4 Sweepingly Romantic Historical K-Dramas That’ll Have You In Tears

“My Dearest” isn’t over yet, but luckily there are shows to keep you occupied in the month and a bit long wait until we see Lee Jang Hyun (Namgoong Min) and Yoo Gil Chae (Ahn Eun Jin) again. Here are some of the very best sageuk offerings in the past decade or so, dramas that haven’t gone out of style and captured people’s hearts to the (sometimes bitter) end.

Note: the following reviews are spoiler-free!

“Queen for 7 Days”

“My Dearest” has been highly-lauded for its meld of historic fact with Jae Hyun and Gil Chae’s story. “Queen for 7 Days” is just as brilliant. The drama tells the true story of Shin Chae Kyung (Park Min Young), who became Queen Dangyeong, and Grand Prince Lee Yeok (Yeon Woo Jin), who went on to be King Joongjong. Chae Kyung married Lee Yeok in 1499 but was booted from the position only seven days later and kicked out of the palace by her political rivals. But this show isn’t about the ending.

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It’s about how the young lovers meet and where life, duty, and the Confucian morals applied to women at the time. This is, first and foremost, a love story, and every gorgeously shot angle of this show makes that very clear. This drama has it all: rich politics (not boring and well-plotted!), intriguing and sympathetic villains (a great turn by Lee Dong Gun), and complex main leads with excellent chemistry.

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Why you’ll love it: Like Jang Hyun, Lee Yeok is a hardened yet likable man who has been through a great deal of trauma and hasn’t processed it. His character development after meeting Chae Kyung is excellent, and Yeon Woo Jin brings his very best to the role. Park Min Young is always lovely on screen, but she really shines here as an astute, savvy character who does her best to hold onto her agency despite the constraints on women in Joseon at the time.

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“Tree With Deep Roots”

This one is lighter on the romance, but “Tree With Deep Roots” remains one of the best sageuks in history. It has this insane mix of historical fact, linguistics, murder, conspiracy, action, and revenge that you can’t look away from. Kang Chae Yoon (Jang Hyuk), a brand new palace guard to King Sejong the Great (Han Suk Kyu), has a secret. He fully plans on killing the king. As to why? He believes the king grievously wronged his family in the past and was the architect behind their murders. He’s worked his way up from the bottom, having fought in countless wars for Joseon, just so he could get to this point and murder the King.

He doesn’t account for the king being a strangely fair man. The person he meets seems to genuinely care about his people and is working on a secret project: a new alphabet to replace the thousands of Hanja characters that have been used to speak and write Korean for so long. Sejong’s proposed 28-character alphabet would be easy to learn and ensure that everyone has access to literacy, not just wealthy yangban, or nobles. And Sejong is savvy enough to know that if word gets out, people will be highly displeased, especially because there’s something else afoot these days. A series of murders having been occurring around the capital, seemingly targeting the monarchy. Chae Yoon is assigned to find and stop the killer and quickly finds himself tugged into an ugly conspiracy involving a group of rebels who are prepared to upend the country and destroy the king for their cause. But is Chae Yoon on their side or against them?

Why you’ll love it: This show is absolutely riveting. The pacing, acting, and attention to detail are impeccable, and the relationships between the characters are intricate and well-plotted. Jang Hyuk and Han Suk Kyu deliver powerhouse performances, well deserving of the many accolades they won for this drama. This is so worth the watch!

 

“The Red Sleeve”

The sageuk that had everyone by the throat in 2021, “The Red Sleeve” is a tale of enduring love amidst class differences and the toll that Confucian ideals had on young women’s lives. Sung Deok Im (Lee Se Young) is a maid in the palace and aspires to be nothing more than that. Royal rules dictate that all palace maids belong to the king and princes, who are free to take their pick from the women. But Deok Im’s goals are to keep to herself without having to be embroiled in the class wars, backstabbing, and politics of palace life. She doesn’t want to be anyone’s concubine or consort or have her freedom restricted.

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Crown Prince Yi San (Lee Junho), grandson to the current ruthless king, is equally given toward duty. Yi San is icy, aloof, and has a ton of trauma pertaining to his dad’s death. But the first two fade when he meets Deok Im and falls in love with her. Deok Im tries to safeguard her heart but also finds herself drawn to Yi San. But can she really afford to give up her freedom for the confines of the royal palace?

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Why you’ll love it: This show offers a poignant glimpse of what life was like for young women in the Joseon era, especially women who resided in the palace. Lee Se Young and Lee Junho have such fantastic chemistry that they swept the hearts of everyone in Korea and took over award season. If you loved Part 1 of “My Dearest” and want that same longing, then this is the show for you.

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“Jang Ok Jung, Living In Love”

One listen to the opening theme will give you a great idea of the story you’re facing here.

Loosely based on the 2008 novel that reworks the history of Korea’s most notorious royal consort Jang Hee Bin, this sageuk spins a theory of the woman behind the legend. In the Joseon era, Jang Ok Jung (Kim Tae Hee) was a talented seamstress, singlehandedly fighting to bring her family out of poverty. Her mother was a slave, owned by a noble family, and Ok Jung saved every cent so she could one day earn her mother’s freedom and leave for the Qing Empire with her. But power is closer than she thinks. As a child, Ok Jung made the acquaintance of Crown Prince Yi Soon (Yoo Ah In) who saved her from pickpockets. They parted ways but hadn’t forgotten each other. When Ok Jung gets a request to make clothes for a member of the royal family, she ends up visiting the palace and running into Yi Soon. He doesn’t recognize her all grown-up, but he is still drawn to her and sets events in motion that cannot be taken back and have devastating consequences for both of them.

Why you’ll love it: Jang Ok Jung is about a woman who was born in the wrong time and wanted nothing more than the freedom to live and love. Kim Tae Hee is the heart and soul of the show and gives an excellent performance here as a woman restricted on all sides by powers who see her as an object for manipulation.

 

cr: Soompi