Korean dramas and movies, that you MUST watch
by yana0804 | created - 15 Sep 2017 | updated - 08 Jul 2020 | PublicThis list is still in making process so don't be surprised if there are not so many titles. Those are the things i have currently watched and i think that the others must watch too.
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1. Signal (2016)
80 min | Crime, Drama, Fantasy
A cold-case profiler in 2015 and a detective in 1989 work together to solve a series of related murders spanning three decades using a special walkie-talkie to communicate with each other.
Stars: Lee Jehoon, Kim Hye-su, Cho Jin-woong, Kim Won-hae
Votes: 9,186
This kdrama kept me awake 4 nights until i could finish, it keeps you wanting to solve all the mysteries. Very touching stories and powerful characters. 10/10
2. Good Manager (2017)
TV-14 | 60 min | Comedy, Drama
Chief Kim is an eccentric, flamboyant accountant genius working in the underground and trying to save up enough money to travel abroad until he accidentally gets employed by one of the most famous corporations in Korea.
Stars: Min Nam-koong, Nam Sang-mi, Lee Jun-ho, Jung Hye-seong
Votes: 1,673
Amazing comedy. I like characters like chief Kim - the clever and funny con artist, who have a kind side and changes during his journey, and decides to use his skills to trick the bad guys. 10/10
3. Liar Game (2014)
63 min | Mystery
Kind Nam Da Jung gets selected to participate in 'Liar Game', a reality show that gives its contestants money they have to cheat each other out of. To succeed, she seeks help from Cha Woo Jin, a convicted swindler and living lie detector.
Stars: Kim So-eun, Jo Jae-yoon, Sin Seong-rok, Lee Sang-yoon
Votes: 616
4. Castaway on the Moon (2009)
PG-13 | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A failed suicide attempt leads a heartbroken man to live a life in the wilderness.
Director: Lee Hae-jun | Stars: Jeong Jae-yeong, Jung Ryeo-won, Yeong-seo Park, Yang Mi-kyeong
Votes: 19,714
A story that makes you think about the important things in life
5. Secretly Greatly (2013)
PG-13 | 124 min | Action, Comedy, Drama
Three elite North Korean sleeper agents live undercover for so long that they believe their cover stories are their real identities. They're shocked when they are ordered to kill one another or face death at the hands of an elite hit team.
Director: Cheol-soo Jang | Stars: Kim Soo-hyun, Park Gi-woong, Lee Hyun-woo, Son Hyeon-ju
Votes: 5,028
Action, comedy and drama - this movie has enough from each of those genres. I cried at the end.
6. Rough Cut (2008)
Not Rated | 113 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A gangster who wants to be an actor; an actor more gangster than anything. Here their paths and lives begin to cross.
Director: Hun Jang | Stars: So Ji-seob, Ko Chang-seok, Jang Hie-jin, Kang Ji-hwan
Votes: 2,998
The fight scenes gave me chills. The story is really interesting and unique ,you can only guess what is going to happen, but the end is always surprising me in the Korean cinema
7. My Annoying Brother (2016)
PG | 110 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport
A now-blind athlete must rely on his estranged brother, who may have just used him as an excuse to get himself out of jail. The two were never close, but brothers soon realize a connection they couldn't always see.
Director: Soo-Kyung Kwon | Stars: Chranny, Ji Dae-han, Jung Doo-kyum, EK Harris
Votes: 4,312 | Gross: $0.05M
A story that brings you into tears
8. Confession of Murder (2012)
Not Rated | 119 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Lee Du-Seok publishes an autobiography describing murders he committed after the statute of limitations expires. A detective and one of the victim's mothers search for the author while an anonymous person claims to be the real killer.
Director: Jung Byung-gil | Stars: Jeong Jae-yeong, Park Shi-hoo, Jung Hae-kyun, Kim Yeong-ae
Votes: 11,683
9. Good Doctor (2013)
65 min | Drama, Romance
Park Shi Ohn, who is an autistic savant, aspires to become a pediatrician. He overcomes societal discrimination and uses his exceptional abilities to achieve his dreams.
Stars: Joo Won, Moon Chae-won, Joo Sang-uk, Kim Min-seo
Votes: 2,285
Every single episode moved me to tears. The actors are very good and the characters are well build. Very touching story. 10/10
10. Tunnel (2017)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Fantasy
A detective follows the trail of a serial killer 30 years into the future and teams up with detectives in that time period to find the culprit.
