10 Essential K-Dramas That Defined the 2010s, Ranked

Certain media defines a generation. The world’s most popular stories can both reflect society’s biggest ideological preoccupations and influence trends across fashion, music, and every industry you can name. For K-Dramas specifically, the 2010s meant growth. The existing popularity of exported Korean entertainment (a phenomenon called Hallyu, or the Korean Wave) reached untold heights, in large part thanks to major streaming services making the drama industry accessible to thousands of new viewers who needed something new to electrify them.

It might not seem like it’s been 15 years since 2010. But, yes — these 10 K-Dramas really have been around long enough to define an era. If you’re also like me and always in the mood for some bittersweet nostalgia, here are the most defining K-Dramas of the ’10s, ranked.

10

‘Heirs’ (2013)

Cast: Lee Min-ho, Park Shin-hye, Kim Woo-bin

This might be the first entry by screenwriting sensation Kim Eun-sook on this list, but it’s far from the last. Despite their fated meeting in America, the mutual connection that follows, and their surprise reunion as classmates at a high school for South Korea’s richest students, Kim Tan (Lee Min-ho) and Cha Eun-sang (Park Shin-hye) come from radically different worlds. He’s the privileged, withdrawn, but compassionate heir to one of Korea’s largest businesses; she’s the daughter of a housekeeper who attends their elite school on a scholarship and works multiple jobs to support her family. There’s also Tan’s inconvenient engagement to a girl of his same social standing — but none of these circumstances can prevent true love’s course.

Heirs is arguably Korea’s definitive high school soap opera. Following a similar format as The O.C. and Gossip Girl, and therefore not as progressive as we’d prefer when viewed through the benefit of hindsight, the series’ unapologetic melodrama, cut-throat environment, and dreamy Cinderella vibes made it a smash hit that remains an easily devourable guilty pleasure. Heirs’ success at home and abroad maintained Lee Min-ho’s fame after his breakout role in Boys Over Flowers, and boosted Kim Woo-bin into one of the decade’s biggest Hallyu stars.

Watch on Netflix

9

‘Descendants of the Sun’ (2016)

Cast: Song Joong-ki, Song Hye-kyo, Jin Goo

Kim Eun-sook’s follow-up to Heirs switches from heightened teen angst to an adult love story replete with the bold themes her later works would adopt. Yoo Si-jin (Song Joong-ki) and Kang Mo-yeon’s (Song Hye-kyo) first attempt at romance can’t overcome the hurdles of Si-jin’s dangerous job — being a South Korean Army captain means frequent absences, secrets he’s required to keep, and the looming threat of death. Mo-yeon also can’t reconcile dating a man who’s capable of killing to protect the innocent with her heart’s calling as a surgeon who vowed to do no harm. But when Si-jin and Mo-yeon are separately sent to a fictional country caught in a turbulent cycle of war, disease, and ecological disasters, they forge a second chance at reconciliation and understanding within this chaos.

Between its universal themes, merciless setting, and mature characters with multifaceted dimensions, Descendants of the Sun became a cultural phenomenon during its 16-episode run. It broke domestic ratings records and won over viewers in over 30 countries. Related product sales and increased tourism heavily contributed to Korea’s economic boom, while Song Joong-ki (Vincenzo) and Song Hye-kyo’s (The Glory) dynamic chemistry and powerhouse performances left a dent in our hearts.

8

‘Secret Garden’ (2010)

Cast: Ha Ji-won, Hyun Bin, Yoon Sang-hyun

No-nonsense stuntwoman Gil Ra-im (Ha Ji-won) only has eyes for her favorite celebrity crush. Kim Joo-won (Hyun Bin), the arrogant, haughty, and leopard-print-wearing fashionista CEO of a department store, couldn’t be any less her type. Joo-woo, however, finds himself immediately smitten, even if he doesn’t realize why he’s consumed by Ra-im’s existence. Their reluctant courtship becomes legitimate once they start switching bodies — a conceit forcing both parties into closer proximity, encouraging self-introspection about their respective traumas, and prompting the other to take a deeper look at the real person hiding underneath their artificial image.

