Netflix’s Crash Landing on You put Son ye-jin’s strong female character front and centre, while Itaewon Class touched on racism: the K-drama themes from 2020 we hope to see more of this year

Jan 17 , 2021

Stills from K-dramas (L-R) Itaewon Class, Crash Landing on You and Start Up, which all broached culturally relevant subjects in 2020. Photo: Netflix, TVN

Bae Suzy’s character in Start-Up taught us to follow our moral compass and Kim Soo-hyun’s character in It’s Okay to Not Be Okay struggled with others’ mental health issues: the plots we appreciated in 2020

The year 2020 was a powerful one for K-dramas, not least because an increasing number of them began premiering worldwide on Netflix. The fact that most of the viewing population was stuck at home only helped to amplify the global K-drama craze.

The good news is, at the same time K-dramas have also gone beyond stereotypical romance-centred plots, adding meat to their storylines by weaving in themes and issues that genuinely deserve attention – from tackling feminist themes to focusing empathetically on mental health. The world is changing, and K-dramas are, too. Here are five themes we saw emerge in 2020, and hope to see more of this year.

Diversity ruled

The stars of Record of Youth. Photo: Netflix

Itaewon Class set the tone for this at the start of the year, touching on gender, race and socio-economic discrimination. It’s Okay Not To Be Okay, another of 2020’s K-drama gems, portrayed mental health struggles in a manner that was tender and real.

Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol gave us a noona romance (one involving an older woman and younger man), while Park Bo-gum’s character in Record of Youth showed how to respect gender preferences when he refused to divulge personal details about gay fashion designer Charlie Jung, even if doing so would have helped him get out of a scandal.

Was It Love?, despite the lack of hype, is worth mentioning for bringing to the fore an unconventional family unit, showing us how a grandmother, mother and daughter are enough to make a family complete.

We met more female leads in positions of power

Seo Ye-ji as Ko Moon-young in It’s Okay Not to Be Okay. Photo: tvN

Gone are the modern-day Cinderellas who need saving. From last year’s line-up, two female chaebol (heads or heiresses of wealthy, family owned businesses) quickly come to mind: Yoon Se-ri in Crash Landing on You and Ko Moon-young in It’s Okay Not to Be Okay.