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100-564: It was among the top-rated Korean dramas of the year; it maintained its number one spot in the viewership ratings chart for 20 consecutive weeks and reached a peak rating of 47.1% for its last episode. Go Eun-sung ( Han Hyo-joo ) was studying overseas in New York and returned to Korea during her vacation to bring her autistic brother, Eun-woo ( Yeon Joon-seok ), to the United States to study music. Sunwoo Hwan ( Lee Seung-gi ), who

200-658: A Gumiho ; Kim Soon-ok , the screenwriter of The Penthouse: War in Life , The Last Empress , Band of Sisters , Jang Bo-ri is Here! and Temptation of Wife ; Kim Eun-sook , the screenwriter of Lovers in Paris , Secret Garden , The Heirs , Descendants of the Sun , Guardian: The Lonely and Great God , and The Glory ; Lee Kyung-hee , famous for I'm Sorry, I Love You and The Innocent Man ; male writer Choi Wan-kyu of Midas and Triangle ; Noh Hee-kyung ,

300-586: A Korean program in the last year, and in April 2023, it announced that it would invest US$ 2.5 billion in the industry. The success of Korean dramas has had a significant economic impact on South Korea. In 2022, US$ 561.3 million of Korean television content was sold abroad, which was a 29.6% increase from the previous year, surpassing those of South Korea's major export items such as secondary batteries and electric vehicles . The industry also employs tens of thousands of people. Korean dramas have also been cited as

400-437: A brief freedom from censorship in the early 1960s, between the administrations of Syngman Rhee and Park Chung Hee . Kim Ki-young 's The Housemaid (1960) and Yu Hyun-mok 's Obaltan (1960) , now considered among the best South Korean films ever made, were produced during this time. Kang Dae-jin's The Coachman (1961) became the first South Korean film to win an award at an international film festival when it took home

500-416: A budget of ₩2 billion per episode, while ₩3 billion were spent on each episode of Sweet Home . Often, production companies overrun their budgets and cannot pay salaries. In 2012, actors held a demonstration in front of the headquarters of KBS , expressing their concerns. Actors are usually paid after the last episode is aired. In series made by smaller production companies, there have been cases where

600-664: A contributing factor to the popularity of Korean dramas among women. Radio broadcasting, including the broadcasting of radio dramas in Korea, began in 1927 under Japanese rule, with most programming in Japanese and around 30% in Korean. After the Korean War , radio dramas such as Cheongsilhongsil (1954) reflected the country's mood. Television broadcasting began in 1956 with the launch of an experimental station, HLKZ-TV, which

700-411: A distributor of Korean TV series, thinks that Korean soundtracks are polished enough musically to be considered standalone hits. During the 2000s, it became customary for lead actors to participate in original soundtracks, also partially due to the employment of K-pop stars as actors. Actor Lee Min-ho , and leader of boy band SS501 , Kim Hyun-joong both recorded songs for Boys Over Flowers , while

800-497: A few hours before daily shooting, and the crew might receive only a few ready pages. The production usually works with three camera crews , who work in a rotating manner to speed up filming. Because of unregulated script changes and tight shooting schedules, actors are almost continuously on standby, and have no time to leave the set or sleep properly. The Korean media have a separate word to describe irregular, short sleeps that actors resort to, in often uncomfortable positions, or within

900-509: A few or repetitive, their choosing process is not considered easy since they are made to convey emotions or scenes. Rocoberry , who composed the soundtrack for Guardian: The Lonely and Great God , created 12 different compositions before I Will Go to You Like the First Snow was chosen, and rewrote it seven times before it got the approval of the production team. OST composers usually look for singers who have previously had success in

1000-444: A film producer and distributor as part of both its international growth strategy in search of new markets and its drive to find new content for consumers in the U.S. market amid the " streaming wars " with Disney , which has a Korean subsidiary, and other competitors. The earliest movie theaters in the country opened during the late Joseon to Korean Empire periods. The first was Ae Kwan Theater , followed by Dansungsa . With

1100-472: A growing international audience. These efforts came to fruition when Hwang Dong-hyuk 's Squid Game drew in more than 111 million viewers within 17 days of its released in September 2021, becoming the service's most-watched program. In the 2020s, several production companies began to produce dramas even before the first season was aired, keeping in mind the season system. The most representative series

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1200-438: A lot. tvN extended one episode of the drama to 2 hours and 20 minutes. delaying it to the late night of another drama. In particular, the running time of the last episode of Hospital Playlist was close to three hours, but even though it was reduced after editing, it delayed the formation of the next The Road: The Tragedy of One to late night as it passed two hours. And MBC canceled telenovela The Second Husband and reran

1300-434: A majority of them being short films. The films listed reflect such films and reveal how diverse the representations can be. Korean horror entered its first fertile period in the 1960s. Modern South Korean horror films are typically distinguished by stylish directing, themes of social commentary, and genre blending. Horror films are designed to 'cool' the audience; traditionally, horror films are screened domestically during

