Park Seo-joon is a highly sought-after actor whose portrayal of romance has gained him a notable reputation within the best K-drama romances, often receiving praise for the excellent chemistry he shares with his various co-stars. However, this is only one side to the actor's talents, as Park Seo-joon has received over 30 awards wins and nominations for his contributions to TV and film.
From the rebellious K-pop star Si-woo in Dream High 2 to his most recent performance as the enigmatic pawn shop owner, Jang Tae-sang, in the Netflix original series, Gyeongseong Creature, Park Seo-joon's career has seen him tackle many different genres. Yet, none have been more successful than his forays into romantic comedy. Park has received acclaim for his comedic timing and multi-faceted approach to his roles, which has resulted in multiple memorable performances throughout his career. This, in turn, has led to many brilliant K-dramas romances, though some are more remarkable than others.
Park Seo-joon’s Best K-Drama Characters All Have 1 Thing In Common
From retired taekwondo fighters to narcissistic CEOs and everything in between, Park Seo-joon’s best K-drama characters all have one thing in common.
10 Kim Sun-woo (Moo Myung) & Kim Ah-ro
Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth
While Park Seo-joon is well-renowned for his chemistry with his on-screen co-stars, his chemistry with Hwarang: The Warrior Poet Youth co-star Go A-ra lacks the same spark that many of his other works have. Kim Sun-woo and Kim Ah-ro have an initially playful relationship, with Ah-ro seeing Sun-woo as a brotherly figure before the more dramatic events of Hwarang draw them closer. Although the couple has a lot of potential, their dynamic ultimately feels flat.
Hwarang is full of pacing issues, and the conventional K-drama love triangle involving the two leading characters is detrimental to the couple. Park Hyung-sik's charismatic portrayal of Kim Ji-dwi proves to be a fierce competitor for the leading love story, with many preferring his pairing with Ah-ro over Sun-woo. Despite this, Park Seo-joon gives an incredible performance in Hwarang. His acting skills are one of the series' biggest strengths. This makes the lack of chemistry between the leading couple all the more disappointing, with Go A-ra’s poorly-written character failing to match Park Seo-joon’s level.
9 Si-woo & Nana
Dream High 2
Despite being Park Seo-joon's first-ever K-drama, his dynamic with Sistar's Hyolyn in Dream High 2 is a joy to watch. Hyolyn stars as the bubby main vocalist of Hershe, Nana, whose infectious personality and on-screen charisma make the young K-pop idol a delightful addition to Dream High 2's cast. Nana is an equal match for the broody and rebellious nature of Park Seo-joon's Si-woo, which makes their scenes feel bright and easy.
However, Dream High 2 does not shy away from classic K-drama conventions. Si-woo goes up against fellow Kirin High Student, Park Hong-joo (Kim Ji-soo), who is also vying for Nana's attention. Though this does make for some great moments of jealousy between the two men, it's a shame that their relationship is reduced to such a trivial narrative. As a result, it's hard to rank Si-woo and Nana higher on the list, as many of Park Seo-joon's couples are much more fleshed out. Nonetheless, they are entertaining to watch.
8 Park Hyun-tae & Jung Mong-hyun
Pots of Gold
Pots of Gold, also known as I Summon You, Gold! follows the journey of a middle-class family who work to elevate their social standing into the upper classes. Park Hyun-tae (Park Seo-joon) and Jung Mong-hyun's (Baek Jin-hee) story plays into Pots of Gold's concept of discovering the real meaning of love and family, as they engage in a less-than-typical relationship that prioritizes social standing rather than love. However, Park Seo-joon and Baek Jin-hee's portrayal of the young couple is one of the most enticing parts of the K-drama.
Over Pot of Gold's 50 episodes, Hyun-tae and Mong-hyun's relationship drastically changes. What starts as a marriage of convenience turns into something deep and meaningful. Park Seo-joon and Baek Jin-hee have a soft and tender charm, making their slow-burn romance feel satisfying and great to watch. Although Pots of Gold's storyline may be full of issues, this couple gives the K-drama a solid foundation.
7 Jang Tae-sang & Yoon Chae-ok
Gyeongseong Creature Season 1
Gyeongseong Creature is Park Seo-joon's most recent K-drama, pairing him with one of Netflix's biggest K-drama stars Han So-hee to deliver his latest romance. In the dark Netflix thriller, Park Seo-joon's character, Jang Tae-sang, a wealthy pawn shop owner grows fond of missing persons specialist, Yoon Chae-ok (Han So-hee), after their t search into the realm of mystery brings up unexpected answers. While both actors deliver great performances in the historical K-drama, their spark lacks slightly compared to many of Park Seo-joon's later couples.
Han So-hee and Park Seo-joon will return in Gyeongseong Creature season 2, now set in the modern day.
