By Lee Gyu-lee

Korean dramas are increasingly focused on revenge, offering audiences a sense of catharsis through their eye-for-an-eye storylines.

This compelling theme of justice, being served in dramas such as Netflix’s The Glory and SBS crime series Taxi Driver 2, has resonated with many viewers and taken these shows to the top of the rankings charts.

The Glory, created by star writer Kim Eun-sook, follows a bullying victim, Moon Dong-eun (Song Hye-kyo), whose life has been torn apart by the abuse she suffered as a teenager at the hands of a group of spiteful students.
Song Hye-kyo as Moon Dong-eun in a still from The Glory. Photo: Netflix

About 20 years later, Moon meddles in the lives of her abusers and carries out her carefully crafted vengeance to bring suffering to her former tormentors.

The series, which released part one in December and part two this month, has been enjoying global success. It topped the platform’s official weekly streaming chart for non-English series for two consecutive weeks. Around 124 million streaming hours have been recorded since its release as of the third week of March.

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Based on the popular webcomic The Deluxe Taxi, the series revolves around a cab company, called the Rainbow Taxi Company, which runs an unusual service: taking revenge on behalf of its clients.

A group of people at the company, including ex-military officer Kim Do-ki (Lee Je-hoon), helps victims of violence and injustice by taking every measure possible to avenge the criminals.

The second season, which premiered last month with a 12.1 per cent rating, has seen the company combat a human trafficking cartel, a cult that feeds off sick people and an illegal adoption scheme that abuses orphans. Its latest episode hit a 16 per cent viewership rating.

Lee Je-hoon as ex-military officer Kim Do-ki in a still from Taxi Driver. Photo: SBS TV
Meanwhile, writer Kim Soon-ok, who wrote the smash hit series The Penthouse: War in Life (2021), has returned as a creator of a new revenge series, Pandora: Beneath the Paradise.

The new series, which began on March 11 on Korean cable channel tvN, revolves around a woman with a perfect life, Hong Tae-ra (Lee Ji-ah). She loses her memory but has managed to settle into a happy life with her husband, who is the CEO of a successful IT company, and their lovely daughter.

However, as her memories start to come back, she realises that she was raised as a killing machine and sets out to exact revenge upon those who manipulated her.

Actress Kim Sun-ah is also set to appear in a revenge drama series, Queen of the Mask.

The upcoming series, set to go to air on Channel A in Korea on April 24, follows three friends who are living successful lives – a celebrity lawyer (Kim), the chairman of an art foundation (Shin Eun-jung) and a vice-president of a hotel chain (Yoo Sun).

A decade earlier, the three framed one of their friends for murder. When the friend comes back for revenge, they are forced to reveal their true selves.