K-drama is always an option to watch even if your days are sad and you want to cry while watching Korean TV shows. But if you’re confused about which one to watch, here are 15 lists of the saddest Korean dramas that will make you cry.
Kdramas with sad themes are sometimes a good way to get rid of stress that may be buried inside. Some of them are so sad that they can awaken a strong desire to cry. Here’s a list of Korean series with the latest sadness that makes the audience cry!
List of The Saddest Korean Dramas That Will Make You Cry
1. Youth of May
Hee Tae is the man who became the pride of Gwangju when he entered Seoul National University Medical School with top marks. Because of this, Kyung Soo’s best friend insists that they open an illegal clinic for students who have run away from the government.
They then open it, but now Hee Tae has to go to a meeting with a potential marriage partner arranged by his father.
There, Hee Tae meets Myung Hee, a nurse who survived life’s hardships. This meeting was supposed to be attended by Soo Ryeon, but Myung Hee had to replace him because he had to prepare plane tickets to study in Germany.
At their first meeting, Myung Hee and Hee Tae end up falling in love with each other. Then in May 1980, as passion and the fiery cry for democracy resounded throughout Gwangju, Hee Tae and Myung Hee found themselves in an uncertain destiny.
The series was released in 2021 with 12 episodes. You can watch one of the latest K-dramas that make you cry on Netflix.
2. Move to Heaven
Han Geu Roo is an autistic 20-year-old. He works for his father’s business “Move To Heaven”, a company that specializes in crime scene cleanups. They also have a duty to collect and organize items left by the dead and send them to bereaved families.
One day, Geu Roo’s father dies and Geu Roo’s guardianship is then passed to his uncle, ex-convict Cho Sang Gu, who is a martial arts fighter in an underground match.
As per the written will, Sang Gu must care for and work with Geu Roo on “Move To Heaven” for three months to get full guardianship and claim the inheritance. Eyeing money, Sang Gu agrees to the terms and moves out.
This is one of the saddest Korean dramas that will make you cry. It was released in 2021 with 10 episodes and is available on Netflix.
3. Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo
It tells the story of Go Ha Jin who accidentally returns to the early Goryeo Dynasty of Korea during King Taejo’s reign when a total solar eclipse occurs.
Just then, she wakes up in 16-year-old Hae Soo’s body and finds herself living in the house of 8th Prince Wang Wook, who married Hae Soo’s cousin.
She soon befriends some of the princes there and meets the excommunicated 4th Prince, named Wang So. Despite knowing she shouldn’t be involved in palace intrigue over the succession to the throne, she accidentally becomes a pawn in the struggle, as several Princes fall in love with her.
This heartbreaking Korean drama was released in 2016 with 20 episodes. You can watch this K-drama on Amazon Prime Video.
4. The Red Sleeve
The series is set in Korea in the second half of the 1700s and tells the story of Yi San, a young prince who is aloof and loves perfection.
The murder that happened to his father has always haunted him, even though it put him in a position to take the throne once his grandfather – the cruel and ruthless king who was responsible for the death of Yi San’s father – died.
He had decided to become a benevolent king who would reform the law when he finally ascended the throne, but the way his father was killed had scarred him emotionally and made him mentally unstable.
While at court, Yi San meets a young woman named Sung Deok Im. He immediately fell in love with her and tried to convince her to become his official concubine. But Sung Deok Im is strong-willed and free-spirited and doesn’t want to be tied down.
She was also intelligent enough to understand that being the future king’s consort was a prestigious role. But in the end, the role will limit his freedom and will likely give him little pleasure.
But Yi San’s love for Sung Deok Im is truly great, and he understands that forming a union with him could ultimately benefit his troubled territory.
This MBC original drama is releasing in 2021 with 17 episodes. You can watch one of the saddest Korean historical dramas that will make you cry on Apple TV.
5. Hi Bye Mama
This is a story about a mother who died and started a 49-day reincarnation project. Also about a husband who has just started to live a new life after overcoming the pain of losing his wife.
Jo Kang Hwa is a skilled thoracic surgeon. After losing his wife four years ago, he worked as a single father until remarrying two years ago. Although he seems like a caring person, he doesn’t offer to help or intervene when needed.
This romantic Kdrama that makes you cry was released in 2020. It has 16 episodes and is available on Netflix.
6. Mr. Sunshine
Mr. storyline Sunshine centers on a boy born to a family of domestic servants who travels to the United States during the 1871 Shinmiyangyo (US expedition to Korea).
After spending some time there, he returned to his homeland as a US Marine officer. He meets and falls in love with the daughter of a noble. At the same time, he discovered plots by foreign forces to colonize Korea.
This is one of the saddest military Korean dramas that will make you cry. It was released in 2018 with 24 episodes and is available on Netflix.
7. Cheese in the Trap
It tells the story of Hong Seol, a hardworking achiever who returns to college after a year-long break due to her poor family background.
One day, she accidentally gets on the wrong side of her senior, Yoo Jung, who is athletic, handsome, gets good grades, and has a good personality, as well as a hidden dark side.
