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Ahn Hyo-Seop Transformation (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Ahn Hyo-Seop has received a lot of attraction and popularity in many different ways before and after gaining weight. He has gone through a major physical transformation. Read ahead.

Ahn Hyo-Seop’s successful hit dramas, be they Business Proposal, Dr. Romantic 2, or others, have put him on the global map, making his girl fans go weak in the knees with his charming presence and powerful aura. However, did you know the Hyo-Seop didn’t look like how he does now when he started off his career as an actor? If you do a little research, you’ll find that the K-drama star’s image drastically changed after he put on some weight.

Many people might not even recognize him from his past pictures. However, after the weight gain, the actor definitely got massive success in his dramas and even become much more attractive to his fans.

Romantic K-Drama Watchlist ( Photo Credit – Instagram; Twitter )

Valentine’s Week is about to begin, and it’s the perfect time to binge-watch romantic K-dramas with your loved one. So, here are 6 upcoming Korean series recommended for you to stream this love-filled week.

K-drama fans assemble! It’s a great week for you all. Not only because it is Valentine’s Week but also because an exciting lineup of K-dramas is about to hit the small screens. Although a diverse genre of K-dramas has been set for the month’s release, this article will focus on the love-filled romantic comedies that can be enjoyed with your loved one.

Well, all you have to do is grab your partner, set up the lights, bring a tub full of popcorn, put a sheet mask on your face, and you are ready for a K-drama marathon this week. We have curated 6 upcoming romantic dramas...

K-dramas, made in South Korea, are always there when viewers want to see stories that are different from the stereotypical American shows. Some, like Squid Games and Business Proposal, have stood out and grabbed the attention of Western countries. This ensures that the K-drama genre is now widely known and is constantly rising in popularity, especially among teenagers and young adults.

Some Korean dramas are considered good, and others are quite bad, but only a few can be considered perfect from start to finish. Korean dramas are made to make people cry, feel the romance, and everything in between. They capture every fan's heart, becoming a famous phenomenon among international viewers, thanks to the Hallyu Wave. But what is the Hallyu Wave? Short explanation: when Korean dramas or anything South Korea-related becomes famous outside Korean soil, including Business Proposal or Squid Game, for example.

Solo Leveling has emerged as one of the most popular recent animes. The series showcases a fascinating premise of skill augmentation, is full of battles, and has stunning animation, making Solo Levelings Season 2 one of the best upcoming animes. The key to the series' success was the popularity of its original manhwa, both in its country of origin, South Korea, and in many other territories. However, it was revealed that Solo Leveling's manhwa has been surpassed in the U.S. by a big hit, The Beginning After the End.

Solo Levelings manhwa was a true mass phenomenon, considered by many to be one of the most popular. It also greatly boosted the manhwa industry, with a broad base of readers that only increased after the anime adaptation. Despite these achievements, Solo Leveling has been surpassed in the U.S. as the most successful title on Kakao Entertainments webtoon platform for North America,...

Business Proposal season 2 is the awaited next chapter in the Korean romantic comedy series. K-dramas are becoming as popular as many American television shows, with series like Business Proposal providing a light and warm counterbalance to some darker shows like Squid Game. Business Proposal premiered in February 2022 with 12 episodes and was made available on Netflix. Considered one of the best romantic K-dramas of all time, Business Proposal is a charming and sweet tale about unexpected love.

The series stars Kim Se-jeong as Shin Ha-ri, an employee at Go Food's Food Development Team 1. In the beginning of the show, Ha-ri agrees to replace her best friend, Jin Young-seo (Seol In-ah), on a blind date. When Ha-ri arrives, she realizes the blind date is with Kang Tae-moo (Ahn Hyo-seop), the CEO of Go Food and Ha-ri's boss, though he doesn't recognize her. A comic and romantic affair ensues with snafus, mistakes,...

No Gain No Love is a South Korean romantic comedy-drama series written by Kim Hye-young. The tvN series follows the story of Son Hae-yeong, an ambitious young woman trying to convince her neighborhood convenience store employee, Kim Ji Uk to marry her so that she doesn’t miss out on a promotion. No Gain No Love stars Shin Min-a (Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha) and Kim Young-dae (Shooting Stars) in the lead roles with Han Ji-hyun, Lee Sang-yi, Jeon Hye-won, and Lee Yoo-jin starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the cute romance, hilarious comedy, and likable characters in No Gain No Love here are some similar South Korean shows you should check out next.

Marriage Contract Credit – Mbc TV

Marriage Contract is a South Korean romantic drama series written by Jung Yoo-kyung. The Mbc TV series follows the story of Kang Hye-soo, a single mother who agrees to marry a Chaebol...

South Korean dominance shows no signs of stopping, delivering even more outrageous storylines.

