Chaebol
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1. Boys over Flowers
Korean Drama - 2009, 25 episodes
Boys over Flowers – Chaebol extravaganza. Poor girl receives scholarship to exclusive high school and gets entangled with F4, a quartet of smug rich kids led by the prickly Lee Min-ho, sporting his best hair ever. Highly enjoyable cheese from start to finish, it's filled with unhealthy relationships, but a seminal work on classic kdrama tropes. – u/GSV_Zero_Gravitas
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2. The Heirs
Korean Drama - 2013, 20 episodes
The Heirs (Inheritors) – Poor girl receives scholarship to exclusive high school and gets entangled with some smug rich kids. Lee Min-ho is a less prickly chaebol than his character in Boys over Flowers and his hair is boring, but his amazing collection of ugly sweaters makes up for it. Prepare for mean girls, abusive parents, insane corporate manoeuvrings and peak Kim Woo-bin. – u/GSV_Zero_Gravitas
The Heirs - it's pretty standard, it gets mixed reviews [aka people are either completely obsessed fangirls or think it's the most overrated drama to ever exist] but I actually really enjoyed it and it's probably a must-watch for fans of the genre. - u/wanderingjinny
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3. Cinderella and the Four Knights
Korean Drama - 2016, 16 episodes
Cinderella and the Four Knights - A girl ends up living in a house with three feuding chaebol cousins because their Chairman Grandpa thinks she'd be good for them. It's super cute and fluffy! - u/eroverton
The whole premise is ridiculous. This chaebol grandpa with three spoiled grandsons, a playboy, a moody boy, and a musician, is trying to decide which one will be his successor. He hires this high school Nice Girl™ to basically be a live in nanny to teach them to be better people and his only rule is "don't fall in love." His young guy secretary hangs around to make sure that there's NO LOVE, and no one is surprised by how long it takes that rule to be broken. The only reason why this high school girl is able to move in at all is because her Evil Stepmom and Evil Stepsister kicked her out of the Harry Potter closet she lives in.
You must go in with low expectations to appreciate it. Yes there are many cringy moments and almost every minute is predicable, but it is so fun and it has a such a catchy OST by BTOB, Jessi, and some others. There's also lots of chemistry between Nice Girl and all of her knights.
It's not a high quality drama by any means, but I loved it so much. Long story short, yes watch it! - u/pvtshame
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4. The Master's Sun
Korean Drama - 2013, 17 episodes
Sure, Ju Joong-won (Master's Sun) is prickly as all get out, and he cares a lot about turning a profit for his company, but he's not really a jerk at heart. He cuts himself off from other people because when he cares, he cares too much, and it's painful for him. It's not simply, "I was raised with a lot of money and therefore I'm a shouty brat." This is still one of my favorite rom coms of all time. Great writing (until the end, anyhow), every character is wonderful, the actors are amazing... it's just, really good. I highly recommend it. - u/honmamichin
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5. Fated to Love You
Korean Drama - 2014, 20 episodes
Fated To Love You – An unconventional rom-com that stars Jang Hyuk as an over-the-top chaebol and Jang Na-ra as a cripplingly shy secretary in stand-out performances. The two are brought together by chance and end up stuck together when a drunken tryst results in an unexpected pregnancy. Jang Hyuk steals every scene as Lee Gun and Jang Na-ra is painfully meek without being frustratingly so. Both characters are disastrous together until they finally work together for a common cause: their unborn child. Easily one of the most emotional and fulfilling rom-coms I've ever seen in any language. – u/ClosetYandere
Fated to Love You has more uneven writing, and the first two episodes are WAAAAY over the top. You have to sort of just grit your teeth and get through those. It's the principle characters (and the actors playing them) in this drama that make it amazing. Our chaebol love interest is Lee Gun (Jang Hyuk), who seems stereotypically prickly (and also unstereotypically insane) at first, but turns out to be pretty much the sweetest, most understanding guy in the dramaverse. How could Kim Mi-Young (Jang Nara) not fall in love with him? He's the best ever. He does end up having some problems with common drama tropes, but damn if both characters didn't turn my feels up to 11 anyway. I just loved them both, so much so that the badly developed side characters and their undeveloped side plots just didn't bug me that much. If you do watch this, be prepared for lots of tears. It gets bumpy sometimes, but it's so worth it, imo. - u/honmamichin
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6. Shopping King Louie
Korean Drama - 2016, 16 episodes
Shopping King Louie - Chaebol kid loses memory, has to learn to live like a regular person. He isn't good at it. Much lols. - u/eroverton
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7. The Legend of the Blue Sea
Korean Drama - 2016, 20 episodes
Legend of the Blue Sea - This kiiinda counts? I mean the main guy is definitely a chaebol-by-nature but he's cut off his family and is living off his own wealth, which was acquired somewhat un-chaeboldly, so... But there's a mermaid in it, and the obligatory rich-guy-buys-pretty-things, so I say we count it! The mermaid-out-of-water scenarios are hilarious, and the illegal capers are a lot of fun. - u/eroverton
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8. Secret Garden
Korean Drama - 2010, 20 episodes
Secret Garden - chaebol guy with some mental health issues and a stunt woman. Beware: this way lies some body swapping and a plot with many logic holes. Had its charms though. - u/SpinThePickle
Secret Garden is a dated shaggy dog story, but it has a strong emotional through line. I love it. Hyun Bin does a great chaebol a-hole. The tracksuits! - unknown
