, and saves a student trying to commit suicide because of bullying. For her heroic act, Jan Di receives a swimming scholarship and starts attending the school.

In school, she meets the notorious F4, the most popular and powerful group of boys at the school, consisting of Gu Jun Pyo; the leader of F4 and heir to the Shinhwa Group, Yoon Ji Hu; the grandson of a former president of Korea, So Yi Jung; a skilled potter who comes from a family that owns the country's biggest art museum, and Song Woo Bin; whose family runs the country's largest construction company.

Her life at school starts out miserable, as she doesn't fit in with other students because of her status, and later becomes worse when she is labeled as the new bullying target of the F4.

Director: Jeon Ki Sang

To the Beautiful You (2012) 아름다운 그대에게 ~

Genre: Comedy/Romance/School/Youth/Drama/Sports

Sulli ~ Goo Jae Hee

Choi Min Ho ~ Kang Tae Joon

Lee Hyun Woo ~ Cha Eun Gyeol

Tae Joon became Jae Hee’s strength during her toughest time, and she leaves the US for Korea to enroll in a men’s physical education high school to help Tae Joon restart his high jump career.

Tae Joon announces his retirement from the high jump national team and closes his heart, but his closed heart begins to open after meeting Jae Hee.

Eun Gyul is confused about his sexual orientation as he falls in love with Jae Hee who is masquerading as a man. The student-athletes have a fun time training with each other and are not tied down to setting a record or competition.

Director: Jeon Ki Sang

Strongest Delivery Man (2017) 최강 배달꾼 ~

Genre: Friendship/Business/ Comedy/Romance/Life/Youth

Go Kyung Pyo ~ Choi Kang Soo

Chae Soo Bin ~ Lee Dan Ah

Choi Kang Soo is a deliveryman. In spite of his humble beginnings, Choi Kang Soo is fearless and gives it all in everything he does. Lee Dan Ah is another delivery worker. She hates her current socioeconomic status so much that she, like many young people, calls her country “Hell Joseon.” Lee Dan Ah is so focused on making money and changing her life that she has no time for men. But when she comes across the charming Choi Kang Soo, her attitude is due to be moved.

Together, Choi Kang Soo and Lee Dan Ah have a budding competition and romance in their quest for glory. And, for them, glory means being like rich folk Lee Jin Yoon and Oh Jin Gyu. They compete to conquer life but, as our two delivery workers soon learn, being the strongest does not guarantee success.

Director: Kim Shin Il, Jeon Woo Sung

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo (2016) 역도요정 김복주 ~

Genre: Friendship/Comedy/Roamnce/School/Youth/Sports

Lee Sung Kyung ~ Kim Bok Joo

Nam Joo Hyuk ~ Jung Joon Hyun

Bok Joo is a weightlifter who is pursuing her dream of winning the gold medal but she then finds romance for the first time in her life. While she is a woman who trains with heavy steel weights, she is also very feminine when it comes to relationships. To focus solely on weightlifting would jeopardize her relationship but leaving her weightlifting career for love would keep her from attaining her dreams. Can she find a way to have love as well as glory at the age of 20? The characters within this drama are elite athletes in weightlifting, swimming and rhythmic gymnastics who work hard to reach their goals in life. It covers their coming-of-age stories and relationships through hectic life.

Director: Oh Hyun Jong

Itaewon Class (2020) 이태원 클라쓰 ~

Genre: Food/Friendship/Business/Romance/Life/Drama

Park Seo Joon ~ Park Sae Ro Yi

Kim Da Mi ~ Jo Yi Seo

Kwon Na Ra ~ Oh Soo Ah

Park Saeroyi's life has been turned upside down after he gets expelled from school for punching a bully and his father is killed in an accident. Following his father's steps, he opens a pub named "DanBam" in Itaewon and, along with his manager and staff, strive towards success and reaching greater heights.

Director: Kim Seong Yoon

ROMANCE

One Spring Night (2019) 봄밤 ~

Genre: Romance/Life/Drama/Melodrama

Jung Hae In ~ Yoo Ji Ho

Han Ji Min ~ Lee Jung In

Feeling trapped in a stale four-year relationship and reluctant to take the next step into marriage, Lee Jung In stumbles into Yu Ji Ho's pharmacy one morning, nursing a hangover after a night of drinking with her friend. As she tries to reassemble herself before going to work, Jung In discovers that she has forgotten her wallet and cannot pay. Ji Ho kindly helps Jung In, despite her prickly personality. What begins as an innocent daily interaction, develops into a deeper attachment as the two find themselves drawn to one another. They embark on a secret friendship while navigating the minefield of familial and societal expectations.