Stars: Choi Jin-hyuk, Kang Suk-Won, Yoon Hyun-min, Jo Hie-bong
Votes: 3,533
11. Live Up to Your Name (2017)
60 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
The best acupuncturist of Joseon, Heo Im, finds himself traveling 400 years into the future, where he meets Choi Yeon Kyung, doctor in a modern hospital. Though impressed by her, differences in their methods and priorities make them clash.
Stars: Kim Nam-gil, Kim Ah-jung, Yun Ju-sang, Yoo Min-Kyu
Votes: 1,978
12. Kill Me, Heal Me (2015)
60 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A love story between the son from a wealthy family who has 7 personalities Cha Do Hyun (Ji Sung) and Oh Ri Jin (Hwang Jung Eum) who becomes his secret psychiatrist.
Stars: Ji Sung, Hwang Jeong-eum, Park Seo-joon, Choi Won-young
Votes: 5,996
13. Miracle in Cell No. 7 (2013)
127 min | Comedy, Drama
A story about the love between a mentally-ill father and his lovingly adorable daughter.
Director: Hwan-kyung Lee | Stars: Ryu Seung-ryong, Kal So-won, Oh Dal-su, Jeong Man-sik
Votes: 23,951
14. My Brilliant Life (2014)
117 min | Drama
Dae-soo and Mi-ra have Ah-reum when they are 17. Ah-reum is diagnosed with progeria, and as his body rapidly ages, his finds comfort in writing a story about how his young parents fell in love.
Director: Je-yong Lee | Stars: Song Hye-kyo, Gang Dong-won, Seong-mok Cho, Cha Eun-woo
Votes: 987
15. A Man Who Was Superman (2008)
102 min | Comedy, Drama
A snobbish producer makes a documentary about the extraordinary behavior of her neighbor who believes himself to be Superman.
Director: Yoon-Chul Jung | Stars: Hwang Jung-min, Jun Ji-hyun, Kang Ae-shim, Gil-seung Bang
Votes: 2,224
16. I Can Speak (2017)
119 min | Comedy, Drama
An elderly woman who constantly files complaints with the local office about the wrongs that she sees around her each day, forms an unlikely friendship with a junior civil service officer, who begins to teach her English.
Director: Hyun-seok Kim | Stars: Na Moon-hee, Lee Jehoon, Park Chul-min, Yeom Hye-ran
Votes: 2,311
17. Prison Playbook (2017–2018)
90 min | Comedy, Drama
Baseball pitcher Kim Je-hyeok becomes a convict overnight after being sent to prison for defending his sister from a sexual assault, days before he was due to fly to the US to join the Boston Red Sox.
Stars: Park Hae-soo, Jung Kyung-ho, Krystal Jung, Lee Kyoo-hyung
Votes: 4,821
18. Salut d'Amour (2015)
PG-13 | 112 min | Drama, Romance
A love story about the 70-year-old romance novice Sungchil, the flower seller who moves his heart Geum-nim, and the people who cheer them on.
Director: Kang Je-kyu | Stars: Park Geun-hyeong, Youn Yuh-jung, Cho Jin-woong, Han Ji-min
Votes: 579
19. Welcome to Waikiki (2018–2019)
65 min | Comedy, Drama
With big dreams of financing their own film project, three struggling young men join forces in a guesthouse venture that is anything but profitable.
Stars: Lee Yi-kyeong, Kim Jung-hyun, Jung In-sun, Son Seung-Won
Votes: 3,351
20. The Beauty Inside (2015)
Not Rated | 127 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A South Korean has a different person's body, changing every morning to a body "borrowed" for a day - man, woman, old, child and sometimes a foreigner. "He" works as furniture designer. He loves a girl. She loves him for the beauty inside.
Director: Jong-Yeol Baek | Stars: Han Hyo-joo, Park Seo-joon, Juri Ueno, Lee Jin-wook
Votes: 7,922 | Gross: $0.11M
21. Your Honor (2018)
Drama
Two identical twins, Han Soo Ho and Han Kang Ho, look exactly alike but lead entirely different lives. Han Soo Ho is a respectable judge who does everything by the book, while Han Kang Ho ... See full summary »
Stars: Yoon Shi-Yoon, Park Byeong-eun, Lee Yoo-young, Nara
Votes: 340
22. Swing Kids (2018)
TV-14 | 133 min | Drama, Musical, War
The story of Ro Gi Soo, a tap dancing North Korean soldier who was held captive in the Geoje prison camp during the Korean War.
