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Girls pretending to be boys is, for some reason, a beloved premise in K-dramas. Netflix hit The King’s Affection, which has a woman pretending to be the crown prince, reminded us of all our favourite cross-dressing Korean shows
It must be all the hilarious, awkward, dramatic, confusing and dangerous situations that are thrown up, but Korean dramas love a good gender swap plot. From one of the OG girl-pretending-to-be-boy K-dramas, Coffee Prince (hello, baby Gong Yoo!), to audience favourite Love in the Moonlight, starring Park Bo-gum as the crown prince and Kim Yoo-jung as a eunuch, to trending Netflix hit The King’s Affection, which started airing in early October and will see a December 14 finale, there are plenty of gender swap dramas with varying plotlines to indulge in.
There are even a few boy-pretending-to-be-girl scenarios (we’re not talking about a cross-dressing scene or two, but a whole drama which revolves around a man who has to live as a woman), though this is less popular, probably because at the end of it, a Korean drama seems to need a man to be macho and protect his lady love, and a romantic male lead as a pretty girl may not be what audiences want.
Here are the best gender swap K-dramas to binge on.
1. The King’s Affection
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Audiences are enthralled by Do You Like Brahms?’s Park Eun-bin’s portrayal of Joseon era crown prince Lee Hwi, and Extraordinary You and SF9 member Rowoon’s swoon-worthy performance as her devoted royal tutor, Jung Ji-un. Despite his initial feelings of confusion, he shows that love is love, even without knowing (yet) that she is a woman. Some scenes are already iconic, and the pair’s painful romance is beautiful, sad and bittersweet, without being slapstick, which is what a lot of gender swap romances tend to be.
Read more: Rowoon: 8 Things to Know About the Charming The King’s Affection Actor
Despite being tiny, especially when paired with 1.9m-tall Rowoon, the 1.63m-tall Eun-bin holds her own with a manly gait, royal robes and expressive eyes, and is believable as a girl forced to assume the position of the prince when her twin brother is killed. Cue lots of longing looks and dangerous palace intrigue (cross-dressing seem to work well in a period drama setting, because there are always lots of secrets in these sageuk dramas), as the star-crossed lovers try to keep their romance (and themselves) alive. The drama is still in progress, and we can’t wait to see what curveballs are thrown next.
2. Love in the Moonlight
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A beloved audience fave, this sageuk drama won awards and topped ratings when it aired in 2016. It stars Park Bo-gum as an unpredictable and mischievous crown prince who finds himself strangely drawn to one of his eunuchs, Sam-nom, played to adorable perfection by Kim Yoo-jung. There are lots of funny and silly moments, a few sweet scenes and some dark turns at the end (palace politics, tsk), which makes this a must-watch for any self-respecting K-drama aficionado.
Read more: 10 Korean Stars Who Went From Rags To Riches, Including BTS’ V, Park Bo-Gum and IU
3. Sungkyunkwan Scandal
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This period drama from 2010 stars Park Min-young as a bright young girl, who disguises herself as her brother to make ends meet for her family, as it was not allowed for females to be educated or employed. She eventually makes it into a prestigious university, where she rubs shoulders and butts heads with the likes of scholars played by Park Yoo-chun, Song Joong-ki and Yoo Ah-in, all while trying to keep them from discovering she’s actually a girl. Guess which one she falls in love with?
Don't miss: Tatler Exclusive: Song Joong Ki Opens Up About His 'Vincenzo' Experience
4. Coffee Prince
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A K-drama classic from 2007, Gong Yoo plays Choi Han-kyul, a food empire scion who gets confused about his feelings for Eun-chan (Yoon Eun-hye), who dresses as a boy in order to get work. Eun-chan is hired by Han-kyul to pretend to be his gay lover so that he can avoid his grandma’s blind dates. Cue lots of suspension of disbelief, as with all these gender swap dramas, even more than the usual K-dramas, as Gong Yoo thinks he’s falling in love with a guy and questions his sexuality. Worth watching for a cute 28-year-old Gong Yoo and a 23-year-old Eun-hye, and for its plotline, which would be considered progressive even now (this was 14 years ago!).
5. The Tale of Nokdu
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One of the rare K-dramas where a boy crossdresses as a girl, Jang Dong-yoon stars in this 2019 drama as Nok-du, a Joseon man who disguises himself as a widowed lady to gain access to a women-only village, to find out the truth about his birth. Kim So-hyun plays a young woman trying to avoid her fate of becoming a kisaeng (a courtesan who entertains men), and who seeks revenge for the man who wronged her family. A must for a cross-dressing K-drama lead is the ability to be handsome and beautiful at the same time, and Jang pulls it off.
6. You’re Beautiful
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Park Shin-hye stars in this 2009 drama about a girl who has to join a male idol group in place of her twin brother, while he recovers from botched plastic surgery. Funnily, she was going to become a nun but instead debuts with the band A.n.jell, where its three other male members—played by Jang Keun-suk, Jung Yong-hwa of CN Blue and Lee Hong-gi of F.T. Island—proceed to fall in love with her (suspend that disbelief—suspend it!).
Don't miss: 10 Korean Stars Who Can Act and Sing
7. Empress Ki
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Another period drama where the heroine has to dress like a man to survive, this award-winning 2014 epic stars Ha Ji-won as Ki Seungnyang, a Goryeo lady who rises to power and becomes the Empress, despite the restrictions of the era. There are several scenes where she cross-dresses to hide her identity. This also stars Ji Chang-wook as the Emperor of the Mongol Empire, who gets tangled up with Lady Ki and her political ambitions.
8. Gu Family Book
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Lee Seung-gi and Bae Suzy take on this incredibly complicated-sounding 2013 period epic, where Lee is a half-man, half-gumiho creature who dreams of becoming human, and Bae plays a skilled fighter who dresses like a tomboy, whom Lee’s character at first mistakes for a male. Cue lots of fantasy lore, magical artefacts, evil villains and bizarre family history, and a half-fox creature falling in love with a girl who looks like a very pretty man.
9. To the Beautiful You
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Starring the late Sulli, this 2012 school drama is about a bullied girl, Jae-hee (Sulli), who decides to cross-dress to join a boys’ school after she sees one of its track stars on TV, the high-jumper Tae-joon (played by Shinee's Choi Min-ho). Of course, there’s another male student who falls in love with her and questions his sexuality (what’s a Korean drama without a love triangle?), as well as lots of high school hi-jinks, misunderstandings and confessions.
10. The Scholar Who Walks the Night
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The 2015 tale of a centuries-old guardian vampire (Lee Joon-gi) trying to avenge his lover’s death from 120 years ago and a girl (Lee Yu-bi) who dresses as a male book-seller to earn money, set in an alternate Joseon era. Girl gets tangled up in mysterious and handsome vampire’s complicated history, fantastical powers and feelings. Throw in lots of political intrigue, ancient evil beings and romance.
11. Mr. Queen
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Technically, no one cross-dresses as a member of the opposite sex in this 2021 ratings behemoth, but it makes the list for having all of the hilarious situations, confusion and heartbreak of a good gender swap drama. Shin Hye-sun is gold as an egotistical male chef from the present day, who somehow gets transported back in time to be trapped in the body of a Joseon era queen. The comedic hijinks in the early episodes will have you doubled over in laughter, as the boorish chef realises he’s now a lady, who’s married to the king, no less. The later episodes are dramatically bittersweet, as she grapples with new feelings, dangerous court politics and how to get back to the future.