Director: Ahn Pan Seok

Crash Landing on You (2020) 사랑의 불시착 ~

Genre: Military/Comedy/Romance/Drama/Political

Hyun Bin ~ Ri Jung Hyuk

Son Ye Jin ~ Yoon Se Ri

Tells the story of two star-crossed lovers, a South Korean heiress and a North Korean elite who also happens to be an army officer. One day, while paragliding, Yoon Se Ri has an accident caused by strong winds, leading her to crash land in North Korea, where she meets Ri Jung Hyuk, a North Korean army officer, who agrees to help her return to South Korea. Over time, they fall in love, despite the divide and dispute between their respective countries.

Director: Lee Jeong Hyo

THRILLER

Extracurricular (2020) 인간수업 ~

Genre: Friendship/Psychological/Crime/Life/School/Youth/Drama/Mature

Kim Dong Hee ~ Oh Ji Soo

Park Joo Hyun ~ Bae Gyu Ri

"Extracurricular” is centered around three high school students who start committing crimes to earn money and the unpredictable dangers they face as a result.

Kim Dong Hee will portray Ji Soo, who goes from a model student to a criminal after committing an unthinkable act. Jung Da Bin as school bully Min Hee, who gets caught up in Ji Soo’s crime. Park Joo Hyun will portray Ji Soo’s dangerous partner in crime Gyu Ri, while Nam Yoon Soo will appear as Min Hee’s boyfriend and the school’s most popular guy Ki Tae.

Director: Kim Jin Min

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randomobsessionsofa30something · 5 years ago

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My top 10 korean dramas of 2019

10. Extraordinary you. Based on a webtoon, I actually almost missed this one because it looked like the typical high school drama but I got curious and watched it. The story is about a girl that realizes she is actually a secondary role on a webtoon and that her life is being written by the author. Nevertheless she makes the decision to make her own story and falling for whoever she chooses. It definitely is a silly rom-com but with a spin. The chemistry between SF9′s RoWoon and Kim Hyeoyeon is what made binge watch the 32 episodes (around 35 minutes each) in just a couple of days.

9. Her private life. Kim Jae Wook and Park Min Young star in this really fun rom-com based on a korean webtoon about a girl that lives a double life: being an art gallery curator and also a devoted super fan of a member of an idol group (played by One). However everything changes when the new gallery director, Ryan, arrives with an agenda that will make her worlds collide. I wasn’t a huge fan of how they portrayed super fans. I thought it was a missed opportunity of really getting into the mindset of a those kind of fans.

8. Vagabond. The first episode of this drama really got me excited about it but somehow after a couple of episodes I started loosing interest. When I watched it after a while I somehow finished the whole thing. I think it had its ups and downs but all in all an interesting action romance drama. Lee Seung Gi plays a stunt man that somehow finds himself a father figure to the son of his deceased sister. Money troubles weights him down but he works hard to make a decent living for his nephew. However the kid passes away along with several others in a plane crash. He discovers it wasn’t an accident and he turns his life around to take justice at his own hands. Along the way she meets an agent of an intelligence agency (played by Suzy) and they both work to find the people behind the plane crash.

7. When the camellia blooms. The main characters of this one are not only endearing but really funny. Gong Hyo Jin has always been one of my favorite korean actresses and this is my favorite part Kang Ha Neul has done. This popular drama is about a single mother who owns a bar and a policeman who falls for her and will stop at nothing until he wins her heart but nothing will come easy for these two, they will have to face several challenges from a killer on the loose to a conservative mother.

6. Chief of Staff. This drama had two seasons last year something different from the usual modus operandi of korean dramas. Honestly I enjoyed the first season more but even if the story line was a bit messy sometimes, it really was an interesting political drama. Lee Jung Jae plays a character that definitely made me remember House of Cards and The West Wing but in a very korean setting. A former detective is now chief of staff to a congressman and has strong ambicions but he always seems to be stopping fires. It was a very well made drama. Shin Min Ah, Lee Eljah, Kim Dong Joon, Jung Woong In and Kim Kap Soo were all amazing on this one.

5. SKY CASTLE. This drama gave much to talk about in Korea because it revolves around the pressure parents put on their children to make it to the best universities in the country. The story is set in a rich neighbourhood in Seoul and it shows how some parents will stop at nothing to make their children excel and how it reflects on those children. That dynamic made for an intense 20 episodes. The cast did an amazing job.

