[Top 25] Most Influential Korean Dramas

In recent years, Korean entertainment has made significant inroads in the country and influence the entertainment industry. Korean entertainment has managed to influence fashion, and many video shops now sell Korean dramas and movies. These are list of Korean Drama that has influenced the entertainment industry.

Boys Over Flowers

Hardworking Geum Jan Di (Ku Hye-sun) attends the exclusive Shinhwa High School through a scholarship she obtains. She finds her shallow, privileged classmates unbearable, especially the notorious F4, consisting of four rich and handsome men: the arrogant Gu Jun Pyo (Lee Min-ho), the quiet Yoon Ji Hoo (Kim Hyun-Joong), the charming So Yi Jung (Kim Bum), and the flirtatious Song Woo Bin (Kim Joon). They are considered to be the kings of Shinhwa High School. After Jan Di manages to withstand all of Jun Pyo's pranks, he begins falling in love with Jan Di but she only has feelings for Ji Hoo and Jun Pyo knows it.

“Boys Over Flowers” is one of the biggest Korean drama hits of our time, sweeping ratings and awards across Asia in 2009 and 2010.

Descendants of the Sun

A love story develops between Captain Yoo Shi Jin, from South Korean Special Forces and Doctor Kang Mo Yeon, who works as a Surgeon at Haesung Hospital in Seoul. They will find themselves in the middle of great events and deadly dangers, both in their Motherland and in the fictitious, war-torn country of Urk.

Goblin

 Dokkaebi (Gong Yoo) needs a human bride to end his immortal life. Meanwhile, the Angel of Death has amnesia. Somehow these two meet and live together. They see off those who have passed away and are now leaving this world. It is written by Kim Eun Sook, who also wrote the very successful dramas “Heirs” (2013) and “Descendants of the Sun” (2016).

My Love From The Star

Do Min-Joon, an alien that came to our planet 400 years ago, will be able to return to his planet in 3 months, but when he meets famous actress Chun Song-Yi, all the centuries he spent distancing himself from humans come to an end. 

The series was a major hit in South Korea and received immense popularity across Asia. Jun won the Daesang (or "Grand Prize"), the highest award for television, at the Baeksang Arts Awards and the SBS Drama Awards, and as did Kim at the Korea Drama Awards.

Love in the Moonlight

Hong Ra-On disguises herself as a man and counsels men on dating. Due to a love letter she wrote for a client, she meets Crown Prince Hyomyeong (Park Bo-Gum). Hong Ra-On is unaware that he is the Crown Prince and Hyomyeong is unaware that Hong Ra-On is a woman. The Crown Prince becomes interested in Hong Ra-On. His eunuchs become aware of this and attempt to get Hong Ra-On to become one of them. 

A domestic and overseas hit, Moonlight achieved peak audience rating of 23.3% in South Korea and was praised for its production, performances and music.[1][2] It received six nominations at the 53rd Baeksang Arts Awards including Best Drama, and won Popularity Awards for leads Park and Kim. The press referred to its influence as "Moonlight Syndrome" as it topped topicality, content and brand reputation charts in and beyond its run.

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon

Do Bong-soon is a woman born with superhuman strength that comes from the long line of women possessing it. when Ahn Min Hyuk, the CEO of ainsoft, a gaming company witnesses her strength he hires her as his personal bodyguard. 

W

A romance takes place between Kang Chul (Lee Jong-Suk), who is super rich and exist in the webtoon “W,” and Oh Yeon-Joo (Han Hyo-Joo) who is a surgeon in the real world. 

The series received praise for its unique premise and ranked first in Content Power Index in its premiere week. It achieved modest ratings of 11.63%, topping viewership ratings in its time slot for its entire run

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo

A coming-of-age story about a group of college athletes who are fighting for their dreams, experiencing and finding love in the process, and growing every step of the way

It ranked last against public broadcasting dramas airing in the same time-slot throughout its run. However, it gained a cult following among-st young viewers, and received favorable reviews.

Heirs

Heirs follows a group of privileged, elite high school students as they are groomed to take over their families' business empires and a love triangle between Min-ho Lee, Shin-hye Park and Woo-bin Kim.

The series was a major hit in South Korea and received immense popularity across Asia.

Kill Me Heal Me

A love story between the son from a wealthy family who has 7 personalities Cha Do Hyun (Ji Sung) and Oh Ri Jin (Hwang Jung Eum) who becomes his secret psychiatrist.

It's Okay, That's Love

A love story between a psychiatrist named Ji Hae Soo and an author who had schizophrenia named Jang Jae Yeol.

 Jang Jae-Yeol is a mystery writer and radio DJ. He suffers from a obsession. Ji Hae-Soo is going through her first year fellowship in psychiatry at a University Hospital. She chose psychiatry because she doesn't want to perform surgeries. After she meets Jang Jae-Yeol, her life goes through big changes. 

Pinocchio

A young boy, whose life and family has been destroyed by new media, gets adopted by a family in a rural area after being found lost at sea. He tries to conceal his past for everyone's sake for 13 years. But when the girl he loves enters the world of news reporting, the truth about his family pours out. However, the girl's mother (being a news reporter) seem to be the cause of the plight of his family.