This does not mean Park Seo-joon and Han So-hee's romantic endeavors are bad. If anything, their romantic storyline adds a tender subplot to Gyeongseong Creature, serving as a hopeful undercurrent to all the tragedy surrounding them. They also both prove why they are such sought-after K-drama actors with individual performances that add a lot of color to one of Netflix's most expensive K-dramas to date. Yet, as romance is not the focus of the thriller K-drama, Chae-ok and Tae-sang's story doesn't have the same impact as some of Park Seo-joon's other romance-focused series.
Gyeongseong Creature
- Release Date
- December 22, 2023
- Directors
- Chung Dong-yoon, Roh Young-sub
- Writers
- Kang Eun-kyung
Cast
Park Seo-joon
Han So-hee
WHERE TO WATCH
Gyeongseong Creature is an action horror-thriller television series that Kang Eun-kyung and Chung Dong-yoon created for Netflix. Set in 1945 during the Japanese occupation of Korea, Jang Tae-Sang, a wealthy informant in the heart of Gyeongseong, and Yoon Chae-ok, a highly skilled investigator, come together to face a literal creature created from the cumulative greed of humanity.
- Seasons
- 2
- Creator(s)
- Kang Eun-kyung, Chung Dong-yoon
6 Oh Ri-on & Ahn Yo-na
Kill Me, Heal Me
Park Seo-joon's Kill Me, Heal Me couple is much less conventional than others but still hilarious. Kill Me, Heal Me's central focus on the main character, Cha Do-hyun (Ji-sung), a wealthy businessman with dissociative identity disorder, led to critical acclaim thanks to its interesting storyline and compelling relationships. One of the best to come from the series is that of Ahn Yo-na, one of Do-hyun's seven personalities, and Park Seo-joon's Oh Ri-on, which is arguably the actor's funniest couple dynamic to date.
Ji-sung and Park Seo-joon won Best Couple at the MBC Drama Awards for their portrayal of Yo-na and Ri-on. They beat Kill Me, Heal Me's leading couple, played by Ji-sung and Hwang Jung-eum, who were also nominated.
Although Kill Me, Heal Me's plot is questionable at times, great acting brings the series to life. This is especially true when Ji-sung portrays the 17-year-old K-pop fan, whose insatiable crush on Ri-on leads to hilarious consequences. The contrast between Yo-na's exuberant energy and Ri-on's terror is comedy gold. Park Seo-joon's theatrical expressions add to the couple's dynamic and exacerbate their situation, making it hard to forget this unique pairing.
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Kill Me, Heal Me
- Release Date
- 2015 - 2015-00-00
- Network
- MBC
- Directors
- Kim Jin-man
- Writers
- Jin Soo-wan
Cast
-
Ji SungCha Dohyeon / Shin Segi
-
Hwang Jung-eumOh Rijin
Kill Me, Heal Me is a South Korean television drama released in 2015. The series follows a business mogul’s grandson, who struggles with dissociative identity disorder, manifesting as seven distinct personalities, and a female physician who clandestinely becomes his personal doctor to aid in his treatment.
- Seasons
- 1
- Creator(s)
- Han Hee
25 Funniest K-Dramas On Netflix
From romantic comedies to sitcoms and everything in between, these Netflix k-dramas are the absolute funniest Korean series on the platform.
5 Yoon Dong-ha & Ban Ji-yeon
A Witch’s Love
Starring Uhm Jung-hwa and Park Seo-joon, A Witch's Love is a steamy K-drama that shows just why Park Seo-joon has become well-renowned for his chemistry with his co-stars. Based on the Taiwanese series My Queen, A Witch's Love delivers an age-gap romance between 39-year-old Ban Ji-yeon and 25-year-old Yoon Dong-ha, who find love in the face of tragedy. The series disregards the social taboo of older women dating younger men to present a K-drama that has a lot of heart, while also capturing the intense ion of intimacy.
Uhm Jung-hwa and Park Seo-joon's on-screen dynamic is what makes this K-drama such a memorable one in Park Seo-joon's career. The age gap between the two characters may be significant, but the romance does not feel forced. Instead, A Witch's Love takes a more realistic approach to love, elevating Ban Ji-yeon and Yoon Dong-ha's ionate and tender love story. The mix of heartfelt, funny, and heated moments gives A Witch's Love a great edge in comparison to other series.
4 Park Sae-ro-yi & Jo Yi-seo
Itaewon Class
Although Itaewon Class isn't best ed for its romantic subplot, it is still one of the best of Park Seo-joon's career. Park Sae-ro-yi and Jo Yi-seo's (Kim Da-mi) journey to romance is very different from other K-dramas about falling in love with the boss. However, this is why it excels as a strong addition to both Park Seo-joon's K-drama couple list and as a storyline in Itaewon Class.
Unlike other female leads that Park Seo-joon stars with, Kim Da-mi's Yi-seo is fierce. Her character is incredibly complicated and deeply flawed, which makes her a vibrant, albeit infuriating, addition to Itaewon Class's diverse cast. Yi-seo knows exactly what she wants and knows how to get it, which can make her pursuit of Sae-ro-yi occasionally seem childish. However, when Sae-ro-yi replicates his feelings for Yi-seo, it feels well-earned, adding another great dimension to one of the best K-drama series of all time.
