She plays a devoted mother, and he a star academy instructor, in this tender and relatable drama about the pressures of education, class and social prejudice.

14. Descendants of the Sun

Lead cast: Song Hye-kyo, Song Joong-ki

Peak Nielsen rating: 35 per cent

Their on-screen romance transferred to real life, leading to the “Song-Song couple” who married a year after they played lovers in the series. But their union proved short-lived.

13. My Love from the Star

Lead cast: Jun Ji-hyun, Kim Soo-hyun

Peak Nielsen rating: 28.1 per cent

My Love from the Star was particularly successful in China, where it is credited with reigniting the Hallyu (Korean wave) trend.

Kim and Jeon, who had collaborated just a year earlier in the film The Thieves, captured the imagination of viewers in this timeless and fantastical romance.

12. What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim

Lead cast: Park Seo-joon, Park Min-young

Peak Nielsen rating: 8.7 per cent

Though admired by all around him, he’s more interested in his own reflection than other people, except for his secretary, played by Park Min-young, who has long been the secret to his success and threatens to leave one day.

Embracing romcom clichés, and with slick locations and snazzy fashion, this colourful series is K-drama comfort food at its finest.

11. Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo

Lead cast: Lee Sung-kyung, Nam Joo-hyuk

Peak Nielsen rating: 5.5 per cent

Lee Sung-kyung plays the titular weightlifter Kim Bok-joo in this coming-of-age romance. She gets her swimmer friend, played by Nam Joo-hyuk, to set her up with his brother, only for them to realise that they care for each other.

With a background of sports, and bubbly protagonists, Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo proved irresistible.

10. When the Camellia Blooms

Lead cast: Gong Hyo-jin, Kang Ha-neul

Peak Nielsen rating: 23.8 per cent

In this rural romance, Gong Hyo-jin plays a single mother who moves to a small town to open a bar. Kang Ha-neul plays the eager police officer who returns to town and falls in love with her while also trying to track down a serial killer.

9. Pinocchio

Lead cast: Lee Jong-suk, Park Shin-hye

Peak Nielsen rating: 13.3 per cent

In this classic fantasy romance, Park Shin-hye plays a girl who gets the hiccups every time she lies, while Lee Jong-suk is the boy with a dark past who was adopted by her father at a young age.

After spending time as a bickering pair under the same roof, adult life brings many changes for them, from their professional lives, as they both begin journalism careers for different reasons, to how they feel for one another.

8. Winter Sonata

Lead cast: Bae Yong-joon, Choi Ji-woo

Peak Nielsen rating: 28.8 per cent

Featuring Korean screen legends Bae Yong-joon and Choi Ji-woo, Winter Sonata was a huge success in South Korea and one of the original Hallyu (Korean wave) hits abroad, sparking the birth of K-drama tourism thanks to its beautiful locations.

The show was the second in director Yoon Seok-ho’s season-themed “Endless Love” cycle of dramas and followed a woman who is about to tie the knot but suddenly meets a man who looks just like her first love.

7. Happiness

Lead cast: Han Hyo-joo, Park Hyung-sik

Peak Nielsen rating: 4.2 per cent

They play cops who move in together to take advantage of an apartment lottery. Cohabitation brings some buried feelings to the surface, but the pair have to handle a sudden zombie outbreak first, in this thrilling and surprisingly tender social parable.

6. Our Beloved Summer

Lead cast: Kim Da-mi, Choi Woo-shik

Peak Nielsen rating: 5.3 per cent

They are the top-ranked and bottom-ranked students at their school. Their story begins during the filming of a documentary that throws them together.

Despite their differences, life keeps throwing them together and pulling them apart again, until a friend suggests making another documentary.

5. Guardian: The Lonely and Great God

Lead cast: Gong Yoo, Kim Go-eun

Peak Nielsen rating: 18.7 per cent

He uses his powers to help others, including Kim Go-eun’s vibrant high-school student who accidentally summons him and might be the “goblin’s bride” who could save him from his curse.

Love, duty and sacrifice mingle in this epic fantasy romance.

4. Yumi’s Cells

Lead cast: Kim Go-eun, Ahn Bo-hyun

Peak Nielsen rating: 2.7 per cent

Based on a hit webtoon of the same name, the series chronicles her relationship with an app developer, played by Ahn Bo-hyun. The show spawned a second season which saw Yumi move on in her personal life.

3. Crash Landing on You

Lead cast: Hyun Bin, Son Ye-jin

Peak Nielsen rating: 21.7 per cent

In this instant small-screen classic, a South Korean entrepreneur mistakenly paraglides over the demilitarised zone dividing the country from North Korea. She is found by a strait-laced, but very dashing North Korean military officer, who she manages to persuade to hide her and help her return to the south.

With its amusing and original premise and the star wattage of Son Ye-jin and Hyun Bin – who would later marry – here collaborating for the second time after the hostage thriller The Negotiation, Crash Landing on You expanded the global footprint of Korean dramas.

2. Twenty-Five Twenty-One

Lead cast: Kim Tae-ri, Nam Joo-hyuk

Peak Nielsen rating: 11.5 per cent

An effervescent Kim Tae-ri and sweet Nam Joo-hyuk tango over the course of many years in this bright tale of youthful romance.

It also repeatedly makes our hearts leap during memorable scenes, such as a fencing training session more tense than any competitive bout could ever be.

1. Secret Garden

Lead cast: Hyun Bin, Ha Ji-won

Peak Nielsen rating: 31.4 per cent

The fantasy romance to end all fantasy romances, Secret Garden begins with a classic meet-cute between a dashing and aloof department store chief executive and a feisty stuntwoman. Then, on a fateful night, they suddenly swap bodies.