Summary

• Chemistry between leads is vital for a successful K-drama romance, along with a strong plot to keep the audience engaged.
• Adding elements like mysteries, crime, or the fantastical makes a love story more exciting and creates compelling characters.
• Well-developed characters outside of the romance enhance the depth of a couple's relationship in a K-drama series.

Romantic couples are a vital part of many television shows, and K-Drama series often have couples with the best onscreen chemistry. No matter what genre a K-drama falls under, there is almost always a central romantic couple who must overcome adversity and differences to be together. However, these couples are only compelling if the actors have enough chemistry to make their attraction believable, leaving the audience breathless. A K-drama will rarely find success if the lead couple isn’t a good match.

Implementing mysteries, fantastical elements, and even crime gives the protagonists something to investigate or accomplish together.

When it comes to the best K-drama romances, an engaging couple isn't enough, and chemistry will only get a series so far if the narrative isn't just as good. Implementing mysteries, fantastical elements, and even crime gives the protagonists something to investigate or accomplish together. This puts them in complicated situations, forces them to work together, and inevitably strengthens their rapport. Additionally, a strong plot makes for better characters, and each half of a couple must be well-developed on their own outside the romance.

10 Jeong Gu-won & Do Do-hee In My Demon (2023 - 2024)

Song Kang and Kim Yoo-jung

My Demon involves a contractual marriage between Do Do-hee and the demon, Jeong Gu-won. At first, their connection isn't romantic, as Do Do-hee uses his powers to protect her and excel in her work. However, they're stuck together after he loses his powers, and it seems there's more to their partnership than they thought. Fake dating/fake marriage is a common trope in the romance genre, but the series manages to put a new spin on the well-known story by adding a supernatural element.

Additionally, Song Kang and Kim Yoo-jung are impossible to look away from. Their attraction to each other is apparent from the start, but they deny their feelings long enough that waiting for them together is almost unbearable. However, the delayed gratification makes their inevitable relationship so satisfying. By the finale, each character goes to extreme lengths to help each other, even if it means sacrificing what they want because of their love.

Watch My Demon on Netflix.

9 Lee Doo-na & Lee Won-jun In Doona! (2023)

Bae Suzy and Yang Se-jong

K-pop idols are a touchstone of pop culture in South Korea and across the world, so when a K-drama interacts with the level of fame that idols achieve, it's always interesting. Many K-pop idols go on to become great actors in K-dramas but in Doona! the story revolves around a fictional idol who's stepped away from the limelight. Lee Doo-na was the leader of a well-known singing group, so when Lee Won-jun finds out she's his roommate when he goes away to college, it's a shock.

However, because she's no longer working, Lee Do-na is interested in having a normal life and not being treated differently. Coming from opposite worlds is difficult to overcome in a budding romance, but the pull between the characters is too strong to resist. Doona! excels because it doesn't rely on its premise to create all the stakes but works hard at incorporating other characters and creating obstacles other than the pressures of stardom. It's through these conflicts that Do-na and Won-jun find solace in each other.

Watch Doona! on Netflix.

8 Lee Young-joon & Kim Mi-soo In What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim (2018)

Park Seo-joon and Park Min-young

What's Wrong With Secretary Kim doesn't fully unpack the power dynamic between a boss realizing he's in love with his secretary. However, it successfully sidesteps it by putting the two characters on an even playing field. The smart, competent, and independent Kim Mi-soo is the longtime secretary of Lee Young-joon, and when she quits, Young-joon realizes he's lost without her and that he's in love with her. Based on a webtoon, the series has fun with its premise but incorporates some dramatic elements that give the relationship weight.

Part of what has made the series so famous is the fantastic kiss scene that occurs when they finally it their feelings and the fact that the development of their relationship up to that point makes their love feel earned. Like other K-dramas, it's revealed that the pair have a past they weren't aware of and that the sometimes shallow and selfish actions of Young-joon are rooted in his past struggles. Additionally, Park Seo-joon and Park Min-young play off each other brilliantly, making the dynamic even more engaging.

Watch What's Wrong With Secretary Kim on Hulu and Viki.

7 Do Bong-soon & Ahn Min-hyuk In Strong Girl Do Bong-soon (2017)

Park Bo-youn and Park Hyung-sik

Traditional gender roles are explored in Strong Girl Do Bong-soon as Do Bong-soon has extraordinary strength that's ed down through the women in her family. When she becomes a bodyguard for Ahn Min-hyuk, he grows to love and appreciate her strength. Although the initial object of her affection, In Guk-doo (Ji Soo), doesn't understand her powers, it's all the more adorable when Min-hyuk helps her train and finds her strength incredible.

The love triangle is topped off with crime drama and mystery elements that revolve around Bong-soon coming to love and understand her powers. Strong Girl Do Bong-soon doesn't shy away from the portrayal of strong women, and even though Bong-soon wants to be treated in a way she considers more ladylike, her strength is what helps solve the crimes and brings her closer to Min-hyuk. The darker aspects of the series, like murder and kidnapping, are brightened by the relationship between Bong-soon and Min-hyuk.

Watch Strong Girl Do Bong-soon on Viki.

6 Captain Yoo Shi-jin & Kan Mo-yoen In Descendants Of The Sun (2016)

Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo

War, romance, drama, and separation all come into play in Descendants of the Sun, but none of it would be interesting without the essential relationship between Yoo Sin-ji and Kan Mo-yeon. Sin-jin is an army Captain, and Mo-yeon is a successful doctor, so their high-stress and demanding jobs are the reasons they’re kept apart, even though they start dating at the beginning of the series. Theirs is not a will-they-won't-they love story but one of the struggles of circumstance, timing, and the pressure to do the right thing.