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Itaewon Class is a South Korean television series that premiered in 2020. The show revolves around Park Sae-ro-yi, a young entrepreneur who seeks revenge against the corrupt businessman who wronged him and his family. Alongside a group of misfits, Sae-ro-yi establishes a bar in Itaewon, a popular nightlife district in Seoul, and together they navigate love, friendship, and ambition.
- Seasons
- 1
- Creator(s)
- Gwang Jin
3 Ji Seung-joon & Kim Hye-jin
She Was Pretty
She Was Pretty is Park Seo-joon and Hwang Jung-eum's reunion project after starring as the siblings Oh Ri-on and Oh Ri-jin in Kill Me, Heal Me. Despite displaying a completely different dynamic in their previous K-drama, Park Seo-joon and Hwang Jung-eum prove their power as a romantic leading couple. In She Was Pretty, Park Seo-joon plays Ji Seung-joon, a man with low self-esteem who rises to be a stubborn yet brilliant deputy editor at a magazine, who has been searching for his first love, Kim Hye-jin (Hwang Jung-eum) ever since he returned to Korea.
Compared to some of Park Seo-joon's other childhood friends-to-lovers stories, She Was Pretty doesn't quite hold up. Seung-joon is extremely harsh to Hye-jin, especially when he is unaware of her true identity due to her drastic change in appearance. However, when he finally realizes who she is, Park Seo-joon's acting skills shine, with Seung-joon's thoughts speaking volumes with just a glance. Alongside the bright and charismatic charms of Hwang Jung-eum's Hye-jin, the duo delivers a great rom-com romance that is hard to forget.
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She Was Pretty is a South Korean television series that aired in 2015. It stars Hwang Jung-eum as Kim Hye-jin and Park Seo-joon as Ji Sung-joon. The plot centers around a reunion between two childhood friends who have both undergone profound physical and social changes over the years. The narrative explores themes of identity, beauty, and romantic misunderstandings as their lives intertwine once more.
- Seasons
- 1
2 Lee Young-joon & Kim Mi-so
What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?
What's Wrong With Secretary Kim? is one of Park Seo-joon's best K-dramas, largely due to his portrayal of the narcissistic CEO, Lee Young-joon. Park Seo-joon’s performance as the eccentric businessman is full of boisterous charisma that is often hysterical. Yet, watching Young-joon soften as he comes to with his emotions for his long-time secretary Kim Mi-so (Park Min-young) is one of the many reasons why What's Wrong With Secretary Kim? is one of the best romantic K-dramas of all time.
Although What's Wrong With Secretary Kim? is full of clichés, it thrives because of it. They make Young-joon and Mi-so's gradual drift to romance all the more tantalizing to watch, as the show’s predictable nature increases the chemistry between the couple. Plus, What's Wrong Secretary Kim? takes an unusually steamy approach with its central couple. This is an enticing change to other K-drama romances and makes Mi-so and Young-joon's love story highly memorable despite its stereotypical approach.
What's Wrong With Secretary Kim?
- Release Date
- 2018 - 2018-00-00
Cast
-
Park Seo-joon
-
Park Min-young
WHERE TO WATCH
- Seasons
- 1
- Creator(s)
- Jung Kyung-yoon, Park Joon-hwa
1 Ko Dong-man & Choi Ae-ra
Fight For My Way
None of Park Seo-joon’s K-drama couples can match the excellence of Fight For My Way's Dong-man and Ae-ra. The friends-to-lovers K-drama is a stand-out in Park Seo-joon's career for multiple reasons, but the chemistry he has with co-star Kim Ji-won is one of the most significant. In portraying childhood friends, Park Seo-joon and Kim Ji-won rise to each other's level and allow the childish energy of their dynamic to flourish. While these moments produce some of Fight For My Way’s best scenes, it's when portraying the tenderness of Dong-man and Ae-ra's relationship that the actors truly shine.
Park Seo-joon and Kim Ji-won won multiple awards for their performances in Fight For My Way. This included the Best Couple Award at the 2017 KBS Drama Awards.
Without Dong-man and Ae-ra's infectious energy and sincere love for one another, Fight For My Way certainly would not have worked. The K-drama is reliant on their dynamic as the driving force of the series, particularly as their journeys to success parallel one another. Thankfully, Kim Ji-won and Park Seo-joon bring out the best of each other in their chaotic yet intimate performances to deliver Park Seo-joon's best K-drama romance to date.
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Fight For My Way is a South Korean television drama series that aired in 2017. Starring Park Seo-joon and Kim Ji-won, the show follows the lives of four young adults struggling to achieve their dreams in the face of societal expectations and everyday challenges. The series explores themes of friendship, ambition, and romance, offering a nuanced portrayal of the hardships and triumphs faced by its characters.
- Seasons
- 1
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