1400-504: A motivation for tourists to visit the country . A single director usually leads Korean dramas, which are often written by a single screenwriter. This often leads to each drama having distinct directing and dialogue styles. This differs from American television series, which can rely on multiple directors and writers working together. The 19:00 to 21:00 evening time slots have usually been reserved for daily dramas, which run every night from Monday through Friday. Dramas in these slots are in

1500-487: A multitude of different genre such as action dramas, historical dramas, school dramas, medical dramas, legal dramas, or even horror comedies. While most dramas contain romantic elements and deep emotional themes, some may also contain a tragedy or slice of life theme. There are various styles and tones. The main themes of Korean television dramas are friendship, family values, and love, blending traditional Confucian with Western materialism and individualism. However, it

1600-402: A neighborhood that she used to live in when she was poor and encountered Eun-sung, who was selling dumplings. Sook-ja encountered an accident and received help from Eun-sung. Seeing that Eun-sung tried her best to take care of her even when she could not afford her own daily expenses, Sook-ja was touched by Eun-sung's compassion. She brought Eun-sung home, then announced to her family that Eun-sung

1700-459: A race for catching viewers' attention. The first real commercial success among Korean television series was Eyes of Dawn (여명의 눈동자, Yeomyeongui nundongja), aired in 1991 by MBC, starring Chae Shi-ra and Choi Jae-sung . The series led the viewers through turbulent times from the Japanese rule to the Korean War . The 1992 MBC miniseries Jealousy starring Choi Jin-sil and Choi Soo-jong

1800-576: A researcher at the University of Vienna , popularity of Korean dramas have their foundation in Confucian values they transmit, which Asian viewers can easily identify with. Respect for elders, filial piety, family-orientedness, and the display of perceived "Asian moral values" play an important role in Korean series. YA Entertainment, the American distributor of Korean dramas, believes that part of

1900-483: A thief who subsequently died in a gas explosion accident. The police, upon finding Pyung-joong's belongings on the thief, mistakenly identified the thief as him and a death certificate for Pyung-joong was promptly issued. He decided to lie low and not tell his family that he was alive so that his family could claim his life insurance money and use it to clear the debts. However his second wife, Baek Sung-hee ( Kim Mi-sook ), kicked her stepchildren, Eun-sung and Eun-woo, out of

2000-561: A year. Government censorship targeted obscenity, communism , and unpatriotic themes in films. Nonetheless, the Motion Picture Law's limit on imported films resulted in a boom of domestic films. South Korean filmmakers had to work quickly to meet public demand, and many films were shot in only a few weeks. During the 1960s, the most popular South Korean filmmakers released six to eight films per year. Notably, director Kim Soo-yong released ten films in 1967, including Mist , which

2100-402: Is The Penthouse: War in Life series, which gained sensational popularity as it aired over three seasons. The biggest reason why Korean dramas introduced the season system is interpreted as changes in the industry due to the 52-hour workweek, viewers' rejection of feature-length dramas, and excessive supply of dramas. At the same time, MBC and tvN's anomalous organization began to be criticized

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2200-496: Is also the first female television producer employed by Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC). Music plays an important role in Korean dramas. Original soundtracks , abbreviated OST's, are explicitly made for each series, and in contrast to American series, fans have a need to buy the soundtrack album of dramas. This trend started in the 1990s, when producers swapped purely instrumental soundtracks for songs performed by popular K-pop singers. Tom Larsen, director of YA Entertainment,

2300-468: Is an emerging trend amongst Korean dramas to showcase ongoing societal issues of Korean society, such as stigma of mental illness, gender inequality, suicide, classism, bullying , spy cameras , corruption , homophobia, or racism. The term sageuk refers to any Korean television or film drama that is either based on historical figures , incorporates historical events, or uses a historical backdrop. While sageuk directly translates to "historical drama",

2400-477: Is considered the first "trendy drama", marking a breakthrough in filming techniques and the beginning of the romantic comedy genre in Korean dramas. The series depicted the lifestyles of young people of the era and is one of the first dramas to air in China, along with Eyes of Dawn. New channel SBS also produced successful series, one of them being Sandglass in 1995. Sandglass was another trendy drama, which

2500-507: Is considered to be his greatest work. In 1967, South Korea's first animated feature film , Hong Kil-dong , was released. A handful of animated films followed including Golden Iron Man (1968), South Korea's first science-fiction animated film. Government control of South Korea's film industry reached its height during the 1970s under President Park Chung Hee's authoritarian " Yusin System ." The Korean Motion Picture Promotion Corporation

2600-521: Is regarded as a milestone of Korean television, having recorded a 78% viewership. "Streets became quiet at around the airing time of the drama as 'practically everyone in the country' was at home in front of the TV", according to The Korea Times . The most outstanding classical historical series of the era is considered to be 500 Years of Joseon (조선왕조500년, Joseonwangjo 500 nyeon), a serial that ran for eight years, consisting of 11 separate series. The serial

