Move to Heaven and 4 Other Best K-Dramas Inspired by Real Events
For those interested in learning about the other side of Korea, we have chosen dramas based on real stories.
K-dramas have captivated millions of viewers worldwide with their gripping plots and bright characters. However, beneath the glamour of on-screen romance and fantasy, many dramas are based on real events.
1. Move to Heaven, 2021
The series tells the story of Geu-ru, a young man with Asperger's syndrome, and his uncle, Sang-gu, a former prisoner who is Geu-ru's guardian. Together, they run a family business called Move to Heaven, which cleans up after people die.
While doing their work, they uncover previously unknown stories about the deceased. In turn, Sang-gu faces painful memories and tries to understand his relationship with his deceased brother and his past.
2. Signal, 2016
Schoolboy Park Hae-young witnessed the kidnapping of a woman but was unable to help her. As he grew up and became a profiler, he continued to remember that incident. One day, he finds an old radio through which he can contact Detective Lee Jae-han from 1989.
The two police officers – one from the past and one from the present – then begin jointly investigating unsolved cases, including the Hwaseong serial murders case.
3. Hymn of Death, 2018
It is a tragic love story about Korea's first opera singer set against the backdrop of the Japanese occupation. Despite the ban, playwright Kim Woo-jin wrote plays about freedom.
For this new production, he invited Yun Sim-deok, the first Korean woman to receive a professional musical education in Japan. Their creative union soon turned romantic. However, Woo-jin was married at his father's insistence – a wealthy businessman, his father wanted Woo-jin to marry a woman of his choosing. Sim-deok, on the other hand, lived for her family.
4. The Empress Ki, 2013-2014
The main character lost her parents and was separated from her lover and child, while Influential rulers competed for her love.
This is the story of Ki Seung-nyang, a simple Korean girl who became the wife of Toghon Temur, the last emperor of the Mongolian Yuan dynasty. She is known in history as Empress Ki.
5. Spy Myung-wol, 2011
Han Myung-wol, a North Korean spy, fails an important mission. Afterward, she receives a new order: to seduce and marry a popular South Korean actor named Kang Woo. The goal is to make him the face of North Korean cultural propaganda.
While carrying out her mission, the woman saves the singer several times, becomes embroiled in a series of scandals, becomes a celebrity herself, and falls in love with her target.