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

K-dramas rarely go past one flavor, or perhaps ii if they're lucky. This often means that the overarching storyline has to come to a close by the flavor finale. Sadly, not all of these endings are happily ever afters. Not all couples stay together nor exercise the master characters finally get their shot at long-lasting dear.

Fans are often left with bittersweet emotions watching the characters go through many trials and tribulations together to only take a sad ending. In some cases, there might be a glimmer of promise, but audiences volition never truly know.

Updated on June 2nd, 2021, past Gabriela Silva: As mentioned above, not all K-drama storylines come with a happily always subsequently. More full general fans might exist surprised that in that location are some One thousand-dramas with sad endings that were just equally pop every bit some of the happier hits, even though they left fans with a sour gustatory modality in the mouth when all was said and washed. After becoming emotionally attached to the main characters, fans merely hope for the best and a skillful resolution yet sad endings are no new affair in G-dramas and seem to keep fans coming dorsum to feel the heartbreak all over again. Amongst the endless Yard-dramas available, at that place are a select few that became well known for their unwarranted and sorry endings. Like A Korean Odyssey, for example. In reality, not all K-drama characters or storylines can crook fate or how things need to end, as some of these more classic K-dramas that we've added show so well.

15 Blackness

Fans really hoped for happily e'er after in the supernatural K-drama, Black. A woman who sees ghosts joins forces with a detective who is actually possessed by an elite grim reaper. Fans saw the common cold and dark grim reaper, Blackness (Song Seung-Heon), start to fall in love with Ha-Ram (Go Ara).

This ending didn't sway certain fans as the Reapers deem Black's punishment to exist that he never existed. They erase all memories of him from Ha-Ram'due south mind. This means she grows upwards to have a normal life like everyone else. Fans didn't take to Ha-Ram not living out her days with Black. It's only when she's former does she remember Black after receiving a red cord bracelet. One-time Ha-Ram passes away and rejoins Blackness in the afterlife.

xiv Kill Information technology

Fans shouldn't wait a happy ending from this thriller K-drama. Kill It tells the story of a peak assassinator Kim Soo-Hyun (Jang Ki-Yong) and a law detective who cross paths to uncover the truth behind her lover'south death. Soo-Hyun and Do Hyun-Jin (Nana) simply and then happen to autumn in love.

The ending was bittersweet as Soo-Hyun exacts revenge against the person who hurt the woman he loves. In the final scene, Soo-Hyun kills said person and causes the SWAT squad to open up fire on him. Hyun-Jin falls to the floor beside him to hold his hand one concluding fourth dimension.

13 Stairway To Heaven

No, this K-drama has aught to do with the Led Zeppelin song. Stairway to Heaven is a complex love story about two childhood best friends that are forced autonomously by evil characters. As adults, Han Jung-Suh (Choi Ji-woo)'s stepsister makes her life hell out of jealousy to a indicate where she fakes Jung-Suh's death and causes her amnesia.

Years later, Jung-Suh reunites with her babyhood friend and true love only to fall ill with the same blazon of cancer her female parent died of. Fans were left heartbroken by the sad ending every bit Jung-Suh doesn't get her happily ever subsequently. She dies in the artillery of her beloved.

12 Empress Ki

Empress Ki is a highly popular historical One thousand-drama that had a deplorable ending that left fans heartbroken for the chief grapheme. The final episode of the drama entails the last of empress Ki'due south (Ha Ji-Won) enemies to be defeated. The joy of their win is overshadowed by the death of a main character.

Ta Hwan (Ji Chang-Wook) realizes that he's been betrayed by someone close to him. He's been secretly fed poisonous substance for some time. Realizing information technology'south besides late, he allows empress Ki to take over his dominion. He later dies leaving empress Ki to once again lose someone she loves and dominion the kingdom solitary.

11 The Grinning Has Left Your Eyes

Earlier fans barbarous head over heels for Seo In-Guk in the hit 2022 drama, Doom at Your Service, he starred in the 2022 drama, The Smile Has Left Your Eyes. Kim Moo-Immature (In-Guk) is a bit mysterious yet has a childlike personality. He falls in love with a woman who is connected to the by he can't remember.