2700-586: Is regulated by the Korea Communications Commission, and was implemented in 2000. According to the system, programs, including Korean dramas, are rated according to the following principles (ratings irrelevant to dramas are omitted): Chimaek , a term registered in the Oxford English Dictionary , refers to chicken (especially, Korean fried chicken ( 치킨 )) and beer . Pojangmacha are tent restaurants on

2800-532: Is the Invisible Age (1945–1997), where films with queer themes have received limited attention as well as discrete representations due to societal pressures, the Camouflage Age (1998–2004) characterized by a more liberal political and social sphere that encouraged filmmakers to increase production of LGBTQ films and experiment more with their overt depictions but still remaining hesitant, and finally,

2900-601: Is the kind of knowledge that is difficult to transfer to another person by means of writing it down or verbalizing it." (Ingyu, 2017) K-dramas have an especially large female presence that makes up their following and representation. The female fandom is specifically targeted, and tacit knowledge is applied most effectively in this area. The Korean actors show a wide range of emotions, and many adlib without prompting, even producing genuine tears without assistance. The acting of women in K-dramas appeals to women universally, showing

3000-499: The 92nd Academy Awards , Parasite became the first South Korean film to receive any sort of Academy Awards recognition, receiving six nominations. It won Best Picture , Best Director , Best International Feature Film and Best Original Screenplay , becoming the first film produced entirely by an Asian country to receive a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Picture since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon , as well as

3100-595: The Beijing Metro Reader ) are women, who not only write love stories but action series as well. Compared to Korean cinema , television is more appealing for scriptwriters as contract conditions are better, acknowledgment is greater, and the salary is higher. Famous scriptwriters tend to have a say in their field. The most well-known scriptwriters include the Hong sisters , who wrote popular series such as My Girl , You're Beautiful and My Girlfriend Is

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3200-1030: The Grand Bell Awards , which were established in 1962, and the Blue Dragon Film Awards , which were established in 1963. Other awards ceremonies include the Baeksang Arts Awards , the Korean Association of Film Critics Awards , and the Busan Film Critics Awards . Founded in 1996, the Busan International Film Festival is South Korea's major film festival and has grown to become one of the largest and most prestigious film events in Asia. The first South Korean film to win an award at an international film festival

3300-553: The Korean Culture and Information Service considers an important milestone, having changed the way Korean dramas are made by introducing a new format. In this decade, the new miniseries format became widespread, with 12 to 24 episodes. The term Hallyu (Korean : 한류 ) which comes from Mandarin 韓流, (Pinyin: hán liú ) was coined in the late 1990s after the success of Star in My Heart in China, and its popularity elevated

3400-486: The Korean War , government censorship , the business sector, globalization, and the democratization of South Korea . The golden age of South Korean cinema in the mid-20th century produced what are considered two of the best South Korean films of all time, The Housemaid (1960) and Obaltan (1961), while the industry's revival with the Korean New Wave from the late 1990s to the present produced both of

3500-515: The surrender of Japan in 1945 and the subsequent liberation of Korea , freedom became the predominant theme in South Korean cinema in the late 1940s and early 1950s. One of the most significant films from this era is director Choi In-gyu's Viva Freedom! (1946) , which is notable for depicting the Korean independence movement . The film was a major commercial success because it tapped into

3600-497: The telenovela format, rarely running over 150 episodes. Unlike American soap operas , these daily dramas are not broadcast during the daytime. Instead, the daytime schedule often includes reruns of the flagship dramas. The nighttime dailies can achieve very high ratings. During the late 2000s, for example, the weekend series First Wives' Club recorded 41.3%, according to TNS Korea, and the evening series Temptation of Wife peaked at 40.6%, according to TNS Korea. K-dramas have

3700-656: The 1970s were unpopular with audiences who had become accustomed to seeing real-life social issues onscreen during the 1950s and 1960s. In addition to government interference, South Korean filmmakers began losing their audience to television, and movie-theater attendance dropped by over 60 percent from 1969 to 1979. Films that were popular among audiences during this era include Yeong-ja's Heydays (1975) and Winter Woman (1977), both box office hits directed by Kim Ho-sun . Yeong-ja's Heydays and Winter Women are classified as "hostess films," which are movies about prostitutes and bargirls . Despite their overt sexual content,

3800-462: The 1980s, after the spread of color television. Beginning in the early 1990s, several Korean dramas began achieving significant international popularity, primarily in China and Japan. In addition, South Korean popular music (" K-pop ") and films began seeing similar successes, which gave rise to rapid international adoption of South Korean media in a phenomenon commonly called the Korean Wave. In

3900-584: The 2000s, due in part to filmmaker Park Chan-wook , whose movie Oldboy (2003) won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and was praised by American directors including Quentin Tarantino and Spike Lee , the latter of whom directed the remake Oldboy (2013). Director Bong Joon-ho 's The Host (2006) and later the English-language film Snowpiercer (2013), are among

