Top 5 Best Korean Dramas to watch on a date with you S.O.

What better way to kick-start your date than this entertaining rom-com from director Park Shin-woo? This tells the story of the caretaker of a psych ward, (Kim Soo-hyun), who is too busy caring for others to pay attention to his low self-esteem. He struggles to form personal relationships of any kind, let alone romantic attachments. Then he meets a children’s book author (Seo Yea-ji) who has had a troubled past and been diagnosed with an antisocial personality disorder. The third figure in the intriguing trio is the writer’s older brother (Oh Jung-se) who has developed a fear of butterflies (they remind him of the tragic time he witnessed his mother’s murder). You’ll soon become engaged by the interweaving storylines.

Directed by Lee Jeong-hyo, a rich heiress from South Korea (Son Ye-jin) is paragliding, only to be swept up in a violent storm that leads to her crash landing over the border. A classic Romeo and Juliet scenario unfolds when she meets a North Korean officer (Hyun Bin). Naturally, as this is a romantic drama, there is immediate chemistry between the two mismatched leads, although this isn’t helped along by the fact the North Korean soldier is emotionally repressed and must choose between following his head and turning in the interloper or following his heart. He does have a creative side: before being compelled to sign up, he was training to be a concert pianist.

Officially the ninth-rated drama of all time on South Korean TV, Vincenzo is about a young Korean boy (Song Joong-ki) who is adopted by an Italian family with links to organised crime. As he grows older, he becomes a trusted lawyer for the family head and is renamed, Vincenzo. The storyline weaves around various tendrils involving double-crossing, a hidden stash of 1.5 tons of gold, and various quirky tenants of the plaza where the loot is secreted.

The setting for this enthralling TV series is the capital, Seoul when it was known as Hanseong and was merely a city in Japanese-controlled Korea. The historical setting is gripping, with events such as the war between Russia and Japan in 1905, or the assassination of Empress Myeongseong – the official wife of Korea’s first emperor – is vividly realised. Despite the charming title, there are frequent battles and other traumatic events, but the overall story of Korea’s struggle for independence resonates with today’s audiences.

To round off your Korean date night, why not inject your viewing schedule with a gritty crime drama? The Koreans have always excelled at this genre, and this series is a worthy addition. A hit with both local and international audiences, the viewer is pitched right into the middle of a murder investigation, its deft plotlines and adrenaline-jolting action scenes being recognised by the New York Times as one of 2017’s best TV shows. The leader character is a prosecutor who is sensitive to certain noise frequencies, corrective surgery causing him to lose empathy but become singularly focused on justice.