It’s never too late to join the Korean wave, aka Hallyu. The rising popularity of the K-world is unstoppable and thus, here is the guide to some of the best K-dramas for beginners.
From Parasite to Squid Game, Korean dramas have reached the International market. However, most of the K-drama lovers are attracted to romantic comedy storylines. True Beauty, Crash Landing On You, and Strong Girl Bong-Soon are a few starters to enter this captivating world.
While the list is long, let’s take a look at some of the best K-dramas for beginners here:
True Beauty
True Beauty is a 2020 rom-com teenage K-drama, starring Cha Eun-Woo and Moon Ga-Young in lead roles. It is one of the best K-dramas for beginners. The story revolves around high-schooler Lim Joo-Kyung who is insecure about her appearance. Because of her looks, she has been bullied in her school.
After she moves to a new place and school, she decides to apply heavy makeup every day. While her school friends know her with make-up, a boy knows her true self. Lee Su-Ho falls in love with Joo-Kyung and also helps her several times in hiding her blemishes in front of others. He eventually makes her understand the real meaning of true beauty. True Beauty also includes a love triangle with Hwang In-Youp’s Seo-Jun.
Crash Landing On You
Crash Landing On You is one of the best K-dramas for beginners. In the 2019 series, Yoon Se-Ri (Ye-Jin) is a chaebol heiress who crash lands in North Korea after a paragliding accident. Hyun Bin’s Captain Ri Jeong-Hyeok finds her and helps her hide her identity on the North Korean land.
With his help, she eventually returns to her homeland. But it creates distance between the lovers. Their cross-border love story finds a common ground for a happy ending.
Boys Over Flowers
Boys Over Flowers is one of the classic Korean series that every K-drama lover should watch once in a lifetime. It is the story of a poor girl who gets transferred to an elite school and becomes the target of a rich boy group called F4. They prank and bully their targets brutally.
Jan-Di is not a weak girl, hence, she fights back and grabs the group leader Jun-Pyo’s attention. Soon, he starts to pursue her but many obstacles come in between them. The storyline also consists of a love triangle between the lead pair and another F4 member named Ji-Hoo. Boys Over Flowers cast includes Lee Min-Ho, Koo Hye-Sun, Kim Hyun-Joong, Kim Bum, and Kim Joon in pivotal roles.
Strong Girl Bong-Soon
One of the best K-dramas for beginners is Strong Girl Bong-Soon. Starring Park Bo-Young as Do Bong-Soon and Park Hyung-Sik as Ahn Min-Hyun, the 2017 series revolves around a girl with superhuman strength inherited from her mother’s side.
CEO Min-Hyun is shocked and impressed with Bong-Soon’s powers and thus hires her to be his bodyguard. Min-Hyun starts to fall for her but she has deep feelings for her childhood friend Gook-Doo. However, things do not go as planned and she finds herself falling for her boss. The K-drama is also one of the best office rom-com.
Itaewon Class
Itaewon Class is perfect for those beginners who are not much into romance K-dramas. The 2020 series stars Park Seo-Joon as Sae-Ro-Yi who has a temper issue which lands him in jail. When he comes out of prison, he decides to seek justice in his own way for his father’s death.
His rival is a business tycoon who has a chain of hotels and can get away with any crime. With the help of a stubborn girl named Yi-Seo, Sae-Ro-Yi becomes successful. The K-drama focuses on friendship, love, and ambition.
All the aforementioned Korean dramas are available on Netflix.
