Korean series, or K-Dramas for short, have been enjoying increasing popularity in recent years. So it’s not surprising that the major streaming providers are increasingly including more and more productions from South Korea in their programs.
So-called K-Dramas are both television and web series from South Korea. Other media such as film or theater are not included. For a number of years, it has increasingly been observed that the productions are also well received outside of their own country.
Netflix has long been at the forefront of K-Dramas on streaming platforms. The fact that so many Korean series ended up with the provider probably also contributed to their spread. In the meantime, however, other streaming services have also jumped on the bandwagon. TECHBOOK shows where you can best stream South Korean series – and why the productions are so popular in the first place.
The history of Korean serials
Since the 1980s, it has been possible to observe that interest in K-Dramas has been growing steadily, both nationally and internationally. On the one hand, this was due to the massive development of technology at the time and the spread of television sets. On the other hand, the producing stations in South Korea are also opening up more and more thematic areas. From 1987, many regulations in the entertainment industry also fell away as a result of democratic developments in the country. This created a new competition between the two major broadcasters, KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) and SBS (Seoul Broadcasting System), which continues to this day.
After the K-Dramas first spread to neighboring countries such as Japan, China or Taiwan, the enthusiasm also reached the USA and Europe quite quickly. Experts speak of an essential building block of the “Korean Wave”; the internationally increasing enthusiasm for South Korean pop culture. The Hulu service, for example, made a decisive contribution to the distribution of Korean series in the United States. From there, the enthusiasm for initially mainly illegal services spilled over to Europe. From the 2010s, fans of K-Dramas were also able to stream more and more content via Netflix; since the series “Kingdom” (2019), the service has even produced its own “K-Dramas”.
Also interesting: The best K-Dramas on Netflix
K-Dramas are big business in Korea too
As has been the practice for years and in some cases still in the USA, it was and is common practice in South Korea to only shoot a few episodes before they are broadcast. Further production then takes place simultaneously, which enables the makers to react immediately to suggestions from fans. This enables fans to have a very close relationship with a series, especially in Korea itself. However, the practice described has increasingly receded into the background in recent years due to streaming services such as Netflix. Instead, a trend towards “cinematic drama” can be observed. The Korean broadcasters can better sell the planned and therefore higher quality productions abroad. Netflix and Co. rely on a quite cinematic aesthetic for their originals anyway.
Behind K-Dramas, but also the related K-Pop, there is a gigantic industry in South Korea. Within this cosmos, actors are referred to as “talents” who are often also active and/or model within a K-Pop group. This is one of the reasons why some streaming services are increasingly relying on K-Dramas. The enormous popularity of the medium and the professionalism of the already existing industry makes it easier to enter the Korean market, but also the Asian market in general.
Narrative Peculiarities of K-Dramas
If you compare K-Dramas with, for example, US series productions, you will quickly notice some differences. First of all, the form: Korean series are planned from the outset as a limited project with only one season. A season length of 16 to 24 episodes applies to the classic K-Dramas of the Korean stations. Each episode is approximately 40 minutes long. This means that K-Dramas are longer than classic mini-series but also significantly less extensive than most Western series productions.
In terms of content, the series from South Korea often revolve around the same core topics. Family, for example, almost always plays a central role, which is mainly due to the structure and values of South Korean society. It is often about the relationship between the generations and respect for the elderly. A conflict between old and new traditions is also often the subject of the plot. The country’s television history also results in a strong focus on the genres of romance, melodrama and history.
Internationally successful K-Dramas
While many Korean series are particularly well received nationally, there are now also some that are getting a lot of international attention.
“Reply 1988“ appeared on the channel tvN from 2015 to 2016 and can now be seen on Netflix. It’s about a group of five friends who live in Seoul in the 1980s. A major event in K-drama is the 1988 Olympics.
Another successful K-drama was “sand glass“. The series was released in 1995 and deals with the political and social upheavals in Korea in the 70s and 80s based on a tragic love triangle. “Sandglass” is considered one of the most important K-Dramas.
In the Netflix series “Crash Landing On YouIt’s about the conflict between North and South Korea. When a South Korean entrepreneur ends up in the neighboring country to the north during a storm, she runs into a North Korean officer. This constellation not only creates a love story, but also an exciting clash of two cultures.
“Eyes of Dawn‘ from 1991 is based on the novel of the same name. The series spans the period of Japanese occupation (from 1910) to the Korean War (1950) and was one of the biggest television productions of its time.
The Korean story also plays out in “Mr Sunshine“ a crucial role. A Korean returns home after years as a US officer. There he not only has to confront a political conspiracy, but also has to deal with internal tensions.
“It’s okay to not be okaytells the story of an emotionally jaded caregiver and a children’s book author who suffers from antisocial personality disorder.
In the early 2000s, “Winter Sonata“; to this day, the K-drama is considered the trigger for the “Korean Wave”. A musically talented boy moves to the province of Chuncheon to find his biological father. When he loses his memory in an accident, his mother sends him to the USA with a new identity. Years later, he encounters the people of Chuncheon again.
In “The Flower of Evil‘ in 2020, a marriage goes awry when the woman detective investigates a series of mysterious murders. She quickly realizes that her husband’s dark story has something to do with the deaths.
The best streaming providers
Despite, or perhaps because of, the enduring craze for K-Dramas, most still remain un-dubbed on the streaming platforms to this day. Instead, there is the original audio with subtitles. Series like “Squid Game”, which has been voiced in many countries, tend to be the exception.
In this country has above all Netflix a remarkable offering of Korean series. The K-Dramas often come onto the platform in full swing, but then remain available for a long time in the vast majority of cases. Netflix is now so involved in many productions that they are marketed as Netflix Originals. There are also some actual in-house productions such as “Love Alarm” or the aforementioned “Squid Game”, which is actually the most successful Netflix series of all time.
Those interested will also YouTube find some. Although you will find few of the big titles there, there are titles on the platform that are well worth seeing from time to time. For fans, it pays to keep an eye on specific channels for this. The account “K dramaFor example, she regularly publishes recommendations, trailers and complete subtitled episodes.
Also Netflix’ main competitor Disney+ seems to be slowly getting the hang of it. In addition to purchased productions from South Korea, the streaming service wants to produce K-Dramas itself from 2022. For example, a documentary about the K-pop group “Blackpink” was released in 2021 and the drama “Snowpdrop” in March 2022.
Less well known in this country, but absolutely recommendable Viki. The streaming platform belongs to Rakuten and specializes in Asian productions. There you will find many small and large K-Dramas, but also titles from other countries such as Japan. Meanwhile, Viki Originals also produces.