The 10 Most Controversial K-Dramas Of All Time

While K-dramas, the blanket term for South Korean scripted television programming of any genre, are increasingly beloved around the world, certain shows aren’t without controversy. Korean audiences are understandably sensitive about how aspects of their culture and history are represented in television, and depictions received as below standards have endured substantial backlash. More than just public complaints and plunging viewership, some shows that have endured high levels of controversy have lost sponsors or been swiftly canceled entirely. On several occasions, the controversy has erupted from international audiences who are similarly unhappy about how their cultures have been depicted in K-dramas, leading to formal apologies.

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Simply put, not all K-dramas are as universally celebrated as some of the industry’s more critically lauded and enormously popular shows. This isn’t to say that the shows included on this list should be shunned to unexplored corners of Netflix’s growing K-drama library. Instead, it’s important to see how audiences, either in South Korea or abroad, have reacted to material viewers found questionable at best. 

Here are the 10 most controversial K-dramas of all time and how each show reacted to the public uproar.

The risque 2016 webtoon “She’s Too Much for Me” by Hwalhwasan and Geumsagong was adapted into a live-action series under the title “Backstreet Rookie” in 2020. The series begins with high schooler Jung Saet-byul (Kim Yoo-jung) trying to charm 20-something convenience store worker Choi Dae-hyun (Ji Chang-wook) into buying her cigarettes. This includes the underage character planting a surprise kiss on the awkward older man, though Dae-hyun continues to stand firm on resisting her overtures. Even with Dae-hyun’s refusal to play along and reciprocate with Saet-byul’s flirting, “Backstreet Rookie” still attracted controversy.

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Many viewers found the sequence of a teenager flirting and kissing an older man clearly inappropriate and filed complaints. The show’s use of profanity also spurred backlash for what was widely assumed to be a more family-friendly drama. With over 7,000 complaints about the series filed, the Korea Communication Standards Commission issued a formal warning to the production over the show’s content. Stirring the pot further, there was speculation that a scene depicting comic art in the series was plagiarized from the 2015 Japanese movie “Bakuman.” In short, “Backstreet Rookie” made plenty of rookie mistakes trying to adapt its source material.

The revenge thriller “The Penthouse: War in Life” starts out with a straightforward enough premise of rival families living together in the affluent penthouse complex of Hera Palace. After this community is shocked by a grisly murder, old grudges and tensions resurface as the residents try to identify the culprit. Each of the show’s subsequent two seasons is more outlandish and over-the-top than the last, ranging from characters faking their deaths to shadowy figures challenging the community. However, by its third and final season, “The Penthouse” had grown too ridiculous for its own good, with multiple elements in the season earning vocal controversy.

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The third season introduced the recurring character Alex Lee (Park Eun-seok), who comes to Hera Palace from the United States after learning about his brother’s death. Alex certainly makes a memorable first impression, with his long hair in dreadlocks, his teeth adorned with golden grills, and his body covered in tattoos. Domestic and international viewers decried this depiction as a racist caricature of Black American stereotypes, resulting in the character’s redesign and apologies issued by Park and the production team. “The Penthouse” producers released a separate apology after the third season utilized real-life footage of a local earthquake and tragic building collapse, with the footage removed from subsequent broadcasts.

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Period piece romances set during Korea’s Joseon Dynasty are a sub-genre in themselves, with many incorporating fantasy elements. The 2020 series “Mr. Queen” features time-bending screwball comedy as 21st century womanizer Jang Bong-hwan (Choi Jin-hyuk) is suddenly transported to 19th century Korea. To make matters even more awkward, Bong-hwan finds himself in the body of Queen Cheorin (Shin Hye-sun) as she marries King Cheoljong (Kim Jung-hyun). Bong-hwan searches for a way to return to his own time and body while becoming embroiled in the intrigue surrounding the royal family.