Before Heirs and Descendants, Kim Eun-sook gave the world Secret Garden, a lighthearted affair merging subtle fantasy and fairy tale elements with K-Drama tropes that have become tried and true. During the height of its popularity, Secret Garden generated approximately 20 billion won in related products. Now a certified megastar, Hyun Bin’s breakthrough popularity was immense and immediate enough to spark an official term (“Hyun Bin Syndrome”), and his performance won a Daesang award at Korea’s prestigious Baeksang Arts Awards. The endearing, quaint, and tear-jerking series itself scored multiple other awards.,

7

‘My Love From the Star’ (2013)

Cast: Jun Ji-hyun, Kim Soo-hyun, Park Hae-jin

Talk about star-crossed lovers. The only thing Do Min-joon (Kim Soo-hyun) wants is to return to his home planet. The sullen, introverted, and centuries-old alien has spent 400 years stuck on Earth, and he’s had enough of humanity’s constant upheaval. When Cheon Song-yi (Jun Ji-hyun), Korea’s most famous and irrepressibly extroverted actress, becomes Min-joon’s neighbor after a scandal ruins her career and sends her into seclusion, both characters discover that they have more in common than they think. For one, they’re profoundly lonely, even if neither cares to admit it.

Written by another queen, the one and only Park Ji-eun (The Legend of the Blue Sea, Crash Landing on You, and Queen of Tears), My Love From the Star’s pitch-perfect blend of heartfelt romance, quirky comedy, sci-fi, and mystery elevated it from an enjoyable concept into an inescapable phenomenon. Fan enthusiasm helped facilitate the Korean Wave’s resurgence. chimaek (chicken and beer) became a go-to snack, and both lead actors took home prizes at that year’s Baeksang Arts Awards.

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6

‘Crash Landing On You’ (2019)

Cast: Hyun Bin, Son Ye-jin, Seo Ji-hye

A paragliding accident drops Yoon Se-ri (Son Ye-jin), an accomplished but seemingly frivolous businesswoman, into North Korea. Without any resources or a viable way to return home, the wealthy chaebol has no choice except to depend on the tender mercies of Ri Jeong-hyeok (Hyun Bin), a reserved Korea People’s Army captain who’s anything but reserved at heart. Even though they were born on opposite sides of the DMZ, destiny seems to have created Se-ri and Jeong-hyeok to full the void in one another’s wounded hearts.

Perhaps one of the most sweeping, humane, and emotionally resonant K-Dramas of the last decade, Crash Landing on You received near-universal acclaim. It remains the fifth highest-rated Korean cable drama of all time at the time, and many American critics and publications named it one of 2020’s best productions. Its winsome charms and gut-punching heart hit the spot during the COVID-19 pandemic, and its accessibility on Netflix likely contributed to the mainstream success Korean content is currently enjoying. As for Son Ye-jin and Hyun Bin, the costars married in 2022.

5

‘The Moon Embracing the Sun’ (2012)

Cast: Han Ga-in, Kim Soo-hyun, Jung Il-woo

The love match between Crown Prince Lee Hwon (Yeo Jin Goo) and Heo Yeon-woo (Kim Yoo Jung), a girl with a “noble fate,” ends in tragedy before it can begin. Yeon-woo passes away from a deadly illness, leaving her grieving fiancé free to marry a relative of the Prime Minster (Kim Eung-soo) and Queen Dowager (Kim Young-ae). It’s exactly the outcome those conniving figures conspired to achieve, neither willing to surrender their power. Except, Yeon-woo didn’t die — she emerges from her grave with amnesia. Almost a decade later, King Lee Hwon (Kim Soo-hyun) encounters Shaman Wol (Han Ga-in), an oddly familiar woman. Wol also feels inexplicably drawn to her king, not realizing that her unique visions are the memories of her life as Yeon-woo.

A sageuk fantasy romance full of all the political conspiracies, lies, and tragedy that come with a Joseon-era costume drama, Jin Soo-wan’s The Moon Embracing the Sun adapted Jung Eun-gwol’s novel to great effect. Modern historical hits like The King’s Affection owe much of their mastery to this standard-bearer. The immersive atmosphere, high-value production detail, and staggering performances catapulted the finale’s ratings to record-breaking status.