4000-468: The Blockbuster Age (2005–present) where LGBTQ themed films began to enter the mainstream following the push against censorship by independent films prior. Though queer Korean cinema has mainly been represented through independent films and short films, there exists a push for the inclusion of LGBTQ representation in the cinema as well as a call for attention to these films. Turning points include

4100-545: The English language and although its origins held negative connotations, reclamation of the term began in the 1980s in the U.S. and has come to encompass non-heteronormative sexualities even outside of the U.S. Thus, queer cinema in South Korea can be thought of as encompassing depictions of non-heteronormative sexualities. On this note, LGBTQ and queer have been used interchangeably by critics of South Korean cinema. While

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4200-645: The Equator , screens countrywide went black for 10 minutes. Actor Kwon Sang-woo was openly complaining that he was still shooting King of Ambition 30 minutes before the last episode began airing. In South Korea, some production teams still do planning and scheduling manually, instead of using dedicated software. In 2016, dramas such as Descendants of the Sun , Uncontrollably Fond , Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo and Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth were all pre-produced before airing. Nonetheless, some pre-produced episodes are often re-edited or even reshot

4300-695: The Great . Contemporary series dealt with personal sufferings, such as Kim Soo-hyun 's influential Stepmother (새엄마, Saeeomma), aired by MBC in 1972 and 1973. As technology and funding was limited, Korean channels could not make series in resource-heavy genres like action and science fiction ; American and other foreign series were imported instead. The 1980s saw a change in Korean television, as color TV became available. Modern dramas tried to evoke nostalgia from urban dwellers by depicting rural life. Kim Soo-hyun 's first real commercial success, Love and Ambition (사랑과 야망, Saranggwa yamang), aired on MBC in 1987 and

4400-422: The Korean government cut its annual screen quota for domestic films from 146 days to 73 (allowing more foreign films to enter the market). In February 2006, South Korean movie workers responded to the reduction by staging mass rallies in protest. According to Kim Hyun, "South Korea's movie industry, like that of most countries, is grossly overshadowed by Hollywood. The nation exported US$ 2 million-worth of movies to

4500-607: The Silver Bear Jury Prize at the 1961 Berlin International Film Festival . When Park Chung Hee became acting president in 1962, government control over the film industry increased substantially. Under the Motion Picture Law of 1962, a series of increasingly restrictive measures was enacted that limited imported films under a quota system. The new regulations also reduced the number of domestic film-production companies from 71 to 16 within

4600-439: The South Korean government lifted all restrictions on foreign films, and American film companies began to set up offices in South Korea. In order for domestic films to compete, the government once again enforced a screen quota that required movie theaters to show domestic films for at least 146 days per year. However, despite the quota, the market share of domestic films was only 16 percent by 1993. The South Korean film industry

4700-616: The Star , led music charts in Hong Kong , Taiwan, South Korea, and other Asian countries. It also won the Best OST award at the 2014 Baeksang Arts Awards . The soundtrack album of You're Beautiful sold 57,000 physical copies. Performers of OST songs for action series Iris held two concerts in Japan in front of an audience of 60,000 people. Although the songs in Korean dramas may be

4800-861: The United States last year and imported $ 35.9 million-worth". One of the first blockbusters was Kang Je-gyu 's Shiri (1999), a film about a North Korean spy in Seoul . It was the first film in South Korean history to sell more than two million tickets in Seoul alone. Shiri was followed by other blockbusters including Park Chan-wook 's Joint Security Area (2000), Kwak Jae-yong 's My Sassy Girl (2001), Kwak Kyung-taek 's Friend (2001), Kang Woo-suk 's Silmido (2003), and Kang Je-gyu 's Taegukgi (2004). In fact, both Silmido and Taegukgi were seen by 10 million people domestically—about one-quarter of South Korea's entire population. South Korean films began attracting significant international attention in

4900-650: The United States, China, and other markets. The Busan International Film Festival has also grown to become Asia's largest and most important film festival. American film studios have also set up local subsidiaries like Warner Bros. Korea and 20th Century Fox Korea to finance Korean films like The Age of Shadows (2016) and The Wailing (2016), putting them in direct competition with Korea's Big Four vertically integrated domestic film production and distribution companies: Lotte Cultureworks (formerly Lotte Entertainment), CJ Entertainment , Next Entertainment World (NEW), and Showbox . Netflix has also entered Korea as

5000-844: The Wind , Deep Rooted Tree , My Love from the Star and Hyena . In recent years, director Jo Hyun-tak was also propelled to fame through his works Sky Castle , which became one of the highest rated dramas in Korean cable television history , and Snowdrop , which, despite its alleged historical distortions, was ranked first among the most-watched series on Disney+ in Asian countries like Singapore and South Korea. While scriptwriters are mostly women, directors are usually men. Some female directors have risen to prominence, such as Lee Na-jeong ( 이나정 ), who directed The Innocent Man , and Lee Yun-jeong ( 이윤정 ), whose most famous works are Coffee Prince and Heart to Heart . The latter director

