South Korean television drama

Korean drama (Hangul: 한국드라마; RR: hanguk drama) or K-drama refers to televised dramas in the Korean language, made in South Korea, mostly in a miniseries format, with distinctive features that set them apart from television series and soap operas made elsewhere.

South Korea started to broadcast television series in the 1960s. Today's mini deurama format of 12–24 episodes started in the 1990s, transforming traditional historical series to this format and creating the notion of "fusion sageuks". Korean dramas are usually shot within a very tight schedule, often a few hours before actual broadcast. Screenplays are flexible and may change anytime during production, depending on viewers' feedback, putting actors in a difficult position. Production companies often face financial issues.

Korean dramas are popular worldwide, partially due to the spread of the Korean Wave, with streaming services that offer multiple language subtitles. Some of the most famous dramas have been broadcast via traditional television channels; for example, Dae Jang Geum (2003) was sold to 91 countries.

Korean dramas are usually helmed by one director and written by one screenwriter, thus having a distinct directing style and language, unlike American television series, where often several directors and writers work together. Series are likely to have only one season, with 12–24 episodes. Historical series (sageuk) may be longer, with 50 to 200 episodes, but they also run for only one season.

The broadcast time for dramas is 22:00 to 23:00, with episodes on two consecutive nights: Mondays and Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and weekends. Different dramas appear on each of the nationwide networks, Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS), Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and on the cable channels, Joongang Tongyang Broadcasting Company (jTBC), Channel A, tvN, and Orion Cinema Network (OCN).

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