Set up a movie marathon with these memorable romantic Korean films that remain sweet and classy through the course of time!
Korean romantic films are one of the reasons why Korean wave has been surging its popularity. Although dwindling in numbers in the recent years. The love stories captured in films remain sweetly endearing, no matter how many times you watch it.
Archetypal Korean romantic films usually run on a bittersweet note. It drowns you with heart-fluttering moments and happy closures. However, sometimes it also brings you down because of its sad ending.
When you crave for a me-time and just want to slouch in your room, here are some endearing and timeless romantic Korean films perfect to join your sweet solitude.
1. My Sassy Girl (2001)
“Fate is building a bridge of chance for someone you love”.
South Korea’s quintessential blockbuster romantic comedy launched the popularity of A-list actors Jun Ji Hyun and Cha Tae Hyun. It is also a perennial favorite for online recommendations for Korean romantic films.
Divided in two parts plus an overtime, the film narrates the story of the girl who wallows on her past love heartbreak. She is saved by a young man who subconsciously involves himself to the girl, who arouses his protective instinct, even with her bossy attitude.
It is a perfect date movie about losing love, coping on the loss, and helping yourself with whatever you can to find love again.
2. The Classic (2003)
“Chance is a gift for those who try.”
Capturing unsurpassed romance, this film will make you think about flowers, summer walks and pure love. True to its title, it is an epic love movie that you can tell your grandchildren while being giddy and nostalgic about it.
A woman (Son Ye Jin) accidentally bumps on her mother’s letters and she gets to know her mother’s first love story. The Classic treats you with two love stories happening in different timelines.
The sad first romance of the lead girl’s mother is given a chance when the heroine confirms mutual love with a man, who turns out to be the son of her mother’s first love.
3. Il Mare (2000)
“Do you have a memory that you wish you can just abandon?”
This beautifully narrated love story of time-crossed lovers is a nice watch in a lazy afternoon around the arms of someone you love. The high-concept plot threads on the story of a man and a woman.
They live in the same house two years apart and engage in a romance as they exchange love letters through a magical mailbox.
4. My Little Bride (2004)
An ordinary high school girl who worries about grades and crushes on her school’s baseball team ace is forced to marry a guy out of her grandfather’s wish. My Little Bride is a sweet tale of young love.
It reminds us that sometimes we may become blinded or preoccupied to notice a “love” that has been there all along. If you are a fan of Kim Rae Won, you would love his trademark manly appeal in this delightful movie.
5. Daisy (2006)
Set in Netherlands, a street painter becomes the love interest of a secret service agent and a professional assassin.
Narrated stunningly in a three view points, this heartbreaking love tale genuinely strips bubblegum romance yet it leaves an edifying aftermath. There’s not a single kiss scene, but this arresting film overflows with emotional connection for the love couple who missed their chance to love.
6. A Millionaire’s First Love (2006)
Hyun Bin portrays the role of a millionaire’s heir, but in order for him to have his fortune, his dead granny forces him to finish high school education in the suburb.
There he discovers the past that he erased in his mind, and the truth that money can’t save the life of the girl he loves.
7. 100 Days With Mr. Arrogant (2003)
After dumping her boyfriend just before their 100 day anniversary, Ha Young (Ha Ji Won) meets a college guy when she accidentally kicks a can that hits him in the face, and causes a scratch on his pricey Lexus. He demands she pays him on the spot and writes up an “Enslavement Agreement” in order to pay for the damage to his car.
She gets into a nightmarish slave life for 100 days, cleaning his house, running his errands, doing his homework and cleaning his car. This quirky rom-com brims with charming appeal perfect for a day of regaining your energy.
8. Someone Special (2004)
This chic flick is one of the wittiest and funniest screenplay that I’ve ever seen. It keeps teasing your heart with its genuine storytelling. The amusing dying conflict and the secret love plot hilariously complement the engaging portrayals of the main leads.
When a baseball player learns the bad news that he is about to die, he creates a connection with a bar girl who has long harbored admiration towards him. The journey for the man to repay the longtime adoration of the woman is cleverly written with enough humor that makes the movie engaging.
9. A Moment to Remember (2004)
A couple striving to keep up their relationship against the struggle with the wife’s Alzheimer’s disease. It is a love story of a devoted husband who stayed with her wife even when she was slowly forgetting that he happened in her life.