Director: Kang Hyeong-cheol | Stars: A.J. Simmons, Oh Jung-se, Do Kyung-soo, Park Jin-joo
Votes: 2,854 | Gross: $0.22M
23. Little Forest (2018)
PG-13 | 103 min | Drama
A young woman grows tired of life in the city and returns to her hometown in the countryside.
Director: Soon-rye Yim | Stars: Kim Tae-ri, Ryu Jun-Yeol, Moon So-ri, Jin Ki-joo
Votes: 3,908
Beautiful, just beautiful!!!
24. Take Off 2 (2016)
126 min | Sport
Various women, including a North Korean defector, a banned short track skater, middle age woman and a middle school student, come together to form the first South Korean woman's national ice hockey team.
Director: Kim Jong-hyun | Stars: Soo Ae, Oh Dal-su, Oh Yeon-Seo, Ha Jae-suk
Votes: 242
25. The King's Letters (2019)
110 min | Drama, History
A historical film about King Sejong who risked everything of his to invent the Hunminjungeum (Korean Script) for his people and the people who weren't recorded in history.
Director: Jo Chul-Hyun | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Park Hae-il, Jeon Mi-seon, Choi Deok-moon
Votes: 485
26. 1987: When the Day Comes (2017)
Not Rated | 129 min | Drama, History, Thriller
In 1987 Korea under an oppressive military regime, the unlawful interrogation and death of a college student ignite ordinary citizens to fight for the truth and bring about justice.
Directors: Jung Sung Ho, Joon-Hwan Jang | Stars: Kim Tae-ri, Yeo Jin-goo, Ha Jung-woo, Gang Dong-won
Votes: 6,824
27. Parasite (2019)
R | 132 min | Drama, Thriller
Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly-formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-sik
Votes: 959,109 | Gross: $53.37M
28. Seoul Searching (2015)
TV-MA | 105 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
In 1986, a group of foreign-born Korean teenagers attend a summer camp in South Korea.
Director: Benson Lee | Stars: Cha In-pyo, Justin Chon, Jessika Van, Teo Yoo
Votes: 1,911 | Gross: $0.02M
29. Okja (2017)
TV-MA | 120 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A young girl risks everything to prevent a powerful, multinational company from kidnapping her best friend - a fascinating beast named Okja.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Ahn Seo-hyun, Jake Gyllenhaal
Votes: 132,136
30. Canola (2016)
117 min | Drama
12 years after having lost her grand daughter at a market, grandmother and granddaughter become reunited. But things are not as good and perfect as they were 12 years earlier.
Director: Hong-Seung Yoon | Stars: Sin Eun-jeong, Kim Go-eun, Kim Hee-won, Yang Ik-joon
Votes: 1,121
31. Keys to the Heart (2018)
120 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
A washed-up boxer reunites with his estranged brother, a pianist with savant syndrome.
Director: Sung-Hyun Choi | Stars: Lee Byung-hun, Park Jeong-min, Han Ji-min, Kim Sung-ryung
Votes: 1,443 | Gross: $0.07M
32. When the Camellia Blooms (2019)
30 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A love story of the single-parent Dongbaek, the owner of Camellia Bar among a small neighborhood, who is also being the next murder target of a serial killer case.
Stars: Kong Hyo-jin, Kim Ji-seok, Ji E-Suu, Kang Ha-neul
Votes: 3,208
33. A Taxi Driver (2017)
Not Rated | 137 min | Action, Drama, History
A widowed father and taxi driver who drives a German reporter from Seoul to Gwangju to cover the 1980 uprising, soon finds himself regretting his decision after being caught in the violence around him.
Director: Hun Jang | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Thomas Kretschmann, Yoo Hae-jin, Ryu Jun-Yeol
Votes: 31,202 | Gross: $1.53M
34. Live (2018)
60 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
The drama revolves around the incidents that occur among the police force and the joy, sorrow, and pain that police officers experience as they try to protect justice.
Stars: Jung Yu-mi, Lee Kwang-soo, Bae Sung-woo, Bae Jong-ok
Votes: 1,550
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