5100-554: The actors of You're Beautiful formed a fictional band and held concerts, where they perform the soundtracks live. OST songs of popular K-dramas can also become hits on regular music charts, with good sales of both physical and digital albums. The chart performance of the OST songs usually co-relate to the popularity of the drama. Songs from the OST of Secret Garden for example, had high digital sales and high rankings on music charts. My Destiny , performed by Lyn for My Love from

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5200-525: The attractiveness of these series come from the quality of camera work, scenic locations, and spectacular costumes, which make the "final product very stylish and attractive, with arguably some of the highest TV production values in the world." Korean series follow their own formula, are innovative and don't conform to Western television productions. Stephan Lee from Entertainment Weekly called Korean dramas "fascinating and weirdly comforting". Exports of Korean series yielded US$ 37.5 million in 2003, which

5300-532: The author of That Winter, the Wind Blows ; and It's Okay, That's Love ; and Park Ji-eun , who wrote My Husband Got a Family , My Love from the Star , The Producers , Legend of the Blue Sea and Crash Landing on You . In particular, writer Kim Soon-ok is famous for captivating male viewers who did not watch dramas well. In 2021, an article called "Kim Soon-ok, Kim Eun-sook, and Kim Eun-hee"

5400-404: The channels; a primary copy and a backup copy. However, due to the tight filming schedules, a 70-minute episode might arrive at the broadcasting station on seven separate tapes in ten-minute installments. It happened that while the episode is being broadcast, the crew would be still shooting the last minutes or cutting the rest of the episode. During the airing of the nineteenth episode of Man from

5500-400: The characteristics that constitute a film as LGBTQ can be subjective due to defining the term "queer" as well as how explicit or implicit LGBTQ representation is in a film, there are a number of films that have been considered as such in Korean cinema. According to Pil Ho Kim, Korean queer cinema can be categorized into three different categories regarding visibility and public reception. There

5600-458: The companies went bankrupt and could not pay their actors and crew, while the channel denied all responsibility, claiming all liability was with the bankrupt production firm. Producer Kim Jong-hak spent ₩10 billion on Faith , which was considered a commercial failure, resulting in the inability of Kim to pay crew salaries and other overheads. Kim, who had produced iconic dramas such as Eyes of Dawn and Sandglass , committed suicide after he

5700-400: The country after the war that provided South Korean filmmakers with equipment and technology to begin producing more films. Though filmmakers were still subject to government censorship, South Korea experienced a golden age of cinema, mostly consisting of melodramas , starting in the mid-1950s. The number of films made in South Korea increased from only 15 in 1954 to 111 in 1959. One of

5800-409: The country's highest-grossing films , The Admiral: Roaring Currents (2014) and Extreme Job (2019), as well as prize winners on the festival circuit including Golden Lion recipient Pietà (2012) and Palme d'Or recipient and Academy Award winner Parasite (2019) and international cult classics including Oldboy (2003), Snowpiercer (2013), and Train to Busan (2016). With

5900-757: The day of airing, due to audience feedback. The larger broadcasting companies have their own dedicated shooting locations for historical dramas, with extensive and elaborate sets. MBC's series are shot at the Yongin Daejanggeum Park in Gyeonggi Province , while KBS dramas utilize the Mungyeongsaejae Studio (문경새재 KBS촬영장) in North Gyeongsang Province and their studio in Suwon . In April 2023, it

6000-668: The dismantling of the much stricter Korean Performing Arts Ethics Committee and the emergence of the Korean Council for Performing Arts Promotions and the "Seoul Queer Film and Video Festival" in 1998 after the original gay and lesbian film festival was shut down by Korean authorities. The Korea Queer Film Festival , part of the Korea Queer Culture Festival, has also pushed for visibility of queer Korean films. LGBTQ films by openly LGBTQ identifying directors have historically been released independently, with

6100-481: The early 1960s, but were mostly consumed domestically until the rise of the Korean Wave in the 1990s. They have since achieved significant international popularity, with millions of viewers across the world. Beginning around the 1970s, more and more households in South Korea owned televisions. Programs were often produced on low budgets and were mostly consumed domestically. The industry significantly developed in

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6200-459: The episodes in the shortest time possible. In contrast to practices elsewhere, the first four episodes of Korean series are usually shot in advance, but the rest are shot continuously as the series is being aired. Scripts are not finished in advance, and may change according to viewer feedback and viewership ratings, where popular characters receive increased screen time and plotlines are changed to match audience expectations. These changes may occur

6300-416: The film industry. However, they had already laid the groundwork for a renaissance in South Korean film-making by supporting young directors and introducing good business practices into the industry. "New Korean Cinema," including glossy blockbusters and creative genre films, began to emerge in the late 1990s and 2000s. South Korean cinema saw domestic box-office success exceeding that of Hollywood films in

