The 10 Saddest K-Dramas Ever

True to their commonly used moniker, many K-dramas (South Korean scripted television programming of any genre) can get quite melodramatic at times. Even the most uproarious Korean comedies know when to add some raw, emotional moments between the laughs, and the pure drama shows swing even harder with their tearjerker scenes. Korean television has been expertly crafting sad stories for years, with some of the best K-dramas of all time being outright tragedies. As K-dramas continue to find popularity with international audiences, there are plenty of shows to choose from if you just need a good, cathartic cry.

From period piece epics to intimate love stories cut tragically short, melancholy K-dramas span a wide breadth of genres and narrative premises. The unifying element in all these shows are how utterly depressing they are, with their soul-crushing endings likely leaving viewers emotional wrecks for days. At the same time, there is a unique beauty to the despair in these stories, inspiring and life-affirming in their own despondent way. 

Get the tissue boxes ready because here are the 10 saddest K-dramas ever made.

Director Yoon Seok-ho helmed a quartet of K-dramas focused on lost love, each set around a different calendar season, informally known as the "Endless Love" series. The first installment was 2000's "Autumn in My Heart," which starts with a long-standing case of mistaken identity between newborn girls Yoon Eun-suh (Song Hye-ko) and Choi Shin-ae (Han Chae-young). Growing up as childhood rivals, the girls' true identities are eventually uncovered and restored, though confusion about the swap remains as they progress into adulthood. This is complicated when Yoon Joon-suh (Song Seung-heon), who was initially raised as Eun-suh's brother before the swap was discovered, begins an illicit romance with her years later.

Fully embracing its melodramatic potential, "Autumn in My Heart" has everything from forbidden romance to twisted betrayal and long-held rivalries. Song Seung-heon plays his part as the tortured protagonist well while Song Hye-ko highlights the tragedy in her part as his doomed lover. As with any good romantic drama, the central couple are involved with spurned lovers who are not ready to let go of their partners without some meddling of their own. A foundational show for the melodramatic K-dramas that would follow, it's no wonder that "Autumn in My Heart" launched an entire unofficial series.

The second installment in director Yoon Seok-ho's "Endless Love" series, 2002's "Winter Sonata" unabashedly leans into classic soap opera stakes. Bae Yong-joon stars as Kang Joon-sang, a shy student who strikes up a high school romance with his classmate Jeong Yoo-jin (Cheo Ji-woo). After Joon-sang suffers a grievous accident, he recovers in the United States, developing severe amnesia, while his classmates are informed that he was killed. Years later, Joon-sang returns to Korea under a new identity and with no memory of his past, where he also reunites with Yoo-jin, who is engaged to another man.

"Winter Sonata" is arguably the best of the "Endless Love" series, striking the perfect balance between romance and outright melodrama. The show was adapted into a manga series, an anime adaptation, with the main cast reprising their roles for the Korean dub and even a Nintendo DS game. Bae Yong-joon essentially plays two different characters, Kang Joon-sang and his post-accident persona Lee Min-hyung, effectively portraying both. "Winter Sonata" puts its characters through an absolutely emotional wringer, full of twists and turns, making its eventual payoff feel well-earned.

Romantic jealousy fuels betrayal and intertwining relationships in the 2003 melodrama "Stairway to Heaven," the middle installment of director Lee Jang-soo's unofficial "Heaven" trilogy. Childhood sweethearts Han Jung-suh (Choi Ji-woo) and Cha Song-joo (Kwon Sang-woo) have their love disrupted by Jung-suh's stepsister Han Yoo-ri (Kim Tae-hee), who wants Jung-suh and his fortune for herself. Yoo-ri arranges for Jung-suh to endure an accident and fakes her death after learning that her stepsister has developed amnesia. As the amnesiac Jung-suh lives with her stepbrother Han Tae-hwa (Shin Hyun-joon) under a different identity, a chance reunion with Song-joo jogs her lost memories.