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4. Hotel Del Luna. This was a great fantasy drama and I was going to rank it higher but truth is in the second part I felt like they drag the conclussion a bit more than necessary. IU plays Jang Man-Wol the “owner” of Hotel del Luna a place where spirits stay before they pass on. Goo Chang-seong (Yeo Jin Goo) is an assitant manager of a hotel corporation who suddenly learns his father made a deal with a woman that he would have to work in her hotel except her hotel in unlike any other. He’s forced to work there but he refuses to do things like Manwol wants him to and tries to change her mind set. She lives with regrets which has made her have a bad attitude but her walls start to fall down with Chang Seong around. This drama was truely addictive.

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3. One Spring Night. This drama by Ahn Pan Seok was beautifully shot and it deals with how single fathers are looked in a conservative society like Korea and how parents put pressure on their kids to marry well. The tone is definitely similar to Something in the Rain, his previous work also starred by Jung Hae In. Han Ji Min plays a girl in her 30s that has a boyfriend who she’s expected to settle down with but realizes she doesn’t want to marry him just because it’s about time. She meets a single father and she falls for him but society gets in the way and they both will need to decide whether they are strong enough to go against social standards to be together

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2. Crash landing on you. I was waiting for a Hyun Bin drama and finally he did this one with Son Ye Jin and it really turned out great. It’s still airing so I might be making a mistake by ranking this one so high. I really love it though and it’s clearly popular since it’s making double digit ratings which for a cable drama is difficult. The story is about a girl that has an accident that lands her on North Korean soil and seeks help with a North Korean officer to help her return to South Korea. He agrees and they fall in love in the process. It makes for a sweet fun drama but the fact that they are from two countries in conflict will make it difficult to stay together.

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1. WWW: Search. Sometimes you just connect with a drama and that’s what happened to me with this one. It might not have been the greatest love story on this list or the most innovative drama. However I was really drawn by the main character played by Im Soo Jung and also by the script .She really is a strong female character. I think the story really made some really good points regarding the power of social media in Korea as well as how corruption can disrupt the truth. Korea has a web portal in real life called Naver that basically works both as google and as twitter since it shows the top related searches constantly which makes all internet users aware of when something is popular whether is about politics or entertainment. In the drama there’s two portals that do just that: Unicon and Baro, Bae Ta-Mi is a director of Unicon but is betrayed and ends up switching companies to Baro and makes her goal to beat Unicon and make Baro the most used portal in Korea. At the same time, she meets a young CEO (Jang Ki Young) of a small music company for games and he tries to date her after a one night stand. I also love the secondary couple played by Lee Dae Hae and Lee Jae Wook. The friendship between Lee Dae Hae’s character and Im Soo Jung is definitely one of the most fun parts of the drama.

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levitateing · 2 years ago

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hi . new gorls . come plot

jade im ( hwang eunbi / krystal jung ) — she/her , 24-28 , blackjack player . the youngest child and only daughter of the influential im family, jade had the same cunning, ruthless energy and intense, powerful firebending powers as her father. highly intelligent, university was barely a challenge to her to the extent that, bored with classes and classmates ( sometimes even professors ) that couldn’t rise to her level, she dropped out though kept two close friends from prep school, dove & di. currently she finds joy in using card counting techniques to win at blackjack games in casinos around the world ! fond of her cat marianne, playing mahjong with her friends, buying expensive tiaras with either her or her daddy’s money, and setting things on fire.

dove kwon ( bae sumin / kang seulgi ) — she/her , 22-28 , aerial striptease instructor . dove was a child prodigy and ribbon gymnast before she got bored and decided she was up for a bigger challenge ( aka, sneaking past booby trapped, laser-filled houses and museums ). the bubbliest of the three, she takes great joy in filling her apartment with tulips, her favorite flower, and falling in love with almost anyone she meets. dove hasn’t not had a significant other since high school — a serial monogamist who cuts her own bangs every so often when she gets the “ vibes from the universe “ telling her to. she doesn’t have the best relationship with her parents, so she’s been living off di’s couch since university. she was in love with jade for a while, but when she told her jade laughed in her face.

diana “ di “ jo-munson ( lee hojung / lee sungkyung ) — she/they , 25-30 , cardiothoracic surgery resident . always tired, very unimpressed. di had always been revered for having very strong, stable hands and good aim ( think piano when they were younger, archery, darts — classic, pointless, rich kid shit ) so during their down time from hospital work ( which is rare, incredibly so ) they found a hobby in knife throwing and have gotten pretty good at it ! their father was a revered firebender general ( he and jade’s dad go way back ), so di may be over-excelling in academic and extracurricular affairs to make up for the fact that oddly enough she was born without bending skills . but mind your own business ! she’s the oldest child in the family with a wide age gap between her and her younger brother , and as such there was a lot expected of her which she gladly, gladly ignores .

