I WAS pleased by readers’ enthusiastic response to my recent article, What our creative industry can learn from the Koreans and their K-Dramas (published here on November 30, 2020), but I was especially thrilled to learn that some women friends—UP graduates all who share the qualities of wisdom, grace, and experience—also happen to be huge followers of the K-drama phenomenon. Just imagine accomplished, mature, and fiercely independent ladies watching, enrapt, as the Koreans’ well-crafted narratives unfold. With their strong opinions about the world at large, what do they find useful, edifying, or even entertaining about these shows?
I simply had to ask for—and gather—these women’s personal inputs to boost what I have already established: that Korean drama has deftly introduced the best of their country and culture through their deliberate and mindful depiction of Korean lives in various storylines. This grand, concerted effort between their writers and their country to project Korea in a most positive manner has been richly rewarded by worldwide attention and even validation by critics. Let’s hear it from my lady friends:
Irene Ragodon Guevarra
Lawyer, former secretary of the Senate Electoral Tribunal
While still busy with work, I couldn’t comprehend why an officemate was so into Korean dramas that she went to the extent of taking up a Korean language course at the Ateneo. Now that I have become a K-drama fanatic myself, I fully understand why.
What I appreciate as a lawyer is, first and foremost, their sense of justice. The kontrabidas would surrender themselves to the authorities in the end and accept the punishment they deserve. Secondly, being a senior citizen myself, I admire the respect they show to their elders and new acquaintances by speaking formally and constantly bowing. The third reason is their healthy living. Their scenes always include one of the main characters exercising, brushing their teeth, and other good hygienic habits. (Although, of course, there are also characters that get drunk on soju!)
Aside from tackling a wide variety of subject matters, topics and issues, they turn what appears to be least interesting into something quite fascinating (such as weightlifting). Their stories are also quite unpredictable. Then they show the most scenic places in their country.
There are two titles I would recommend to friends and to those who are still unsure about jumping into the K-drama bandwagon: Start-Up, a recent view. It weaves a beautiful story around the saying that family isn’t always blood and gives a hopeful view of the role technology plays in making the world a better place.
The King: Eternal Monarch is quite engaging with its concept of parallel worlds. It is uncanny that the female leads in these two K-dramas have the same habit of tying their hair into ponytails when faced with a serious situation. Both have strong characters.
Chatie Cruz
Former advertising executive and community volunteer Huntington Beach, CA
I don’t remember how I started watching K-dramas but it must have been when lockdown was enforced here in the US last April. I believe it was a post on Facebook that got me curious about Crash Landing On You. This was the first-ever Korean drama I watched and is still my favorite!!! I was skeptical at first, especially the effort of having to read the English subtitles. But from the very first episode, I was hooked! The storytelling was excellent and so engaging, and the production/photography was stunning!
But it was the acting of the entire cast, especially by Hyun Bin and Son Ye Jin, that really pulled me in to follow the story all the way to the end…simple, natural/true to life, never overacting, heartwarming! The series also featured beautiful, memorable original music that was appropriately played in significant scenes, evoking the desired emotion for that particular scene.
Crash Landing On You is categorized as fantasy because of the unlikely relationship between a very handsome, very gentlemanly North Korean captain and a beautiful, sweet, but confident South Korean chaebol heiress, but the writers made the story believable all throughout, including the happy ending. I was so impressed by CLOY that I watched the entire series three times just to make sure that I did not miss anything because of having to read the subtitles!!! CLOY definitely is the reason why I’m watching—and looking out—for other Korean dramas to watch! I am definitely hooked now.
Araceli “Tillic” Lorayes
Retired life insurance executive and former journalist, now a couch potato waiting for January to start a new Bible study session
I began to watch K-dramas during the lockdown and my first impression was that it is a vast conspiracy to make us crave for Korean food. Each drama has not one, but many scenes, of everyone enjoying grilled pork belly, kimchi and kimchi rice, ramen, and spicy rice cakes. I started with Crash Landing on You, which I loved. Now I’m hooked by the cinematography, the scenery, the imaginative plots!
However, I have a bone to pick about the heroines. I’ve watched I don’t know how many K-dramas, but I can only think of maybe four or five in which the heroines are portrayed as having real agency. All too often, even heroines who are explicitly described as intelligent are shown as doing really dumb things—they are impulsive, ruled by emotion, unwisely keep secrets from their significant others, etc.