Secret Garden - This is your typical rich ML poor FL drama. The FL is a stuntwoman and the ML is head over heels for her right after their first meeting. It's one of Kim Eun-Sook's classic drama with her favourite tropes and clichés. But it's super hilarious and has a funny fantasy twist. The scenes where the ML and FL swap souls are the highlight of the drama and that makes up for how problematic this drama tends to be otherwise. It's a fun watch if you switch off your brain cells. - u/Fatooz
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9. High Society
Korean Drama - 2015, 16 episodes
High Society. It's a rich woman, poor man love story (not that many out there). - u/UkEuropeEarth
High Society - watch it for the secondary couple - he is a chaebol playboy and she is a grocery clerk. [first couple: she is chaebol and an outcast in her family who works as a grocery clerk, he is a manager in the company] - u/SpinThePickle
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10. Protect the Boss
Korean Drama - 2011, 18 episodes
Protect the Boss - The female lead works as the male lead's secretary, and while she may be poor she is definitely not a pushover. - u/wanderingjinny
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11. Lie to Me
Korean Drama - 2011, 16 episodes
Lie to Me - This one gets mixed reviews (but people who do like it tend to really like it) and it's a standard watch for the "rich guy, poor girl" genre. And even if you don't watch the whole drama you should at least look up the cola-kiss scene, it's iconic. - u/wanderingjinny
Lie to Me... I'm very unclear why I love this, cause I'm pretty sure the writing totally falls apart toward the end, but I did. Probably because I love Yoon Eun-hye and Sung Joon (even if he's the second male lead). Also contract dating. - u/MerinoMedia
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12. My Lovely Sam Soon
Korean Drama - 2005, 16 episodes
My Name is Kim Sam Soon - One of the all-time classics for good reason. A wealthy man hires a poor woman to be the pastry chef at his restaurant and to pretend to be his girlfriend. Then things get complicated! - u/Fray38
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13. Bride of the Century
Korean Drama - 2014, 16 episodes
Bride of the Century. In this, the chaebol unintentionally falls for the poor girl, thinking she’s the mean rich girl to whom he’s betrothed. There’s also a lot of scheming between the evil rich mothers xD - u/sierra-like-the-mist
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14. Mask
Korean Drama - 2015, 20 episodes
Mask - Doppelganger impersonates a paranoid chaebol's dead fiancee, moves into his highly dysfunctional family's house and makjang ensues. – u/deviantrockstar
Mask - I loved every makjang-y minute of this. - u/Fray38
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15. Strong Woman Do Bong Soon
Korean Drama - 2017, 16 episodes
Strong Woman Do Bong Soon - Diminutive superwoman protects tall and lanky chaebol who falls head over heels for her. Sickly sweet at times but worth it. – u/deviantrockstar
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16. Oh My Venus
Korean Drama - 2015, 16 episodes
Oh My Venus - It was very good! A lawyer who used to be very beautiful when she was in school gains a lot of weight from a combination of a medical condition and poor habits. She meets a trainer (who is also a chaebol heir, because of course he is) who helps her get back in shape. So sweet! - u/Fray38
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17. Hotel King
Korean Drama - 2014, 32 episodes
Hotel King - Does this count as chaebol fighting? Not exactly sure. Plenty of scheming and underhanded dealings by rich people to take over the hotel. He thinks he is the dead hotel owner's son. The daughter inherits not knowing there could be a son. His adopted father thinks he should have his best friend's hotel. There are a few other schemers as well, but to mention them would get spoilery. - u/SpinThePickle
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18. Coffee Prince
Korean Drama - 2007, 17 episodes
Coffee Prince - He is the playboy chaebol who is sent on endless marriage dates. He mistakes a young woman for a guy and asks him(her) to pretend to be his gay lover to scare off the women. He(she) agrees because she needs money. She eventually works in the coffee shop he is put in charge of. - u/SpinThePickle
Coffee Prince: A poor girl crossdresses in order to land a job at a new coffee shop run by a slightly spoiled rich heir. As the coffee shop gets running, the entire crew gels together to become a makeshift family, helping each other out. During the process, the girl falls in love with the rich heir and he in turn becomes attracted to her, without knowing her real gender. He struggles with his feelings and sexuality, which leads to one of the best love confessions ever. The drama really does a good job at exploring the complexity of attraction and how relationships past and present affect each other. This is a really great classic and one of Gong Yoo's best performances. - u/myweithisway
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19. High-end Crush
Korean Drama - 2015, 20 episodes
High End Crush (webdrama) short and cute. A little high concept, but not as bad as Noble, My Love which I swear is just the chaebol kdrama version of Twilight. - u/MerinoMedia
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20. Gangnam Scandal
Korean Drama - 2018, 123 episodes
Gangnam Scandal - light-hearted, tug-at-heart-strings modern chaebol drama
There are really cute, funny moments, along with some drawn-out justice boners. A litte frustrating at times when the characters get into easily-avoidable trouble (par for the course, as writers try to keep you watching!), but the characters are lovable and mostly well acted. Doesn't take itself too seriously, and can see the passion, work and wit. Character development is really strong, with unique personalities reinforced and almost always in character. This is the best part.
