Cover Song Kang plays the ultimate walking red flag in the K-drama ‘Nevertheless,’. (Photo: JTBC)
Song Kang plays the ultimate walking red flag in the K-drama ‘Nevertheless,’. (Photo: JTBC)
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Red flag or green flag? These K-drama actors have had no trouble portraying both
While it’s true that K-dramas are filled with green flag characters who are too good to be true—swoon-worthy and emotionally available leads who make true love look easy—they’ve also introduced us to red flag characters that would have anybody running for the hills, from gaslighters to master manipulators to cold-blooded killers hiding behind disarming smiles. And few actors can straddle that line quite like some of South Korea’s finest, mastering both the charm of a green flag and the chaos of a walking red flag. From Gong Yoo and Lee Dong-wook to Kim Seon-ho and Song Kang, here are a few K-drama actors who’ve played characters you love and love to hate.
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Song Kang
Above A demon with a redemption arc (Photo: SBS)
Above Song Kang is everyone’s favorite red flag, Park Jae-on (Photo: JTBC)
A demon with a redemption arc (Photo: SBS)
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Green flag: My Demon
Red flag: Nevertheless,
If there were a poster child for K-drama red flags, it would have to be Song Kang’s Park Jae-eon from Nevertheless,. A master of love bombing and breadcrumbing, he kept stringing Yoo Na-bi (Han So-hee) along and sending her mixed signals. In contrast, Jeong Gu-won from My Demon may have started aloof and emotionally distant, but he eventually opens his heart to Do Do-hee (Kim You-jung) and embarks on a redemptive arc.
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Gong Yoo
Above Making hearts swoon in ‘Goblin’ (Photo: tvN)
Above Surprising fans as the mysterious recruiter in the global hit K-drama ’Squid Game’ (Photo: IMDb)
Making hearts swoon in ‘Goblin’ (Photo: tvN)
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Green flag: Goblin
Red flag: Squid Game
Having built a career as one of South Korea’s most celebrated romantic leads in K-dramas like Coffee Prince and Goblin, fans were not a little shocked when he went against type in his much-talked-about cameo as the mysterious recruiter in Squid Game Season 1. He then doubled down in Season 2, leaning fully—and almost gleefully—into the dark and sinister tones, revealing a chilling intensity that stands in stark contrast to his swoon-worthy roles.
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Ahn Bo-hyun
Above Naive and romantic in ‘See you in My 19th Life’ (Photo: tvN)
Above Vindictive and cruel in ‘Itaewon Class’ (Photo: JTBC)
Naive and romantic in ‘See you in My 19th Life’ (Photo: tvN)
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Green flag: See You in My 19th Life
Red flag: Itaewon Class
In Itaewon Class, Jang Geun-won, a character who clearly wasn’t hugged enough as a child, is vindictive and cruel, relentlessly bullying Park Sae-ro-yi (Park Seo-joon) out of a deeply personal vendetta. Ahn Bo-hyun embodied the role with such conviction that it’s no surprise many assumed he was tailor-made for villain roles. But subsequent roles in K-dramas like My Name, Yumi’s Cells and See You in My 19th Life quickly showed he was more than capable of playing sweet romantic heroes, too.
Lee Jun-young
Above Earnest and affectionate in ‘When Life Gives You Tangerines’ (Photo: IMDb)
Above An agent of chaos in ‘Weak Hero Class 2’ (Photo: IMDb)
Earnest and affectionate in ‘When Life Gives You Tangerines’ (Photo: IMDb)
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Green flag: When Life Gives You Tangerines
Red flag: Weak Hero Class 2
In When Life Gives You Tangerines, Lee Jun-young played Ae-sun’s (IU) completely enamoured first love. Affectionate, innocent and earnest, there’s no question about how deeply he loves Ae-sun. His one fatal flaw? His inability to stand up to an overbearing, snobbish mother. But that’s nothing compared to Geum Seong-je, his character from Weak Hero Class 2. Seong-je is an agent of chaos, a sadistic bully who finds joy in violence and gets his kicks from watching others suffer.
