International fans have always loved them.
Sometimes the tastes of Korean and international viewers differ, so a series may be a complete hit for one audience, but a failure for another. Below, check out 12 Korean dramas that were mediocre in Korea but rose to fame overseas.
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Doom At Your Service
In the supernatural drama Doom At Your Service, Park Bo Young plays a woman with cancer who has only one hundred days to live. However, it is after cursing the world to be doomed that her wish is granted and the immortal Seo In Guk appears, spending the rest of his days with her in a climate of romance.
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Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo
Featuring exceptional actors such as Lee Jun Ki, IU, Kang Ha Neul, and more, this 2016 historical drama follows IU as she travels a thousand years in time, trapped in someone’s body else. This is how she finds herself in the middle of a power war and seizes the throne.
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Welcome To Waikiki
In 2018’s Welcome To Waikiki, we discover the story of three men who throw themselves headlong into running a guest house in order to finance the film project of their dreams. Very quickly, they realize that it is not as easy as they thought to make a profit.
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Nevertheless
While the plot of the 2021 drama disappointed Korean viewers and recorded extremely low viewership ratings, international fans appreciated the romance between the two characters which proves that opposites attract. We witness the story of a flirt who has avoided relationships and ends up with a girl who doesn’t believe in love, with a steamy chemistry that left fans blushing.
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Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo
Starring Moon Ga Young and Nam Joo Hyuk, 2016’s Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo is a breath of fresh air. International viewers followed the ups and downs of a group of college athletes, including weightlifter Kim Bok Joo, and loved the funny and heartfelt moments. The drama even inspired a restaurant in the Philippines, based on the one in the drama.
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tempted
Drawing inspiration from Pierre Choderlos De Laclos’ book Les Liaisons Dangereuses (1782), the 2018 series “Tempted” shows us what really happens when a rich young man seduces a student to win a bet but ends up falling instead lover.
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Uncontrollably Background
In 2016’s Uncontrollably Fond, a couple reunites years later after a difficult breakup. A famous actor and a documentary producer, played by Kim Woo Bin and Suzy respectively, meet and are offered a second chance, as romance begins to rekindle between them.
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Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth
Despite many famous faces like SHINee’s Minho, Park Hyung Sik, Park Seo Jun, Go Ara and BTS’s V, the 2016 historical drama “Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth” faced difficulties in reaching its initial viewership ratings . That didn’t stop the one-man band called Hwarang from making their way into the hearts of international fans while living in the Silla Kingdom. The actors remained friends even after the drama ended.
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True Beauty
In 2020’s True Beauty, based on Yaongyi’s webtoon of the same name, we find ASTRO’s Cha Eunwoo, Hwang In Yeop and Moon Ga Young, who happily played their roles. International viewers enjoyed the journey of a student whose life is turned upside down after she learns how to do makeup, as well as how the love triangle comes together.
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Extraordinary You
Starring SF9’s Rowoon and Kim Hye Yoon, 2019’s Extraordinary You captured viewers’ interest with its unique plot that features a high school girl experiencing memory lapses, only to realize she’s actually in a cartoon . It’s while trying to figure out what’s real that she meets a boy from high school who is a secondary character, and they team up together and strike up a romance along the way.
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It’s Okay To Not Be Okay
Starring Kim Soo Hyun and Seo Yea Ji, It’s Okay to Not Be Okay tells the story of an orderly in a psychiatric ward who takes care of his autistic older brother. He then meets a famous author of children’s books who is also antisocial, which leads them to clash at first.
While the drama’s success was mediocre in Korea, with an average audience rating of 5,4%, it was extremely popular overseas, even becoming the most popular K-drama of 2020 in many countries.
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My Demon
The drama My Demon, which stars Song Kang and Kim Yoo Jung, tells the story of a conglomerate heiress and a demon who end up intertwined in a contract marriage.
Despite an average audience rating of less than 4% during the broadcast period, this drama has won over international fans thanks to the chemistry between the main actors and the roller coaster of emotions that ensues.
What are your favorite K-dramas on this list?