This movie can send anyone to tear-land when you see it. A remarkably woven love tale you’d love to share with your friend who has currently having inhibitions about love.
Considering the premise involved “sickness” as a conflict, the memorable portrayals of the love pairing make it so worth it. One of the few movies, that you would surely keep in your heart.
10. 200 Pounds Beauty (2006)
A voice talent who has weight problems works hard to lose it. She becomes prettier to avenge her broken heart.
This hell-hath-no-fury-when-former-fat-girl-turned-fit-now chick-flick is an encouraging film for women who are trying to cope up with their self-esteem. With flashes of romance here and there, the love fulfillment is sweetly achieved, even with the intentional revenge seasoning.
11. Lost and Found (2008)
It is ever moving with no dull moment. From the feisty female lead, sweet lead man and hot second male lead, this is the kind of Christmas gift you would promise to open on Christmas day, but when no one is looking out, you will open sneakily to see what it is.
A woman takes an opportunity to pretend that she has an amnesia to get closer to her longtime crush. But her neighbor who secretly loves her is determined to put up a fight to win the girl he has loved all his life.
12. Once in a Summer (2006)
It is one of the sweetest “summer love” movie to warm your heart. Unfortunately, the romance is not happy ending though. It is a sweet melancholic tale of finding love and holding on to it even if it is long gone.
A television staff is forced to promise that she can feature a famous professor in a TV program to compensate for her abysmal performance. The aloof professor declines at first to remember his long lost love but is eventually persuaded. He takes a trip down to the memory lane to reminisce the girl whom she loved one summer.
13. Christmas in August (1998)
Highly praised for its earnest characters and endearing yet bound to fade love, Christmas in August made me really want to consider the idea of really reciprocating love out of all the romantic and single life movies I’ve seen so far. I have prepared myself that it could be a dragging narrative since it is already a 15-year old movie, but the fetching capturing of the scenes showing vibrant emotions is a must watch for film majors and critics.
Jung-woon is a middle-aged photographer who lives with his father, while he is trying to prepare himself to his eventual death, he meets a woman who will be giving him the best moments and smiles of his routine life.
It is a sad film, but it won’t make you cry. It does have though a lingering effect to reflect and ponder about things, life, romance and and your relationship to people you cared for. It may not appeal to people who prefers a fast paced, idealistic or dream-like love stories and it may not be as stunning as the recent korean romance films, but it is one of the most sincere pictures I have ever seen in my life.
14. Daddy Long Legs (2005)
A radio scriptwriter dreams of meeting the guy who helped her pay her tuition in college. She accidentally bumps into emails that tells about a girl’s longtime admiration over a guy. When she thought she is finally meeting her daddy-long-legs, she learns it was her daddy-long-legs who wrote the emails that she stumbled on, narrating how he has been loving her from afar.
Although running on despondent note, it is one sweet story that you should not miss – particularly, the story twist
15. Lover’s Concerto (2002)
Tied with friendship, secret adoration and almost love, this beautifully written charmer will fill you up with rose petals. Two sickly friends fall in love with the same guy.
The guy gets rejected when he confessed his feelings to one of the girls, but the three remain good friends. Years later, he embarks on a journey to meet his old friends, but he is confronted with a sad secret about them.
This film is a touching tale of friendship and an unfortunate missed-chance to claim a fated love.
16. Love Phobia (2006)
When I finally got the chance to watch this movie without interruptions, I made a quick apology to Korean film gods for not prioritizing it. Who wouldn’t fall for this pretty? I was so fond of the lead couple when they were children and loved them even more when they grew up.
So sweet and worth remembering. Watched it with my mom, and she loved it. It’s a charmingly sketched love story. Although, it will make you cry in the end, I’m pretty sure it will be one of those love movies you will highly recommend.
17. Postman to Heaven (2009)
A stunning and serene love story of moving on from the pain of a broken heart. This is a breather from the recent k-movies I got a copy of and I tried to watch.
It has a very simple storytelling but with completeness that will touch the side of your heart that was once broken, and that was able to bounce again because of not giving up to the idea of finding love. It’s one of my favorites from the movies of 2009.
An angel postman delivers love letters to those needing comforting words from their beloved departed ones.