By the finish of the drama, fans were left in shock with its pitiful catastrophe. Moo-Young accepts the consequences of his conclusion to impale an evil character. At his babyhood home, the scene unfolds into tragedy as the truth comes to light betwixt Moo-Young and his love. In a turn of events, both characters are killed by some other and dice in each other's arms subsequently declaring their love.

10 Record Of Youth

Tape of Youth is a Netflix show that debuted in 2020. The ending left viewers with a mediocre feeling. The two main characters go through a tough time as the male lead rises in fame as an actor every bit the female person lead gets recognized as a makeup artist.

Past the finish, they part ways believing that information technology'due south not the right time for them to be together despite their dearest for one another. They do hope that if in the futurity they come to meet by fate then they'll give it another get. The last episode shows them meeting by run a risk at a movie shoot, strike a conversation, and walk together.

9 Cheese In The Trap

Cheese in the Trap became a notorious K-drama for its intense brandish of "2d-manus lead syndrome" and the honey triangle. While fans may not have initially liked the love involvement Hong Seol (Kim Go-Eun) chose, fans were left heartbroken in the finale.

Yoo Jung (Park Hae-Jin) ends up leaving Korea stating that he was the trouble in their human relationship and needed fourth dimension. Baek In-Ho (Seo Kang-Joon) doesn't become the girl either as Hong Seol recuperates from a broken heart. However scarred past it, she however sends emails to Yoo Jung with no reply. The final scene of the show is one of the emails getting a response.

viii A Korean Odyssey

The catastrophe of the fantasy dramaA Korean Odyssey left viewers with a bittersweet feeling but ultimately made sense for the story. As the story goes, Oh-Gong (See Seung-Gi) becomes indebted to Sun-Mi (Oh Yeon -Seo) for what he did to her when she was a child. Many can say their honey story was fated from the start.

Their fate also came with a nighttime reality. Sun-Mi is a Sam Jang and is blighted to die at the hands of her true love, Oh-Gong. In the final episode, she comes to accept her fate but wants to dice on her terms. She ends up beingness killed to stop a heinous evil from entering the world simply Oh-Gong becomes the one to trounce information technology. In the end, Lord's day-Mi dies in Oh-Gong's arms.

seven The Hymn of Decease

The Hymn of Death was a 2022 drama that was a historical romance. The story would entrance any viewer as it depicts the tragic story between Joseon'southward first soprano and a playwright. Every bit fans scout the bear witness, they realize what's in store for the couple in the end.

Woo-Jin (Lee Jong-Suk) and Sim-Deok (Shin Hye-Lord's day) catch a ferry together using their pen names every bit an alias. That night they go onto the deck for a final trip the light fantastic toe. Sim-Deok tries to hide her tears but Woo-Jin wipes them and takes her hand in his. They share one final moment before turning to the railings. All audiences are left hearing is the crashing of waves.

6 Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo

The catastrophe to Moon Lovers was hard and had fans feeling immense emotional pain. The storyline revolves around Go Ha-Jin/Hae Soo (Lee Ji-Eun) beingness transported to the Goryeo Dynasty and falls in honey with the "wolf canis familiaris" 4th prince. Their story goes through the test of time but in the end, she dies later on giving birth to her child.

To make matters worse, Wang So (Lee Joon-Gi) doesn't visit her beforehand and upon hearing of her expiry realizes that the messages he refused to open explained her feelings for him. Hae Soo wakes upward in her own time thinking it to exist a dream. Fans cried along with her when she visits a Goryeo showroom and realizes information technology wasn't a dream at all.

5 Uncontrollably Fond

Uncontrollably Addicted gave fans loftier hopes as two babyhood classmates discover each other in adulthood. Noh Eul (Bae Suzy) is tasked to document the life of actor/vocalizer Shin Joon-Young (Kim Woo-Bin). Fans would remember Kim Woo-Bin for his non-and so delightful grapheme in Heirs. The evidence'due south end had fans in shock and tears only it was expected from the start.

