Chaebol

This term isn't only used in K-Dramaland - if you're planning to major in Korean studies you'll have to deal with this as well and it's useful to know what we actually mean when talking about chaebol.

Chaebol is a term used for the business conglomerates. Despite for the heirs of such families sometimes being called 'parachutes' usually dealing with chaebol isn't that easy. They have money and friends. You know, in Germany we'd call that 'Vitamin C' - influential contacts.
That being said, they indeed have a huge influence not only in economics but also politics.

But of course, talking about certain characteristics we see in Korean dramas again and again, that is surely overexaggerated. As well as the amount of chaebol I've seen during the last years.

Usually, in Korean drama, we see conceited, mysophobic and rude male characters. Yes, usually the heirs of such families take over the spotlight and once they realize they can't get anything just by buying it - they tend to freak out or make a 180° turn and change their whole personality. But, oh, well, the latter usually just seems to be a weakness for the female lead.
So how come this kind of character is so irresistible? To be honest I have no idea. That's just my personal opinion but I don't care about their looks if they are rude as hell. They end up as completely loveable characters in the end though after falling for the female lead..

The only case I understand is actually the case of Joo Joong-won and the sun in The Master's Sun because he can actually help her dealing with the ghosts. No matter how bad he treats her, he's the only person who can help her getting rid of the ghosts.

A short collection of chaebol characters in Korean dramas? Yes, sure, here you go:

But to be completely fair, not all of them are bad characters - some are rather charming, a few are willing to give up everything for the person they love and there are a few female chaebol as well.

No matter where you go - I bet you'll find one kind or another of chaebol. But thinking about it logically the amount of families falling into this category in K-Dramaland is really large, even if some of them aren't even mentioned as main characters, they just happen to be there.

Wrist Grab

Another culture class anyone?

I've mentioned it before but Korea actually is a rather conservative country. For a long time holding hands in public was a huge no-no. Even nowadays the older generation tends to not be too happy about seeing the youth holding hands. To Koreans, that's still something rather personal though it's a pretty innocent type of skinship.
In dramas, when taking someone with you, the characters tend to just grab the other person by the wrist instead of taking someones hand. Plus, let's admit it, it's actually a lot easier like this to make a person follow you whether they want to or not.
But this is also used to keep someone from leaving. A simple "Don't go, I still have to talk to you" isn't enough anymore..

Now enjoy this "Wrist Grab" gallery I've collected from various dramas in various contacts. It's something we'll see over and over again. I just wish I'd get 1$ for every wrist grab I see in a K-Drama..

Oh, just saying - it's true that there is indeed a whole tumblr blog dedicated to K-Drama Wrist-Grabs. Just look for it on Google.

Piggyback Ride

Thinking about a typical element in the Korean movie industry, I wonder what else would come to your mind besides the piggyback ride!
Really, I've seen that in so many dramas and movies that I can't count it anymore. There were also two scenes in No Regret, so it's not unusual in Boys Love movies either.

Talking about this, we need to know the drinking culture.
You know, dramas aren't really overdoing the amount people in Korea drink. So it's not really an exaggeration to see characters in dramas being socially pressured to drink, or killing multiple bottles of soju over one meal, especially after being dumped, fired, belittled, or otherwise trampled upon.
But sure it IS an exaggeration to see people literally pass out while drinking.
However, in K-Dramaland this is a common cause as to why someone needs a piggyback ride home.

Seriously, who needs a taxi when someone's drunk? Or an ambulance when someone got hurt? Tsk, tsk, that'd be too old school.

So enjoy the gallery I've collected just now showing the piggyback rides I was able to find~

To The Beautiful You

Reply 1997

Boys Over Flowers

 
That Winter, The Wind Blows

Her Lovely Heels

 

All About My Romance

 

Others

It is a rather typical element as you might have noticed.. but hey, it's cute, so I'm not complaining. Just a little jealous from time to time.

Second-Female-Lead-Syndrome

After following the Second-Male-Lead-Syndrome - we cannot forget about their female counterparts. We could actually summarize it as the Second-Lead-Syndrome but both have different effects.

Let's be honest, in most dramas the second female leads belong to a not-so-positive category. It's not only that they're trying to manipulate everything and anyone for their personal benefits - most of them are pretty annoying as well and sometimes I just reach the point when I want to beat them up because they are seriously pissing me off. But I admit that they usually are really beautiful women - that's why they're not used to being rejected.
Sure there are some good second female leads, sometimes this manipulative type of character is represented by the mother of the male lead, or maybe someone else who's related to the male lead or female lead in any way.

Who were the most annoying Second-Female-Lead-Syndrome characters then?

The first one that appears in my list is Ok Joo-hyun in The Musical". Yes, at some point her character was pitiful but still one of the most annoying female characters I've ever seen in a Korean drama.

Now we have Kim Yoo-ri in The Master's Sun. In the end she's not that bad though she is annoying throughout the story, yes, but she's not one of the typical characters falling into the category of this syndrome.

However, NOW we have the personification of this syndrome! I think I've never, never, never hated a female character as much as I did hate Jung Yoo-mi in Rooftop Prince. There wasn't even one time when I was freaking out because of a second female lead this much. But what should I say.. People always get what they deserve. So does Hong Se-na. Yes, karma is a bitch.

Another female character that seriously made me freak out.. I don't even know what to say about such a malicious person. Park Soo-jin was seriously getting on my nerves in Flower Boy Next Door. She wasn't trying to get involved with the male lead, that's the only thing she did right, but her character was still one of the most annoying ones I remember.