In Sll’s “Death’s Game,” a Prime Video Original fantasy drama based on a webtoon, a hard-working man – “who knows how to make lemonade out of the lemons,” said sales executive Youseon Jee at Series Mania – finally reaches his breaking point.

When he loses his home and his girlfriend, he decides to take his own life. Only to find himself in hell, literally facing Death, who presents him with 12 different lives, each facing a tragic end. If he manages to save at least one, he will be forgiven for his deed.

While Sll will also deliver comedy “Doctor Cha” about a housewife who, having experienced first-hand how selfish her family is, decides to go back to medicine – the show is being remade in Turkey – fantasy elements can be found in several new crime shows, including Cj Enm...

Mask Girl: A dark and confusing thriller that highlights the dangers of social media stardom. Engaging and popular. Love To Hate You: A fun fake dating rom-com with great chemistry between the leads. A light and enjoyable watch. Crash Course in Romance: A heartwarming romance about second chances in love. Sweet and uplifting, especially for those who have sacrificed their dreams.

A lot of great and addicting K-dramas were released in 2023. With shows like Squid Game and Business Proposal having popularized the genre internationally, Korean dramas have upped their game when it comes to engaging shows. 2023 was an excellent year for K-dramas, with dozens coming out on Netflix, Viki, and Paramount+, among other streaming services. The output of fantastic dramas will only serve to lift the genre higher.

The best K-dramas are those that keep viewers engaged, so the most addicting K-dramas of 2023 are a mixed bag in terms of genre.

Webtoons, the vertical-scrolling iteration of digital comics that emerged some twenty years ago in Korea, along with the smartphone, are now a global medium. But they are only at the beginning of their global journey, says Charlie Park, CEO of Kakao Entertainment-owned Tapas.

Park was speaking Tuesday at the Asia Television Forum in Singapore in a session moderated by industry consultant Jimmy Kim.

Park explained that the webtoon segment was for several years a niche fan-driven activity with few opportunities for monetization. And suggested that the ‘wait or pay’ business model, introduced by Korean firm Daum, combined with the advent of micropayments, allowed money to flow in to the sector. “This in turn led to further investment and growth,” said Park.

“Our company has invested $1.5 billion in the webtoon industry, said Park. “That has caused quality generally to improve and had other impacts, such as allowing some webtoon creators...

K-dramas like Squid Game and Business Proposal have gained global popularity for their engaging stories and short episode length, making them easy to binge. However, some K-dramas, like Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol and Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo's, have faced criticism for their unsatisfying endings and lack of closure. The cancellation of Joseon Exorcist and negative reviews for A Piece of Your Mind and Memories of the Alhambra highlight the impact of audience backlash on the fate of K-dramas.

K-dramas have begun to see global appreciation for their compelling narratives and engaging stories, but some of those stories have ended far too soon. Dramas such as Squid Game, Business Proposal, and D.P. have reached international audiences and propelled the genre into the spotlight. Part of what make K-dramas so popular is their length. Most K-dramas are only 16 episodes long, making them easy to binge. K-drama writers...

Manhwa, the general Korean term for comics, has existed since the 1970s. During the 1990s, when the ban on Japanese media was lifted, Korean comics became influenced by Japanese art style and storytelling to reach their current iteration. Undeniably, Japanese manga and Korean manhwa have a lot in common stylistically and narratively, and each has its rabid fanbase. The popularity of manhwa has been on a steady incline, mainly due to WebToon, a company started in 2004 by Naver Corporation that hosts a vast majority of the popular titles.

As a manga diehard, I was initially hesitant to approach manhwa, particularly with a preference for physical media. But with publishers' efforts to bring titles to print, I found myself attracted to the format both on and off the page. Still, it can be somewhat intimidating to approach, given the abundant amount of content out there.

I have highlighted ten great titles...

2023 has brought a rekindling for K-drama lovers. Some of the shows we’ve got this year are very similar to those that came out back in 2013, but on the other hand, we also have some amazing new stuff that doesn’t fit any molds, but still impresses. Business Proposal, My Liberation Notes, King The Land, and Revenant are just a few of the many hit shows to come out this year, all easily available on Ott platforms. We were missing a modern fantasy on our list, though, and Destined With You is surely destined to take up that spot. At the end of Episode 4, Shin-Yu realized that the shaman told Hong-Jo that the two of them were destined for each other and their ties would never be severed. Will they accept this destiny easily?

Spoilers Ahead

What Happens In Episode 5?

Shin-Yu spends the day with Hong-Jo, after he follows her...

“On a romantic evening date with the young, rich, and unbelievably handsome Taemu, Hari is the envy of all women…but little do they know—it's all fake! She has been trapped into playing the part of his girlfriend to appease his meddlesome grandfather, all the while desperately trying to hide the fact that she is actually an employee at his company! How long can she keep up this nerve-wracking double life?” (Ize Press)

on Amazon by clicking on the image below

The first volume of “A Business Proposal” has all the keynotes one would desire in a Korean rom-com: adorable characters, a sharp comedic wit, and an endearing love story of opposites. The second volume in the series not only keeps to these standards but excels in them as the manhwa starts to hit its stride both in story and visuals.

