16 titles, most popular first
In late 1987, as South Korea is gripped by the struggle for democracy, university student Eun Yeong-ro finds graduate student Lim Soo-ho covered in blood. She hides him from the government in her dorm room, drawing herself into a story that unfolds amid the political upheaval of the time.
Ki Seung-nyang is a woman born in Goryeo who climbs to power despite the rigid class system of her time. Her story weaves together her political ambitions and her bonds with two men: Wang Yoo, her first love, and Toghon Temür, emperor of the Yuan dynasty.
In a made-up Joseon era, Crown Prince Lee Hwon falls in love with Heo Yeon-woo, a bright girl whose father is a palace scholar, while his older half-brother, Prince Yangmyung, loves her too. But the scheming Queen Dowager wants her own relative to become Crown Princess, and dangerous palace plots soon threaten Yeon-woo and the young prince.
Set during the founding of the Joseon dynasty on the Korean Peninsula, this story follows the dreams, rivalries, and struggles of a mix of real and fictional figures. At its center is the young Yi Bang-won as a new kingdom takes shape around him.
This drama follows the life of King Jeongjo of Joseon, starting with his childhood as Prince Yi San. As a boy, he befriends two young palace workers, Seong Song-yeon and Park Dae-su, and turns to them for help when his grandfather, King Yeongjo, turns against his father, Crown Prince Sado, fearing a coup.
In the Joseon court, Grand Prince Suyang hopes to win over the loyal official Kim Jong-seo by marrying his daughter Se-ryung to Kim's son, Seung-yoo. Curious about her intended, Se-ryung trades places with her cousin, Princess Gyeonghye, to get a look at him, and a romance begins in the shadow of their fathers' bitter rivalry.
In Joseon, Lee Tae becomes king after King Seonjong, who seized the throne through a rebellion. Lee Tae is a ruler who must give up the woman he loves just to survive, Yoo Jeong is a woman who has to become queen to stay alive, and the real power lies with first vice-premier Park Gye-won.
Gwanghae, born to a royal concubine, is named Crown Prince of Joseon and must survive constant threats to his life and his place as heir. Locked in a bitter rivalry with his father, King Seonjo, he turns to the art of reading faces, enlisting a fortuneteller skilled in physiognomy to help him claim the throne.
In the Joseon dynasty, four people who come from very different backgrounds band together around Yi Geum, a prince known as Prince Yeoning. They set out to help him claim the throne and to reform the Saheonbu, putting their varied skills toward a shared cause.
This period drama looks at the strained relationship between King Yeongjo and his son, Crown Prince Yi Sun, also known as Sado. The shrewd king is determined to strengthen royal authority, while his passionate, idealistic son dreams of a society free of rank and inequality.
In Joseon under the tyrant King Yeonsangun, Hong Gil-dong is the son of a slave, which leaves him with no legal standing despite his brilliance. Shut out of honest work, he becomes the leader of a band of smugglers who take from the rich and give to the poor, while the king's favored concubine, Jang Nok-su, secretly still loves him.
In 1970s Korea, a corrupt KCIA official, Jo Pil-yeon, has the Lee siblings' father killed during a gold robbery and then hunts down the rest of the family. Kang-mo, Sung-mo and Mi-joo are scattered as they flee to Seoul, and the separated siblings grow up determined to avenge their parents.
Four young people who grow up together are swept up in Korea's upheaval, from the last days of Japanese rule to the split between North and South. Choi Woon-hyuk is a gifted son of poor miners, Kim Hae-kyung comes from a family of tenant farmers, Lee Dong-woo is heir to a powerful family, and Moon Suk-kyung is the only child of an influential pro-Japanese politician.
Overthrown by his uncle, Grand Prince Suyang, the teenage king of Joseon is stripped of his title, renamed Prince Nosan and sent into exile. Eom Heung-do, chief of a poor mountain village in Yeongwol, hopes that hosting an exiled nobleman will bring his people good fortune, and his village is chosen to receive Nosan, who arrives with his loyal maid Mae-hwa.
This drama follows Kim Su-ro, remembered in legend as the founding king of Geumgwan Gaya, a city-state known for sea trade and ironwork. Relying on his fiery temper, charisma and sharp mind, he battles through a long political struggle against rivals including his half-brother Ijinashi, his former friend Seok Tal-hae and the ambitious Shingwi Ghan.
Stretching from Joseon's birth through King Sejong's time, this saga follows Yi Bang-won, fifth son of the dynasty's founder, who later rules as King Taejong. Devoted to keeping the young kingdom stable, he shows deep loyalty to his father and heir, but the killings carried out in his name stir bitter anger in return.