6400-496: The first film not in English ever to win the Oscar for Best Picture. LGBTQ films and representations of LGBTQ characters in South Korean cinema can be seen since the beginning of South Korean cinema despite public perceptions of South Korea as being largely anti-LGBT. Defining "queer cinema" has been up for debate by critics of cinema because of the difficulties in defining " queer " in film contexts. The term "queer" has its roots in

6500-599: The first time in a significant way. Director Im Kwon-taek 's Mandala (1981) won the Grand Prix at the 1981 Hawaii Film Festival, and he soon became the first Korean director in years to have his films screened at European film festivals. His film Gilsoddeum (1986) was shown at the 36th Berlin International Film Festival , and actress Kang Soo-yeon won Best Actress at the 1987 Venice International Film Festival for her role in Im's film, The Surrogate Woman . In 1988,

6600-551: The following decades, viewership spread throughout the globe. Rapid growth continued into the 2010s, with the rise in online streaming . Around this period, the American video streaming company Netflix took interest in the phenomenon, and began releasing Korean dramas on its platform, as well as creating and funding ones. This culminated in the release of the 2021 Squid Game , which was watched by more than 142 million households in its first four weeks. In 2022, Netflix reported that six in ten of its 221 million subscribers had watched

6700-477: The gender roles typically expected of men. Rather than focusing on being "macho" or "manly," men adopt more feminine and androgynous looks in order to cater to female fans. There is a great focus on the beauty techniques used, ranging from makeup all the way to cosmetic surgeries. The androgyny in K-drama, as well as K-pop, is a common phenomenon and draws the attention of women through global targeting. According to

6800-641: The genre. Songs are written to reflect the mood of the series and their structure. Sometimes performers give their own songs for a series. For example, Baek Ji-young thought her song That Man , originally written for her own album, would fit Secret Garden . There are popular OST singers who are often employed, like Baek Ji-young, Lyn, and Lee Seung-cheol . Sometimes, foreign singers are invited to perform songs for Korean OST. For instance, Swedish artist Lasse Lindh sang several songs for series like Angel Eyes , Soul Mate , I Need Romance , and Guardian: The Lonely and Great God . The television rating system

6900-470: The government allowed the films to be released, and the genre was extremely popular during the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1980s, the South Korean government began to relax its censorship and control of the film industry. The Motion Picture Law of 1984 allowed independent filmmakers to begin producing films, and the 1986 revision of the law allowed more films to be imported into South Korea. Meanwhile, South Korean films began reaching international audiences for

7000-535: The government were allowed to release new films. Members of the film industry who tried to bypass censorship laws were blacklisted and sometimes imprisoned. One such blacklisted filmmaker, the prolific director Shin Sang-ok , was kidnapped by the North Korean government in 1978 after the South Korean government revoked his film-making license in 1975. The propaganda-laden movies (or "policy films") produced in

7100-494: The highest-grossing films of all time in South Korea and were praised by foreign film critics. Yeon Sang-ho 's Train to Busan (2016), also one of the highest-grossing films of all time in South Korea, became the second highest-grossing film in Hong Kong in 2016. In 2019, Bong Joon-ho's Parasite became the first film from South Korea to win the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival . At

7200-406: The house after collecting the insurance money and moved into a new home with her daughter, Yoo Seung-mi ( Moon Chae-won ). Seung-mi was also Hwan's longtime best friend, hoping to be something more. Eun-sung asked for help from several of her friends, including Hyung-jin, who avoided her because she was no longer rich. She managed to find a job at a nightclub with the help of her friend, Hye-ri. At

7300-401: The increasing global success and globalization of the Korean film industry, the past two decades have seen Korean actors like Lee Byung-hun and Bae Doona star in American films, Korean auteurs such as Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon-ho direct English-language works, Korean American actors crossover to star in Korean films as with Steven Yeun and Ma Dong-seok , and Korean films be remade in

7400-481: The late 1990s largely due to screen quota laws that limited the public showing foreign films. First enacted in 1967, South Korea's screen quota placed restrictions on the number of days per year that foreign films could be shown at any given theater—garnering criticism from film distributors outside South Korea as unfair. As a prerequisite for negotiations with the United States for a free-trade agreement ,

7500-420: The late 2010s, a typical Korean drama may cost as much as ₩700 million per episode. Historical dramas have a bigger budget; one episode of the historical romance The Red Sleeve cost as much as ₩950 million. Recently, factors such as improving the work environment , along with whether to sign contracts with domestic and foreign OTT companies such as Netflix have served as variables. For example, Kingdom had

7600-408: The main cast to Hallyu stardom. This era marked the start of export for Korean dramas, setting off the Korean Wave . The beginning years of the 2000s gave birth to famous Korean dramas and also marked the period of overseas distribution. Some popular ones are Full House , Autumn in My Heart and Winter Sonata . It marks the birth of a new genre, called "fusion sageuk", essentially changing