As far as tragic figures in romantic K-dramas go, it doesn't get much sadder than the arc for Han Jung-suh. The ordeal she endures, even after reuniting with Song-joo, is among the most bitterly soul-crushing as anyone faces in a 21st century K-drama. For rock fans, though Led Zeppelin's music comes with strict rules involving its licensing, "Stairway to Heaven" embraces its eponymous track adding an odd musical juxtaposition to the story. The main characters in "Stairway to Heaven" can't catch a break and fans of romantic tragedies wouldn't have it any other way.

It's tragic situation after tragic situation in the 2004 K-drama "I'm Sorry, I Love You," following the mismatched pair of Cha Moo-hyuk (So Ji-sub) and Song Eun-chae (Im Soo-jung). Raised by abusive foster parents in Australia, small-time crook Moo-hyuk returns to Korea to find his biological parents before he dies from a bullet lodged in his skull. He reunites with Eun-chae, a woman his gang ripped off in Australia, while learning his mother Audrey (Lee Hye-young) was unaware that she had given up Moo-hyuk for adoption. These developments make Moo-hyuk completely rethink his initial revenge plans, including those involving his ailing long-lost brother Choi Yoon (Jung Kyung-ho).

Virtually every twist and major plot reveal throughout "I'm Sorry, I Love You" somehow makes the story become even sadder than it was before. What starts as a tale of revenge and tragic, time-limited romance becomes an escalating drama involving messy family secrets and dynamics. The declaration of love in the show's title refers to both Moo-hyuk's burgeoning relationship with Eun-chae and his complicated mother-son dynamic with Audrey, and both end tragically. A marathon of tragedies unfolding across 16 episodes, "I'm Sorry, I Love You" is as depressing as K-dramas get.

A near-death body swap reveals the sad realities of life in the K-drama "49 Days," starring Nam Gyu-ri as Shin Ji-hyun as a woman preparing for her seemingly perfect wedding. After becoming comatose after an accident, Ji-hyun is given a chance at revival if she can collect tears shed from pure love from three different non-family members within 49 days. To facilitate this, Ji-hyun shares the body of depressed outsider Song Yi-kyung (Lee Yo-won), with the two women bonding over their shared existence. As Ji-hyun embarks on her out-of-body quest, she realizes her friends and family weren't honest in how they treated her, making her question her entire life.

"49 Days" is a K-drama existential crisis writ large, spanning 20 episodes, guided by the central question about the value of life itself. At the start of the series, Ji-hyun feels like she has all of the big questions figured out, only to realize that the life she built was a lie. Through it all, Ji-hyun's journey helps Yi-kyung evaluate her own life and sense of self-worth as they work together. A bittersweet story on rediscovering life's inherent value, with one heck of a twist, "49 Days" is an engrossing fantasy tragedy.

There are countless K-dramas set within the country's medieval period, ranging from screwball romantic comedies to Korean zombie horror. The 2016 series "Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo" veers into time-bending fantasy, with 21st century woman Go Ha-jin (Lee Ji-eun) suddenly transported to the 10th century. Ha-jin finds herself amid the courtly squabbles between the kingdom's princes, including the cruel Prince Wang So (Lee Joon-gi). As Ha-jin and Wang So get to know each other, he becomes a changed man as he allows himself to be more vulnerable around her.

More than just a Korean version of "Outlander," "Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo" leans into the tragedy of its time-displaced premise. Wang So is the cruel prince with a heart of gold, but just because he finds love, doesn't mean the wolves around him are no longer hungry for his downfall. Then there's the matter of Ha-jin's modern ideals in this medieval era, contradictory and yet impactful to this bygone culture. An unapologetically sweeping tragic romance, full of courtly intrigue and illicit love, "Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo" takes full advantage of its heartbreaking premise.

