Noona Romance

My Lovely Sam Soon - ML is a CEO of a restaurant and FL is a baker who was cheated on by her 3-year boyfriend. ML and FL meet through a chance encounter and things lead to her working in his restaurant. I loved how the FL was bold and strong and said whatever she felt like. Her dynamics with the ML were really nice and I adored their relationship. If you want to watch a pre-2010 drama with a bold FL and noona romance where the chemistry between the leads is fabulous despite the age gap then this one is perfect. It’s especially so hilarious without being cringe. - u/Fatooz

Definitely one of my favorite dramas. The characters don't make a big deal about the age difference, but it's there. Kim Sun-ah and Hyun Bin are great!  - u/Em-M

If you want to give older dramas a chance, Dal Ja's Spring is a classic noona romance.  It's home shopping networks, fake relationships, frenemies, and bad hair all in one! - u/pvtshame

I recommend Dalja's Spring! It's a less heard about noona romance, but great!  It's hilarious, interesting female lead, awesome characters, interesting storyline (yes, a few cliches but the rest makes up for it) and not to mention Lee Min Ki is the younger man in the equation (YAS)!  - unknown

Definitely my favorite.  Humor, friendship, growth, great second leads, and of course, Lee Min Ki. - u/Nespelem

Flower Boy Ramen Shop - A college student finishing their teaching degree interns at a school where a "college student" she met on the street is one of her students.  - u/ SarahLovesCheesecake

Flower Boy Ramen Shop is pretty cute.  She owns a ramen shop that her dad left her.  He plays a snotty rich kid.  They clash and flirt, you'll get second lead syndrome.  It's an easy watch. - u/pvtshame

Loved Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, super funny and you will never look at kimchi tasting the same. - u/Nespelem

I Hear Your Voice - This drama plays on some of Lee Jong-suk’s specialties, a contemporary story with a very slight fantasy element and a soft, soft puppy with a sad past. He has been looking for her since their first encounter when he was 9, Noona is mostly irritated by him. She’s a gutsy but less than dedicated attorney, he can read people’s thoughts, together they solve crimes. – u/GSV_Zero_Gravitas

Awesome female lead who is not your typical wallflower (Hye-sung or Lawyer Jang). She is kind of a bitch when needed and a realist. I luff her!!! Lee Bo Young just nailed the character so well, I became a fan.

I really liked Lee Jong-suk (Park Soo-ha) in this as well. Even though he plays a 19 year old (in the beginning of the show), the character is mature where it counts.

The leads had pretty good chemistry so that helps a lot. Even though hye-sung is older, there are aspects of her life where soo-ha is more mature. So its a nice balance.

The supporting cast is excellent. There are tons of light moments in a show that has some heavy stuff.  - u/sfgirl00

The Woman Who Still Wants to Marry - Three girlfriends in their 30s, all successful professionals in their own fields, are faced with that eternal question of whether they should get married to or not. The female lead meets a young musician, acted by Kim Bum, just as her former boyfriend returns and she is torn between her choices. Worth watching to see how Kim Bum gives his best try at both puppy love and being mature enough for an actual relationship. Note that given the age of the drama, some of the content will inevitably feel dated but it can make a good binge watch with enough fast forwarding.  - u/myweithisway

I can't recommend this enough. Kim Bum is superb in this drama and the chemistry with Park Hee-Jin is superb.  - u/omlettes

'Secret Love Affair', but just calling it a Noona romance oversimplifies it a lot, because it can fit in to a lot of categories and is a very mature show. - u/aymeline

Secret Love Affair Sun Jae, portrayed by Yoo Ah In, is a young man of poor background who is trying his best to survive while working as a delivery man. The only light in his bleak life seems to be his love for the piano and it is this love that brings him into the world of elite arts, somewhere he clearly does not belong. Chosen for his talent by the talented art director Hye Won, Sun Jae begins studying piano under Hye Won's husband, a professor. As Sun Jae's ascent into elite arts begins, so does his descent into an almost obsessive for Hye Won, who becomes his muse. At the same time, Hye Won also increasingly becomes enraptured in Sun Jae's music and Sun Jae himself.

This drama uses art as its subject but is also truly a piece of art itself. Unlike the tingly, sweet love that is often portrayed in other dramas, Secret Love Affair is focused more on mature and morally questionable love. This drama is a reminder that in real life, love is not always rainbows and butterflies. - u/myweithisway

Perfect Wife - The Noona Romance isn't the main plot, but it's still very prominent. - u/scarletcrawford

Sweet Stranger and Me In this romantic comedy, noona is played by an actress, Park Soo Ae, who is 7-8 years older than the two male leads who compete for her love, Kim Young Kwang and Lee Soo Hyuk. If you've ever identified with the role of an older woman, but felt the teensiest bit insecure about holding the affections of a tender young swain, it might be enjoyable to see how thoroughly she's adored, and with what longevity.

