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The Global Appeal of K‐Dramas

“I stopped watching Western shows.”

Belongingness for me is when I hear people say this, and how they'll choose Korean content any day of the week. I'll also hear that Western shows now feel like clickbait. My followers and friends often tell me how they can't watch anything else these days except K‐Dramas because they find them wholesome, heartwarming, and “good for the soul,” as content creator Priscilla Kwon would say.

Dr. David Tizzard, professor of Korean Studies at Seoul Women's University and Hanyang University, indicates Korean content is “unapologetically corny and they work because of it.” He says, “Koreans lean into the cheesiness and that allows you to feel something. Korean dramas are designed to evoke emotion and a catharsis in the viewer. I consider myself a stoic man, a very masculine man, and I have been moved to tears on occasion because they do what they do.”

All of the above, I believe, are benefiting their mental health, which is why I use K‐Dramas in the first place. People tell me they love the family‐friendly storylines and the emotional depth that comes from the characters and their growth. In essence, what people appreciate are the core values they see in K‐Dramas. And that is why K‐Drama viewership tripled in the pandemic. The pandemic was extremely stressful and folks needed comfort more than ever. They found it in K‐Dramas, and once you watch one, people will tell you, it doesn't stop there.

We call it going down the rabbit hole, and you keep going down that rabbit hole. We all say it to each other very fondly, which further expands on the belongingness that K‐Dramas promote. I have become the “popular girl in school,” since people now crave everything about my Korean culture. They have told me they wished they were Korean, living in Korea, or married to a Korean. Suddenly I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone because I'm among the cool crowd just because I am Korean. In my head I still find that quite surreal, considering that 35 years ago, being Korean was like being from another planet. The wistfulness of seeing how popular Korean culture is today is again where that sadness falls. Why couldn't all this come sooner so my mental health wasn't such a struggle growing up? It's just a fleeting question that arises every so often.

Let me go back to how folks love the fact that Korean content is easy on the eyes. For the most part, we don't have to worry about our parents, kids, or even grandparents walking in on a scene that's inappropriate due to graphic language, or cringe because of the sexually explicit scenes. That's what many people love about K‐Dramas. They don't need to worry about constant violence, sex, or cussing in the scenes they watch. K‐Dramas are comfortable, and this is important in terms of the impact on one's mental health. This is why many find K‐Dramas a great form of self‐care.

When you watch K‐Dramas, the belongingness comes from immersing yourself in the experience of the characters and the stories surrounding them, which is why people end up falling in love with the Korean culture. After all, what we are seeing in K‐Dramas reflects aspects of daily Korean life.

When you are so emotionally invested, how can you help but feel like you're getting to know another culture that you previously knew very little about? What I love about being part of the “in” crowd now is that it stems from love and belongingness.

It might seem that to be popular you have to be a “mean girl.” You know that portrayal we see in American movies like Tina Fey's Mean Girls. While I did enjoy that movie, I'm glad that the popularity of Korean culture comes from the “nice” characters. People fall in love with the purity of the family‐focused messages. Compared to many Western television shows and films, K‐Dramas are refreshingly sweet and G or PG rated.

It's very important to recognize this as the root of how Korean culture gained its popularity. It is not rooted in toxicity. These Korean values felt like a perfect remedy during the Covid‐19 lockdown when people around the world were feeling anxious, depressed, and traumatized in the middle of a historic global pandemic. While stuck at home, people craved comfort more than ever, and many told me they found solace in K‐Dramas like Crash Landing on You. This K‐Drama always seems to get mentioned as one of the shows that won folks over to the K‐Drama genre.

Crash Landing on You became the gateway K‐Drama, and suddenly, although I was already starting to use them to learn more about how they might help in mental health issues, they were proving to be an effective coping mechanism for health and healing during that difficult, uncertain time. Because many people are turning to K‐Dramas now more than ever, I was encouraged to consider K‐Dramas that would be a good starter show for those watching for the first time. There are iconic K‐Dramas they must watch for the sake of understanding the K‐Drama landscape and getting enough context about what K‐Dramas are really about. So I've been recommending K‐Dramas that I call rite‐of‐passage shows for rookie viewers.

When newer K‐Drama watchers are asked about earlier K‐Dramas (in the last 5 to 10 years) they might be met with a skeptical reaction of sorts, as if they're not really fans, because they aren't familiar with the earlier shows. It doesn't matter when you started watching K‐Dramas, but as you delve deeper into the community, folks will bring up the iconic and older K‐Dramas for reference, especially when speaking about their favorite actors. And the K‐Dramas I recommend as a rite of passage also include those actors.

It's fascinating to see the trajectory of Korean societal themes, the actors' improvement, and how the behavior has shifted. For instance, many newer fans indicate they dislike the 2009 K‐Drama Boys Over Flowers because they don't like the aggressive nature of the main lead. I don't disagree, but this K‐Drama was a gateway for many, so it is iconic, as is the main character of Gu Jun Pyo.

I've heard that in Korea, Gu Jun Pyo's hairstyle was trending that year. The guide of my inaugural tour told me she recalls her son begging her to take him to the hair salon to get the Gu Jun Pyo look. I cracked up since it reminded me of women across America who wanted the Rachel hairdo from Friends back in 1995.

My Recommended Rite‐of‐Passage K‐Dramas:

• Goblin
• Boys Over Flowers
• Crash Landing on You
• Healer
• The Heirs
• What's Wrong with Secretary Kim
• Secret Garden
• My Love from the Star
• Coffee Prince
• Descendants of the Sun
• Mr. Sunshine
• Extraordinary Attorney Woo
• Itaewon Class
• Reply 1988

Jeong = Noona's Noonchi Tours

Jeong is so important to me to talk about because that's also part of the global appeal of K‐Dramas. I explained in the introduction this is the Korean concept of affection, kinship, connectedness, affinity, fondness; I could go on and on. Koreans know Jeong like the back of their hand but it's not as easy to explain in detail. However, Jeong is what I believe is the “it” factor that makes K‐Dramas so special and appealing to all.

Angela Killoren, co‐president of CJENM USA, agrees. “At the heart of K‐Content is Jeong. It's literally this sense of connection, emotion, sincerity. All the different story points (in K‐Dramas) happen around connection, whether it's lack or abundance or missing it, desiring for it. Jeong is the most universal truth.”

Of course, I also believe Jeong is the most universal truth. The connection, the powerful belongingness is such an essential part of our existence. Jeong is what led me to create Noona's Noonchi Meet You in Korea Tours. At this point I've hosted two K‐Drama‐ and K‐Culture‐oriented tours around South Korea for the public, particularly those who follow me on social media. K‐Drama fans from around the world—most of whom who had never been to South Korea—traveled with me for eight days, visiting multiple cities where many K‐Dramas were filmed, as well as seeing iconic and historic Korean cultural sites. Koreans in the tour industry have told me that what I created has never been done before. It's why it was one of the most challenging things I've ever done since I was trailblazing in this arena.

At one point I thought I wouldn't be able to do it because of all the logistics involved, and my time and resources were limited. However, as an extrovert I gain energy from interacting with others, and every time I conversed with my community I was reminded that this is a heart mission. Creating these K‐Drama tours, where my team and I started from scratch with the itinerary, is rooted in Jeong: the Jeong for my community, the Jeong for my heritage, the Jeong for my culture. Jeong is that kinship my Noona's Noonchi community feels with South Korean culture,...