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“Mr. Queen” is based on the novel “Go Princess Go” by Chinese author Xian Chen. While the Korean adaptation proved popular with viewers, its heightened profile brought attention to Chen’s other work, which contained pointedly negative commentary about Korea. In addition to Chen’s objectionable comments surrounding Korea, there was public backlash about how “Mr. Queen” treated venerated historical records from the Joseon era. These two points of controversy led to the production apologizing for both, elaborating that they were unaware of Chen’s past comments.

The idea of fantasy and supernatural elements entering into historical K-dramas isn’t forbidden. Indeed, some of the most popular Korean shows have prominently embraced this period piece genre blend. The popular medieval zombie series “Kingdom” is a prime example of a horror show set in Korea’s celebrated Joseon Dynasty that won over both audiences and critics during its run. However, the backlash against the supernatural horror series “Joseon Exorcist” was so volatile that the show was canceled after its second episode was aired. In the 2021 series’ case, it was doomed for telling a period piece horror story involving real-life historical figures.

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Set in the 15th century, “Joseon Exorcist” follows King Taejong (Kam Woo-sung) and his sons, including Prince Chungnyung (Jang Dong-yoon), fight back against demons and monsters appearing throughout their kingdom. The show’s depiction of Taejong wiping out an innocent village and Chungnyung, who historically became one of medieval Korea’s most celebrated rulers, being flagrantly disrespected, spurred widespread backlash. This controversy was fueled further by the show visibly using historical props and cuisine of Chinese origin in a historical period when Korea’s national identity was decisively formed. In the face of growing petitions for the show’s cancellation, the loss of sponsors, and municipal governments withdrawing support for additional filming, “Joseon Exorcist” was canceled before production wrapped.

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The 2021 coming-of-age sports drama “Racket Boys” dives into the world of competitive team badminton on the global stage. Former badminton prodigy Yoon Hyun Jong (Kim Sang-kyung) moves to the country to coach a middle school team, with his son Yoon Hae-kang (Tang Jun-sang) on the roster. Hyun Jong’s wife Ra Yeong-ja (Oh Na-ra) coaches her own middle school girls badminton team, with the series following the young players on both squads. In the series’ fifth episode, one of Yeong-ja’s players, Han Se-yoon (Lee Jae-in), competes in a high-stakes tournament in Jakarta, Indonesia.

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In the lead-up to Se-joon’s matches in Indonesia, the Korean coaching staff complained about the substandard conditions at the Indonesian athletic facility. They also complained that Indonesian athletes are known for unsportsman-like conduct, going as far as to imply that they regularly cheat. Understandably, Indonesian audiences did not appreciate this depiction of their country and its athletes, slamming “Racket Boys” after the episode aired. In response, SBS, the Korean network that produced and aired “Racket Boys,” posted formal apologies on its social media platforms.

1988 was a pivotal year in South Korean history, as explored in the celebrated K-drama “Reply 1988,” with the country’s military dictatorship giving up rule to democratic elections. The 2021 series “Snowdrop,” the first K-drama to stream on Disney+, follows North Korean spy Lim Soo-ho (Jung Hae-in) who infiltrates student protests in Seoul against the military regime. Wounded by the authorities, Soo-hyeok takes refuge in a women’s university dormitory, where he meets college student Eun Yeong-ro (Jisoo). As Yeong-ro discovers the truth about her sudden visitor, she and Soo-ho fall in love while the standoff between the spies and government escalates.

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Despite starring a member of the K-pop supergroup Blackpink, Disney+’s first K-drama became an unmitigated headache for all parties involved. Before the premiere, audiences were concerned over the show’s depiction of North Korean spies, a common fabricated government justification to brutally suppress student protests in pro-democracy activities of the era. Memorial groups for victims of the government crackdowns in 1988 felt the show potentially disrespected the real activists’ sacrifice to make Korean democracy possible. The producers maintained that the pro-democracy protests were just the backdrop for the fictional story, with controversy subsiding as the series premiered and progressed.

