Among the series that deal with time travel, which come to mind? Maybe “Doctor Who”, “Outlander” or “Quantum Leap”? But what about “Reborn Rich,” “A Time Called You” and “Lovely Runner”? If you haven’t heard of these last three, you’re not up to date when it comes to K-dramas. Many South Korean series incorporate time travel elements, but they tend to do so in a way that emphasizes relationships and intrigue over sci-fi elements. Indeed, even series that focus on science fiction and fantasy emphasize the relationships not only between the protagonists, but also between their group of friends and their family.
So one might wonder why the theme of time travel is so popular in Korean series. In addition to adding a relatively unique element that differentiates the plots from other series, there is also a very visceral component and K-drama storylines shine in their ability to tell stories of love and revenge. There is no better way to convey these ideas than to show how love and revenge transcend all boundaries, even time. So, below we bring you 12 of the best time travel K-dramas.
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Lovely Runner (2024)
Starring Kim Hye-yoon (“SKY Castle,” “Extraordinary You”) and Byeon Woo-seok (“Record of Youth,” “Strong Girl Nam-soon”) in her debut role, “Lovely Runner” is the unexpected success of this year. Despite its action-packed side and intrigue, “Lovely Runner” is above all a story of eternal love and sacrifice.
While Sun-jae (played by Byeon) is an isolated superstar, Im-sol (Kim) is a die-hard fan who would do anything to support him and both are 34 years old and wish their lives had turned out differently. We discover throughout the plot that this unlikely couple has a shared history of doing whatever it takes to protect each other, including traveling through time knowing that they cannot – not be able to return home, or even see each other again.
What sets him apart from many K-pop idols who are also actors such as IU, Bae Suzy, Rowoon, Yoona, Cha Eun-woo, DO is that the male lead is not a trained singer, on the contrary ; Byeon plays the leader of the fictional boy band Eclipse well enough that “Sudden Shower”, a recurring song from the drama’s OST that he performs, charted on the Billboard in real life. This k-drama is available on Viki.
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signals (2016)
This time travel crime series features two police officers (played by Lee Je-Hoon and Choi Jin-woong) who communicate with each other while living decades apart. With one in the past and the other in the future, they are able to prevent tragedies and close cases that seemed unsolvable. Kim Hye-soo (“Hyena”) is to be commended for her portrayal of the squad’s first female police officer, as although she was initially seen as just the department’s cafe waitress, she grew into a fierce leader and efficient.
This k-drama is available on Netflix, Paramount+
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Reborn Rich (2022)
It is not for nothing that this series was the most watched of the year 2022 in South Korea. In this series about time travel and reincarnation, Song Joong-ki explores the world of chaebols, the family businesses that dominate the country’s economy, through the perspective of a diligent employee trying to to do what is necessary, but who finds himself at the door for his misfortune. When he should be dead, he wakes up in the past realizing his former identity, while in the prepubescent body of the youngest member of a privileged chaebol family.
As he grows into his role, he uses his knowledge of the future (by investing in “Titanic” before its release) to reinvent himself in the past while plotting revenge against his new family who orchestrated the death of his former Me. What complicates all of this is the relationship he has with his “grandfather”, a difficult man whom he has learned to respect.
This k-drama is available on Viki
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Go Back Couple (2017)
After 14 years of marriage, Jin-joo (Jang Na-ra) and Ban-do (Son Ho-jun), two college sweethearts, bicker more than they talk and what happens next from a series of misunderstandings that they wonder why they got married to the point of deciding to divorce. However, after throwing away their rings, they wake up in their respective childhood bedrooms which initially delights them because they are young and carefree again, seeing parents who are not yet dead.
It is then by reliving their youth that they realize that their years of study were not as idyllic as they had imagined.
This k-drama is available on Viki, Kocowa, Prime Video
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A Time Called You (2023)
It’s a remake of the Taiwanese series “Someday or One Day” which has everything to please, whether it’s time travel, body changes or even lookalikes! Actors Jeon Yeo-been and Ahn Hyo-seop each play two characters whose past and future are controlled by an old cassette player with a pop song on it that allows them to have a say in what their life is meant to be.
It’s also a film full of twists and turns, including a serial killer plot, and a selfless and beautifully poetic ending. However, viewers who like happy endings may be frustrated by the lack of a definitive ending.
