K-dramas have a theme for about anything a viewer is looking for. There are suspense, dramas, thrillers, and highly popular love stories. Some may not want to admit it, but love stories involving falling in love with the boss are a guilty pleasure.
Maybe it involves the shy new girl who catches the eye of the handsome and rich CEO. In some cases, the power play is reversed. Regardless, K-dramas have a way of hooking in audiences with their dynamic storylines. If looking for some new K-dramas to add to your roster of must-watch, look no further.
Coffee Prince (2007)
Available to stream on Viki.
A slightly common TV trope that viewers will see in K-Dramas is gender-swapping. This can be seen in the show Coffee Prince, where a cheerful but male presenting woman named Go Eun-Chan (Yoon Eun-Hye) is mistaken as a boy and hired by Choi Han Gyu (Gong Yoo), the grandson of a coffee magnate.
Eun-Chan figures out that she has to hide her gender if she wants to keep her job. Coffee Prince was a hit in South Korea and found further success in other Asian countries like Thailand and the Philippines, where local production studios remade their own version of the show.
Business Proposal (2022)
Available to stream on Netflix.
The K-Drama Business Proposal is centered on a protagonist who pretends to be someone they’re not. A single woman named Shin Ha-Ri (Kim Se-Jeong) takes her friend’s place on a blind date, not knowing that her friend was set up with her boss Kang Tae-Moo (Ahn Hyo-Seop).
Business Proposal is actually based on a webtoon, which was a point of concern for many TV critics as they thought that the source material was weak and full of clichés. The show is considered one of the best K-Dramas this year, thanks to its charismatic leads, straightforward plot, and lighthearted romance.
Don’t Dare To Dream (2016)
A temporary weather forecaster at a TV station named Pyo Na-Ri (Gong Hyo-Jin) has a long-time crush on her superior and colleague Lee Hwa-Shin (Jo Jung-Suk). However, Hwa-Shin has always been arrogant and harsh to Na-Ri.
Hwa-Shin’s feelings towards Na-Ri start to change once a charming man named Go Jung-Won (Go Kyung-Pyo) shows interest in the lovable weather forecaster. Don’t Dare to Dream was received well for its conversation on ethics in journalism, its effective comedy, and its romantic scenes.
Oh My Ghost (2015)
Available to stream on Prime Video.
Oh My Ghost is one of the most recognized supernatural dramas. It focuses on three main characters and the main love story is between a young woman and her boss who’s a famous chef. There’s a catch. Na Bong-Sun (Park Bo-Young) is shy and timid and has a huge crush on her boss. She can also see spirits.
One day, she’s possessed by a young lustful female spirit who believes the only way to go to the afterlife is by losing her virginity. Being the puppet of the ghost, Bong-Sun now becomes a firecracker and confident woman who catches her boss’s eye.
Radiant Office (2017)
Available to stream on Kocowa.
The 2017 drama, Radiant Office has multiple elements that make it a fun boss-employee storyline. Eun Ho-Won (Go Ah-Sung) is down on her luck looking for work and attempts suicide. At the hospital, she learns she terminally ill but succeeds at landing a job.
With a new purpose in life, Ho-Won takes on her new job with full force. Her superior and boss, Seo Woo-Jin (Ha Seok-Jin) thinks she’s a huge pain in the neck and often bickers. Their odd relationship might just turn into something more.
Protect The Boss (2011)
This K-drama doesn’t have the typical boss characteristics seen in other shows. Protect the Boss centers around Cha Ji-Heon (Ji Sung), a childish director at DN Group. He soon meets his match in his new secretary, Noh Eun-Seol (Choi Kang-Hee).
Eun-Seol is determined to not lose her first professional job and gives it her all. Her kind and spunky demeanor start to attract Ji-Heon. That’s not all, the drama has a love triangle between Ji-Heon and his rival and cousin, Cha MuWwon (Kim Jae-Joong).
Master’s Sun (2013)
Master’s Sun is another K-drama with a supernatural base. Tae Kong-Shil (Gong Hyo-Jin) gains the ability to see ghosts after a bizarre accident. Her abilities leave her unable to keep a solid job. Kong-Shil works as a cleaning lady at Kingdom’s, a conglomerate company, shopping mall.
She soon meets the company’s cold and distant CEO, Joo Joong-Won (So Ji-Sub). In a turn of events, whenever Long-Shil touches Joong-Won, the ghosts disappear. After some begging, Joong-Won stays by her side in return for her help in recovering something stolen from him.
Jugglers (2017)
2017 was a good year to binge-watch multiple boss-employee relationship K-dramas. Jugglers followed the trend and revolved around a secretary and her cold as ice boss. Jwa Yoon-Yi (Baek Jin-Hee) is a devoted and diligent secretary whose put on hold when her boss’s wife accuses her of having an affair with her husband.
On the other end, Nam Chi-Won (Daniel Choi) is assigned to be the managing director at Yoon-Yi’s company. Yoon-Yi becomes his secretary. Chi-Won suffers from childhood trauma and is indifferent to socializing. After Yoon-Yi gets drunk at a dinner party, Chi-Won takes her home and realizes she lives in the place where his trauma originated. Seeing the ’tenant wanted’ sign on her door, he becomes her neighbor to overcome his past.
My Secret Romance (2017)
What happens when you meet your one-night stand three years later? To make matters worse he happens to be your new boss. Lee Yoo-Mi (Song Ji-Eun) is insecure about herself but has to attend her mother’s weddings. She meets Cha Jin-Wook (Sung Hoon). They’re less than cordial with one another but soon start to feel an attraction and spend the night.