18. Please Teach Me English (2003)
When government public officials weren’t able to address a foreigner’s electric bill concern, they decide to spin a bottle to determine who will study English to avoid being tested under the same situation again. The lucky girl who was picked is Young-ju.
From there, her goal to learn English language coincides with feeling her first ever love who turns out to be the playboy salesman whose drive to study English came from his dream to meet his sister who was adopted abroad. The conflict rises when Young-ju feels that her first romance is just one-sided, but then Mun-su realizes her worth in the end.
This film is cheerful and dandy and one of those mushy train scene endings which will pull a sweet sigh from you no matter how much you hold it in. I now officially like Lee Na Young as most of the movies I’ve watched of her are prettily done. She’s like the female version of Cha Tae Hyun for me.
19. Never Ending Story (2012)
In the tradition of the death bound conflict on Korean love stories, this charming movie surprisingly balance the premise and have it set to both the lead couple’s having after life bargains.
Oh Song Kyung works at a bank and has lived her life planned into the smallest details, but what she did not prepare for is a sickness that came instantly in her life. She meets Kang Dong Joo who is her exact opposite. He lives a spontaneous life and never failing to lose hope that he’ll win the lottery someday. The two met because both of them were diagnosed at the same hospital and soon they embark on a bucket list fulfillment that involves funeral preparations for Song Kyung and lottery station hunts for Dong Joo.
What this movie achieved is setting a sad note to a brighter perception. It is a film about death but the lively scenes and characters have pulled a different take on life’s passing. The love couple are adorable and swing an Edward-Bella pull worthy of your smile and sigh. I love that it was so natural and that they first slept together inside a coffin and never ending to a traditional bed.
A carefree movie I would definitely recommend. This is a romance charmer that raises mirth one moment and then tug your heart at another. Watching it made me not expect outcomes or predict what will happen because the conflict surged up when it commenced. But I was left watching them as they have a good time alongside the struggle with their inevitable death. Simply done but happily narrated, and it hit home in me. Radiant and resonating, this is a must watch darling.
20. Always (2011)
I received lots of raves about this movie and I must agree to the warm response Always has received. It made me miss the feeling of being in love, and I was left smiling and inspired as I immersed myself in a love story between two people who found love in their vulnerabilities.
Im Jung Hwa is saddled with temporary blindness after surviving from a car accident that killed her parents. She works as a customer service representative over the phone and has lived her life in full swing optimism despite of her disability.
Jang Chul-min is a former boxer who quits the profession and settles to being a merciless bounty hunter. But in one of his bounty missions, he finds motivation to start his life in good faith again.
Little by little fondness grow between them, with a life he was never proud of and nothing much to offer, Chul-min musters whatever he has and took responsibility of a blind woman’s heart. Always breaks the romantic dry spell I’ve been having for a while now. It plays with the cutesy, the sweetness, the laid back and the contentment feel of a love movie.
On a distracting note, and I mean it to be really utmost distracting – So Ji Sub in his rough, untidy look is a sight to behold, and the short showcase of his abs is a manna from heaven. Playing a sweet, optimist blind Han Hyo-joo connected to her lead man so well that the blue ray screen emanating love swept the romantic side of me.
Seeing the love grow, get saddled, get lost and be fulfilled is I think the reason why it achieved huge admiration. It is an ever after story not of a prince and a princess – but by two people whose hearts can love each other genuinely.
21. More Than Blue (2009)
More than Blue less the falling in love and dying part made me yearn to have a male best friend. A film so tender and heartfelt, it gives you that sweet regret feeling as you sleep. The dearest melancholic I-secretly-love-my-bestfriend-movie I have ever seen.
K and Cream are both orphans who decide to live together and become besties, but fate will eventually take K because he has leukemia. As he secretly love his best friend he wishes that someone will take care of her when he’s gone. Unbeknownst to him Cream accidentally learned of his condition and in an effort to make him happy she fulfilled his dream of her getting married.
Kwon Sang Woo has given me two lovely films so far. What I love about this movie is the transparency of the characters, it’s as if I’m staring at my neighbor’s life because they act so natural embracing the painful moments in the film.
The sad ending is really sadder than sadness but its conclusion is gratifying.