This k-drama is available on Netflix
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The King: Eternal Monarch (2020)
Taking place in parallel universes, this K-drama marks the return of Lee Min-ho after completing his mandatory military service in 2019. He plays the monarch of the Kingdom of Corea, a unified country whose capital is in Busan, while the other universe takes place in Seoul, where Tae-eul (Kim Go-eun) works as a detective. It is after discovering a portal that allows him to travel between the two cosmos that the king sets out to discover who saved him from death by a traitor, which leads us to wonder if it is Tae Who traveled in time? Or someone else who is not what they seem?
This k-drama is available on Netflix
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Tomorrow With You (2017)
After nearly dying in an accident, So-joon (Le Je-hoon) discovers that he has the ability to project himself into the future and return home in the past thanks to a subway ride, which allows him to invest in safe stocks and real estate transactions that will allow him to become a very rich man. It is then that he meets Ma-rin (Shin Min-a), whose childhood stardom did not do him much good, and that he falls in love with her. He foresees her imminent death and therefore uses his time traveling abilities to protect her, but the problem is that a life saved results in the death of one of the characters in the series.
This k-drama is available on Tubi, Roku
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Again My Life (2022)
In this action k-drama, we find Lee Joon-gi who brilliantly plays the role of Hee-woo, a fearless prosecutor who is murdered early on. He takes his trouble patiently when an omnipotent being brings him back to life in the form of a student and he is obviously the smartest in the school thanks to the time he has already spent as a lawyer seasoned. His memory also allows him to make decisions based on what he already knows about the future. Although Hee-woo still has years before he can put all of his knowledge into practice, he uses his new connections to bring down the man who orchestrated his destruction when he ascends to a position of power.
Martial arts fans will appreciate the fact that Lee, a black belt in taekwondo, performs most of his fights himself.
This k-drama is available on Viki
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Sisyphus (2021)
While Tae-sul (Cho Seung-woo) is a brilliant inventor, Park Shin-hye is a warrior from the future whose mission is to stop him from creating a time machine that will ultimately destroy South Korea . These two characters go back and forth to find allies but also enemies, however a problem awaits them because each of them exists in all eras and cannot be in the same place. Indeed, getting too close to their past or present can make them disappear from reality.
This k-drama is available on Netflix
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Twinkling Watermelon (2023)
This is an exciting series that addresses the question every teenager asks, were my parents always this boring? For Eun-gyeol (Ryeoun), the answer is both yes and no, because after arguing with his father Yi-chan (played as an adult by Choi Won-young and as a teenager by Choi Hyun -wook), who does not want him to pursue a career in music, the young boy finds himself taken back to the time when his hearing-impaired father was a high school student.
Dismayed to see his father desperate to date another girl (who is not his mother!), Eun-gyeol comes up with a scheme to push him towards the right girl, while making it his mission to prevent his father from have an accident that leaves him hard of hearing.
This k-drama is available Viki
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Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938 (2023)
In this sequel to 2020’s “Tale of the Nine Tailed,” our charismatic gumiho, a mythological nine-tailed fox with superpowers, is transported to 1938, when Imperial Japan occupied Korea. Eager to return home, he joins the freedom fighters who are desperately trying to free their country.
What makes this K-drama intriguing is the action, namely the backstabbing and sword slashing, but above all it is the peaceful relationship between the alpha guimho Lee Yeon (Lee Dong- wook) and his half-human brother Lee Rang (Kim Bum) who makes this K-drama a film in its own right.
This k-drama is available Prime Video
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Marry My Husband (2024)
It is in the role of a shy woman mistreated by her unfaithful husband (Lee Yi-kyung) and gassed by her best friend (Song Ha-yoon), that Park Min-young, the queen of K-drama, plays in this film. After his death, she mysteriously wakes up ten years earlier and quickly realizes that she can change her destiny by passing on her misery to someone else, leading her to convince another woman to marry her husband.
There is also a subplot involving a rich and attractive man (Na In-woo), who has secrets of his own, but the best part of the series is seeing our heroine use what she knows about the future to rectify her past and thus create a life worth living.
This k-drama is available on Prime Video.
So among the k-dramas on this list, which one is your favorite?