Netflix original K-dramas like Squid Game and Sweet Home. However, the Korean Wave began years before the streaming giant began to capitalize on their popularity. In a world filled with a plethora of TV shows, K-dramas have begun to stand out more.
There are a variety of K-dramas with intricate premises across several genres. Whether it's a romantic Korean series with an inspiring love story or a thriller with intense scenes, some K-dramas aren’t solely made up, because after all, fact can be stranger than fiction. K-dramas have cracked the code when it comes to storytelling, so it’s not surprising that some popular Korean series are a dramatized version of real-life events or are at least inspired by them.
15 Reply 1988 (2015)
In 1988 Seoul, five childhood friends navigate adolescence in their tight-knit neighborhood. Deok Sun struggles as the middle child, Jung Hwan fixates on soccer despite newfound wealth, Sun Woo excels academically, Dong Ryong, a lovable geek, faces academic challenges, and Taek, a baduk prodigy, leaves school to go professional.
The critically acclaimed historical K-drama, Reply 1988, is the third installment in the Reply anthology. It centers around five friends, each with their own distinct personalities, who grew up in the same neighborhood. Reply 1988 isn’t necessarily a true story. However, one of its characters, Choi Taek, a master at Go, was inspired by the real-life Go Player, Lee Chang-ho. The Korean series has a nostalgic, slice-of-life feel to it, and that's because some aspects of it are based on the writer's experience.
14 Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth (2016)
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Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth
- Release Date
- 2016 - 2017-00-00
- Network
- KBS2
- Directors
- Kim Young-jo
- Writers
- Park Eun-young
Cast
Go AraAh-Ro-
Kim Won-haeWoo Reuk
Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth explores the lives of an elite group of young warriors in the ancient Korean kingdom of Silla. Set during the Three Kingdoms period, these warriors are trained in morals and martial arts, navigating themes of love and friendship amidst their journey.
Starring mega South Korean actor Park Seo-joon, Hwarang isn’t purely fiction. The K-drama tells the story of a group of elite warriors tasked with protecting the royal family. The warriors in Hwarang were loosely based on young men from aristocratic Korean families in the Kingdom of Silla. The romance and story didn’t happen in real life, but the way the warriors are depicted is, in fact, true. The protectors of the royal family from the Kingdom of Silla were described as being handsome and young in the poems, just as shown in the Korean series.
13 Youth Of May (2021)
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Set during the Gwangju Uprising in May 1980, this drama follows the poignant romance between a medical student and a nurse amidst political turmoil and military oppression in South Korea. The series examines the impact of historical events on personal lives and societal changes.
Like many period dramas, Youth of May uses the backdrop of a real-life event to tell its story. Written by Lee Kang, the award-winning Korean series is set in 1980 and depicts Hee-Tae and Myung-Hee’s love story. The characters and story in the K-drama aren’t true, but the events that happened during the period it was set in are real. Youth of May takes place when the Gwangju Uprising was in full force. The Gwanju uprising was a turbulent time in Korea, and several citizens were hurt during these protests against the military government.
12 Taxi Driver (2021)
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Taxi Driver
- Release Date
- April 9, 2021
- Network
- SBS
- Directors
- Park Joon-woo
- Writers
- Oh Sang-ho
Cast
-
Park Jin-heeProsecutor Do Joong-eun
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Lee Je-hoonKim Do-ki
Taxi Driver is a 2021 film featuring a former special forces soldier who seeks retribution for victims of injustice. Operating within a secret organization masked as a taxi company, he navigates the criminal underworld to deliver justice beyond the reach of the law.
The intense revenge thriller, Taxi Driver, doesn’t seem like it has any basis in reality. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The majority of the plot, which focuses on a taxi driver who gets revenge on behalf of his clients, is made up. However, the crimes that are featured in the K-drama were inspired by real events. Using real crimes to tell a fictional story is something that isn’t new, but it works for the show, which feels grounded and realistic.
11 Signal (2016)
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Signal is a South Korean crime thriller television series that follows a detective from the present day who communicates with a detective from the past through a ham radio. They work together to solve cold cases and uncover the truth behind a mysterious crime.
