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3.17 - A Conversation with Jeanie Rhim About K Drama Elements

We’re in between seasons 3 and 4! Today, Joanna and Sung Hee has a conversation with Jeanie Rhim, Sung Hee’s sister. Jeanie specializes in newborn photography and is another K Drama lover. We discuss:

  • The K Drama shows we’re watching now.

  • Our list of K Drama elements (we’re up to 23!) and examples of these elements in our favorite K Dramas.

  • How to say hello in Korean.

  • How the subtitles in K Dramas don’t always match what’s actually being said, especially when it comes to characters’ names and titles.

  • Some common Korean words and phrases to watch out for.


Here’s our list of K Drama elements to watch out for:

  1. Beautiful actors

  2. Crying, by both women and men

  3. Gorgeous OSTs (original sound tracks)

  4. Food; there's lot of eating in K Dramas

  5. Alcohol; drinking by both men and women

  6. Beautiful fashion

  7. The trip and catch

  8. Piggyback rides

  9. The back hug

  10. Product placements

  11. Holding hands

  12. The wrist grab

  13. Flowers

  14. Love triangles

  15. Umbrella scene

  16. Quirky best friend

  17. Deep lean

  18. Arm rest

  19. Talking to someone sleeping

  20. Older character trying to keep the main characters apart, or older characters

  21. Second male lead

  22. Second couples

  23. Beach scene or fireworks


Next week, we’ll recap and analyze episode 1 of 25, 21 so get ready!


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K Drama Chat is a weekly podcast where we take one Korean (K) Drama each season and and recap and analyze each episode. K Drama Chat is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and Stitcher.

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