This is a solid romantic comedy, with suspense over debt and villainous debt collectors, and a touching central theme that ponders the nature of family. Park Soo Ae's character is truly attractive -- she knows her own mind, and she's genuine and passionate. Kim Young Kwang does a fine turn as a thuggish looking dumpling chef, all heart and oh, so tall. Lee Soo Hyuk, in contrast, is a whippy, self-deprecating, rich, family-tortured lawyer / developer / head of a robot museum. Yes, a robot museum!

Quite enjoyable. - unknown

Sweet Stranger and Me - Exemplary noona. Awesome storyboarding. Subtle characters. Flashbacks that hit you over the head. - uknown

An adorable, fluffy, tender, sensitive noona romance: High School King of Savvy. Full of silly plot elements and moments! The male lead is a high school boy of 18 impersonating a business whiz of 28. The female lead is a goofy, genuine, burst of nerdiness. The way forward for these two enthusiastic, loving, open, impulsive, fish out of water characters springs from who they are.  - unknown

Something in the Rain - ML is FL’s best friend’s younger brother and it so happens that he has a crush on FL since quite a long. FL is also infatuated with him at first. They keep meeting through dinner and lunch and get attracted to each other. The chemistry between the leads was electrifying and they will make you feel as though they’re a real couple. Some characters were frustrating and annoying but overall it was a realistic drama especially in the sense how it deals with a real societal issue. - u/Fatooz

Something in the Rain - kinda falters towards the end but overall highly recommended. -u/deviantrockstar

Romance is a Bonus Book - Lovely, well thought out. Long-term friends whose relationship turns romantic.  - u/LcLou02

Romance is a Bonus Book is a feel good drama! I think they’re friends but the age difference is somewhere between 5-7 years(?) not completely sure. They reunite after her collapsed marriage and become friends again and it’s sweet :) - u/ugh-wig

It's honestly such a cute feel-good romance. The leads have very good chemistry and the plot is good enough to make you binge watch it. 10/10 would recommend - u/inEfficient-momo

Romance is a Bonus Book - I love this drama so much that I’ve watched it twice already. Lee Jong Suk is in here and this has more of a lighter rom-com vibe to it. Lee Jong Suk’s character has liked the female character for a long time but has been secretly liking her and throughout the drama you can see the growth between two old friends become into lovers. I cannot stress just how cute and how much feels this gave me. Watch this drama, you won’t regret it. - u/lvender55

Let's Eat - Yoon DooJoon plays an insurance salesman and falls for his neighbor and they both are foodies. Don’t watch this drama on an empty stomach!!!!! – u/bbjx14

I Do, I Do - A one night stand with a man younger than her leaves a woman pregnant. - u/ SarahLovesCheesecake

I do I do the drama is a bit older, but it’s a sweet noona drama. - u/Sundoll813

Baby-faced Beauty - Jang Nara and Choi Daniel being cuter than a basket of puppies. And the premise of this one is pretty hilarious as well. - u/paipipette 

I Need Romance 3 - There is not much plot to speak of in this drama, instead it focuses almost entirely on the romance and steamy character interactions. The female lead is a classic noona: she’s successful in her job but not so much in her love life and she struggles to see the puppy head over heels in love with her as a man, and not the little kid she used to babysit. But oh boy is that little kid all grown up, and eventually even Noona has to acknowledge Sung Joon’s undeniable smoulder. – u/GSV_Zero_Gravitas

Biscuit Teacher and Star Candy - From 2005, A substitute teacher and her student. The lead actors in this one (Gong Yoo and Gong Hyo-jin) have gone on to have great careers. – u/SarahLovesCheesecake

My favorite is Witch's Romance with Park Seo Joon and Uhm Jung Hwa.  She's a fierce reporter, totally committed to her job, but her attitude doesn't lead her to make many friends.  He plays a kind  part-timer.  They meet, they have excellent chemistry.  It's funny.  I looove it.  - u/pvtshame

Witch's Romance - One of my all-time favourite Noona romances. Park Seo Joon and Uhm Jung Hwa have so much chemistry, they can set a forest on fire. – u/paipette

Witch's Romance - Ban Ji-yeon is a daring reporter in her late 30s. She is tough, intimidating and a go getter and she's called a witch at her workplace. She doesn't believe in true love after her fiance jilted her at the altar. Yoon Dong-Ha is a young part-timer who runs an errand business with his friend. He's a compassionate and happy person. He walks out on his family agree his girlfriend dies in an accident. No Shi-Hoon is a war photographer who was Ji-yeon's boyfriend. Dong-Ha falls for Ji-yeon, however, Ji-yeon is always worried about their age gap. - u/queenbee2019mn