#are they based off of az*la ty l** n m*i . maybe so

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kpopotd2 · 5 years ago

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October Wrap Up

Hello to all our lovely followers! We are closing in on the end of the year, but have no fear, there are still two months of great releases coming!

In October, the first two episodes of our podcast were released, and in November we have two more episodes coming out on the 10th and 24th so keep your eye out for that.

Also, remember to follow us on @kpopsunbae because once this year is done we won’t be posting on here anymore--but no need to worry, it will stay up as an archive!

-JR, Min, and Onyx

NEWS:

October 1989: Hong Seo Bum dropped the first Korean rap song “Kim Sat Gat” (image from Radio Star).

October 19, 2009: Incheon Bridge opens to the public.

October 1, 2010: A fire takes out a high-rise building in Busan with no casualties. October 9, 2010: The International Fireworks Festival is held in Seoul. October 10, 2010: Hwang Jang-yop, a politician in North Korea who defected to South Korea, passes due to a heart attack.

October 17, 2014: A vent collapses at Pangyo Techno Valley during a 4Minute concert after 20-30 people climbed onto it to see the performance from a better angle.

Public Holidays:

October 3: National Foundation Day (개천절) - A celebration of the founding of Gojoseon according to the legend of Dangun. Learn more here!

October 9: Hangul Day (한글날) - A day to celebrate the creation of the Korean language by King Sejeong the Great. Learn more here!

Gaon Album Chart - Album of the Month 2010-2015:

2010 - Hoot by Girls’ Generation

2011 - The Boys by Girls’ Generation

2012 - Catch Me by TVXQ!

2013 - Everybody by SHINee

2014 - This is Love by Super Junior

2015 - I by Taeyeon

DRAMAS:

October 2009: IRIS (The action drama starred Lee Byung Hun, Kim Tae Hee, and BIGBANG’s T.O.P. With a budget of over 30 million dollars, it is one of the most expensive dramas to ever be made. The large budget paid off, bringing in over 30% ratings, as well as giving Lee Byung Hun a daesang on top of many other awards. It eventually got a second season (Iris II), a spin off series (Athena: Goddess of War) and a movie (IRIS: The Movie).) October 2009: Three Brothers (This show stars Ahn Nae Sang and Oh Dae Gyu. It was originally a 50 episode drama, but when the ratings proved to be immense (it was one of the highest rated dramas of the year with over 40% viewership ratings) 20 more episodes were added.) October 2009: You’re Beautiful (This classic stars Jang Geun Seuk, Park Shin Hye, former After School member Uee, CNBLUE’s Jung Yong Hwa, and F.T. Island’s Lee Hong Ki. Miss S, Park Shin Hye, as well as the drama’s group, AN.JELL, and more participated in the OST. This was Hong Ki’s acting comeback and Yong Hwa’s debut role. It got over 10% viewership ratings and won various rewards. Eventually it got a Japanese and Taiwanese remake.)

October 2010: Queen of Reversals (This drama stars Kim Nam Joo, Jung Joon Ho, and Park Si Hoo. It got over 10% viewership ratings.) October 2010: God’s Quiz (Stars Ryu Deok Hwan and Yoon Joon Hee. It dealt with many intense diseases and disorders, and has since gone on to have four more seasons.)

October 2011: A Thousand Day’s Promise (Stars Soo Ae and Kim Rae Won. Baek Ji Young, 8Eight, and more participated in the OSTs. It hit over 15% viewership ratings and won multiple awards.) October 2011: Deep Rooted Tree (This period drama stars Song Joong Ki, Jang Hyuk, and Shin Se Kyung. It hit 20% viewership ratings, won various awards, and was broadcast in Japan and Taiwan.) October 2011: Flower Boy Ramyun Shop (This drama started off the “flower boy” series which would go on to have three other unrelated instalments: Shut Up, Flower Boy Band!, Flower Boy Next Door, and Dating Agency: Cyrano. It stars Lee Chung Ha, Jung Il Woo, and Lee Ki Woo. It did really well in viewership ratings for a cable show and also had a diverse demographic of viewers.)

October 2012: Full House Take 2 (This is “sequel” to the first Full House starring Rain and Song Kye Hyo. This “sequel” stars Hwang Jung Eum, No Min Woo, and Park Ki Woong.) October 2012: Childless Comfort (This drama stars Lee Soon Jae, Kim hae Sook, Yoo Dong Geun, and Uhm Ji Won. It broke Reply 1997’s viewership record with 7.995% and ended up with an all-time high rating of over 10%.)

