What Korean dramas took the world by storm?

Kira Hermansen(Denmark)

One of the reasons Korean dramas became popular worldwide, is due to the spread of Korean culture also called the “Korean Wave”, and their availability on different streaming sites which often offers subtitles in multiple languages. Korean dramas also got popular because of the fashion, culture and style, which led to a great boost to fashion lines. Korea also have a tendency to make movies and series out of the usual and think outside the box. Not a long time ago the movie parasite became a huge hit internationally and won a few Oscars. With all these popular series and movies, it has become a part of the Korean wave and made tourism go up in Korea. The “Korean Wave” began in the late 90’s when South Korea was forced by the Asian financial crisis to limit their cultural imports from Japan. South Korea then began to make its own cultural-based creations, where some of the most well-known is K-pop, skincare and plastic surgery. 

Squid Game If you ask most young people, they’ve probably heard of the well-known Korean drama Squid Game, which blew up in 2021. This had a big effect on Korea and a lot more people got interested in Korean dramas. The Korean thriller has become Netflix’s biggest series ever to launch, it was streamed by 111 million people worldwide in the first 28 days. 

Crash landing on you Crash Landing on You became a big hit internationally as well. The romantic K-drama swept fans of their feet with the sweet chemistry between the two leads. An annual survey was conducted by the culture ministry and the Korean Foundation for International Culture Exchange, where 9.5% of the fans of hallyu also known as the Korean wave, picked this exact romance as their favorite Korean drama. This survey was conducted before January 2021 therefor Squid Game was not out at the moment and that places Crash Landing on You to second place.


Goblin Goblin is also a very popular Korean drama, which have received a lot of love from the fans both national but also international. Many female viewers’ maybe yearning for the powerful male figures who can solve the problems of modern women with increasingly stressful lives, this may also be the reason for the popularity of this Korean drama. Some years ago, it became a thing that the lead actor had powers of some sort, in Goblin the male lead is a god and at the same time very handsome, therefor views think it’s one of the reasons the drama became popular.


Over the last few years K-dramas have made it big internationally, hopefully we will see it rise even more. Korean dramas have had their breakthrough in the world and are only becoming bigger year by year. They have established a community of fans and many who are dedicated to follow up on the newest dramas, therefor it looks like Korean dramas have a great future ahead of them. 

 

Kira Hermansen(Denmark)

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