Summary

• K-dramas often end with sadness, not happily ever afters, leaving fans devastated by tragic romances and unexpected deaths.
• Some popular K-dramas with sad endings, like "Now, We Are Breaking Up" and "Yumi's Cells," focus on heartbreak over happily ever afters.
• Heart-wrenching K-drama series like "Stairway to Heaven" and "Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo" show that not all love stories have a happy ending.

Content warning: This article contains discussions of suicide, terminal illness, and violence.

K-dramas rarely go past one season, or perhaps two if they're lucky, which often means viewers can find the K-dramas have a sad ending. The overarching storyline has to come to a close by the season finale, which can make for bittersweet conclusions. Not all of these endings are happily ever afters. Not all couples stay together, nor do the main characters finally get their shot at long-lasting love. In some cases, there might be a glimmer of hope, but audiences will never truly know how the rest of the story would have turned out.

More casual fans might be surprised that there are some K-dramas with sad endings that were just as popular as some of the happier hits, even though they left fans with a sour taste in their mouths when all was said and done. After becoming emotionally attached to the main characters, fans only hope for the best and a good resolution, yet sad endings are not new for K-dramas. Fans keep coming back to experience the heartbreak all over again. Among the countless K-dramas available, there are a select few that have become well-known for their sad endings.

20 Now, We Are Breaking Up (2021)

Romantic Drama About Real-World Love & Breakups

It was no surprise that Now, We Are Breaking Up did not end on a happy note as the title almost suggests this from the start. This K-drama takes a very realistic look at romance and how it is not always about happily ever after and true love. Ha Young Eun, a successful team leader in the design department, puts her work ahead of everything else in her life. She is mostly cold-hearted and practical, and she knows that she is not fit for a serious romantic relationship.

Things change when she meets Yoon Jae Kook, a freelance fashion photographer, and it is love at first sight. However, this is a realistic look at love stories, and it isn't a fantasy about two people who were meant to be living happily ever after.

The one last look in Busan as they glance at each other is heartbreaking.

When their relationship threatens their careers, they have to decide what is more important and they choose their careers over love. The one last look in Busan as they glance at each other is heartbreaking for viewers who want to see these two make it work.

19 Yumi’s Cells (2021)

A Woman Sees Love Through Her Brain Cells

It is not often that a series with animation features such a sad ending. However, with Yumi's Cells, the story takes the form of the American Pixar movie Inside Out, but doesn't finish off with the happy (yet touching) ending of that Pixar masterpiece. This series is also different because it mixes animation and a live-action love story. Kim Yoo Mi is a woman who has just gone through a painful breakup when she meets the emotionally unstable game developer Goo Woong.

While the series has a satisfying ending, she chooses not to accept love in her life again, and instead chooses to try to learn to love herself.

This is the setup for a cute love story. The twist is that most of Kim's decisions come from her "love cells," which live in their own cute animated world. However, after the painful breakup, they are in a state of disaster. Just like in Inside Out, this uses anthropomorphic emotions to show how hard it can be to function when facing uncertainty. While the series has a satisfying ending, she chooses not to accept love in her life again and instead chooses to try to learn to love herself.

18 The Red Sleeve (2021)

Fictionalized Of Love Between King Jeongjo & His Royal Consort

The Red Sleeve is a historical K-drama that takes place in 18th-century Korea, where Prince Yi San mourns his father's death. His next step is to wait until his chance to take the rule and reform the laws once his cruel grandfather dies. However, having inherited the throne, he falls in love with his royal concubine, Sung Deok Im. There is one problem which is that this romance could prove fatal, and he struggles with how to deal with his feelings, despite knowing the possible consequences.

This is a romantic drama between two star-crossed lovers, and it was never meant to end well.

This is a romantic drama between two star-crossed lovers, and it was never meant to end well for either of them. The story shows their love is sweet and strong, and they want more than anything to have a ionate romance and live their lives together. Unfortunately, Sung Deok Im ends up dying, delivering the tragedy of this K-drama and Yi San deals with the tragic grief before the series then flips into a dream-like sequence to end the story.

17 Love Alarm (2019)

A Mobile App Finds People Close Who Are Compatible For Love

The plot synopsis for Love Alarm makes it sound like a sweet and quirky love story but what results is a devastating tale of lost love. The series follows Kim Jo Jo, an orphan who struggles when her aunt takes her in. However, this world has technology in the form of an app that notifies s when someone within 10 meters has romantic feelings for them.

This leads Kim to use it and end up in a love triangle between two young men — best friends Hwang Sun Oh and Lee Hye Yeong. The fact that Hwang Sun Oh and Lee Hye Yeong are best friends makes this a story that is bound to have hurt feelings and a possible tragic ending. While the main focus of the plot is on the dangers of relying on technology to find love, the show is all about the broken relationships that this technology causes. In conclusion, it has a tragic ending as Jo Jo finally breaks up with Sun Oh.