October 2013: Empress Ki (This period drama stars Ha Ji Won, Ji Chang Wook, and Joo Jin Mo. 4men, Wax, Soyou, Junsu, and Ji Chang Wook participated in the OSTs. It hit over 30% viewership ratings and won various awards.) October 2013: The Heirs (This drama was co-produced by now the defunct streaming site DramaFever. It stars Lee Min Ho (IKON’s Jung Chan Woo plays his younger self), Park Shin Hye, Kim Woo Bin, Kim Ji Won, f(x)’s Krystal, CNBLUE’s Kang Min Hyuk, Kang Ha Neul, and ZE:A’s Park Hyung Sik. It had a lot of cameos including SuJu’s Heechul, VIXX, and BTOB among many others. The ending theme (”I’m Saying”), sung by Park Shin Hye’s friend Lee Hong Ki, has since been used countless times in parody. Boasted a great set of OSTs. It over 15 % viewership ratings domestically, but was popular across Asia.) October 2013: Reply 1994 (The second instalment of the “Reply” series, stars Go Ara, Jung Woo, Yoo Yeon Seok, B1A4’s Baro, and BtoB’s Yook Sung Jae. One of the highest rated cable dramas at over 11% viewership ratings. It boasted many cameos, including the main characters from the first season, and many others.)

October 2014: Tomorrow’s Cantabile (This drama stars Joo Won, Shim Eun Kyung, Park Bo Gum, and Baek yoon Shik. This was another co-production with the defunct streaming platform Dramafever. It hit over the 5% ratings mark. It also aired in Thailand, Taiwan, and Japan. 2014 - Modern Farmer (This comedy stars F.T. Island’s Lee Hong Ki, Park Min Woo, Honey Lee, and Kwak Dong Yeon.) October 2014: Misaeng (This show stars ZE:A’s Im Si Wan, Lee Sung Min, Kang So Ra, and Kang Ha Neul. It is based off of the Webtoon of the same name written by Yoon Tae Ho (the comic sold over 900,000 copies). It became a hit across the nation, eventually winning various awards and ended up getting a Chinese remake.)

October 2015: Sassy Go Go (This school drama stars Apink’s Jung Eun Ji, Lee Won Geun, VIXX’s N, Ji Soo, and Chae Soo Bin. Jadu, Hanbyul, and former After School member Lizzy participated in the OSTs among others.) October 2015: Six Flying Dragons (This period dramas stars Yoo Ah In and Shin Se Kyung. It passed over 10% viewership ratings and won various awards.)

FILMS:

October 22, 2009: Good Morning President (This comedy stars Jang Dong Geun, Lee Soon Jae, and Go Doo Shim. KBS World says “Only a few decades ago, the president was an off-limits subject in Korean cinema. It was almost impossible for the older generation who lived through military dictatorships to parody their president.”) October 29, 2009: Paju (This movie stars Lee Sun Kyun and Seo Woo. It was the first Korean film to open the International Film Festival Rotterdam as well as The Tribeca Film Festival, as well as participating over 15 other festivals. It received great reviews, and won a few awards.)

October 20, 2011: Always (This melodrama stars So Ji Sub and Han Hyo Joo. It opened the Busan International Film Festival, selling out all 2,000 seats in just 7 seconds. Eventually it received Turkish, a Kannadanen, and Hindu remakes.) October 11, 2012: A Company Man (This movie stars So Ji Sub, Lee Mi Yeon, Kwak Do Won, and ZE:A’s Kim Dong Jun. It got one million theatre admissions in just under two weeks.) October 31, 2012: A Werewolf Boy (This film stars Park Bo Young and Song Joong Ki. Park Bo Young sang a song for the drama’s soundtrack. It hit one million admissions after just five days and became the top melodrama in Korea of all time.)

October 2, 2013: Hope (This film stars Sol Kyung Gu, Lee Re, and Bang Jun Seok. It is based on the true story of The Case of Na Young. It had over one million admissions in the first week. It went on to win multiple awards.) October 31, 2013: No Breathing (This movie stars Girls’ Generation Kwon Yuri, Lee Jong Suk, Seo In Guk, and Dal Shabet Member Cho Ah Young. It did fairly well at the box office, coming in at just under 500,000 admissions.)

