There’s nothing that satisfies my inner romantic like a good movie about love. Even though I’ve probably seen every love story cliché play out on screen, there are just some films that never fail to give me the butterflies—no matter how cheesy they might be. This is especially true for Korean onscreen romances. They have a certain indescribable charm that I cannot resist. Part of it is in the storytelling, but there’s always the beauty of South Korea in the backdrop, which gets me every time. And let’s not forget the handsome oppas. I mean, what’s not to love here?
The next time you’re looking for a cute picker-upper, or a heavy drama that’ll make you cry your eyeballs out, I suggest you look no further than the list below. These are some of the best Korean romantic movies of all time.
The Beauty Inside
Everyday, Woo-jin wakes up as a different person. Sometimes he wakes up as a man, as a woman, and even sometimes as a kid. But no matter how he changes physically, one thing never changes: He’s in love with Yi-soo (Han Hyo-joo). And she also has feelings for him, despite the whole body-changing ordeal. Even so, the two will have to figure out how to make things work if they want their “happily ever after.”
200 Pounds Beauty
Han-na (Kim Ah-jung) is a phone operator and extremely talented singer who is forced to ghost-sing for a pop diva named Ammy (Ji Seo-yun) because she doesn’t have “the look.” After becoming fed up by Ammy’s bullying and overhearing her crush/boss Sang-jun (Joo Jin-mo) admit that they’re just using her, she attempts to die by suicide. Luckily, she’s saved by one of her clients and then decides to undergo drastic plastic surgery to fit the mold of conventional beauty. But is this really what she needs to step into her stardom?
Be With You
Woo-jin (So Ji-seob) became a single father raising his son Ji-ho (Kim Ji-hwan) after his wife Soo-ah (Son Ye-jin) passed away. But before she died, Soo-ah promised she’d be back on a rainy day a year later. And by some miracle, she does come back—only she’s lost all her memories.
My Sassy Girl
College student Kyun-woo (Cha Tae-hyun) saves a young woman (Jun Ji-hyun) from falling over into the tracks of a train. Since the night they met, they’ve kept bumping into each other and each time she somehow lands them both in trouble. From all the mischief, they develop a relationship, but all love stories have their challenges, and theirs involves strict parents, blind dates, and farewell letters in a time capsule.
Architecture 101
Seung-min (Eom Tae-woong) and Seo-yeon (Han Ga-in) first met 15 years ago in college at an Architecture 101 class. As they worked on a project together, they fell in love but eventually broke up. Now, Seo-yeon wants to hire Seung-min to rebuild her home on Jeju Island. He resists, but then his boss forces him to get on the project. And as the two embark on another project together, it brings up old memories of what once was, both sweet and bitter.
A Werewolf Boy
Soon-yi (Park Bo-young) is a sickly teen with a chronic lung disease, so she moves to the countryside in the hopes that some fresh air will cure her. There, she meets Chul-soo (Song Joong-ki), a mysterious wild boy who lives in a barn and lacks strong social skills. Soon-yi teaches him how to act like a human being as he learns how to love.
Wonderful Nightmare
Yeon-woo (Uhm Jung-hwa) is a successful lawyer who falls into a coma after a tragic car accident. But when she gets to heaven, she learns that her death was caused by a clerical error, and another woman by the same name was supposed to die. While the powers that be figure out how to fix the mistake, she has to live the life of a housewife (who also died by accident) for a month, and while playing the role of wife and mother, she finds that something’s changed within her.
Cheese in the Trap
Seol (Oh Yeon-seo) is a normal college student who is also busy working part-time jobs to help pay for her tuition. Meanwhile, Yoo-jung (Park Hae-jin) is a popular senior at the university, known for both his looks and his kindness, even though he comes from a wealthy family. One day, to Seol’s surprise, Yoo-jung asks her out on a date. But she can’t help asking, “What’s the catch?”
Tune in for Love
Mi-soo (Kim Go-eun), a part-time worker at a bakery, begins exchanging stories with college student Hyun-woo (Jung Hae-in) through a radio program. They keep crossing paths and fall in love, but timing never seems to be on their side.
On Your Wedding Day
It’s been ten years since Woo-yeon (Kim Young-kwang) and his first love and best friend Seung-hee (Park Bo-young) went their separate ways. Now, he receives an invitation to her wedding. The movie follows Woo-yeon as he reminisces about the ups and downs of their relationship.
Spellbound
Yeo-ri (Son Ye-jin) has been given the ability to see dead people ever since she survived an accident in high school. But her gift seems more like a curse as ghosts like her best friend Joo-hee (Hwang Seung-eon) keep chasing the people in her life away—including her family and friends. But then she meets street magician Jo-goo (Lee Min-ki) who tries to help with her predicament. And though he’s scared of ghosts, he’s willing to overcome his fear for his friend…even as he starts to develop feelings for her.
The Princess and the Matchmaker
Princess Songhwa (Shim Eun-kyung) refuses to marry any of the four men that her family has deemed suitable for her. She then decides to escape the palace in search of true love.
Like for Likes
This movie follows the story of three couples in the age of digital dating and social media. Now that they’ve “liked” and friended each other online, they’ve got to figure out how to move their relationships offline to IRL.
Castaway on the Moon
Kim Seong-geun (Jung Jae-young) feels like his life is hopeless, and he tries to die by suicide by jumping into the Han River. But he thankfully lives and washes up on Bamseom, which is an island below the very bridge he jumped off of. At first he cries for help, but then he begins to enjoy his worry-free life. He then meets avid moon photographer Jung-yeon (Jung Ryeo-won), and they soon begin exchanging messages in bottles and on the sand.
Josée
Josée (Han Ji Min) is an independent young woman with a unique outlook on life, living by her own rules in a rundown house filled with books in a small city on the outskirts of Seoul. Young Seok (Nam Joo Hyuk) is a university student who has always lived by other people’s rules. When Young Seok meets Josée, he begins to see that there’s more to life than doing what you’re “supposed to.”
New Year Blues
In this film, we follow the stories of four different couples with different problems. As they begin a brand new year, they try to overcome their obstacles and face them head-on for once.
Miracle: Letters to the President
This movie is based on a true story. A young man named Jung Jun Kyung (Park Jung Min) grows up in a small remote village and feels like he and his fellow villagers are cut off from the rest of the world. It becomes his dream to have a train station built in their town, so he begins writing letters to the president. He almost gives up but becomes inspired and encouraged by a new classmate named Song Ra Hee (Yoona).
Sweet & Sour
This is for all the people dealing with long-distance dating. A couple faced with new opportunities and challenges in their relationship notices that their once-sweet romance has turned sour. Will their love survive this tumultuous phase?
Via Cosmopolitan US.