The inaugural release acted to...

Photo credit: Netflix

From action-packed thrillers like “Squid Game” and “All of Us Are Dead” to romantic comedies like “Business Proposal” and “Crash Landing on You,” it seems the world can’t get enough of K-dramas these days. Netflix, for its part, has recently announced its plans to invest a whopping $2.5 billion in South Korean content over the next several years, so it looks like the K-drama craze won’t be dying anytime soon.

But with so many Korean TV shows already available on Netflix, it can feel overwhelming to sort through dozens—if not hundreds—of K-dramas on the platform and figure out which ones to watch. So here we’ve made the job much easier by curating the top K-dramas to stream on Netflix, in no particular order. To ensure that we’re providing you with the best recommendations, we’ve thoroughly vetted all of these series (which...

South Korea is known globally for its web series, movies and K-pop, with content including Squid Game and Parasite and groups like BTS and Blackpink becoming household names internationally. But there is another Korean cultural export – webtoons and their associated IP – that is starting to have an impact, not just in Korea, but around the world.

Webtoons are comics that have been designed specifically for mobile phones. Unlike Western comics and Japanese manga, they’re composed of single panels arranged vertically so that they can be easily scrolled through with one hand while you’re using the other to hang off the strap of your local commuter train.

Originating on the platforms of two Korean tech giants, Daum (which was later absorbed into Kakao) and Naver, in the early 2000s, the format is already huge across Asia and has become an invaluable source of IP for the region’s booming streaming industry.

Fans can hold Finding Camellia in their own two hands very soon.

As reported by AniTrendz, Ize Press, an imprint of Yen Press that licenses physical editions of webcomics and webnovels from Korea, has announced the physical print edition of Finding Camellia. Ize Press has yet to announce a release date. The imprint has licensed several popular Korean webcomics, including A Business Proposal, Villains Are Destined to Die, The Boxer and Solo Leveling.

Related: Puppy Ever After Creator Asks Fans Not to Share Their Webcomic Online

New Manhwa Announcement: Finding Camellia Camellia is taken from her mother and thrust into the role of Camellius Bale, the second son of an aristocratic family. Amid all the secrets and lies, she swears that one day, she will reclaim the name and life that was stolen from her! pic.twitter.com/fS71GOpKv4 — Ize Press (@izepress) June 16, 2023 Finding Camellia Fans Reacted With Excitement...

Heartfelt Obsession

Netflix this week announced six new Korean romance titles slated for the rest of 2023. They are: “See You in my 19th Life,” “King the Land,” “Behind Your Touch,” “Destined With You,” “A Time Called You,” and “Doona!”

The titles were unveiled at an in-person event called “K-romance obsession” in Seoul. Guests were mostly K-drama influencers from around the Asia Pacific region and the event was decked out with reds, pinks and vast numbers of heart decorations. Guests were offered snack food that had been featured in earlier hit K-drama shows including “Crash Landing on You,” “Extraordinary Attorney Woo,” “Business Proposal” and “Alchemy of Souls.”

According to Netflix, between 2018 to 2022, global viewership of its K-Romance titles tripled, with more than 90% views coming from outside South Korea in 2022 alone. Don Kang, VP of content (Korea) said, “Our stories touch on the universal aspects of life — love, heartbreak, and tenderness, while...

Korean dramas have taken the movie and television industry by storm in recent years, and while they were once synonymous with romance stories, that has changed. Despite Korea's long-standing reputation as home to some of the world's finest cinema, the success of television shows like Stranger, Signal, K2, and Voice has repeatedly proven that the industry can produce masterpieces even on the small screen. The Uncanny Counter is one such Korean drama that has garnered enormous popularity in recent years.

The Uncanny Counter is a South Korean television series based on a popular webtoon by Jang Yin. The drama's first season aired from November 2020 to January 2021 before concluding with 16 episodes and an emotional and beautiful climax for fans who had been on the journey for three months.

With the series renewed for a second season, fans were eager to see what So Mun (Cho Byeong Kyu) and the other Counters would be getting up to.

“After being worked to the bone at her office job, getting introduced to her longtime crush's new girlfriend, and dealing with her family's debt hanging over her head, Hari Shin's life seems to have hit rock bottom. Luckily, her friend Youngseo has a business proposal for her: go to an arranged date in her stead and Hari will receive a hefty compensation. Things grow complicated, however, when it turns out that the other party is Hari's new CEO—and he's dead-set on marrying whoever shows up to the date!” (Ize Press)

on Amazon by clicking on the image below

A dedicated fanbase has long revered the Korean rom-com for its sharp comedic wit combined with its ability to pack an emotional punch. Though most dominant in TV and film, this sentiment also extends to Manhwa, which has been steadily rising in popularity with the continued growth of...