October 2, 2014: Whistle Blower (This film stars Park hae Il, Yoo Yeon Seok, and Lee Geung Young. It is loosely based off the story of scientist Hwang Woo Seok and the scientific fraud case that he was involved in-- Ryu Young Joon was the real life whistle blower. It topped the box office upon its release.) October 23, 2014: The Truth Shall Not Sink With Sewol (This is a documentary about the Sewol tragedy that happened in April of the same year.)

HAPPY STUFF:

October 2010: Hyuna is added to Nine Muses following Jaekyung’s departure. October 8, 2013: Jason is added to NU’EST’s Chinese sub-unit NU’EST M.

SAD STUFF:

October 29, 2009: Soyoung graduates from After School to pursue acting. October 2010: Jaekyung leaves Nine Muses to pursue modelling.

October 16, 2013: Dongho departs from U-KISS due to health reasons. October 24, 2013: Gummy leaves YG Entertainment and signs with C-JeS Ent. October 10, 2014: LuHan files a lawsuit against SM Ent. and leaves EXO.

October 5, 2015: Boy group C-Clown disbands.

October 8, 2013: Soloist Kim Ha Neul (김하늘), better known as Rottyful Sky (로티플스카이), passes away due to a brain tumor at 25. October 27, 2014: Shin Hae Chul (신해철), member of activist rock group N.EX.T, passes away due to medical malpractice at 46.

POST OF THE MONTH:

EXID - Every Night

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culturalgutter · 8 years ago

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This month is our annual Switcheroo Month, so Comics Editor Carol is leaving comics behind and writing about the South Korean television drama, Vampire Prosecutor.

“Vampire Prosecutor? Is the vampire a prosecutor or do they prosecute vampires? Or both?” you ask.

“Yes,” I answer.

“Does Vampire Prosecutor take a bite out of crime?”

“…”

“How many vampires would a vampire prosecutor prosecute if a vampire prosecutor prosecute if a vampire prosecutor could prosecute vampire prosecutors?” you ask.

“Just stop,” I say.

A title like Vampire Prosecutor sounds like something that might just be plain fun if produced by the CW, but genre doesn’t mean the same thing in South Korean television. If you come in thinking it’s all fun and vampire prosecution, well, you might be in for an unpleasant surprise. Vampire Prosecutor is fun. There are funny episodes and great banter. It’s cleverly written. But the show’s gore and violence levels are pretty much the same as the gore or violence levels I associate with South Korean cinema, particularly in Vampire Prosecutor‘s second season. Not only do we hear things, with exquisitely ghastly foleying, we see things, too. So Vampire Prosecutor is rated mature for violence, gore, and Det. Hwang Soon-bum’s gross eating. It’s a serious show, though it’s not all gloom. Screenwriters Han Jung-hoon and Kang Eun-sun have a strong understanding of their form and a playful sense of metafiction. And while I imagine Vampire Prosecutor would be sixty-five times better if I spoke Korean and caught all the subtleties of when Det. Hwang drops his honorifics and when he doesn’t, it is already very good. The show has a nice balance of drama, horor and humor. Not to mention Vampire Prosecutor‘s fascinating fashions. Prosecutor Min Tae-yeon’s fashion is as central as Olivia Pope’s is in Scandal.* Vampire Prosecutor pops his collar and rolls up the sleeves of his jacket. Sonny from Miami Vice doesn’t even understand how much Vampire Prosecutor has to deal with. Vampire Prosecutor Min Tae-yeon has a lot on his plate.

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Some of Min Tae-yeon’s interesting jackets.

Min Tae-yeon (Yeon Jeong-hun) is a prosecutor in the city of Seoul. He’s been assigned to the “Prosecutor-Police Joint Special Investigation Unit.” The unit is even more awkwardly named in Korean and is a career graveyard according to the older, powerful men who created it. They are not, however, troubled like I am about the justice implications of joining government’s investigatory and prosecutorial arms in one prosecution headed unit. They are kind of corrupt themselves. Min’s team includes junior prosecutor Yoo Jung-in (Lee Young-ah), intern and all-around science and computer guy Choi Dong-man (Kim Joo-young) and Prosecutor Min’s old friend Det. Hwang Soon-bum (Lee Wong-jong). It’s clearly a team that while not explicitly set up to fail is set up to be too small to ultimately succeed. But the team’s supervisor, Chief Prosecutor Yang believes in them. Prosecutor Yoo is determined to do good work. Intern Choi is generally enthusiastic. But Hwang is not happy, because he’s heard that this unit leads nowhere, b had offered to do anything if Prosecutor Min would help him out solving a case and Min did. See, Min is the very Vampire Prosecutor of the title. He was already good at blood spatter analysis, but now that he is a vampire, he can envision the death of a victim precisely. As he stands at the crime scene with only Det. Hwang staying quietly out of the way, he observes the blood spatter rise up and trace its journey backwards into the victim until he sees exactly how the victim died. You might think the visuals were adopted from Hannibal‘s Will Graham, but Vampire Prosecutor aired in 2011. The second season aired in 2012. Hannibal premiered in 2013.

