5 hit K-dramas with foreign remakes – how do Thailand, China and Indonesia’s versions of Signal, Oh My Ghost and Discovery of Love match the originals?
Imitation is a form of flattery, we often hear. So it comes as no surprise that the Korean dramas beloved across the world would find themselves being remade regionally to suit local viewers. The treatment, cast and settings may be different, but these K-drama adaptations still maintain the source materials’ winning formula.
Hit K-dramas that have inspired foreign adaptations
She Was Pretty
Remade in: China
Two years after actors Park Seo-joon and Hwang Jung-eum starred in the often-overlooked South Korean drama She Was Pretty, a Chinese adaptation found success in 2017 and topped the ranking in its time slot. Pretty Li Huizhen retells the premise of a clumsy heroine who was stunning as a child but lost her beauty as she matured. The leading character navigates through the glossy world of print magazines, where she reunites with an old friend who doesn’t seem to recognise her.
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Signal
Remade in: Japan
Signal is a 2018 Japanese series based on the Korean drama of the same name. The original 2016 series was written by award-winning writer Kim Eun-hee and was the 10th highest-rated Korean drama on cable television. Both series tells the tale of a police officer from the past, who uses a mystical walkie-talkie to communicate with a criminal profiler living more than a decade into the future.
Oh My Ghost
Remade in: Thailand
Thailand is known for many Korean drama adaptations but one of the best-known is Oh My Ghost, which follows a timid sous chef who is in love with her boss and finds an unlikely wingwoman in a virgin ghost only she can see.
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Discovery of Love
Remade in: Vietnam
KBS-produced drama Discovery of Love possessed a winning formula and poignant script that made it binge-worthy for both its Korean audiences and Vietnamese viewers. When the remake was aired on Vietnamese television it took on a different title, The Day We Fell in Love. While the original drama earned top ratings in South Korea, its Vietnamese franchise won it best actor and best director awards at the 38th National Television Festival in 2018.
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Tunnel
Remade in: Indonesia
The 2017 hit series Tunnel, which was based on the Hwaseong serial murders, is all set for an Indonesian remake. The adaptation will be one of the first original productions for streaming service Goplay. “Something like this, an adaptation, is something that is pretty new to Indonesia,” Base Entertainment producer Tanya Yuson told Variety. The new series is said to have more local appeal for its audience and features fictional murders in Yogyakarta.
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The treatment, cast and settings may be different, but these popular South Korean drama adaptations still maintain the source materials’ winning formula for local audiences across Asia, and beyond