And what’s with all the wrist-grabbing? I don’t think I’ve ever heard the hero just say, “Look, we have to talk” rather than grabbing her wrist, cave-man style, and dragging her off to a quiet corner.
The best K-drama I have watched is Money Flower. It’s actually a toss-up between Money Flower and VIP. Money Flower is a story of revenge and VIP is about the corrosive effects of marital infidelity on the people involved. (I got bored with the romcoms after a while.) Both dramas had great actors, but “Money Flower” has a slight edge in terms of plot and music that seamlessly integrates into the whole mood of the story. Plus, the whole story takes place in wintry settings, further embellishing the atmosphere of coldness and bleakness.
Bing Mataverde-Bonggo
Former bank executive and contented grandmother
I agree with everything you wrote about K-drama, especially regarding how our own local dramas do not measure up to them despite our numerous talented and creative writers. Whenever I watch Pinoy soaps, I get frustrated and sometimes angry with the writers and directors because the plots and twists they present are sometimes so superficial.
I once had to comment: Please don’t insult the intelligence of your viewers. For example, the “contrabida” is already apprehended but he still manages to escape “magically” because the soap is still trending. They obviously want to extend it just to get more commercials and revenues in.
One Korean series I would recommend is the latest that I have watched: Wok of Love. I enjoyed it immensely because of the stiff competition between the head chef of the Giant Hotel and the humble chef of a lowly Chinese restaurant across from the hotel called Hungry Wok. This series was very suspense-filled for me with three leading stars: the chef of Hungry Wok, the gangster, and the female love interest of the two male leads. Their interwoven story is made even more interesting by the individual life stories of each person in the cast, including the support staff.
Be prepared to feel hunger while watching the kitchen scenes in both the Giant Hotel and Hungry Wok. It constantly whet my appetite for Jjajangmyeon. This K-drama will not only tickle your romantic heart but also your gustatory senses. I will say no more. Just that Wok of Love has awakened so many wonderful feelings in me and it made me happy.
Marline Dualan
Corporate and marketing communications expert and K-Drama Aficionado
In 2009, I chanced upon the third episode of Boys over Flowers in KBS. I found BOF highly entertaining and a very effective way to clear my mind of work stuff. I looked forward to each episode and when the series ended, I had to find a new drama to watch. I have been hooked on K-drama since then! It’s hard to choose a favorite as the more memorable ones for me are extraordinary in their own unique way.
I marvel at how K-dramas are able to so effectively promote South Korea’s beautiful spots, its history, and its culture against the backdrop of life’s everyday challenges. The scripts are well-written and well-researched. The acting is not too melodramatic. The stories are just so engaging that I can truly empathize with the characters. K-dramas have definitely succeeded in drawing so many people to visit South Korea to have a first-hand taste of what they’ve seen on screen.
Thanks to K-dramas, I feel so at home every time I visit Seoul. I feel like I am actually living my K-drama dream, with each trip making me increasingly appreciate the culture of its people and the beauty of its environs. And yes, watching K-dramas during the pandemic makes me long for Seoul even more.
Jingjing Romero
PR and DevComm consultant; current chairman of Ipra Philippines
We all are K-drama fanatics. I have been a Korean culture admirer since the early ’80s. I spent a week (under an exchange grant) to learn more about Korea and its success story. The Saemaul Undong movement was the best model for grassroots development that we in the Development Academy of the Philippines and the Productivity Development Center attempted to learn and integrate in our countryside development program then.
I would recommend Reply 1988 to everyone. It’s a story of love and friendship among neighbors. Not only did the kids become best friends, confidantes, and partners in crime, but their parents also had kinship and supported each other when the chips were down. They laughed, they cried, and they became each other’s cheerleaders at every obstacle and at every triumph or happy occasion.
Reply 1988 brought back happy memories of my own childhood when my neighborhood playmates became part of my family. Those unforgettable games, the camaraderie, and the dreams that my friends and I still remember vividly to this day were basically the same values and sentiments I found in this K-drama.
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premiere association for senior communications professionals around the world. Joy Lumawig-Buensalido is the president and CEO of Buensalido & Associates Public Relations.
PR Matters is devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations. Please send your questions or comments to askipraphil@gmail.com.