These K-Dramas Will Help You Understand The Harsh Reality Of Korean Students

If you’re into Korean culture, you might have heard that one of the major issues experienced in Korea is a very strict and stressful educational system. Since entering school, Korean students are pressured to get the best grades possible and sign up for extracurricular academies or private tutoring classes. They put real effort throughout their youth with the aim of getting admitted into prestigious universities - among which SKY (Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University) are the ultimate dream for most of the CSAT/Suneung (Korean college admission exam) takers.

Despite the prestige that these education facilities provide and the high quality of the Korean educational system, it has been a quite controversial topic. The stressful school environment is one of the reasons why South Korea has the highest suicide rate among developed countries. Moreover, the country has been called out many times for the ineffective protection of bullying victims, which is a common problem in Korean schools.

This painful reality has been depicted by many series, putting into light students’ suffering. Here are 10 K-Dramas through which you can get to know the unfiltered reality of South Korean youth:

Note: Beware that most of these series might involve some triggering topics as they represent the actual struggles of Korean students.

 

1. "SKY Castle"

When: 2019 

Cast: Yum JungAh, Jung JoonHo, Kim HyeYoon, SF9's Chani, Yoon SeAh, Kim ByungChul, Park YooNa, Kim DongHee, Kim SeoHyung, Kim BoRa

Summary: A residential area called “Sky Castle” is home to Korea