22. A Werewolf Boy (2012)
I initially feared that this movie could go overrated considering the familiar plot and stellar main leads but I’m so happy to have chanced upon an exquisite, unconventional, and heartwarming first love movie. The last time I felt it was with the film “The Classic” and I couldn’t be any happier witnessing a young love that’s not bound to happen but feels so right.
The fantasy element surprisingly blended to the heartfelt connection of the main couple as the simplicity of the narrative and the conflict failed to stripped the amazing progression of this moving love tale that will surely tug your heart.
Song Joong-ki remarkably played his role. Mind you he only said a few words all throughout the movie and his chemistry with Park Bo Young is just impeccable. I strongly recommend this movie for first time korean movie watcher. I promise you, sweet sighing moments and bliss. I promise you those young love memories you miss.
23. Love 911 (2012)
Most love stories tell an evident 100% love from its onset, that being said I liked how the adoration builds up in this movie. It is not “impossible instant”, but “I know where you’ve been” kind of love. I like that the man is wounded this time, and the woman did the chasing to make the man fall for her and heal his broken heart. It was a reversal of romantic roles that exuded understanding and maturity in handling love replies.
When Go Mi-soo misdiagnosed a patient, her doctor’s license is in danger of being revoked. Only if she can convince a fireman, Kang-il, who was assaulted by the patient’s husband’s victim to side with her, can she be reprieved of the situation and improve her chance on her medical suspension.
She tries ways to persuade Kang-il by using faith, seduction and even attempting to jump on a bridge to catch his attention but his distant self stays firm.
Then Mi-soo volunteers for community service and joins the rescue team to inch herself closer to Kang-il. In one of their rescue operations, they eventually get closer.
A comforting movie to witness, and not much Korean movie cliches too. It is a balanced rom-com that presented a picture of how love begins when we intend it to happen. It was filled with humor, funny supporting cast, and a couple you will really root for to be together.
24. My PS Partner (What ‘Cha Wearing?) (2012)
My PS partner is an example of another vibrant love movie I would strongly recommend to watch. It has a subtle indie appeal with smart screenplay. It goes to a love trap cliche but the upbeat development of the romance plus the organic feel of witnessing what relationship in late-20’s-early-30’s is about are strongly depicted amusingly, realistically and candidly.
I give full marks and a space on my kmovie favorites because of how it has minimal mature content yet able to balance and even heightened the romantic essence, the seamless humor and the responsive chemistry between the main leads in the movie.
Sweetly impudent, it made me feel so wanting to be in love after watching it, and not the knight-in-the-shining-armour-cinderella-rose-petals kind of way but the wearing-his-oversized-shirt-singing-while-he-plays-the-guitar kind of love.
25. The Beauty Inside (2015)
Love they say is felt from our hearts and nurtured by memories. In this heartfelt and innovative romance movie, you would feel good on how a sincere adoration can know no boundaries and believe a seemingly impossible love.
Skilled in woodwork and furniture making, Kim Woo Jin has been living in shadows because of his rare situation. He wakes up to a different body each time he sleeps. He has managed to live through his strange misfortune until he fell in love with Yi Soo. And in his earnest heart, he braves the love odds, and in time wins the understanding heart of Yi Soo who loves the beauty she sees inside him. She has courageously loved the changing face of Woo Jin regardless if he’s a man or a woman, young or old, local or foreign.
But the uncertainty of their relationship emerges and Woo Jin is left no choice but to go away in order for Yi Soo not to hurt herself because of her strange love affair with him. In time, both came to terms how their lives don’t go anywhere and has been despondent since they fell apart. Recognizing the artistic value of a foreign furniture maker Yi Soo goes to chase the hermit-ing love of her life and promised her future to him even if he keeps pushing her away.
Great editing and amazing love story. The chronicling of the bizarre love for Woo Jin and Yi Soo will be encouraging to those who have doubts in their current relationships. It teaches the value of faith that everything will work out for as long as both hearts dance to the same rhythm of love. It is a reminder that it is not a person’s physical attributes that would sustain a couple’s love but the memories and the quiet moments when we feel in our hearts that we are loved.
Now, grab some popcorn and take a pick on these nostalgic Korean romantic films for a your perfect weekend binge!
Photos: From Respective Film Distributors of Above Mentioned Films
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