Exploring the Accuracy of Korean Drama as Reflection of Korean Lifestyle

As much as we may love watching K-dramas and investing our time in getting to know our favorite characters, many of these shows are far from reality.

Whether it be unrealistic beauty standards or meeting handsome men around every corner, K-dramas take us out of reality and put us into a fantasy world, showing us things that we'd never see or experience in our own lives.

However, many K-dramas also introduce many aspects of Korean life and give international fans their first glimpse into Korean culture.

With this being said, here are some stereotypes we see in dramas that accurately or inaccurately represent Korean lifestyle or culture!

As we often see in K-dramas, one of the things South Korea is known for is its drinking culture.

From best friends drinking soju in their apartment after a long day of work, enjoying glasses of beer with their Korean barbeque, or a group of university students going out after a big exam, you see it all in K-dramas and real life.

Alcoholic beverages like soju are popular in the country because they are inexpensive, can be bought anywhere, and are dangerously delicious.

Often, school is a place to make friends and have fun before you go off to college. However, dramas like Extraordinary You and True Beauty perpetuate the unrealistic stereotype of finding your true love at school.

While many students worldwide begin their first relationships during high school, it is also a crucial time for Korean students to study for their CSAT, or Suneung, the standardized test used to get into the country's top schools.

So with students often studying from dawn until dusk leading up to these exams, dating is not their top priority, nor are they going on dates every day after school, as seen in some of our favorite high school dramas.

Koreans care a lot about their image, whether always looking their best in public or waking up early to do their multi-step skincare routine before school or work.

K-dramas like True Beauty and My I.D. is Gangnam Beauty help show this obsession with appearance since their main characters are bullied by their peers for being ugly, leading them to resort to makeup and plastic surgery to cover up their flaws.

However, one of the aspects that is not 100% true to real life regarding the K-drama My I.D. is Gangnam Beauty is that the main character Kang Mi-rae is judged for getting plastic surgery.

South Korea is known for its cosmetic surgery industry, and many Koreans undergo minor and significant procedures to enhance their looks to fit the country's beauty standards better. It has even been normalized to the point where young students receive surgeries as graduation gifts.

While this plays into some of the stereotypes above regarding appearance, many dramas have led fans to believe that everyone in the country has the visuals of their favorite idols.  

If you travel to Korea, you'll notice that not many people will be wearing the latest designer clothes and look like AI-generated characters.

To many international fans' disappointment, most Koreans look like the ordinary people you'd find in your own country, and the chances that you'll run into someone that looks like your favorite idol or K-drama actor are very slim.  

One of the most iconic K-dramas ever made, Boys over Flowers, shows us the complicated relationship between a chaebol, which refers to family-run business conglomerates in Korea, and a lower-class girl through the main characters Geum Jan-di and Gu Jun-pyo.

While the two fall in love in an enemies-to-lovers trope, the show details the differences in their lifestyles and how the rich tend to manipulate the poor because their social status allows them to do so.

However, this show fails to accurately represent Korean society, as lower-class people would not typically interact with these wealthy families, let alone be in a relationship with them.

To this point, very few chaebols in South Korea will act the same way toward you that Jun-pyo does to Jan-di in the famed drama.

In conclusion, Korean dramas offer an exciting opportunity to explore the customs and culture of South Korea. While it's important to remember that not all storylines or characters accurately represent real life in Korea, these shows can still provide viewers with a window into areas of the nation that may otherwise remain unseen in everyday life. 

By exploring the accuracy of Korean dramas as a reflection of the Korean lifestyle, a fascinating insight can be gained into this unique corner of Asia.

Let us know which of these stereotypes you've seen in your favorite K-dramas in the comments below!

Did you know that K-dramas have merch too? Check out The Daebak Company's one-stop shop for your favorite K-drama merch and other goods relating to your famous actors and actresses.