The next one is Yoo In-na in You Who Came From The Stars. I somehow couldn't dislike her that much though because in fact I do understand her frustration after years of hard work. However, back-stabbing someone who thought of you as their best friend for years definitely isn't the right thing to do.

Of course there are more female characters that fit into this category. But compared to the male leads these manipulative characters are sometimes taken by others as well. We still have to mention Choi Ji-woo in Winter Sonata and Han Chae-ah in All About My Romance.

Sure I know that those actresses might be completely different in real life but somehow they tend to get on my nerves just when I see them in a drama again. However, when they're characters are okay in the next drama, I'm usually able to forgive them.

Second-Male-Lead-Syndrome

Welcome to a journey through the tropes of the K-Dramaland!

After watching some TV series, especially Korean ones, I came to realize that they love their tropes. Oh, yes, the writers do love their tropes.

The first thing I want to talk about is the Second-Male-Lead-Syndrome. It sounds longer than it actually is but if you've watched five Korean drama series you probably realized what happens to the poor second male lead.
When the male lead lets the girl down, the second male lead comes over and comforts her. He treats her like a princess, is ready to help her anytime with almost everything - and still is the forever alone friendzoned character in the end while the one who treats her like sh*t usually gets the girl.

I remember once reading a discussion on forums why good guys always end up like this. But I don't think they always do. Honestly speaking I get the excitement girls feel while chasing the one we like. And I do understand that this leaves a lot of options to use it in dramas in various ways.
BUT we all know the effect by now. Once I start a drama and there are two male leads, I can already make a guess how it's going to end. I would be more surprised when a girl would suddenly turn to the second lead and act like "Well, YOU, Sir, treated me like I'm worthless, your loss" towards the male lead. But as long as the Korean audience doesn't think that it's boring and that the writers probably should change something about it - they won't do anything. Who cares about the international audience? After all it's not us who watch dramas for free online who's paying them.

So, who were victims to the Second-Male-Lead-Syndrome so far in the dramas I've watched?


The very first friendzoned Second-Male-Lead I've seen is Lee Hyun-woo in To The Beautiful You.
Sure there's another problem - the female lead character dresses up as a boy so he thinks he's gay after falling for him eh, her - but even after he figures out the truth and forgives her, he's not the lucky one.

The second victim I stumbled upon is Song Jong-ho in Reply 1997. In this drama the one who gets the girl in the end is even a member of his family. In this drama it wasn't as bad though - there were times when I was seriously wondering whom the female lead will choose.

A really popular victim was Kim Hyun-joong in Boys Over Flowers. While the female lead fell for him first, he lost his chance and became friendzoned. Sad, sad, he actually had a chance but didn't want it then.. His own fault.

In You're Beautiful we see Jung Yong-hwa struggle with the same effect. Sure it's a genderbend drama as well but he figures out that the female lead actually is female quite fast. I'm not sure whether he's the first one to know but he somehow knows. However, being a close friend trying to protect her and her secret, he ends up in the friendzone as well. Sad for the character that actually made the drama bearable.

In the first season of IRIS we see a really serious case of this Second-Male-Lead-Syndrome since the poor friendzoned guy ends up suddenly fighting against both, his former best friend and the girl both of them love. Jung Joon-ho even tries to kill the male lead from time to time. Now this is a friendzoned character that shouldn't be pitied. But then again he's just like that because of being hurt and jealous.

In Monstar Kang Ha-neul gets dumped in favor of Yong Jun-hyung. Now he was really someone who didn't deserve this at all, I felt unbelievable sorry for him. He's not even one of my favorite actors but he definitely didn't deserve it. He even broke some 'rules' but still - it didn't help him out.

After winning the girls heart in Reply 1997 Seo In-guk ends up friendzoned by Gong Hyo-jin in The Master's Sun. He's not as poor as one might think since he's not alone in the end.

Of course there are many more friendzoned male second leads! But I don't want to write something about all of them. Just mentioning the dramas, we have Lee Ki-woo in Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Kim Ji-hoon in Flower Boy Next Door, Park Hae-jin in You Who Came From The Stars, Park Yong-ha in Winter Sonata and Park Hee-soon in All About My Romance. Looking at the number of victims of this syndrome I just listed - well, you can guess that this syndrome is one of the most common in K-Dramaland.

But let's be honest, ladies - if the female lead doesn't want them, there's more left for us!

Korean TV Stations: Channel A

Channel A Corporation, known as Channel A, is a nationwide general cable TV network and broadcasting company in South Korea, owned by DongA Media Group.
It was launched on 1 December 2011.
 

Holding dreams like a canvas, Channel A

Some of Channel A's most popular drama series include The Strongest K-Pop Survival and Panda and Hedgehog.

Korean TV Stations: jTBC

JTBC is a South Korean nationwide general cable TV network and broadcasting company, in which the largest shareholder is JoongAng Media Network. Roughly 5% of its shares are owned by TV Asahi, a Japanese channel.
It was launched on December 1, 2011.

JTBC is one of four new nationwide general cable TV networks alongside Channel A, TV Chosun and MBN in 2011. The four new networks supplement existing conventional free-to-air TV networks like KBS, MBC, SBS and other smaller channels launched following deregulation in 1990.

 Colorful JTBC

Some of jTBC's drama series include Padam Padam.. The Sound of His and Her Heartbeats, Secret Love Affair, Maids and Queen Insoo.