Reply 1988 - Not the main couple, but one of the side couples fits in the noona romance tag. The girl is elder to him and he even initially calls him noona. At first their relationship dynamics was quite boring and felt very one-sided. But as time goes on and their characters develop more, it was evident how their relationship also grew. They were one of my favorite noona romance couples. It’s a slice of life drama focusing on friendships and families and is super heartwarming and wholesome. It’ll make you laugh, cry, feel warm and basically give you all the feelings.  - u/Fatooz

Reply 1988 - Although not the main couple, Ryu Hye-young and Go Kyung-pyo have an adorable noona- dongsaeng relationship. They are university friends in real life and share fantastic onscreen chemistry, they are clearly very comfortable playing off of each other. - unknown

Temperature of Love - Seo Hyun-jin and Yang Se-jong together are hot like water for chocolate and their characters have instant chemistry, so the plot contrivances that keep them apart become frustrating fast. It’s worth checking out, but don’t feel bad for dropping it when you get bored. Extra points for cute guy in the kitchen, which is always sexy. – u/GSV_Zero_Gravitas

The Lover is a show that focuses on 4 couples living in an apartment building, and one of the couples has an adorable noona romance. So not the main plot of the series, but they're one of the couples with significant screen time.  I loved this show so much that I immediately rewatched it.  It's so real and funny.  - u/pvtshame

When I Was The Prettiest is a noona romance drama special. Sad and a bit intense.  - u/pvtshame

Love for a Thousand More - the girl is a noona by hundreds of years :P It's one of my favourite web dramas. - u/Turquoise-Turmoil

A Gentleman's Dignity: The noona romance aspect is not the main relationship in the show, rather it's the contentious relationship between the most playboy-ish of the members of F44 and his wife. The show is rather unique in that it focuses on the perspective of 4 men in their 40s, Sex and the City style. It has hilarious moments, especially in the prologues to each episode.  - u/pvtshame

It was super-cute and the male lead is adoooorable! Especially since he keeps screaming "noona!" to Park Shin Hye. X3  - u/ClosetYandere

I don't think that the main relationship was noona/dongsaeng.  Enrique called her "ahjumma" more for her frumpy style and reclusiveness, but I don't remember her being older.  However, I think that there was a side character noona relationship. Go Kyung Pyo plays the best friend and business partner of Dok Mi's almost equally reclusive neighbor. This neighbor and Go Kyung Pyo are webtoon artists and are constantly trying to get their latest webtoon published. He ends up in a "some" relationship with a manager at the publishing company, a sleepless and dark circle eyed Kim Seul Gi.  I seem to recall him calling her "noona" but that could be my Reply 1988 memories seeping in.  - u/pvtshame

What's Up, Fox?  - One of the earliest dramas to tackle the theme of a noona romance, this drama is filled with naughty jokes and looks. It all begins with what is essentially a one night stand that turns into something far more than what either side thought was possible. Great for a binge watch despite the dated look of the drama and the fashion choices are funny by themselves. - u/myweithisway

Encounter: Song Hye Kyo plays a divorced woman who has always lived her life according to the script others have written for her, from her politician parents, to her overbearing mother in law. She decides to take life into her own hands and at that point meets Kim Jin Hyuk, a free spirit played by Park Bo Gum, while tending to business in Cuba. The cinematography was beautiful, her ex mother in law is, of course, frustrating, but they are both devoted to each other's well being through the challenges they face. The drama had a calming feeling that lacked the sort of intensity of typical kdramas, which may make it seem slow at points, but overall makes it easy to watch. - u/pvtshame

Encounter - Definitely recommend. It has Park Bo Gum and also Song Hye Kyo both A list actors performed well. It has that superior employee vibes but has that chill mature tinged to it like all noona romances which I’ve come to actually like! But this was even more so here as it also included a lot of poetic/artistic literary elements to it like there would be poetry mentioned and art.  - u/lvender55

Search: WWW: Im Soo Jung plays a career driven woman, Bae "Tammy" Ta Mi, in her 30s, she lives with a lot of stress and responsibilities as she rises in the corporate side of search engines. She meets Park Morgan, played by Jang Ki Yong, a more easy going composer in his 20s. They navigate their relationship with some difficulty as they try to align their future goals and contend with the burdens Tammy experiences in her work life.  They are the main couple in the show, but you'll stick around more for the side couple.  - u/pvtshame