7700-404: The most popular films of the era, director Lee Kyu-hwan's now lost remake of Chunhyang-jeon (1955), drew 10 percent of Seoul 's population to movie theaters However, while Chunhyang-jeon re-told a traditional Korean story , another popular film of the era, Han Hyung-mo's Madame Freedom (1956), told a modern story about female sexuality and Western values. South Korean filmmakers enjoyed

7800-672: The nightclub, Eun-sung met Hyung-jin's upperclassman, Park Joon-se ( Bae Soo-bin ), who was shocked to see her working there. She also met Hwan, who caused her to lose contact with Eun-woo. Realizing that Eun-woo was missing, Eun-sung was devastated and tried searching for her brother but to no avail. With the help of Hye-ri and Joon-se, Eun-sung rented a small room and started a small dumplings stall while continuing her search for Eun-woo. Meanwhile, Sook-ja became deeply disappointed in her grandson as Hwan had no direction in life and did not know how to cherish her company and employees. While pondering over what to do about her grandson, Sook-ja visited

7900-502: The palace) and Jumong enjoyed strong ratings in countries such as Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Fiji and Iran. Jumong , which aired on IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) in 2008, had 85% viewership. Often centered on a love story, series set in contemporary times often focus on family ties and romantic relationships. Characters are mostly idealized with Korean male protagonists described as handsome, intelligent, rich, and in search of " one true love ". This has also been

8000-481: The public has been getting more used to the concept of "idol actors" and some idols have become known for their excellent acting skills. Their critical reception is still mixed, however, some of them, like Bae Suzy , IU , Yim Si-wan , Seo In-guk , Ok Taec-yeon , Park Jin-young , Doh Kyung-soo and Im Yoon-ah , became successful as actors and actresses. There were also instances of children taking up careers as child actors or actresses, usually portraying either

8100-441: The public's excitement about the country's recent liberation. However, during the Korean War , the South Korean film industry stagnated, and only 14 films were produced from 1950 to 1953. All of the films from that era have since been lost . Following the Korean War armistice in 1953, South Korean president Syngman Rhee attempted to rejuvenate the film industry by exempting it from taxation. Additionally foreign aid arrived in

8200-458: The set: jjok-jam ( 쪽잠 ), or "side-sleeping". Dramas usually air on two days every week, with following episodes having to be shot within the intervening five days. Some Korean actors have admitted to receiving IV therapy during filming, due to extreme schedules and exhaustion. Nonetheless, the live-shoot model remains widely used since the production team can react to real time audience feedback. Production teams originally sent two tapes to

8300-401: The street. Korean street food items such as tteokbokki , sundae , and Korean alcoholic drinks such as soju and makgeolli are also served. Somaek is a culture where soju and beer are mixed together. There is a tacit knowledge when it comes to the production of television series in South Korea that appeals to consumers in a unique way. "The working definition of tacit knowledge

8400-431: The struggles that pertain only to women. Women in these television series often assume typically male-dominated professions, and they appeal to all women who want to bring down the image of traditional values and male-dominated communities. K-dramas are successful when women can break free of traditional roles and embrace freedom. The men in K-dramas have begun to present a more fluid nature of representation, which challenges

8500-478: The summer months, as they are thought to be effective at lowering body temperature by providing 'chills'. The Korean Film Council has published box office data on South Korean films since 2004. As of March 2021, the top ten highest-grossing domestic films in South Korea since 2004 are as follows. South Korea's first film awards ceremonies were established in the 1950s, but have since been discontinued. The longest-running and most popular film awards ceremonies are

8600-569: The term is typically reserved for dramas taking place throughout the course of Korean history. Since the mid-2000s, some sageuk dramas have achieved major success outside of Korea, in places such as the Asia-Pacific , Central Asia , Greater Middle East , Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America . Sageuks including Dae Jang Geum ( Jewel in the Palace ), Yi San (Lee San, Wind of

8700-411: The thriller The Veil at that time. Korean series were originally produced in-house by the television channels themselves, but have been outsourced to independent companies since the 2000s. In 2012, as much as 75% of all K-dramas were produced this way. Competition is fierce among these companies; out of 156 registered firms, only 34 of them produced dramas that were actually aired in 2012. In

8800-536: The ways to produce historical series, with successful pieces such as Hur Jun , Damo and Dae Jang Geum . It started to take over the popularity of conventional dramas among 10s and 20s because the shorter runtime, and often feature trendy content which teenagers find it easy to sympathize with. The late 2010s and 2020s saw newfound attention of K-dramas from international markets. Netflix had begun seeking productions from South Korea and other countries since around 2018 to expand offerings for their service with

8900-681: The younger versions of some characters or the children of the adult characters from dramas. Subsequently, there were some child actors and actresses who continue pursuing acting careers even after reaching adulthood, and with some achieving success even after adulthood. Notably, such people include actors like Yoon Chan-young , Park Solomon , Yoo Seung-ho and Yeo Jin-goo ; and actresses like Kim So-hyun , Lee Se-young , Nam Ji-hyun , Kim Hyang-gi , Moon Geun-young , Park Shin-hye , Kim Sae-ron and Kim Yoo-jung . Scriptwriters and directors of Korean dramas are often as well known as actors are. An overwhelming majority of scriptwriters (90% according to