Though American audiences may best recognize Gong Yoo as the brutal recruiter in "Squid Game," the actor has appeared in numerous projects popular with international audiences. One of his most popular is the fantasy K-drama "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God," also known simply as "Goblin" in some territories. Yoo plays Kim Shin, an immortal goblin searching for a bride who can finally remove the sword impaled into his chest so he can finally pass in peace. Shin saved Ji Eun-tak (Kim Go-eun) from grim reapers when she suffered an accident as a child, with Eun-tak realizing years later that she's destined to give Shin his peace.

Despite its fantasy premise, "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God" leans heavily into melodrama with its exploration of life and death. Eun-tak is aware of her role in giving Shin his long-awaited peace, but she's also fallen deeply in love with him and doesn't want to lose him forever. This builds to a bittersweet arc for both characters, culminating in an ending that's sure to have viewers feeling like freshly cut onions are nearby. A beautiful fantasy love story with a tearjerker conclusion, "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God" is a must-see for Gong Yoo fans.

Trauma is a unifying element in the 2018 K-drama "My Mister," starring Lee Ji-eun and the late Lee Sun-kyun. Lee Ji-eun plays Lee Ji-an, a woman who struggles caring for her ailing grandmother (Son Sook) while trying to make ends meet as a temporary worker. She meets Park Dong-hoon (Lee Sun-kyun), a man in his 40s largely supporting his family, including his two brothers. The two commiserate in their respectively complicated family dynamics, finding solace in each other as they endure the common miseries of life.

Familial and workplace dysfunction is the name of the game throughout "My Mister," a slice-of-life tale gone unrelentingly dark. The sadness in the show for the audience comes from a sense of relatability, whether it be financial struggles, difficulties in dealing with families, or general everyday malaise. Ji-an and Dong-hoon's relationship is the silver lining in both their lives, but it isn't an encompassing protection from continued unhappiness. Lee Ji-eun and Lee Sun-kyun really dig deep into their characters' existential crises while playing well off each other, proving that misery loves company.

Years before he appeared as the menacing Front Man in "Squid Game," Lee Byung-hun starred in the period piece "Mr. Sunshine." Lee plays Eugene Choi, a man raised in New York after a military incident in Korea in 1871, returning to his homeland in the early 1900s as an American soldier. Choi learns that Japan is planning to conquer Korea and has to choose to stay neutral as part of his American diplomatic mission or intervene to defend Korea from Japan. Choi's decision is influenced by Go Ae-shin (Kim Tae-ri), a local nobleman he falls in love with who is secretly a freedom fighter against the occupying Japanese military.

K-dramas set during the Japanese occupation of Korea understandably don't shy away from highlighting the cruel oppression the Korean population experienced during this time. "Mr. Sunshine" is no different in that regard, using this as the backdrop for a doomed love story and celebrating the country's defiance to an overwhelming hostile military. Lee Byung-hun and Kim Tae-ri play off each other beautifully, as two lovers caught in historically tragic circumstances. A sweeping look at one of the most bitter moments in Korean 20th century history, "Mr. Sunshine" is a melancholic period piece masterpiece.

A literal second chance at life is the premise for 2020's "Hi Bye, Mama!," with mother Cha Yu-ri (Kim Tae-hee) resurrected after dying in a car accident four years prior. Yu-ri must remarry with her husband Cho Gang-hwa (Lee Kyu-hyung) within 49 days of her resurrection in order for it to become permanent. However, Gang-hwa has since remarried to Oh Min-jung (Go Bo-gyeol), leading Yu-ri to contemplate her role in her family's happiness. Joining Yu-ri are a host of ghosts offering their own insight and the strange rules that come with this temporary resurrection.

With its unique premise, there is a mix of comedy, romance, and tragedy present throughout "Hi Bye, Mama!." Kim Tae-hee is especially good as Yu-ri, enjoying her return to the living, but torn by if she should make resurrection permanent at the risk of overturning her family. Yu-ri's friends, both living and dead, keep the series from growing too heavy-handed or melodramatic in their own way. One of the many great K-dramas available on Netflix, "Hi Bye, Mama!" is definitely a heartbreaker, but with some well-earned laughs along the way.