The 15 best K-drama OSTs of all time that you should add to your playlist, from Squid Game and Itaewon Class to Descendants of the Sun and Secret Garden
- Teen romance Boys Over Flowers is filled with the kind of bubbly K-pop songs we seldom hear on soundtracks these days, as is high-school romance Dream High
- Meanwhile, Secret Garden features many of the most famous K-drama tracks and Itaewon Class includes the powerful track Sweet Night by BTS member V
Korean dramas seduce us with their beautiful stars, captivating storylines and topical themes, but what seals the deal and makes them endure the test of time are the memorable songs in their multi-hued soundtracks.
From K-pop ballads and indie rock ditties to classical scores, these original soundtracks (OSTs) are just as varied as the shows they feature in.
For your listening pleasure, we have gone back through the audio vaults to rank our 15 favourite K-drama soundtracks.
15. Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016)
The period drama Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo, starring Lee Joon-gi and IU, has a particularly popular soundtrack. Among its highlights are “Say Yes”, a collaboration between singer Punch and rapper Loco.
This OST is dominated by tunes that heighten the show’s romance, such as female vocalist duo Davichi’s “Forgetting You”, vocalist Lee Hi’s “My Love”, and “Can You Hear My Heart”, which Lee Hi sings with hip-hop trio Epik High.
14. Squid Game (2021)
This colourful and darkly tongue-in-cheek soundtrack appropriately begins with the medieval flute and percussion of “Way Back Then”. The tracks that stand out most are the ones, like “Needles and Dalgona”, which put a dark twist on the children’s playground theme of the show.
Among the other recognisable tracks are the eerie vocals of “Pink Soldiers” and the pensive tune “Let’s Go Out Tonight”.
13. Boys Over Flowers (2009)
The classic teen romance Boys Over Flowers, led by Lee Min-ho, is filled with the kind of highly produced, bubbly K-pop songs we seldom hear on drama soundtracks these days.
The show also has its fair share of melodic ballads, Ashily’s “Lucky” among them.
12. Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (2016)
The soundtrack also features contributions from musicians who are frequently associated with hit dramas, such as singer-songwriter Crush’s lyrical ballad “Beautiful” and the acoustic band 10cm’s “My Eyes” – both acts feature on three entries on this list.
11. Hotel Del Luna (2019)
The soundtrack for Hotel Del Luna, the fantasy drama with Yeo Jin-goo and IU, has a running motif of largely acoustic tracks, with piano and guitar dominating the playlist.
There is also room for poppier tunes like “Another Day” by Monday Kiz and Punch, who also contributes the individual track “Done for Me”.
10. Itaewon Class (2020)
Among its most popular songs are the soft rock crowd-pleaser “Start Over” by Gaho, the powerful track “Sweet Night” by BTS member V, and Ha Hyun-woo’s punchy “Diamond”.
The OST also features classic K-drama ballads like Kim Feel’s “Someday, The Boy”.
9. Dream High (2011)
High-school romance Dream High includes a number of K-pop names in its cast, who gave it some extra firepower for its popular OST.
The title track features the voice of series leads Bae Suzy, when she was a member of the girl band Miss A, and Kim Soo-hyun, as well as co-stars Taecyeon and Wooyoung, both members of boy band 2PM, and pop vocalist Joo.
Pop sensation IU does not always appear on the soundtracks of shows she appears in, but when she does the result is memorable, as with Dream High’s “Someday”.
8. Crash Landing on You (2019)
Among those are 10cm’s “But It’s Destiny”, Davichi’s “Sunset” and Yerin Baek’s “Here I Am Again” Also joining the parade of K-pop royalty on the playlist is Kim Se-jeong, who contributes the track “All of My Days”.
7. Little Women (2022)
Welcoming us into this fable are dreamy songs such as the title track and “Lead the Body of the Shoes”. Park’s score proceeds to inspire us with numbers like “We Are Not Beggars”, “If You Must” and “Your Apartment”, which plug into the show’s themes of solidarity.
The show also features mood-changers that guide us through the show’s melodramatic twists, like “Beginning of an Incident” and the aptly named “Makjang String”.
6. Descendants of the Sun (2016)
Echoing the tender emotions of the show’s timeless romance are tracks like Gummy’s “You Are My Everything”. Between all those K-pop stand-outs, the show also benefits from the sweetly sentimental strings of Kang Dong-yoon’s score.
5. Hospital Playlist (2020-2021)
As you would expect with such a formula, the show revives a number of legendary pop songs, sung by the show’s stars. These include Jo Jung-suk’s romantic cover of Cool’s “Aloha”, and Jeon Mi-do’s rendition of Shin Hyo-bum’s “I Knew I Love”.
4. The School Nurse Files (2020)
Several tracks are dedicated to Jung Yu-mi’s lead character, like the synth-driven “Running Eunyoung” and the popular jelly anthem “Do You Know I’m Ahn Eunyoung”. Even the school gets a delightfully oddball theme in “Strange Mokryeon Highschool”.
The soundtrack also has room for tracks such as the bittersweet “Our Destiny” and the beautiful “Rainbow”, which underscores one of the show’s most devastating moments.
3. Mr. Sunshine (2018)
Classic and epic in equal measure, the soundtrack for the sweeping Japanese colonial era drama Mr. Sunshine with Lee Byung-hun and Kim Tae-ri features an eclectic mix of stand-outs.
These are accompanied by a rich score from Nam Hye-seung and Park Sang-hee, which includes the title track with musician Richard Yongjae O’Neill on viola.
2. Beyond Evil (2021)
This begins with the foreboding opening title song, but dig deeper and you get a mix of chilling and stylish numbers like “Dongsik Knows”, “10 Fingers Memory” and “Dull Sadness”, each of which call back to the music of classic serial killer thrillers, among them Mowg’s score for Kim Jee-woon’s I Saw the Devil.
1. Secret Garden (2010)
One of the all-time K-drama greats, it should come as no surprise that Secret Garden, the fantasy romance starring Ha Ji-won and Hyun Bin, boasts a soundtrack that features many of the most famous K-drama tracks.
These include perennial karaoke favourites like Baek Ji-young’s stirring ballad “That Woman” and its counterpart “That Man”, which also has a version sung by Hyun Bin.
Other heavy-rotation titles include “You Are My Spring”, featuring the dulcet tones of Sung Si-kyung, Kim Bum-soo’s joyful pop confection “Appearance”, and the high-pitched harmonies of the 4Men tunes “The Reason” and “Here I Am”.
