Exploring Diversity In Korean Dramas: Can Historical K-Dramas Have Multicultural Casts?

K-Dramas have been evolving with more interesting plots and storytelling devices added to the mix. K-Drama production crews are always trying to keep things fresh by adding new narratives, new locations, and new actors into the mix. In the past few years, one of the ways that they have done this is by including different cultures in K-Dramas, to show more of Korea's intercultural exchange. We've especially seen this in comedies, thrillers, and action-based K-Dramas. However, it makes one wonder if historical K-Dramas can also have multicultural casts.

In the West, TV series lovers have noticed a shift in the diversity of casting for historical/period dramas. This is regardless of whether this representation is historically accurate or not. In Korea, so far, most of the multicultural casts that have been presented to the audience have been to emphasize historical accuracy.

Today, we'll take a look at whether it will be possible for K-Dramas to also make this diversity shift at some point.

 

The Importance of Diversity in Casting: Challenges and Opportunities

Cultural Representation vs. Historical Accuracy

In the case of Western historical dramas or period television series... in most cases, these dramas have shifted to diverse casting because of the importance of cultural representation.

'Representation' (in terms of culture/pop culture) is the phenomenon that focuses on accurately portraying a specific culture or group of people in media, especially pop culture. In the Western world of entertainment, it has become an essential part of the production process of many televis