Yoo-mi is unaware of who he really is and flees the following morning. Years later she is hired to be his nutritionist. Jin-Wook changed his ways after that night and takes over his father’s company and never forgot Yoo-mi. He tries to romance her and get to admit her feelings for him. Interwoven is a storyline involving Yoo-mi’s baby brother that is blown out of proportion on who the father is.
Rich Man (2018)
Available to stream on Hulu.
Rich Man might also be known for its original Japanese television drama version, Rich Man, Poor Woman. The K-drama was a 2018 remake that did well on television. The show takes an interesting route with the main male character. The CEO of a popular IT company has a facial recognition disability.
This has caused him the inability to recognize his first love. At an employee recruitment meeting, he picks on a particular girl with photogenic memory. She stands up to the mean CEO and says something that catches his interest. She ends up working for the company and helping the CEO.
Strong Girl Bong-Soon (2017)
Strong Girl Bong-Soon is a highly popular K-drama and has a lot of scenes involving an employee falling in love with their boss. A young girl is born with unexplainable superhuman strength, and it’s more of a family trait. This leads to an intriguing storyline.
After beating up some bullies, she is hired by a rich CEO of a gaming company. While having a crush on her friend, she starts to realize who she really has feelings for. All while protecting her CEO from a possible threat and kidnapper. The show’s lighthearted comedy and relatable themes make it a good K-Drama for those unfamiliar with the genre.
My Shy Boss (2017)
Sometimes opposites attract in the most bizarre way possible. My Shy Boss or Introverted Boss follows the tumultuous relationship between a CEO and his new employee. The CEO of a public relations firm is the exact opposite of what one expects.
He’s highly introverted, shy, sensitive, and can come off as cold. On the other hand, the company hires a new employee who is extroverted, loud, and not afraid to speak her mind. She takes an interest in the CEO and wants to uncover who he really is under his hood.
Lucky Romance (2016)
Audiences will surely have a good laugh with this K-drama with its peculiar antics. In Lucky Romance, a 26-year-old attractive woman is highly superstitious believing she was born unlucky. She follows every precaution possible and consults a shaman about her sister. The only way to save her? She has to sleep with a man born in the year of the tiger.
She soon meets a CEO and genius game developer who happens to fit her criteria. Their personalities clash, but Shim Bo-Nui (Hwang Jung-Eum) is determined to see save her sister even if it means wooing her boss.
Level Up (2019)
Level Up follows a lot of the typical boss-employee storyline details; mixed in with some drama. This CEO specializes in helping reconstruct failing companies. He takes on a company called Joybuster despite his previous childhood trauma with gaming.
As the new CEO of the company, he soon meets its head designer. A passionate and sweet young woman clashes heads with a cold and meticulous boss. Will they put their differences aside and complete their new game and maybe fall in love?
Hotel Del Luna (2019)
Hotel Del Luna is a fan favorite amongst K-dramas. It mixes the supernatural with some dramatic romance. Jang Man-Wol (Lee Ji-Eun) is moody and bad-tempered for having run Hotel Del Luna for the past thousands of years. She must atone for her indiscretions and change her attitude.
The hotel is only visible to souls, ghosts, and humans at special times of the year. Things heat up when the hotel gets a new general manager due to a contract signed by his father. Gu Chan-sung (Yeo Jin-goo) is a stoic MBA graduate who has to confront his fear of ghosts. He soon changes his demeanor and helps melt Man-Wol’s heart and keep her safe.
She Was Pretty (2015)
She Was Pretty is a fun roller coaster ride for anyone who watches. Fans of Parasite will recall the lead actor in this drama. Two childhood friends grow up on the opposite ends of the spectrum for both success and looks. Kim Hye-jin (Hwang Jung-Eum) ended up having her father’s red cheeks and frizzy hair, while Ji Sung-Joon (Park Seo-Joon) becomes a strikingly handsome man.
They decide to reconnect but Hye-jin backs out seeing how much they’ve changed. Instead, he mistakes her best friend for her creating a fake love story. Sung-Joon then becomes her boss at her magazine company unaware of who she really is. Will Sung-Joon recognize his first love and fall head over heels? Or will her co-worker woo her away?
What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim (2018)
What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim is at the top of the list and regarded as one of the best romance K-dramas when it comes to the employee-boss dynamic. Kim Mi-so (Park Min-young) has been Lee Young-Joon’s (Park Seo-Joon) right-hand woman for years as his secretary. Her announcement of resignation doesn’t sit well with her cold and professional boss.
He then starts to see her in a different light beyond the professional. There’s jealousy, romantic gestures, and changing of heart in his drama. Not to mention there are some steamy moments in this passionate K-Drama. Young-Joon will do whatever he can to keep Mi-so in his life.
Her Private Life (2019)
Park Min-Young is back as Sun Deok-Mi in Her Private Life. The show is based on a popular Korean webtoon. Deok-Mi is a talented and highly regarded art curator who harbors a secret. She’s an obsessed fangirl. Her secret can ruin her career at the museum. An acclaimed but retired artist, Ryan Gold (Kim Jae-Wook) becomes the museum’s new boss.
After some rumors spread, Gold and Doek-Mi must pretend to date to stop scrutiny towards her favorite idol and new museum client. Fake dating soon starts to blossom into real love. Deok-Mi must try and let go of her secret fan page and obsession.