The crime K-drama, Signal, gives the sense that it has truth in it, and that’s because it's based on a true story. The K-drama follows a detective investigating cold cases when she is intrigued by a clue about a missing police officer who disappeared way before she began her career. Signal is not entirely a true story. However, the crimes featured in the K-drama, such as the Southern Gyeonggi murders, did happen in Korea. Kim Won-seok, who produced the series, felt that the show would be more engaging if it featured crimes that were unsolved as opposed to those that were solved.
10 The Red Sleeve (2021)
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The Red Sleeve
- Release Date
- November 12, 2021
Cast
-
Lee Jun-hoYi San / King Jeongjo
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Lee Se-youngSung Deok-im
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Kang HoonHong Deok-ro
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Lee Duck-hwaKing Youngjo
Set in the Joseon Dynasty, The Red Sleeve explores a royal court romance between a duty-bound king and a determined court lady. The series examines their personal and political struggles as they navigate love, loyalty, and the demands of their respective roles.
The 2021 historical romantic K-drama, The Red Sleeve, is a gripping love story based on real people. During the Joseon dynasty, Crown Prince Yi San falls for Deok-im, a court lady. Due to her status, Deok-min and Yi-san can’t get married. So he proposes that she become his concubine, an offer she initially refuses but then later accepts. While The Red Sleeve is a fictionalized portrayal of Yi-san and Deok-min, several things that take place in the K-drama, such as Deok-min rejecting Yi-si and the tragic ending happen actually happened.
9 D.P. (2021)
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D.P. is a South Korean drama series that follows a young private tasked with capturing army deserters. As he pursues his duty, the narrative delves into the harsh and often painful experiences faced by soldiers during their mandatory military service.
D.P. tells the harrowing story of the things that happen in the Korean military. In the Kdrama, Private Ahn Jun-ho and Corporal Han Ho-yeol are tasked with finding people who deserted the military. During their search, they uncover the horrifying things that soldiers went through, including merciless bullying and hazing. D.P. is a fictionalised of real events. The corrupt military system featured in the series, however, was based on the real experiences of Korean soldiers who revealed what they went through during their military recruitment.
8 Move To Heaven (2021)
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Move to Heaven
- Release Date
- 2021 - 2021-00-00
Cast
-
Lee Je-hoonCho Sang-gu
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Tang Joon-sangHan Geu-ru
WHERE TO WATCH
Move to Heaven follows a meticulous trauma cleaner and his estranged uncle as they unravel the unsung stories of the deceased through their belongings. The series portrays their emotional journey to connect with loved ones left behind, highlighting themes of loss and reconciliation.
Penned by Boys Over Flowers’ Yoon Ji-ryeon, Move to Heaven is a chilling and emotional tale of the things that Sang-ju and Geu-ru experience as they run their family trauma cleaning company, Move to Heaven. The show drew inspiration from Kim Sae-byul, South Korea’s first certified trauma cleaner, who wrote an essay collection, The Things Left Behind, highlighting what he went through during his career.
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Yoon Ji-ryeon actually shadowed Kim Sae-byul in order to capture the authenticity of his story. The events in Move to Heaven are fictional, but the trauma, realism, and emotions are real.
7 The Hymn Of Death (2018)
The Korean mini series, The Hymn of Death, is a fictionalised of a real event. The K-drama delves into the tragic love story between Yun Sim-deok, Korea’s first soprano, and the playwright, Kim Woo-jin. The Hymn of Death takes place during the Japanese occupation of Korea and recounts the shocking story of what happened to Yun Shim-deok and Kim Woo-jin. The romance between the couple ended in tragedy when they both died by suicide, as depicted in the K-drama. Even to this day, Sim-deok’s Death Song is still popular in Korea.
6 Juvenile Justice (2022)
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Juvenile Justice
- Release Date
- 2022 - 2022-00-00
Cast
-
Kim Hye-sooSim Eun-seok
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Kim Moo-yulCha Tae-ju
WHERE TO WATCH
This series centers on a stern judge in a juvenile court who wrestles with her distaste for youthful offenders while upholding her principles of justice and punishment. She navigates challenging cases, highlighting the intricacies of the legal system and the moral dilemmas faced within the judicial process.
Juvenile Justice shines a light on the horrific crimes that have been committed by South Korea’s minors. The legal K-drama follows Shim Eun-seok, a judge with an apparent dislike for young people who is appointed to run a juvenile court. Juvenile Justice uses a lot of creative freedom in weaving its plot. However, the crimes that are featured in the crime drama, such as those involving the murder of a young girl, mirror real-life cases.
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