The main heroine is not model-esque, but she really grows on you as the underdog next door. There are some really cute aegyo moments with her.
Really enjoyed this, and was kind of sad when it ended. - u/hspace8
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21. What's Wrong with Secretary Kim
Korean Drama - 2018, 16 episodes
What's Wrong with Secretary Kim This is both a Korean drama and a parody of a Korean drama at the same time. - u/the-other-otter
What's Wrong with Secretary Kim - This is one of the best romantic comedies I've seen. The story is about the narcissistic and brilliant head of a company, Lee Young Joon, with a dedicated and brilliant secretary, Kim Mi So, who one day decides to quit her job. Realizing that he absolutely needs her, Young Joon tries to woo her to stay, only to realize that he likes her but has too much of an ego to admit it. It's certainly more comedic than normal and doesn't take itself too seriously for the most part. The leads have fantastic chemistry throughout, and supporting cast is hilarious and enhances the comedic tone of the drama quite well. Overall, this is a great drama. - u/TotoroTheGreat
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22. Tempted
Korean Drama - 2018, 32 episodes
Tempted - The ML, SFL and SML are all chaebols. Their characters are pretty evil-ish as they face the typical rich people drama just in their 18s or 19s. I personally enjoyed the chemistry between the ML and FL a lot! Their scenes were life and the way the FL brought out the best from the ML was worth the watch despite the boring side character drama. It's a messy drama but it's a good timepass as a side watch especially if you want cute romance amidst typical chaebols. - u/Fatooz
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23. I'm Not a Robot
Korean Drama - 2017, 32 episodes
I'm Not a Robot - I'm not a Robot is about a chaebol who lives a secluded life because he is fatally allergic to humans. However, his life changes when a small team of engineers deliver him a humanoid robot for personal use. The only caveat is that the team messed up the real robot and send a human girl in its stead leading to some hilarious shenanigans. With a really charming cast of characters, I'm not a Robot is an really sweet and wholesome romantic comedy. - u/TotoroTheGreat
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24. Encounter
Korean Drama - 2018, 16 episodes
Encounter - I guess this does count as a chaebol drama considering how the FL had typical rich people issues. This was a good contrast with the ML being poor and FL being rich. The chemistry between the leads was really nice. It's a slow burn romance and tends to be pretty therapeutic in terms of its cinematography and soundtrack. - u/Fatooz
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25. Cunning Single Lady
Korean Drama - 2014, 16 episodes
Cunning Single Lady is about a married couple who ended up getting divorced due to hardships brought on by the male lead's failing software startup up. Fast forward to three years later and the start up has taken off and the male lead is now a super rich chaebol. The female lead, bitter about the situation, begins working at his company and the two who leads who are enemies begin slowly working through the issues that broke them up and fall in love again. What I really liked about this drama was how three dimensional the leads were and how they really did love each other before their marriage failed and how they were both at fault for it. A really great second chance romance. - u/Silly_Merricat
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26. Crash Landing on You
Korean Drama - 2019, 16 episodes
Crash Landing on You is about a chaebol heiress and beauty company CEO who ends up in North Korea due to a freak accident that lands her in the DMZ between countries. There she's helped by a North Korean captain and his squad who hides her and plots to send her back home. A sweeping romance with two fantastic leads with undeniable chemistry and a very entertaining and solid ensemble cast, this drama is going to be considered one of the all time classics. Plus watching the pampered, spoiled, ice princess chaebol melt as she deals with hardships in an enemy country and gets to know the handsome and dashing captain helping her is pretty swoonworthy. - u/Silly_Merricat