10 Best K-Dramas About Found Family

The found family trope is easily one of the most beloved tropes in media, and for good reason. K-dramas featuring found families whose bond transcends blood relations are guaranteed to be filled with heartwarming moments and beautiful platonic relationships. Found family K-dramas create compelling and engaging narratives that explore what makes a family.

Witnessing a group of strangers come together to form a friendship strong enough to turn into a familial bond is always an emotional and heartening experience. K-dramas centered around friendships and found families celebrate the variety of intricate bonds between people who choose their family and support system. Ranging from warm and uplifting coming-of-age stories following a close-knit group of friends to hilarious workplace dramas, found family K-dramas are guaranteed to put you in a good mood.

10

Racket Boys (2021)

A Middle School Badminton Club

The sports comedy show Racket Boys tells the uplifting and hilarious tale of an underfunded middle school badminton club and its players. With only three players, the badminton club is on the verge of disbanding until a badminton coach, Yoon Hyun Jong (Kim Sang-kyung), joins the school and turns things around. The three original badminton club members begin to bond with the new members of the team and work together to win competitions.

Set in a small rural town, Racket Boys features several close-knit friendships and communities that support each other through countless hardships and challenges. Hyun Jong’s serves as a coach and supportive figure for the team, helping the badminton team to create a strong and unbreakable familial bond that transcends blood and DNA.

9

Vincenzo (2021)

The Geumga Plaza Residents

The thrilling crime drama K-drama Vincenzo follows the titular character, Vincenzo Cassano (Song Joong-ki), a lawyer and consigliere for the mafia who flees from Italy to Seoul and finds himself battling the corrupt and evil pharmaceutical corporation Babel Group. Vincenzo joins hands with the quirky yet kindhearted tenants of Geumga Plaza to take down the Babel Group.

While Vincenzo only offers to help the tenants at Geumga Plaza for his selfish reasons, as he hopes to reclaim the gold he hid under the building, he forms a genuine bond with the residents. The found family in Vincenzo gives audiences a much-needed break from the dark thriller elements of the K-drama, as the scenes with the residents of Geumga Plaza are an entertaining and lighthearted contrast to the violence of the show.

8

Crash Landing On You (2019)

Se-ri Finds An Unexpected Family In North Korea

Crash Landing on You is a romantic comedy K-drama that revolves around the romance between a South Korean chaebol heiress and businesswoman and a North Korean army captain. The unlikely romance begins after the businesswoman Yoon Se-ri (Son Ye-jin) is knocked off-course while paragliding, crash-lands in North Korea, and is found by Ri Jeong-hyeok (Hyun Bin), a captain of the Korean People’s Army.

While Se-ri is trapped in North Korea, she is helped and supported by Jeong-hyeok. The sweet and compelling romance between Se-ri and Jeong-hyeok may be central to the K-drama, but the highlight of Crash Landing on You is the unexpected family that Se-ri finds when she’s in North Korea. Se-ri’s temporary refuge turns into a strong community that protects and supports her.

7

Reply 1988 (2015)

Five Neighbors Who Are Best Friends

The coming-of-age K-drama Reply 1988 is the highly rated third and final installment of the anthology series Reply. The K-drama series revolves around a group of five close-knit friends and their families residing in the Ssangmun-dong neighborhood.

The K-drama effortlessly taps into the nostalgia of the 1980s and the joys of living in the same neighborhood as your closest friends. Reply 1988 shines in its portrayal of the loving bond between the five friends, along with its portrayal of the bond that forms between the parents of the friends.

The K-drama beautifully depicts the love and support between neighbors who become a found family through years of proximity and friendship. Reply 1988 is one of the best found family K-dramas, featuring heartwarming small acts of kindness and moments of human connection.

6

Itaewon Class (2020)

The Employees Of DanBam In Itaewon

Itaewon Class is a revenge K-drama that follows an ex-convict, Park Sae-ro-yi (Park Seo-joon), who embarks on a mission to get revenge by opening up a popular bar and restaurant, DanBam. Sae-ro-yi plans on turning DanBam into a massive franchise that overtakes the food company Jangga Group, which is run by the family that ruined his and his family’s lives.

