5 K-Dramas That Introduces Different Types Of Bullying In Korea

Have you seen those dramas about bullying in Korea? If you haven't, remember to add them to your watch list!

Ash, Kpopmap Editor
4 min to read · Published : Jan 25, 2023

5 K-Dramas That Introduces Different Types Of Bullying In Korea

Netflix

All over the world, bullying is a very important cause to fight for. Many people are the victim of it, and it can go very far. It is sometimes hard to openly talk about it or ask for help. However, thanks to various media, bringing awareness about bullying is getting better. But the best way to help it is to act upon it and help those who are suffering from bullying, as well as help spread the word about what to do in a situation of a bullying incident.

Korea is a country that is known to have very important cases of bullying. In K-Drama, bullying often results from social class differences between teenagers who come from rich and poor families, along with the competitive mindset that many students have. Because being successful in school is really important to Korean, they easily fall into this competitive mindset and fall even more easily into a bullying system in order to secure their place at the top of the student list. Recently, many dramas have been exposing the theme of bullying in Korea in many different ways, let us introduce them to you.

1. "The Glory" (2022 - 2023)

Netflix

"The Glory" treats school violence and how far it can go, as well as the long-term side effects of bullying. As the story revolves around the character seeking revenge on her bullies, the show depicts well how traumatizing bullying can be, and if it goes too far, some people cannot simply forget and get over it as they grow older, on the contrary, it leaves traumas and can lead someone to seek revenge, which we know to not be a good thing. "The Glory" is a good example that violence can only lead to violence in some situations. And the violence of the scenes was made on purpose to show how serious can bullying can become if not handled properly.

2. "Weak Hero Class 1" (2022)

Wave

In this drama, the main character is not exactly from a poor family, but he isn't rich either, he's right in the middle. But more than that, he is very intelligent and pretty much anti-social. At first, he stays alone and does not want to get involved with anyone and that is what makes him the victim of his class' bullies. They are annoyed by his passive attitude and his guts to order them to keep quiet while he studies. But if this is the original motive, the bullying the main character receives only grows bigger as he beats this bully in his test scores too. This drama portrays really well how easy it is to become a bully victim without doing much, and also how being a bully can change a person, sometimes for the worst, this is something emphasized by another of the main characters.

3. "Green Mothers Club" (2022)

Jtbc

This drama is including elementary school bullying related to intelligence and academic achievement, but another interesting aspect of this drama is the psychological abuse of the mothers. Because their kids all attend an elite school, all mothers want their children to be the best, and for this, they're ready to do everything. May it be abuse over their child or other adults, this group of mothers is using their ways with words and information to put pressure on others to ensure that heir child stays the best of the school. Because physical bullying is often talked about, it is rare to see psychological bullying, especially coming from family figures such as mothers.

4. "The Golden Spoon" (2022)

MBC

In "The Golden Spoon", the bullying is mostly linked to financial issues and social class matters. The main character is poor and attends an elite school because he earned a scholarship only. Because other students do not associate him with them, he is a victim of bullying, but the bullying here gets really severe involving weapons and other rude ways to deal with the victim. Luckily in real life, it rarely gets that far, but this drama is doing really well at bringing awareness.

5. "Class Of Lies" (2019)

OCN

This drama is dealing with manipulative bullying. The show focuses on elite students, teenagers who, due to their family background, have the ultimate power in their hands. They can play tricks as much as they want and never get any repercussions because they have the power to bend the law so that it doesn't apply to them. And because it is an elite class, the entire bullying issue isn't dealt with easily with the banal procedure, it is enforcing the intellectual way to deal with such situations too, especially with the help of the lawyer in the story.

There are many more dramas talking about or portraying bullying, but as the motives and types of bullying often stay the same, we decided to leave it here for this list. However, we advise you to check similar dramas if you enjoy the ones already listed here.

Similar dramas: "Revenge Of Others" (2022), "Night Flight" (2014), "Extracurricular" (2020), "Uncle" (2021), "High Class" (2021), and "Secret Mother" (2018).

Reasons Why Netflix's Revenge K-Drama "The Glory" Is A Must WatchKDRAMA STORIES Jan 11, 2023

Things "Weak Hero Class 1" Made Us Ponder UponKDRAMA STORIES Dec 12, 2022

5 K-Dramas To Watch If You Liked "The Golden Spoon"KDRAMA STORIES Nov 14, 2022

These K-Dramas Will Help You Understand The Harsh Reality Of Korean StudentsKDRAMA STORIES Aug 12, 2022