The 5 Most Ridiculous K-Drama Makjang Scenes
A Dramatic Kimchi Slap! Makjang Drama Scenes That Many Koreans Remember.
Do you guys watch a lot of Korean dramas? What do you first think of when someone brings them up?
Romance? Good-looking main characters? Obvious clichés? We can think of many things, but we can never leave out the keyword 'makjang drama.'
Makjang drama refers to a drama which goes way overboard; A ridiculous secret behind a character's birth, infidelity, strange expressions of feelings and many other senseless things.
We've compiled a list of the 5 most famous makjang drama scenes that are so ridiculous that these makjang drama scenes are used in memes and parodies even to this day.
The Descendants Of The Sun (2016)
Autonomous Driving Kiss
Source: KBS
태양의 후예, starring superstar actors like Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo, immediately became a global hit. Although the drama did extremely well in Korea as well, it quickly found itself under scrutiny for excessive PPLs (product placements).
The biggest scene in question is the autonomous driving kiss scene. Dae-young (played by Jin Goo) and Myeong-joo (Kim Ji-won) turn their car to self-driving mode and kiss.
The self-driving mode button, which popped out of nowhere, received lots of criticism for killing the flow of the story and concentration.
YouTube @ 올ㅋ
In addition, the presence of a large medicine brewer inside a single-person home and curing a hangover with sandwiches were endorsements that the viewers were not content with.
Some even condemened the drama by calling it the 'Decendants of PPLs'.
Dear Heaven (2005-2008)
Sudden Death While Watching A Comedy Show
Source: SBS
It's been 15 years since 하늘이시여 first aired and it appears as one of the most ridiculous Korean drama scenes to this day.
Sophia (played by Lee Sook) was watching a comedy show at home alone, cracking up hysterically. Suddenly, she drops and passes away.
YouTube @ 케제와
It was so sudden and unexpected that some viewers suspected Lee Sook got into a fight with the screenwriter!
Im Sung-han, the screenwriter of the drama, is well-known for ridiculous, controversial screenplays. The next scene on the list is also works of Im's.
Princess Aurora (2013)
"Cancer Cells Are Living Things, Too."
Seol-hee (played by Seo Ha-joon) gets diagnosed with cancer. Out of the blue, Seol-hee states his decision to give up treatment and says, "Cancer cells are living things, too. I'm just going to try and co-exist with them."
YouTube @ MBCdrama
Furthermore, Seol-hee says that if a person is meant to die, they will die regardless of receiving treatments or not. This line from the drama received huge public criticism for denying medical practice and for referring to cancer cells as living things.
The screenwriter of 오로라공주 issued an official apology for this matter.
Although the public was not forgiving of its nonsense, the equation, "makjang drama = Princess Aurora", was widely accepted, proving its virality.
Maybe Love (2013)
Juice Dripping Straight From Mouth
Source: MBC
"Yena... Is Sun-jung's daughter."
Most Koreans don't know the name of the drama, but they know of the iconic line. Its fame is all thanks to the juice dripping scene!
The man, who hears a shocking news, drips all the orange juice he was drinking out of his mouth. Surprisingly, all the orange juice drips perfectly back into the cup.
YouTube @ MBCdrama
This popular scene has been recreated by many idols:
MONSTA X Shownu
BTOB Yook Sungjae
Everybody Say Kimchi (2014)
The Kimchi Slap
Source: MBC
The most viral Korean drama scene of all times is the famous kimchi ssadaegi scene. 싸대기, or ssadaegi, refers to the act of slapping someone.
When the lady, who does businesses in the kimchi industry, finds out the guy put foreign substances in her kimchi, brings her kimchi and slaps him with it.
The reactions of the viewers were divided; Some enjoyed the lady punishing the bad guy while some didn't appreciate the fact that food was wasted.
Because the kimchi ssagaegi scene was such a topic, many dramas following it created their own food slap scenes. SBS' Happy Sisters (2017) and MBC's Love Of Eve (2015) are examples of them.
Because Korean dramas' success depends on the viewer ratings, some tend to put in makjang drama scenes that shock the audience, some scenes are funny and satisfying to watch while some cringy.
Have you guys seen any other makjang drama scenes from Korean dramas? Share with us by leaving a comment below!