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Choo Young-woo
Above Young, naive and dedicated in ‘Trauma Code’ (Photo: IMDb)
Above Power-hungry and ruthless in ‘Mercy for None’ (Photo: IMDb)
Young, naive and dedicated in ‘Trauma Code’ (Photo: IMDb)
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Green flag: Trauma Code: Heroes on Call
Red flag: Mercy for None
In Trauma Code: Heroes on Call, Choo Young-woo plays Yang Jae-won, one of the titular “heroes on call”. As Baek Kang-hyuk’s (Ju Ji-hoon) reluctant protégé, Jae-won is initially timid and prone to panicking. Still, he is compassionate and dedicated to saving his patients, and eventually becomes a competent trauma doctor. Meanwhile, Lee Geum-Son, the character he plays in Mercy for None, is the son of a mafia boss. Ambitious, power-hungry and ruthlessly manipulative, he is prone to fits of violence and is willing to betray anyone to dominate the criminal underworld.
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Kim Seon-ho
Above K-drama heartthrob in ‘Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha’ (Photo: tvN)
Above Unhinged and psychopathic in ‘The Childe’ (Photo: IMDb)
K-drama heartthrob in ‘Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha’ (Photo: tvN)
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Green flag: Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha
Red flag: The Childe
His charming turn as “Good Boy” in Start-Up and his heartfelt portrayal of the emotionally sensitive jack-of-all-trades Hong Du-sik in Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha established Kim Seon-ho as the next K-drama heartthrob. But in The Childe, he completely flips the script, playing a mysterious, psychopathic hitman who delights in the chaos he creates and his chilling brutality.
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Byeon Woo-seok
Above The greenest flag in ‘Lovely Runner’ (Photo: tvN)
Above Cold and cunning in ‘Strong Girl Nam-soon’ (Photo: JTBC)
The greenest flag in ‘Lovely Runner’ (Photo: tvN)
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Green flag: Lovely Runner
Red flag: Strong Girl Nam-soon
Lovely Runner’s Ryu Sun-jae is the greenest of green flags, the kind you bring home to meet your parents. The man would defy space and time to be with the woman he loves, after all. But aside from being utterly devoted to Im Sol (Kim Hye-yoon), he is also a dutiful son and a good friend. Ryu Si-o from Strong Girl Nam-soon, on the other hand, is cold and cunning. Raised in the criminal underworld and the product of an abusive upbringing, he has a frightening appetite for violence, and not even his tragic backstory or his affection for Nam-soon (Lee You-mi) is enough to redeem him.
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Choi Woo-shik
Above Sweet and introspective in ‘Our Beloved Summer’ (Photo: SBS)
Above Giving major ick in ‘Fight for My Way’ (Photo: KBS)
Sweet and introspective in ‘Our Beloved Summer’ (Photo: SBS)
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Green flag: Our Beloved Summer
Red flag: Fight for My Way
Choi Woo-shik’s role as the duplicitous Park Moo-bin in Fight for My Way is enough to give anyone the ick—he’s pushy, disregards boundaries and, as it turns out, is already engaged to someone else while pursuing Choi Ae-ra (Kim Ji-won). Meanwhile, in Our Beloved Summer, he plays the endearing and introspective Choi Ung, a talented and passionate illustrator who cares deeply for the people he loves, and whose unwavering affection for Kook Yeon-su (Kim Da-mi) made him a fan-favourite green flag K-drama character.
Lee Dong-wook
Above Sweet and misunderstood in ‘Goblin’ (Photo: tvN)
Above A manipulative serial killer in ‘Strangers from Hell’ (Photo: IMDb)
Sweet and misunderstood in ‘Goblin’ (Photo: tvN)
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Green flag: Goblin
Red flag: Strangers from Hell
After making fans fall in love with him in Goblin as the sweet and misunderstood Grim Reaper—whose undying love for Sunny (Yoon In-na) had everyone swooning—Lee Dong-wook took a dark turn in Strangers from Hell. As the psychotic serial killer Seo Moon-jo, he doesn’t just terrorise Yoon Jong-woo (Im Si-wan), he infiltrates his psyche, determined to mould him into a killer in his own image.
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