Since then her life has changed for the worse and Hong Seol is almost sure it was all Yoo Jung’s doing. So why is he suddenly acting so friendly a year later?
This tv show was released in 2016 with 16 episodes. You can watch this K-drama that makes you cry on Disney Plus.
8. Crash Landing on You
Yoon Se Ri is a South Korean conglomerate heiress who finds herself in a paragliding accident and has to make an emergency landing in North Korea.
There, she meets North Korean army officer Ri Jung Hyuk, who agrees to help her return to South Korea. Despite the tension between their countries, the two begin to fall in love with each other.
This is one of the saddest Korean dramas and will make you cry. It was released in 2019 with 16 episodes.
9. Reply 1988
It tells the story of five childhood friends, who all live in the same Ssangmundong neighborhood in Seoul. They lean on each other to survive their challenging teenage years and set a path for their future.
This tear-jerking Kdrama was released in 2015 with 20 episodes and is available on Netflix.
10. Our Beloved Summer
The storyline of this Korean tv show follows two bickering ex-lovers pulled back in front of the cameras and into each other’s lives. It takes place years after the viral high school documentary was filmed.
Choi Woong is a man who seems naive and free-spirited, but he wants to have something for the first time in his life. To that end, he showed what he held in his mind.
Whereas Kook Yeon Soo is a girl who aims to become the best student in her school, she is now an adult who lives hard, adapting to reality.
The series was released in 2021 with 16 episodes. You can watch one of the saddest romance Korean dramas that will make you cry on Netflix.
11. Uncontrollably Fond
Sin Joon Young and No Eul are two people who fell in love in their youth. But uncontrollable circumstances pulled them apart, and they went their separate ways. Joon Young is now a superstar actor and singer, while No Eul is a documentary producer-director.
One day their paths cross again years later and Joon Young discovers that No Eul is now a very different person than he remembered.
The current him is materialistic and willing to do anything to get ahead. Is there any hope for Joon Young and No Eul to rekindle their past relationship?
Uncontrollably Fond is a comedy romance K-drama that makes the audience cry. It was released in 2016 with 20 episodes and is available on Hulu.
12. Goblin
It tells the story of Kim Shin who was once an undefeated general in the Goryeo military who died tragically. He now has immortality but is tired of living while everyone around him dies.
For 900 years, Kim Shin has been searching for his bride, a human who can draw a sword and end his life. One day, he meets Ji Eun Tak, a positive and cheerful high school student who can see the dead and has been through tragic events, but remains strong.
She claims to be the Goblin’s bride who can end his immortal life, but what seems to be an easy task, only gets complicated, as the two fall in love.
Goblin is a Korean drama that will make you cry. It was released in 2016 with 16 episodes and is available on Netflix.
13. The Light In Your Eyes
Kim Hye Ja is a 26-year-old woman who uses a mysterious watch to rewind time in an attempt to prevent the accident that left her father dead but fails.
He, who had given up hope at the time, ended up winding the watch too many times and accidentally aged him, becoming 70 years old. Confused and unaware of how he ended up like this, he sets off on a journey to get things back on track.
Along the way, she meets family and friends who no longer recognize her, including Lee Joon Ha, a young man she loves, who misses her while struggling with her life.
When 70-year-old Kim Hye Ja and young Lee Joon Ha come together to form an unlikely bond, a devastating and life-altering truth is revealed, the essence of all the time she lost.
This K-drama that makes you cry was released in 2019 with 12 episodes. You can watch it on Netflix.
14. Queen for Seven Days
This drama is about the love story between King Jung Jong and Queen Dan Kyung. But both were crowned and deposed within a week due to rival political factions controlling the king’s power.
According to historical legend, after the queen was deposed and expelled from the palace, the king would walk outside the royal pavilion every day and sigh as he looked up at the mountain.
Upon hearing this, she placed a red skirt, her favorite to wear in palaces, on a rock on the face of the mountain to let him know that she was okay and that she still missed him.
This is one of the saddest historical Korean romantic dramas that will make you cry. It was released in 2017 with 20 episodes and is available on Netflix.
15. The Smile Has Left Your Eyes
A TV series centered on the open relationship between the free and unpredictable yet dangerous Kim Moo Young, who is referred to as a “monster”.
He is the first assistant at a Korean brewery to become a suspect when a woman’s suicide turns out to be homicide.
Her life begins to change when she meets a friendly and kind-hearted advertising designer named Yoo Jin Kang, who wants to become Moo Young’s shelter.
He bears as many emotional scars as she does. Yoo Jin Kang also has a brother, a homicide detective named Yoo Jin Gook, with 27 years of work experience.
He tries to “reveal” who Moo Young really is and tries to distance his younger brother, Jin Kang, from Moo Young, whom he starts to get to know.
This Korean series was released in 2018 with 16 episodes. You can watch this Korean drama on iQiyi.
That was a list of the saddest Korean dramas that will make you cry. Thanks for reading this article, have a nice day!
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