South Korean television dramas, or K-dramas, are a major component of the hallyu ("Korean wave") cultural phenomenon. They are part of South Korea's broader cultural-export success alongside K-pop, K-beauty and K-food.
K-dramas are among the foreign media most coveted by North Koreans, despite watching them carrying penalties up to and including death under the "Law on Rejecting Reactionary Thought and Culture" of 2020. In a survey of more than 6,000 escapees conducted by South Korea's government in 2023, more than 80% reported having watched Chinese, South Korean or other foreign videos before leaving the North. Shows are typically smuggled in from China on USB drives and memory cards, or picked up via jailbroken televisions near the border.
The contrast with North Korean state television is stark. North Korean dramas feature earnest protagonists who sacrifice personal happiness for the state. South Korean dramas, by contrast, depict freely expressed romance, prosperity and consumer choice—offering a rebuttal to state propaganda claiming the south is impoverished and crime-ridden. Popular titles among defectors include "May Queen" (2012) and "Crash Landing on You" (2019), a romance set across the inter-Korean border that was a hit on both sides of the 38th parallel. The Unification Media Group, an NGO, produces content specifically designed to be smuggled into the north.
"Boys Over Flowers" (2009) was a pan-Asian hit. "Crash Landing on You" (2019) became one of the most widely watched K-dramas globally, blending romance with depictions of life in both Koreas.
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