30 Top-Rated Korean Historical Drama Series

The life, struggle and ascension of doctor Hur Jun, an exponential medical figure during his times.

This drama is about Emperor Wang Gun, the founder of the Goryo Dynasty.

A series based on a real person in Korean history, Suh, Jang-geum.

An epic based on the myth of Jumong, founder of the ancient Korean kingdom of Goguryeo in 37 B.C.

Story of Queen Seondeok who was born a princess, brought up among commoners and overcame many trials to become the ruler of Silla.

Set against the backdrop of a Korean traditional palace, this fantasy drama tells the poignant love story between a king and a female shaman.

Korean Ghost Stories is a series of one-act dramas. It is the continuation of a classic series of ghost stories which aired first on KBS between 1977 and 1989 and between 1996 and 1999. This marks the return of the series after nine years.

The drama tells the story of the life of Dae Jo-yeong, also known as the founder of the kingdom of Balhae, from birth to his death.

Dae-gil is the leader of a group of slave hunters that are hired to find a runaway slave named Tae-ha, who was once a great warrior.

A fairy tale about king-Arthur-type main character, story of karma, passions and political ambitions in the ancient kingdom.

King Jeongjo's sympathetic rule and reforms to improve living conditions for the Korean people despite his royal upbringing

Jang Bo Go, a Shilla slave sold to China during Tang Dynasty, trains as a gladiator-slave. Overcoming adversity, he returns home and becomes a successful sea merchant battling pirates plaguing maritime trade routes.

Based on The Merchant of Joseon novel by Choi In-ho: the story of Lim Sang Wok, a legendary and wise merchant who lived in the Joseon Dynasty period.

Follows the story of a simple maid that rises high in the royal harem as a consort and, ultimately, mother of the Korean king.

It is late 1598, shortly before the Battle of Noryang, the final confrontation of the Imjin War. The remnants of the Japanese invasion force are desperate to go home but are also driven by the personal motivation to beat their greatest adversary, Admiral Yi Sun Shin, once and for all. Self-serving Ming generals and Joseon officials also fear Yi's growing popularity and its impact on their personal base of power. These incidentally combining ambitions fan King Seon Jo's paranoia and make him eventually fear that Yi might come after his throne, and after a series of what he calls acts of high treason he decides to have Yi arrested. Yi, on the other hand, is determined to teach the Japanese a lesson for the atrocities they committed on the Korean people, and despite orders to remain quiet while the Japanese are to pull out without anymore bloodshed, he rallies his naval force and prepares for the upcoming battle. the battle commences and the Japanese are dealt a crippling blow, but Yi is fatally wounded by an arquebuse bullet. As he lays dying, the plot backtracks important stations of Yi's life, from his boyhood to his military career, his disgrace at the hands of his king and his reinstatement, back to the battle of Noryang, where he succumbs to his wound just as victory is declared.

The life of Empress Myeongseong, the first official wife of King Gojong, the 26th king of the Joseon dynasty, who opposed the Japanese expansion overseas.

During the Joseon Dynasty, Ryung acted as a hooligan in the marketplace by day but at night he was a thief who robbed corrupted government officials to give to the poor.

After Seo-hee's parents die, her relative Cho Jun-gu uses her youth to illegally seize her property. Reaching adulthood, Seo-hee flees to pursue her own fortune and eventually reclaim her rightful property.

This story is about the life of Joseon-era dancer, musician and poet, Hwang Jin Yi, who seeks perfection in her art relentlessly and the hardship facing women due to their lowly social status.

Seodong is just a commoner, a technician who grew up in Baekje's prestigious science and technology institute Taehaksa, but his life is on the brink of extraordinary change. He meets and falls for Princess Seonhwa of the rival kingdom Silla, and his love for her transcends social position. Seodong also carries a secret that could alter the fate of the Baekje kingdom, but his rival Sataek Giru plots with Buyeo Seon to disrupt his plans.[4]

A series of murders during the reign of King Sejong leads investigator Kang Chae Yoon to discover a grand conspiracy involving a group of geniuses willing to risk their lives for a cause.