Search: WWW - This drama did not only have one but two noona romances. I really appreciated how even though it was a noona relationship, all of the couples were all mature and were adults. None of the couples were between an adult and a student. They also tackled how to resolve conflict maturely and whether or not you would want to get married. Honestly this was an amazing drama, the context for it was about the web portals and the characters were all workers in that industry. There are three main female leads here so definitely boss girl vibes. This was a refreshing drama to watch and would highly recommend! - u/lvender55

Beauty Inside: Despite not being the primary couple of interest, this show has a great noona romance as the secondary couple of the show with quite a lot of focus on it. Perhaps one of the most endearing ones I've seen, with a rich woman meets normal boy setup. The show itself revolves around a celebrity who's appearance can change randomly and the various difficulties involved with that.  - u/lucidzero

Wednesday 3:30 PM - A short watch that has the premise that people look their most haggard on Wednesday afternoons.  A woman tries to make her ex jealous with her younger childhood friend. It's a pretty average drama, but it has cute moments, lots of coffee, and since it's a short, it's a small time investment. - u/pvtshame

Haneuljae's Murder - this is a one hour drama special set in the 1950s. Moon So Ri plays a woman who tries to make ends meet by selling things in a market where she meets a down on his luck kid. Years later that kid grows up to be post Korean war veteran Seo Kang Joon, he meets her again and is infatuated with her. I think that this one made some people uncomfortable because of the 20 year age difference, but you're browsing this list for a noona romance, so...  It's a really tragic story, and perhaps it felt a bit rushed, but that's common for a short drama special.  - u/pvtshame

Romantic Doctor, Teacher Kim - She is a doctor in the emergency ward and he is an intern.  They are attracted to each other, but get separated for 5 years.  By then he has become a good surgeon.  They both end up working under the brilliant surgeon "Teacher Kim" (who has a mysterious background) at a small countryside hospital.  He is still very interested in her and she tries keeping him at bay. Slow burn romance, funny to watch as she likes him but tries not to show it.  Be warned though, plenty of operations to watch close-up: The Samurai from Mr. Sunshine and the Best Swordsman in My Country wield knives to save lives.  - u/LcLou02

For anyone who likes historical dramas, Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung has a sweet Noona romance and follows the struggles of a woman who rises to become a royal historian in the King's court. Gender roles in the drama are often inverted too where she is the worldly wise character and the male lead who is a prince is the innocent trapped in a tower.  - u/Silly_Merricat

The character is 6 years older than the ML. The romance in this one is quite sweet, and I love that Goo Hae-ryeong is often the one to make the first move. In addition, the political intrigue at the heart of this drama is compelling.  - u/Longjumping-River-42

Once Again - One of the side couples is a noona romance, where the lady is 9 years older than the boy. I wasn’t initially in favor of them growing closer but as the drama goes on you’ll witness how they both complement each other so nicely despite the age gap. It seemed as though they were perfect for each other. This drama is a family drama and is 50 episodes long but each and every character is so wholesome and lovely that you’ll find yourself completely immersed into it in no time. There are also many other couples to look out for! - u/Fatooz

Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol - It’s a drama about FL who was born with a silver spoon who ends up losing everything on the day she was supposed to get married. But after meeting the ML she overcomes and grows into a person that was deep down there within her. Absolutely adored her relationship with the ML and the other side characters. It was one wholesome drama that had its own subtle twists and turns. It was interesting how the writer challenged some tropes, even though the ending was a bit disappointing. But if you high tolerance for the noble idiocy tropes and enjoy a wholesome drama despite its flaws then this one’s the perfect drama for you. - u/Fatooz

Run On - The second couple is a noona romance couple. SML is an art student while SFL is a chaebol. There was a reverse relationship dynamic where SFL was more dominant one and SML was more on the soft side. Their conversations and banters were hilarious to watch and their relationship growth was also lovely. The main couple was also matured and it was interesting to see how they always put their points across and had almost no miscommunication. It’s a bit of a different drama which will give you all the warm and fuzzy feelings. The cinematography is therapeutic and the soundtrack is soothing and varied.  - u/Fatooz

My Sweet Seoul (My Sweet City) (2008) - Who to choose? Who to choose? What’s an office lady (Choi Kang Hee) to do? Go with the baby-faced younger film student (Ji Hyun Woo) she meets in a drunken escapade and hides from her friends or the more uptight blind date business client with the fabulous voice (Lee Sun Kyun)? An easy, breezy watch about secrets, family, gal pals, and workplace politics - u/basta_cosi

Oh! My Lady (2010) -  In this bingeable silly cohabitation rom-com, Super Junior’s Siwon flexes his muscles as an arrogant star who really needs a nanny manager. Desperate for cash, cute ajumma (Chae Rim) finds herself as his new roommate striving to handle his immaturity. Complications and triangles abound, yet growth does manage to happen! - u/basta_cosi