They’re rich. They’re hot. They’re annoying but you can’t help but love them. Amid a deluge of revenge soap opera and tense thriller in K-Dramas, the charm of chaebol heirs, popular Korean term describing kids of ultra wealthy families – remains eternal. These days, they don’t make as many rom-coms about emotionally-damaged rich boys and their poor plucky lovers anymore but that doesn’t mean we have no option! Here are our selections of 10 recent chaebol romance K-Dramas to get your dose of Cinderella dream.
1. King The Land
Gu Won (2PM’s Lee Jun Ho) is the scion of King Group, a conglomerate empire that includes King Hotel where Cheon Sa Rang (Girls’ Generation’s Yoon A) works. He’s always cloudy, she’s a ray of sunshine. Naturally, they fall in love. The plot harkens back to classic 2000s K-Dramas, perfect if you’re nostalgic about such a thing. Bonus: The leads have so much chemistry it attracts persistent dating rumors.
Check out our "King The Land" K-drama Review too.
2. Business Proposal
To help her friend evade a blind date, Shin Ha Ri (Kim Se Jeong) poses as her only to find out the date is her company’s CEO, Kang Tae Mu (Ahn Hyo Seop). Once the lie is exposed, she’s even more stunned when he proposes a fake dating relationship. At 12 episodes, the romance is compact and lighthearted, with an equally adorable second couple to boot.
Read the "Business Proposal" K-drama review, too.
3. What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim
Conceited CEO Lee Young Jun (Park Seo Joon) relies on his secretary Kim Mi So (Park Min Young) on every detail of his life. So, it comes as a shock when Mi-so suddenly asks to resign. What’s wrong with her? Tune in to find out!
4. Dali and Cocky Prince
In order to save her family’s art gallery from bankruptcy, Kim Da Li (Park Gyu Young) teams up with Jin Moo Hak (Kim Min Jae), the second son of a restaurant empire. She’s refined but broke, he’s uneducated but wealthy. This is their love story.
5. Young Lady and Gentleman
Lee Young Kook (Ji Hyun Woo) is a wealthy widower who hires Park Dan Dan (Lee Se Hee) to take care of his three children. Dan Dan's warm personality slowly helps Young Kook heal from his wife’s death and they fall in love, Sound of Music style.
Read the "Young Lady and Gentleman" K-drama review, as well.
6. The Real Has Come!
Oh Yeon Doo (Baek Jin Hee) is a popular online language instructor who becomes pregnant out of wedlock. She then enters into a contract marriage with Gong Tae Kyung (Ahn Jae Hyun), a commitment-phobic doctor who’s also a chaebol heir. As the baby’s arrival nears, this fake family starts getting more and more real.
Read the full K-drama review of "The Real Has Come!" here.
7. I’m Not A Robot
Chaebol heir Kim Min Kyu (Yoo Seung Ho) lives reclusively due to a deadly human-touch allergy. His company makes a smart android called Aji 3 for him to test, but the robot malfunctions. In its place, the research team asks spirited inventor Jo Ji Ah (Chae Soo Bin) to temporarily impersonate Aji 3. Things become complicated when Min Kyu falls in love with “Aji 3”, unaware that she’s actually human.
8. Rich Man
Lee Yoo Chan (EXO’s Su Ho) is an IT company CEO suffering from facial blindness. Kim Bo Ra (Ha Yeon Soo) is an unemployed college grad who dreams of working in Yoo Chan’s company. The two meet and a workplace romance commences.
9. The Secret Life of My Secretary
Following an incident, mobile company director Do Min Ik (Kim Young Kwang) loses his ability to recognize faces. He relies on his secretary Jung Gal Hee (Jin Ki Joo) to find his attacker and in the process, they fall in love.
10. See You in My 19th Life
Ban Ji Eum (Shin Hae Sun) has been reincarnated 19 times and can remember all of them.
After her 18th life was tragically cut short, she uses the 19th life to find her first love Moon Seo Ha (Ahn Bo Hyun), now a grown-up chaebol heir still grieving her untimely death. Undeterred, Ji Eum sets out to win his heart again.
If you’d like to know more reasons why you should watch the drama check out this article: 5 Reasons Why You Should Watch “See You In My 19th Life”.
What is your favorite chaebol romance K-Drama? Let us know in the comments!