The employees of DanBam in Itaewon become a family, and go through countless ups and downs as they help Sae-ro-yi turn his restaurant and bar into a huge success. Despite betrayals and tensions between the staff members of DanBam, they ultimately learn to support each other and work together. In Itaewon Class, the underdogs unite, work together, and take down their powerful enemy while growing as individuals and as a team.

5

Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha (2021)

The Residents Of A Seaside Village

Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha is a romantic comedy slice-of-life K-drama that follows Yoon Hye-jin (Shin Min-a), a dentist from Seoul who impulsively decides to move to a gorgeous seaside village and open a dental clinic. While the initial days following her move to the village of Gongjin are difficult, Hye-jin is supported by Hong Du-sik (Kim Seon-ho), the resident handyman.

Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha doesn’t just feature a found family, it features an entire community. The small and idyllic village invites Hye-jin into their kindhearted and helpful community, where the residents of Gongjin continue to love and support each other. The entire village of Gongjin becomes a found family, from the elderly grandmothers who are always willing to lend an ear and some good advice to the young and adventurous adults figuring out their lives.

4

Hospital Playlist (2020-2021)

Five Doctors Who Have Been Best Friends Since Medical School

Hospital Playlist is a medical workplace K-drama series that follows the lives of five doctors working together at a medical center. The doctors Lee Ik-jun (Jo Jung-suk), Ahn Jeong-won (Yoo Yeon-seok), Kim Jun-wan (Jung Kyung-ho), Yang Seok-hyeong (Kim Dae-myung), and Chae Song-hwa (Jeon Mi-do) initially became friends while they were students at medical school and maintained their friendship through the years.

The incredible medical K-drama revolves around the personal and professional lives of the group of doctors and follows the friends as they stay connected and navigate the hardships of working in the medical field. Their regular band practices and their endless support of each other make Hospital Playlist an entertaining and heartwarming K-drama series that shines in its moments of friendship and camaraderie.

3

Move To Heaven (2021)

An Intelligent Young Man And His Estranged Ex-Convict Uncle Form A Bond

Move to Heaven is a touching and heart-wrenching K-drama that explores life, death, and grief as two trauma cleaners deal with their loss while packing up and cleaning the belongings of the deceased. The K-drama revolves around Han Geu-ru (Tang Jun-sang), an intelligent young man, and his estranged ex-convict uncle, Cho Sang-gu (Lee Je-hoon), as they begin working as trauma cleaners after the death of Geu-ru’s father.

Geu-ru and Sang-gu form a strong bond as they heal from their family’s past and build a strong and loving support system. In each episode of Move to Heaven, the trauma cleaners learn about the lives of the recently deceased and pass on their beloved belongings to their loved ones. The moving K-drama focuses on the bond between Geu-ru and Sang-gu, and the bonds the deceased shared with their friends and family.

2

Mother (2018)

An Abandoned Girl And Her Loving Teacher

The K-drama Mother is a remake of the Japanese TV series with the same name and revolves around a temporary teacher who learns that one of her students is being abused and goes to drastic lengths to protect her. The teacher, Kang Soo-jin (Lee Bo-young), forms a bond with her student Kim Hye-na (Heo Yool), and after finding the young girl abandoned out on the street, decides to take the child and attempts to flee the country.

Mother

Release Date

2018 – 2017

Writers

Jung Seo-kyung

Soo-jin and Hye-na form a beautiful mother-daughter bond as they go on the run and avoid the authorities and Hye-na’s abusive family. Mother proves that blood and DNA don’t make a family and that respect, love, and support are far more important than biology in making a loving family.

1

Prison Playbook (2017)

Friendships In Prison

The dark comedy K-drama series Prison Playbook is a surprisingly heartwarming exploration of prison life and unlikely friendships. The K-drama follows Kim Je-hyuk (Park Hae-soo), a popular baseball player whose life is turned upside down after he’s convicted of assault and sentenced to a year in jail.

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Je-hyuk is forced to adjust to prison life and is helped by his best friend, the prison guard, Lee Joon-ho (Jung Kyung-ho), and his fellow inmates. The thought-provoking K-drama highlights the importance of found family during difficult times.

The close bonds and strong network that Je-hyuk forms in the prison are the highlights of Prison Playbook. The unexpected found family of the prison inmates is a source of genuine moments of human connection and a source of hilarity and amusement in the K-drama.