9000-462: Was Gukto manri ( 국토만리 ), directed by Kim Jae-hyeong ( 김재형 ), depicting the Goryeo era. In the 1960s, television sets were of limited availability, thus dramas could not reach a larger audience. In the 1970s, television sets started to spread among the general population, and dramas switched from portraying dramatic historical figures to introducing national heroes like Yi Sun-shin or Sejong

9100-411: Was accused of embezzlement. The biggest stars may earn more than ₩200 million per episode, with Kim Soo-hyun , the lead of hit dramas Moon Embracing the Sun (2012), My Love from the Star (2013) and It's Okay to Not Be Okay (2020) reportedly receiving ₩500 million per episode for One Ordinary Day in 2021. As producing a series involves high expenses, production companies seek to shoot

9200-413: Was also published, referring to star writers. Acknowledged TV directors include Lee Byung-hoon, who directed Hur Jun , Dae Jang Geum and Yi San ; Kim Jong-hak , the director of Eyes of Dawn , Sandglass , The Legend and Faith , Pyo Min-soo  [ ko ] , the director of Full House , Worlds Within and Iris II and Jang Tae-yoo who directed War of Money , Painter of

9300-471: Was also studying in New York, was ordered to return to Korea by his grandmother, Jang Sook-ja ( Ban Hyo-jung ), to learn how to manage her food company. Eun-sung and Hwan, who were on the same flight back home, accidentally had their luggage bags exchanged, which led to several misunderstandings between the two. Go Pyung-joong (Jeon In-taek), Eun-sung's father, was struggling to save his company from going bankrupt. One day, his wallet and valuables were stolen by

9400-504: Was announced Netflix would invest $ 2.5 billion in K-Dramas. In the 2000s, it became customary to cast popular K-pop idols in dramas. Initially, this generated mixed reactions. Their appearance had provoked predominantly negative reactions outside their fandom because some idols' acting was not viewed as professional. Also, some idols were criticized for poor acting. Nowadays, this has become much more common feature in Korean dramas, as

9500-612: Was created in 1973, ostensibly to support and promote the South Korean film industry, but its primary purpose was to control the film industry and promote "politically correct" support for censorship and government ideals. According to the 1981 International Film Guide , "No country has a stricter code of film censorship than South Korea – with the possible exception of the North Koreans and some other Communist bloc countries." Only filmmakers who had previously produced "ideologically sound" films and who were considered to be loyal to

9600-890: Was going to live with them and that she was going to appoint Eun-sung as the heir of her food company, if she could raise the profits of the sinking second branch by 20%. In this table, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. Source: TNS Media Korea A Chinese remake called My Splendid Life (我的灿烂人生 Wo De Can Lan Ren Sheng ) aired in 2011, on Dragon TV . A Turkish remake titled Don't Let Go of My Hand ( Elimi Bırakma ) aired in 2018, on TRT 1 . A Philippine adaptation titled Shining Inheritance has premiere in 2024, on GMA Network . Korean drama Korean drama ( Korean :  한국 드라마 ; RR :  Hanguk deurama ), also known as K-drama or Koreanovela , refers to Korean-language television shows made in South Korea. These shows began to be produced around

9700-459: Was once again changed in 1992 with Kim Ui-seok 's hit film Marriage Story , released by Samsung . It was the first South Korean movie to be released by business conglomerate known as a chaebol , and it paved the way for other chaebols to enter the film industry, using an integrated system of financing, producing, and distributing films. As a result of the 1997 Asian financial crisis , many chaebols began to scale back their involvement in

9800-446: Was produced by Lee Byung-hoon , who later directed one of the biggest international successes of Korean drama, Dae Jang Geum (2003–04), which was sold in 150 countries. The 1990s brought another important milestone for Korean television. As technology developed, new opportunities arose, and the beginning of the decade marked the launch of a new commercial channel; Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS), which facilitated and re-initiated

9900-501: Was shut down a few years later due to a fire. The first national television channel was Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), which started up in 1961. The first Korean television film was a 15-minute piece titled The Gate of Heaven (천국의 문, Cheongugui mun), on HLKZ-TV. The first television series was aired by KBS in 1962. Their commercial competitor, Tongyang Broadcasting (TBC), had a more aggressive program policy and aired controversial dramas as well. The first historical TV series aired

10000-468: Was three times higher than the amount reached in 1999. According to data from Korea Creative Content Agency , in 2013 K-dramas constituted 82% of the culture content export of South Korea, with an income of $ 167 million, which is four times more than a decade before. Cinema of South Korea South Korean films have been heavily influenced by such events and forces as the Korea under Japanese rule ,

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