If necessary, Prosecutor Min can take it further and drink a vial of the victim’s blood he obtains from the coroner. Coroner Yoon (Jang Young-nam) thinks he collects blood samples from his cases, but kinda creepily she doesn’t judge him. (Pehaps she watches Dexter). Second season’s Coroner Jo (Lee Kyoung-young) continues giving Min samples, but is more suspicious. When Min drinks the victim’s blood, we follow the blood down his espophagus into his circulatory system, into his brain and finally see the victim’s death as they did. Drinking a dead person’s blood, however, causes a vampire great pain and both Hwang and Min’s source of information and ethically sourced non-dead person blood at the mysterious night club** he goes to try to dissuade him from the practice. But sometimes it’s the only way to catch a murderer.

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But what kind of vampire could be a prosecutor? Does he only take cases in night court? (Stop trying to be funny). Prosecutor Min isn’t your usual Dracula. He’s more like Carmilla. Dracula endured a kind of sleep paralysis during the day and avoided the sun. Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla, however, was only a little sleepy during the day and was unaffected by the sun at all. Unlike Dracula, Prosecutor Min can operate in the daytime and doesn’t burst into flames when exposed to the sun. And unlike Carmilla, he doesn’t experience a strange langor in the daytime. He might even be able to drink wine. In fact, Prosecutor Min has one up on both, he’s perfectly fine during the day. His only real problem is that he can’t take his team out to dinner like a boss should. Hwang understands, but Prosecutor Yoo and Intern Choi see it as strange, although in keeping with his aloof manner.Beyond limiting his capacity for team-building, Min’s vampirism doesn’t interfere much with his ability to perform his duties.

Vampirism aside, the relationship between the prosecutor’s office and the police is one of Vampire Prosecutor‘s creeper elements, as is Min’s tolerance for Det. Hwang’s “old school Seoul” methods. Det. Hwang is a good detective in the sense that he gets results, but his methods involve bullying, threats, violence, sketchy deals and discussions of nose-picking. Hwang bullies and threatens informants and suspects. He hits them and threatens to arrest them for crimes they might not have committed. He breaks and enters as part of his investigation. And he just walks around with food hanging out of his mouth sometimes. I would hope that if there is ever a Vampire Prosecutor 3, Hwang is prosecuted for his many incidents of brutality. Hwang is supposed to stand in for the everyman, not the cool ideal of Prosecutor Min or the hardworking, innovative Yoo or the tech and pop culture savviness of Intern Choi, the youngest member of the team. He’s the old cop who knows Seoul’s dark places like the back of his hand. He’s also the first to lower his speech, removing honorifics and using more intimate forms of address. It gets complicated with his colleagues. He is older than Min, but Min is his boss. He is friends with Min, so offers to “treat him like a younger brother.”

With Yoo it is even more complicated. She is a younger woman and still his superior. When he mocks her investigative methods in favor of his own, he begins removing honorifics and Korean’s very careful series of polite verb endings because for him, there is an inversion going on between experience, age, gender and who exactly should be speaking up to whom. Later on, there is a cute friendship between the rough-and-ready Hwang and the elegant and reserved Coroner Jo. They try to speak to each other as older and younger brother, but it’s so awkward for the refined Jo that they give up and stay the friends they are.

The series has a nice balance between weekly cases and an ongoing arc over twelve episodes. His first case concerns a copycat vampire killing, resembling the one at the scene where he was bitten. And over the course of twelve episodes, we learn more about the vampire killings and more about how exactly Min became a vampire. Just when you settle into the rhythm of the weekly case, the arc picks up, reminding us that the series’ opening car chase is still on Min’s mind. He pursued a suspect. There was an accident on the highway. And his suspect is stabbed by another man in a baseball cap and plastic rain poncho***, who sets the car on fire with a lighter engraved with sinister European occult symbols. And then Min was bitten. In Vampire Prosecutor, vampires only transform the first victim they bite. Min kept the lighter from the scene of the crim and by the end of Vampire Prosecutor 1, discovers a law firm using the same occult symbols and we are hunting more vampires who went to law school.****

Airing about one year later, Vampire Prosecutor 2 is darker, which is saying something. And Prosecutor Min begins to wear less interesting jackets, after the events of season one. Vampire Prosecutor 2 starts much more harshly than Vampire Prosecutor 1. It opens with a government official being rushed to the hospital after being shot by a sniper during a speech. The motorcade is stopped by soldiers who turn their guns on the motorcade and take the minister. They say that they are taking him to “our hospital.” The hospital turns out to be a secret facility run by a mad scientist who is performing experiments on some poor man kept chained and masked. Informed that the government official must be kept alive, the scientist transfuses blood from the masked prisoner. And as the be-suited men hunting the minister arrive, the minister sits up and hisses, transformed into a vampire himself.