Of all the adaptations of “Little Women,” Louisa May Alcott’s seminal 19th century novel, the most offbeat is a 2022 K-drama series. Rather than being a stuffy period piece drama, the Korean adaptation is a mystery series set predominantly in the present. However, the show attracted controversy, both with a specific international audience and with how the series was marketed. Both incidents resulted in formal apologies from the production team and the promotional campaign behind the show.

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Several characters in “Little Women” are Vietnam War veterans, proudly describing their exploits fighting the Vietcong during the conflict. Vietnamese viewers complained this portrayed South Korea’s involvement in the war in a positive light, with Netflix Vietnam removing the show in response to the backlash. More controversy arose when it was revealed the show’s promotional campaign plagiarized its design from Japanese cosmetics advertising. The marketing company behind the series’ campaign apologized for the plagiarism, though the statement was widely viewed as a half-apology.

The Netflix original crime series “Narcos” inspired a similar Korean series on the platform, “Narco-Saints,” which debuted in 2022. The series details a coordinated effort to bust Korean drug lord Jeon Yo-hwan (Hwang Jung-min), who is based out of Suriname. Through his bribery and manipulation of corrupt local government officials, Yo-hwan’s drug smuggling operation runs relatively unimpeded. However, this choice of primary setting for the series attracted a fair bit of controversy when the show premiered worldwide on Netflix.

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It should come as little surprise that Surinamese audiences were less than enthused at their country being depicted as a lawless haven for drug dealers. “Narcos” and “Narcos: Mexico” had used real-life figures in its stories, something that “Narco-Saints” and its portrayal of Suriname decidedly lacked. A Surinamese government official released a statement less than a week after the series premiere, condemning the country’s depiction in “Narco-Saints.” In response, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs shared that they were working to resolve any misunderstandings with the Surinamese government over the matter.

“The Glory” is one of Netflix’s best K-dramas, telling an engrossing revenge story with psychological thriller stakes. The show focuses heavily on the theme of high school bullying, with protagonist Moon Dong-eun (Song Hye-kyo) planning vengeance on her tormentors years after finishing school. Now the elementary school teacher to her bullies’ children, Dong-eun sets her scheme into motion, joined by others similarly wronged by the women she’s targeting. Acclaimed for its realistic depiction of bullying in Korean schools, “The Glory” attracted controversy over its director’s own school-age history.

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An online post claiming director Ahn Gil-ho physically assaulted a classmate while studying abroad in the Philippines in 1996 gained traction with news outlets. Ahn initially denied the accusation but eventually issued a statement through his law firm confirming the account. The statement elaborated that Ahn was taking revenge on a classmate who allegedly made fun of Ahn’s girlfriend at the time. Ahn claimed he wanted to make amends by apologizing to those affected personally and, at the time of this writing, hasn’t directed a show or movie since.

The 2023 screwball family comedy “Doctor Cha” features a whole mixed family working together at the same hospital. Longtime stay-at-home mom Cha Jeong-seok (Uhm Jung-hwa) resumes her medical career after experiencing an epiphany following a harrowing accident. This makes her colleagues with her unfaithful husband Seo In-ho (Kim Byung-chul), the nit-picky chief surgeon at their local hospital. This is complicated further by the presence of In-ho’s lover Choi Seung-hee (Myung Se-bin) and Jeong-seok and In-ho’s son Seo Jung-min (Song Ji-ho).

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Though “Doctor Cha” was a big hit with local audiences during its initial broadcast run, it was not without its own bit of controversy. The series’ seventh episode featured a character diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease, with the patient’s future in-laws concerned over how the chronic condition could affect any potential grandchildren. The callous language used to describe the disease and medically inaccurate claims over the extent that Crohn’s Disease is hereditary, drew public backlash. JTBC, the Korean network airing “Doctor Cha,” apologized for its insensitive and inaccurate depiction of Crohn’s Disease, though the show’s viewership didn’t suffer from the incident.