16 Youth Of May (2021)

A Medical Student & Nurse Fall In Love During The Gwangju Uprising

Youth Of May is a period drama taking place in 1980 and follows student activists in Gwangju protesting against the government. This takes place during the real-life event in Korea, known as the Gwangju Uprising, which saw people rise up against a new military dictator that implemented martial law. The dictatorship closed down universities and the military impression was violent. In the real event, the students began to protest, so the military fired upon them, attacked and brutalized them, and between 600 and 2,300 victims were massacred.

That backdrop shows that this K-drama has nothing but a sad ending in store for viewers. The show follows the love story of a medical student named Hwang Hee-tae and a nurse named Kim Myung-hee. The entire purpose of the plot is to show normal people in the background of this bloody massacre to show how people could have had a different life if not for the dictatorship's violent actions. It all ends with the army gunning down Myung-hee and leaving him for dead in the woods.

15 Black (2017)

Fantasy Thriller About The Grim Reaper

Another series with a title that perhaps hinted at an unhappy ending was the supernatural K-drama, Black. A woman who sees ghosts s forces with a detective who is possessed by an elite grim reaper. As they battled evil together the cold and dark grim reaper, Black (Song Seung-Heon), starts to fall in love with Ha-Ram (Go Ara).

This ending left the compelling romance in a heartbreaking place as the Reapers deem Black's punishment to be that he never existed. They erase all memories of him from Ha-Ram's mind which means she grows up to have a normal life like everyone else. It's only when she's old that she re Black after receiving a red string bracelet. However, things wrap up in a bittersweet way as Old Ha-Ram es away and res Black in the afterlife.

14 Kill It (2019)

Thriller About A Killer & The Detective Pursuing Him

Kill It tells the story of a top assassin, Kim Soo-Hyun (Jang Ki-Yong), and a police detective who cross paths to uncover the truth behind her lover's death. Soo-Hyun and Do Hyun-Jin (Nana) just so happen to fall in love. The series is also one that juxtaposes the characters, as the killer is also an animal lover and skilled veterinarian and the detective offers a cold and calculating image but is actually empathetic inside.

The ending is bittersweet as Soo-Hyun exacts revenge against the person who hurt the woman he loves. In the final scene, Soo-Hyun kills the murderer and causes the SWAT team to open fire on him. Hyun-Jin falls to the floor beside him to hold his hand one last time. There are a total of 12 episodes in this thriller K-drama series, but that ending left a lasting impact.

13 Stairway To Heaven (2003)

A Melodrama About Childhood Friends Who Fall In Love

Stairway to Heaven is a complex love story about two childhood best friends who are forced apart by evil characters. As adults, Han Jung-Suh (Choi Ji-woo)'s stepsister makes her life hell out of jealousy to the point where she fakes Jung-Suh's death and causes her amnesia. Years later, Jung-Suh reunites with her childhood friend and true love, only to fall ill with the same type of cancer her mother died of.

After everything that she had been through in the series, it was devastating to see that Jung-Suh doesn't get her happily ever after. She dies in the arms of her love. The series is named after the famous Led Zeppelin song of the same name and that song is used frequently in the underscore to highlight the tragedy of the story. This is also part of the Heaven Trilogy by director Lee Jang-soo, with the other two movies being Beautiful Days (2001) and Tree of Heaven (2006).

12 Empress Ki (2013)

A Biodrama About The Powerful Empress Ki

Empress Ki is a highly popular historical K-drama that left many fans heartbroken for the main character. The final episode of the drama entails the last of Empress Ki's (Ha Ji-Won) enemies being defeated. The death of a main character overshadows the joy of their win. Ta Hwan (Ji Chang-Wook) realizes that he's been betrayed by someone close to him.

He's been secretly fed poison for some time. Realizing it's too late, he allows Empress Ki to take over his rule. He subsequently dies, leaving Empress Ki to once again lose someone she loves and rule the kingdom alone. This K-drama series was a huge success in the awards season. It picked up five MBC Drama Awards nominations, winning all but one, including the Grand Prize. It also earned Baek Jin-hee Best New Actress (TV) at the Baeksang Arts Awards.

11 The Smile Has Left Your Eyes (2018)

A Mysterious Man With A Forgotten Past

Before Seo In-Guk became a star among K-drama fans in the hit 2021 drama, Doom at Your Service, he starred in the 2018 drama, The Smile Has Left Your Eyes. Kim Moo-Young (In-Guk) is a bit mysterious yet has a childlike personality with a hint of danger hiding behind that persona. He falls in love with a woman who is connected to the past he can't .

This is a typical enemies-to-lovers story, as they fall in love despite the tension between them when they first meet. By the end of the drama, Moo-Young accepts the consequences of his decision to kill an evil character. At his childhood home, the scene unfolds into tragedy as the truth comes to light between Moo-Young and his love. In a sad turn of events, both characters are killed by another and die in each other's arms after declaring their love.