4

‘Kill Me, Heal Me’ (2015)

Cast: Ji Sung, Hwang Jung-eum, Park Seo-joon

Conglomerate heir apparent Cha Do-hyun (Ji Sung) has a secret — technically, six secrets. When he was 17 years old, a tragic accident claimed several of his family’s lives. Six other personalities emerged to protect Do-hyun from his trauma, but Do-hyun conceals his dissociative identity disorder from his loved ones. Seeking to better understand his condition and shoulder his future leadership responsibilities, he secretly hires the brash, first-year psychiatry resident Oh Ri-jin (Hwang Jung-eum) as his personal consultant.

By positioning characters with mental health conditions at the forefront and depicting them with increasingly nuanced empathy, contemporary K-Dramas have chipped away at the cultural stigmas surrounding the demographic. Kill Me, Heal Me isn’t a flawless examination, but the series remains charming and compelling without compromising one tone for the sake of another or reducing dissociative identity disorder to a punchline.

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3

‘Signal’ (2016)

Cast: Lee Je-hoon, Kim Hye-soo, Cho Jin-woong

Park Hae-young (Lee Je-hoon), a brilliant but inexperienced criminal profiler, stumbles upon an opportunity to change the past. Somehow, a walkie-talkie connects modern-day Hae-young with Jae-han (Cho Jin-woong), a fellow detective living in 1989. Their communication spans the next 11 years of Jae-han’s life, with Hae-young using his knowledge of the past, his contemporary resources, and his investigative prowess to help Jae-han’s team — led by Korea’s first woman detective, Cha Soo-hyun (Kim Hye-soo) — solve cold cases. But as they bring elusive criminals to justice, their actions irreparably change the present and the future.

A critical darling, Signal is one of the rare K-Dramas to not just earn a second season, but be renewed eight years after it premiered. Kim Eun-hee, the writer behind Netflix’s historical zombie horror series Kingdom, based many of the series’ murder investigations on real-life cold cases. It’s a chilling detail, but Signal truly shines via its profoundly affecting emotional beats and meticulously plotted story. That year’s Baeksang Arts Awards awarded Signal Best Drama, Kim Eun-hee Best Screenplay, and the phenomenal Kim Hye-soo Best Actress.

2

‘Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo’ (2016)

Cast: Lee Ji-eun, Lee Joon-gi, Kang Ha-neul

A solar eclipse catapults Go Ha-jin (Lee Ji-eun/IU), a recently betrayed and heartbroken woman, from the 21st century into the 10th century. Reeling, helpless, and surrounded on all sides by the ambitious rivalries and machinations of the Goryeo Dynasty’s royal court, Ha-jin and her morals must somehow survive this strange “new” world despite all its secrets, betrayals, cut-throat politics, and love triangles.

Although highly anticipated, Moon Lovers is considered a flop by industry standards due to middling ratings and lukewarm reviews. That said, the drama (and Lee Joon-gi‘s turn as leading man Wang So) earned enough online chatter to finish third behind Descendants of the Sun and 2016’s most popular sageuk romance, Love in the Moonlight, for the year’s most discussed drama. Moon Lovers also proved popular overseas, beating out Descendants as the “most expensive K-Drama ever sold” at the time.

Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo is not currently available for streaming in the US.

1

‘Reply 1988’ (2015)

Cast: Lee Hye-ri, Ryu Jun-yeol, Go Kyung-pyo

It’s the year of the Seoul Olympic Games. Life might not be easy in the neighborhood of Ssangmun-dong, but the world is still full of light, hope, and bittersweet symphonies. Five childhood friends, now in high school and still inseparable, lean on one another through every defining teenage experience — academic pressures, career unknowns, skinned knees, late nights, first kisses, and loss, to name a few.

Reply 1988 caught lightning in a bottle. Plenty of stories combine teenage growing pains with nostalgia for past decades, but few do so with such earnest camaraderie, honest socioeconomic acknowledgment, and slice-of-life warmth. Throw in the one-in-a-million cast bringing this ensemble (youth and adult) to life, and Reply 1988 strikes a home run to the heart. Still the sixth highest-rated Korean cable drama of all time, the series took home Baeksangs for Best Director and Best New Actor (Ryu Jun-yeol), and launched Park Bo-gum, the “Nation’s LIttle Brother,” into the fame stratosphere.

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