Article: Top 10 Korean Dramas That Portray The Story Of South And North Korea

South and North Korea are technically still at war, but it hasn't stopped anyone from creating amazing K-Dramas using North Korean characters and locations. Most of these dramas have spying or military themes, but they're still K-Dramas, and many still contain classic elements like relationship drama. Here is a list of the Top 10 Korean Dramas that portray the story of South and North Korea.

1. Crash Landing On You

In Crash Landing On You, a paragliding mishap brings South Korean heiress Se-Ri to North Korea, where she meets the group and the handsome military Captain Ri. Se-Ri makes an effort to mix in with North Korea. Captain Ri does his best to help her return home securely and covertly, as it is against the law for her to be there. Despite the attraction between Se-ri and Captain Ri, their relationship got destined to end.

2. Doctor Stranger

Park Hoon was misled into visiting North Korea with his father when he was a child, and as an adult, he got forced to go there. He meets and falls in love with Song Jae Hee, a North Korean resident with whom he eventually lost contact after fleeing to the South. The two reunite in Korea years later, Park Hoon, now a genius doctor, trying to navigate his way past his colleagues' mistrust, and Jae Hee, a woman with a task that she gets forced to perform.

3. Iris

2009's Iris proved to the world that K-dramas focusing on North Korea could be successful. Lee Byung-hun and Kim Tae-hee are South Korean agents who must stop a secret organization called IRIS. Along the way, they become entangled with North Korean agents and a mysterious assassin played by T.O.P. by Big Bang. Iris is unique in spending a lot of screen time on the perspectives of her North Korean characters.

4. Spy

The Korean version of the well-known Israeli spy program The Gordin Cell, titled Spy, was released in 2015. After living for decades in South Korea as a typical housewife, Park Hye-rim, a North Korean sleeper agent, reactivates when North Korean general Jang Song-thaek got put to death. Now that her son works as a South Korean intelligence analyst, she gets forced to choose between her blood and her country.

5. Descendants Of The Sun

Although this 2016 hit movie doesn't focus on North Korea, the plot still makes it the subject of significant historical points. Captain Yoo Si Jin and Doctor Kang Mo Yeon try to manage their relationship while remaining loyal as soldiers and doctors. Descendants Of The Sun strikes the perfect balance between action, politics, and romance. Showcase the side of North Korean loyalists that the media hasn't fully explored yet.

6. Korean Peninsula

North Korean/South Korean relationship takes many forms in this show. Hwang Jung-min plays a famous South Korean scientist who falls in love with a North Korean scientist played by Kim Jung-Eun. Together, the two scientists are part of a landmark inter-Korean collaboration to extract methane hydrate off the coast of South Korea.

7. City Hunter

Lee Yoon Sung is a member of the Blue House who has been taught in secret by his adoptive father to seek revenge on high-ranking soldiers who betrayed him during a mission in North Korea. Yoon Sung resolves to achieve his goal after he develops feelings for Kim Nana, a devoted bodyguard who works for the Blue House. City Hunter also does a fantastic job twisting the typical North-South Korean storyline by demonstrating how true enemies can occasionally emerge from the most surprising places.

8. Spy Myeong Wol

In Spy Myung Wol, Han Myung-Wol is a spy. The drama is a romantic comedy. North Korea assigns Han Myung-Wol a mission to kidnap a famous actor named Kang Woo. Struggling with her dream of joining the special forces, she returns to  Korea to complete her goal. Ultimately saving his life and eventually falling in love with him.

9. The King 2 Hearts

The film depicts Korea as a monarchy ruled by descendants of the Joseon Dynasty. Crown Prince Lee Jae Ha gets sent for joint military cooperation to establish friendly relations with North Korea. He meets Kim Hang Ah, the daughter of high-ranking official military posts. Despite their initial antagonism towards each other, the two eventually became friends and became engaged. The drama uses politics as its primary vehicle to push the story forward.

10. Breeze Blow

This 40-episode series presents the most authentic, if not evil, part of a person who escaped North Korea. Mi Poong is a North Korean defector who, after spending time in Macau, meets Lee Jang Goo, a guy from the South. The two split before reuniting in Korea, where they become entangled in a family drama about inheritance. Blow Breeze deals with the harsh realities of leaving the North and the difficulties of trying to build a new life in  Korea as an ordinary citizen.