Joon-Immature comes to terms with his life and in the final scenes, he's with Noh Eul. He rests his head on her shoulder and a while later on she asks if he's comatose. There's no answer and Noh Eul knows he's passed abroad. Some time passes and in the very final scene, she looks at a poster of him, kisses information technology, and says "See you lot tomorrow, Joon Immature-Ah."

four Mr.Sunshine

Mr.Sunshine has gotten high remarks since its debut in 2018. Information technology interweaved the drama and turmoil of a political era and the romance between Eugene Choi (Lee Byung-Hun) and Go Ae-Shin (Kim Tae-Ri). But the astounding story ends on a sad annotation. In the final episode, Dong-Mae (Yoo Yeon-Seok) dies fighting off his enemies simply suffering fatal knife injuries. He dies smile and thinking of Ae-Shin. Dong-Mae warmed hearts despite his bad male child appearance.

It doesn't end in that location, Eugene saves Ae-Shin from soldiers by using his last bullets to separate her train machine. Eugene is then killed past multiple shots to the back by Japanese soldiers. In the epilogue, Ae-Shin continues to train soldiers under a liberated Korea, and all thanks to Mr.Sunshine aka Eugene.

3 Hotel Del Luna

This drama has fans heartbroken with the finale over Homo-Wol (IU) not getting her happily ever after. She spends decades serving for her past crime by helping troubled souls who entered her hotel. Fans loved the character for being a badass and independent merely she still got her own love story.

Her end was bittersweet. She doesn't drink the moonflower wine that would render her and Chan-Sung (Yeo Jin-goo) to alive out their lives once again equally the hotel's director. In an emotional scene, Man-Wol decides to enter the afterlife on her ain terms, not escorted past the Grim Reaper. Chan-Sung watches as she fades into the mist. There'southward an epilogue of what occurs to the remaining characters.

two My Country: The New Age

This Thou-drama is for fans who want a show set in a historical time catamenia riddled with the dangers of state of war and politics tied with love and rivalry. The drama centers generally around two best friends, Seo-Hwi (Yang Se-Jong) and Nam Seon-Ho (Woo Exercise-Hwan). At the same time, the country is transitioning into a new era that leads both friends to be enemies.

But in the final episode, the story gets complex and upsetting. Both characters tempest the palace fighting off guards. To allow Seo-Hwi to come across Bang-Won (Jang Hyuk), the prince, Seon-ho sacrifices himself leading him to be speared multiple times. Seo-Hwi returns to hold his friend and is shot by arrows. They dice in each other'southward arms in a heartbreaking moment.

ane I'm Pitiful I Love You

If there was ane 1000-drama that took the block for having the most heartbreaking and gut-wrenching terminate, it'south I'm Lamentable I Love You. It told the story of a bad male child scammer living in Australia when he meets Song Eun-Chae (Im Soo-Jung) who gets her items stolen past criminals.

Their beloved story really blossoms when he returns to Korea to find his birth parents. He soon comes to learn about his real family unit. He, at first, seeks revenge but when his newfound brother is injured in an accident, he makes a conclusion. Moo-Hyuk (So Ji-Sub) kills himself in a motorcycle blow to save his brother. Before his expiry, he calls Eun-Chae and says, "I'1000 sorry. I honey you." In the final scene, she visits his grave and dies past suicide.

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Gabriela Silva (478 Articles Published)

Gabriela Silva is a List writer for Screen Rant with experience in all things television, film and popular civilisation. A graduate of Fordham University with previous years feel interning for Cliché Mag. With her passion for movies, television set and amusement, she'southward interviewed some not bad actors from Cress Williams of 'Black Lightning' to Tati Gabrielle from 'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.' Her love for entertainment reaches a wide range of interests from 90s thriller movies, guilty pleasure teen dramas, action-packed MCU movies to popular 1000-dramas. You'll most likely find her binge-watching a new television receiver show or movies on Netflix into the early morn.

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