‘Squid Game’ Is Still Fresh

‘Squid Game’ remains the most searched South Korean drama worldwide, a new study has revealed. According to research by cybersecurity firm Vpn Overview the Netflix show continues to attract 15 million web searches per month, despite being released over a year ago, in mid-September 2021. In second place is “All of Us Are Dead,” a zombie apocalypse drama based on a popular webtoon, with almost three million average monthly searches. Both shows have already been renewed for second seasons. Romantic drama, “Business Proposal” comes in third with 1.5 million average monthly searches. Other shows with search endurance include 2019’s “Crash Landing on You” and Love Alarm” and 2020’s “Itaewon Class.” (A surprising omission is “Extraordinary Attorney Woo.”) “It is interesting to see how even one year after its original release, ‘Squid Game’ is still so popular all over the world,” said a VPNOverview spokesman. “This year’s seven...

Fans of Lee Jung-jae will get a chance to see the “Squid Game” star in his earliest starring role, as a manipulative male model in 1994’s “The Young Man.”

Korean indie distributor and sales agent Mirovision has added the 1994 picture to its sales lineup at the Asian Contents & Film Market, on the sidelines of the Busan International Film Festival.

Set in Seoul’s Rodeo Drive district, the film sees Lee play a model trying to break into commercials. After he accidentally kills an agent and dumps the body in a river, he has to turn up the charm to get away with the slaying. The role earned him best new actor awards from four organizations.

Lee is currently in huge demand. In addition to his breakout role in “Squid Game” and the Primetime Emmy Award that he collected for his performance, Lee has recently established his credentials as a film director.

“Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area” has become Netflix’s latest Korean-made international hit. The Korean remake of “La Casa de Papel” (aka “Money Heist”) is in first place on the streaming giant’s Global Non-English top ten chart over the last week.

The series premiered on Friday (June 24), meaning that it only had three days to claim its spot in chart that covers the period June 20-26. During that time, it was played for 33.7 million hours. The series was also the number one show in South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand.

It joins other Korean shows which have scored well globally for Netflix. In the first half of 2022, shows including “All Of Us Are Dead,” “Juvenile Justice” and “Business Proposal” have all reached #1 with global audiences, the company reports. Last year, Netflix and “Squid Game” helped Korean content reach a new level of global audience consciousness.

A...

The fourth season of Netflix’s “Stranger Things” was the streamer’s most-watched English-language series during the week of May 23-May 29 with a record-breaking 286.79 million hours viewed globally. This marks the biggest premiere weekend ever for an English-language TV show on Netflix, even beating out previous record-holder “Bridgerton” Season 2 (193 million hours). That season went on to become Netflix’s most-watched English language series in its first 28 days of availability with more than 656 million hours viewed, putting “Stranger Things 4” on a potentially historic trajectory.

Netflix opted to split the fourth season of “Stranger Things” into two batched releases, with Volume II debuting July 1. Following the successful split release for the final season of “Ozark” earlier this year, this strategy has become a growing trend for Netflix as it looks to extend subscriber engagement and retention with its most high-profile originals.

Netflix’s English language TV top 10 for the week of May...

Korean-made series have continued to dominate viewership on Netflix, following on from the breakout successes of “Squid Game” and “Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha” in 2021.

For ten of the 13 weeks in the first quarter so far this year, Korean shows have held top spot in Netflix’s global non-English series ranking.

Romantic comedy “Business Proposal” is currently the top non-English series for the third week in a row, and is Netflix’s third-ranking series of all origins, behind only “Bridgerton” (seasons 1 and season 2) with over 32 million watch hours.

“Business Proposal” has played particularly strongly in Asia, ranking as the top series in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam and in second place in India and Sri Lanka in the last week. The recent season one finale of “Business Proposal” stirred social media reactions praising its fast-paced storytelling and charming ensemble cast.

Others in the most recent week’s...

Docuseries “Bad Vegan” debuted on Netflix’s Top 10 list of English-language TV series at No. 5, with 27 million hours of the show viewed in the first five days after its March 16 launch. On the film side, “The Adam Project” maintained its hold as the No. 1 movie for the second week in a row.

From Chris Smith, the executive producer of “Tiger King” and director of “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened,” “Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives” is a four-part documentary series that explores how Sarma Melngailis, the celebrity restaurateur behind the glittering New York hotspot Pure Food and Wine, went from being the queen of vegan cuisine to being known as the “Vegan Fugitive.” Shortly after meeting a man named Shane Fox on Twitter in 2011, Melngailis begins draining her restaurant’s funds and funneling the money to Fox after he cons her into believing he could make her dreams — from...