This sequence has a lot of historical resonance. South Korean dictator Park Chung-hee was assassinated in 1979 by a rival faction in the government. In fact, one of his close friends shot him at a dinner in a secure facility. There was an earlier attempt in 1974, in which Park survived but his wife did not. There is a lot of resonance in this moment and in 2005, Im Sang-soo released his black comedy, The President’s Last Bang, covering the last few hours of Park’s life and the immediate fall-out of his assassination. The President’s Last Bang was intensely controversial in South Korea for its depiction of Park and about 4 minutes of the film were censored—and subsequently shown internationally with a blank screen during the censored footage. This opening scene in Vampire Prosecutor 2 has more resonance with the earlier failed assassination attempt in 1974, when a man fired at the stage while Park was giving a speech celebrating the end of colonial rule in South Korea. In the historical event, the assassin missed Park but killed Park’s wife, Yuk Young-soo. Their daughter, Park Guen-hye was just impeached and arrested for corruption. When Vampire Prosecutor aired, was a representative in the Korean parliament and the leader of the Grand National Party. I can’t say if the arrival of a new, much more politically minded and politically vicious female chief prosecutor, Joo Hyun-ah (Kim Bo-young), is related to Park Guen-hye’s ascension, but it is interesting.

So Vampire Prosecutor‘s secret bunker and draculized government official is not the same, but any event where a government official is shot by other scheming government officials who try to cover it up is resonant. And it sets the stage for a darker and more broadly political Vampire Prosecutor. The second season addresses secrets the Korean government keeps. Secrets that involve torture and hearken back to the days of dictatorship. At the same time, it cuts close again emotionally as Min tries to protect his team. We learn more about Coroner Jo, and he takes in Ji-ae, a little girl who was left at a crime scene.

She is part of the overarching focus on the ways that any crime’s ramifications move through time. We end the season with questions and unresolved issues that will probably never be answered or resolved. And while Vampire Prosecutor 2 was a more fragmented and uneven season than Vampire Prosecutor, I do want to know what happens to Min Tae-yeon and everyone else.

There were rumors that there would be a Vampire Prosecutor 3 and I had hopes, even as Dexter ended and then Hannibal came and went, that there would be another show with blood spatter in its opening credits. I even did some promotion of What We Do In The Shadows and SPL 2 making references to Vampire Prosecutor, but still no Vampire Prosecutor 3. Ultimately, OCN produced a spin-off in 2016, Vampire Detective. I tried, but couldn’t get into it. Vampire Detective Yook San’s casual wear just couldn’t compete with Prosecutor Min’s sharp suits and interesting jackets. But maybe it’s been long enough that I can let Vampire Detective do its own thing. At least it doesn’t have Detective Hwang, though first time I watched, Yook San did have a good friend with gross eating habits. On the other hand, there was at least one instance of a villain with flair.

*Donnie Yen is going to play Vampire Prosecutor in the inevitable Hong Kong television adaptation. He will wear no shirt and grappling will central to his Vampire Prosecutor process. I will also note that someone else who becomes a vampire during the course of the show also begins wearing interesting jackets once he is draculized.

**The first time we enter the mysterious night club where Min goes for information about the man who bit him and murdered his suspect—and gets a glass of blood while he does—there is a song about “camping” in videogames playing.

***I would like to add that I love that this man is terrifying, but not cool. The plastic rain poncho is a great detail.

****POSSIBLE SPOILER: In fact, vampire prosecutor Min might prosecute not only a vampire, but a vampire prosecutor…

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A vampire prosecutor would prosecute as many vampire prosecutors as a vampire prosecutor could, if a vampire prosecutor could prosecute vampire prosecutors, Carol Borden finally says. Vampire Prosecutor and Vampire Detective are both availabla online via Drama Fever.

The Dark Delights and Sharp Suits of Vampire Prosecutor This month is our annual Switcheroo Month, so Comics Editor Carol is leaving comics behind and writing about the South Korean television drama, …

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