Secret Garden

The drama tells the story of Kim Joo Won, an arrogant and eccentric CEO who maintains the image of seeming perfection, and Gil Ra Im, a poor and humble stuntwoman whose beauty and body are the object of envy amongst top actresses. Their accidental meeting, when Joo Won mistakes Ra Im for actress Park Chae Rin, marks the beginning of a tense, bickering relationship, through which Joo Won tries to hide a growing attraction to Ra Im that both confuses and disturbs him. To complicate matters further, a strange sequence of events results in them swapping bodies.

Secret Garden was a huge ratings success, with an estimation of more than 20 billion won worth of economic effect.[5][6] It won a number of awards at both the 2010 SBS Drama Awards and the 47th Paeksang Arts Awards, including "Grand Prize (Daesang)" for Hyun Bin.

Reply 1988

Follows the lives of 5 families living on the same street in a neighbourhood called Ssangmundong in Seoul. It takes a nostalgic look back at the year 1988. 

 Reply 1988 is the third installment of tvN's Reply series. It received both critical and audience acclaim with its finale episode recording an 18.8% nationwide audience share, making it the highest rated drama in Korean cable television history.

Healer

A decades-old incident involving a group of friends who ran an illegal broadcasting station brings together three different people—an illegal mercenary with the codename "Healer" (Ji Chang-wook) who happens to possess top-notch fighting skills, a reporter from a second-rate tabloid news website (Park Min-young), and a famous journalist at a major broadcast station (Yoo Ji-tae). In trying to uncover the truth from that 1992 incident, they grow into real, honest reporters, while dealing with the conflict between truth and fate.

The Legend of the Blue Sea

Inspired by a classic Joseon legend from Korea's first collection of unofficial historical tales about a fisherman who captures and releases a mermaid, this drama tells the love story of a con-artist and a mermaid who travels across the ocean to find him.

Age of Youth

5 college students, from different walks of life end up living together in a fictional house share called Belle Epoque

Full House

Your world can turn upside down when you least expect it. Han Ji Eun (Song Hye Gyo) is an aspiring scriptwriter who lives in a house called “Full House” that was built by her late father. But her friends trick her into believing she has won a free vacation and then sells her house while she is away. During her trip, Ji Eun meets the famous actor Lee Young Jae (Rain), and the two keep bumping into each other throughout her vacation. Back home, Ji Eun is shocked to learn that her house has been sold, and that Young Jae now owns her home. With neither willing to give up the house, Ji Eun and Young Jae become accidental roommates, with Ji Eun working as Young Jae’s maid to try to buy back her own house. 

Coffee Prince

A tomboy, mistaken for a lad, maintains the deception for the sake of employment. The situation becomes complicated when her male boss begins to develop feelings for this "boy." 

Based on a popular novel by Lee Sun Mi, the show garnered many television awards.

You're Beautiful

Go Mi-Nyu, a girl about to become a nun, is asked to cover for her indisposed twin brother, Mi-Nam, who's on the verge of becoming a k-idol. To do so, she disguises herself as a boy and joins A.N.Jell, a really popular boy band. 

Hwarang

Revolves around an elite group of male youth called Hwarang who grow through passion and love in Seorabeol, the capital of the Kingdom of Silla. 

Playful Kiss

Based on the popular manga, Oh Ha Ni is a clumsy student who falls for the perfectionist, Baek Seung Jo. However, Seung Jo is indifferent towards her and rejects her love. When Ha Ni's house collapses, she and her father moves into his long-time friend's house. It turns out that Seung Jo is the friend's son and Ha Ni is given the opportunity to be near the guy she loves. Will she be able to move Seung Jo's heart?

“Playful Kiss” is a 2010 South Korean drama, that is based on the Japanese manga “Itazura Na Kiss” (“Mischievous Kiss”), which also has been adapted in Taiwan as “It Started With a Kiss” and its sequel “They Kiss Again.”

Jewel in the Palace

A series based on a real person in Korean history, Suh, Jang-geum. 

 “Jewel in the Palace” is a South Korean historical drama directed by Lee Byung Hoon that originally aired from September 15, 2003 to March 23, 2004 and has enjoyed tremendous popularity worldwide. It ranks as the 10th most popular drama in Korea of all time.

Fight for My Way

Ko Dong Man, a high school Taekwondo champion who is now pursuing a career in the UFC, and Choi Ae Ra, a dynamic girl whose desire is to become a famous announcer, have been best friends since childhood. Now, they have to confront the change in their feelings towards each other as well as overcome difficulties to make their dreams come true.

Winter Sonata

Jun-Sang moves to a small town in the country and meets Yoo-Jin in the local high school. They fall in love, but Jun-Sang faces a terrible tragedy and gets killed in a car accident. Ten years later, Yoo-Jin meets a guy who looks just like her Jun-Sang. Yoo-Jin has to choose between her current boyfriend and a person who reminds her of her dead sweetheart.

The series is widely considered to be the Korean drama that launched the Korean Wave throughout Asia and worldwide

(Source: MyDramaList, Wikipedia)