Even when major obstacles get in their way, like Mo-yeon believing that Sin-jin is dead for months, nothing can stop their love. Through the story, Descendants of the Sun easily convinces the audience that even in war-torn settings, love will prevail, and there is never a doubt that Sin-jin will find his way back home. The show was critically acclaimed and enormously popular upon its release, and this must be attributed to the romance that keeps the story going even when all hope is lost.

Watch Descendants of the Sun on Hulu and Viki.

5 Seo Do-guk & Han Yi-joo In Perfect Marriage Revenge (2023)

Sung Hoon and Jung Yoo Min

The fantastical premise of Perfect Revenge Marriage is a thrilling twist on traditional tales of betrayal and justice, as Han Yi-joo gets a do-over after her whole family ruins her life. After being framed, lied to, and betrayed by her mother, and her husband leaves her for her sister, Han Yi-joo is murdered. However, she doesn't stay gone for long because she wakes up a year before these events have taken place and decides to change the course of fate.

Seo Do-guk is about to marry Yi-joo's sister in the past, but when Yi-joo wakes up with her knowledge of the future, she stops the wedding and gets him to marry her instead. From there, the two of them strike a bargain to help each other get revenge on their families. Of course, it doesn't take long for them to realize there are real feelings underneath their act. Watching Yi-joo get everything she deserves, including the perfect partner, is a satisfying story arc.

Watch Perfect Marriage Revenge on Viki.

4 Ri Jeong-hyeok & Yoon Se-ri In Crash Landing On You (2019 - 2020)

Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin

Crash Landing On You is one of the best K-dramas of all time because of its innovative premise, compelling characters, and emotional love story that drives the narrative forward. Yoon Se-ri lives in Seoul and prides herself on her success in the corporate world, but one day, she has a paragliding accident that takes her over the border into North Korea and meets the soldier Ri Jeong-hyeok, who helps her hide and eventually returns to South Korea.

Crash Landing On You has received high praise for delicately portraying the social and political differences between the two countries while building a believable relationship between two people from opposite worlds. While the romance between Se-ri and Jeong-hyeok is the most compelling part of the series, there are other characters the audience roots for. Namely, the secondary couple, Seo Dan (Seo Ji-hye) and Gu Seung-jun (Kim Jung-hyun), are a standout in the ing cast.

Watch Crash Landing On You on Netflix.

3 Vincenzo & Hong Cha-young In Vincenzo (2021)

Song Joong-ki and Jeon Yeo-bin

Vincenzo is one of the best revenge K-dramas, and though audiences were initially drawn in because of the action and intrigue, the unexpected romance between Vincenzo and Hong Cha-young kept viewers just as excited as the fight scenes. When Vincenzo returns to South Korea from Italy, he uses his experience and connections with the mafia to ensure his future and get revenge on his brother, who tried to kill him. He soon teams up with Cha-young, a savvy attorney, and they work together to take down a corrupt pharmaceutical company.

Both characters are headstrong and equally sure that their opinion is the right one. While this causes personal conflict between them, it also makes them a formidable team that their enemies come to fear. After working together for a long time in high-pressure environments, the tension spills over, and their relationship begins to form. Their romance is rarely the A-plot in any of the episodes, but that doesn't make their interactions any less electric.

Watch Vincenzo on Netflix.

2 Moon Gang-tae & Ko Moon-young In It’s Okay To Not Be Okay (2020)

Kim Soo-hyun and Seo Ye-ji

The leads of It's Okay To Not Be Okay have a romance that has twists and turns, but few relationships are better earned than theirs. Each is grappling with trauma from their past and has difficulties connecting with others, and their pain can make the show an emotional watch. While Gang-tae is painfully shy and Moon-young is abrasive and direct, they rarely connect with other people, so when it happens, they try not to let things get in the way.

It's Okay To Not Be Okay was praised for its depictions of mental health conditions and neurodivergence, which it treats respectfully and informs the main relationship. Through time and dedication, it's uncovered that they knew each other as children, and the traumatic events from their pasts are linked. This relationship has a rare bond, and though the healing process is painful, there is genuine love between the pair. Both actors take on their complex roles with empathy for the characters.

Watch It's Okay To Not Be Okay on Netflix.

1 Lee Jang-hyun & Yoo Gil-chae In My Dearest (2023)

Namgoong Min and Ahn Eun-jin

My Dearest is a period piece set during the Qing invasion of Joeson in the mid-1600s. As war rages around them, Lee Jang-hyun and Yoo Gil-chae open up to each other despite their complicated romantic backgrounds that make it difficult for them to find new love during this period. Gil-chae is part of a royal family, but she falls in love with Jang-hyun despite his mysterious past and determination never to marry. However, Jang-hyun is just as smitten with Gil-chae.

As star-crossed lovers go, few are as beautiful or as tragic as Jang-hyun and Gil-chae, but watching them show their love in the subtle ways available to them is just as satisfying as the more obvious love declarations of the present day. Together, they grow, and during the invasion of Joeson, their lives grow even more complicated. Circumstance attempts to tear them apart, but the couple only grows stronger, and their ending makes the sacrifices worth it.

Watch My Dearest on Kocowa and Viki.