Cover Nothing is more whimsical and ridiculous than the lives of K-drama chaebols (Photo: IMDB)
Nothing is more whimsical and ridiculous than the lives of K-drama chaebols (Photo: IMDB)
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How to be unfathomably rich and still have no coping skills, according ot K-drama chaebols
Chaebols are the backbone of K-drama fantasy: heirs to conglomerates so large they seem to control weather patterns, stock markets and Seoul traffic. They exist to embody contradiction—limitless wealth paired with emotional deprivation, immaculate grooming paired with catastrophic decision-making. Over decades of dramas, these families have developed a shared behavioural language so consistent that it borders on anthropology.
Below are the most enduring, deeply unserious habits of K-drama chaebols—each one backed by scenes, characters and the quiet understanding that none of this would pass a basic HR seminar.
In case you missed it: 10 most powerful chaebol families in K-dramas
The world’s longest morning routine
Above Any misstep from routine means a bad day ahead (Photo: tVN)
Any misstep from routine means a bad day ahead (Photo: tVN)
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A chaebol never wakes up; he assembles himself. Think Kim Tan (Lee Min-ho) in The Heirs (2013), whose mornings involve silent brooding while buttoning French cuffs in a mansion that echoes like a museum after hours. In Business Proposal (2022), Kang Tae-moo (Ahn Hyo-seop) tightens his tie with military precision, checks his watch—never a phone—and stares into a mirror as though bracing for battle rather than a board meeting. The ritual is identical across dramas: cufflinks clicked into place, jacket settled over broad shoulders, hair sculpted into a comma so resilient it defies wind, rain and emotional collapse.
The joke, of course, is temporal. These men spend an eternity perfecting their look and still arrive at the office before employees who commute for two hours. Time bends for chaebols. Physics negotiates.
Dining at 30-foot-long tables
Above Wealth is best conveyed through square footage and untouched side dishes (Photo: IMDB)
Wealth is best conveyed through square footage and untouched side dishes (Photo: IMDB)
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In My Love From the Star (2013), Yoo Se-mi (Yoo In-young) eats alone in a dining room that could host a UN summit, while Cheon Song-yi’s (Jun Ji-hyun) emotional chaos unfolds in smaller, messier spaces. Look at Sunyang Group in Reborn Rich (2022). The patriarch, Jin Yang-chul (Lee Sung-min), uses the dining table as a courtroom. In one famous scene, he stops a meal to quiz his heirs on the number of rice grains in a piece of sushi. The table is a stage where the menu is actually corporate dominance.
Inevitably, the heir pushes the chair back after one sip of water. “I’m not hungry,” he says, despite a staff of five and a spread meant for 12. Appetite, like affection, is a luxury that chaebols pretend not to need.
Hospitalisation for minor emotional weather
Above A scratch for the wealthy is a medical event
In What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim? (2018), Lee Young-joon (Park Seo-joon) treats faintness like a corporate emergency, complete with IV drips and a private room larger than most apartments. In Secret Garden (2010), Kim Joo-won’s frequent medical stays are a manifestation of his claustrophobia and trauma. Chaebols routinely collapse after rain exposure, mild fevers or arguments that last longer than three sentences. For the ultra-rich K-drama character, a hospital bed is a narrative fortress where they are finally allowed to be vulnerable without losing their stock price.
The visual language is consistent: immaculate hair, designer loungewear and an IV for ailments that would be solved by soup and a nap. Illness is never about the body—it’s a narrative pause button.
The shower as an emotional processing unit
Above Introspection requires running water and shirtless anguish (Photo: tvN)
Introspection requires running water and shirtless anguish (Photo: tvN)
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When chaebols experience doubt, they do not talk. They bathe. In The Heirs (2013), Kim Tan leans against the wall, eyes closed, water cascading down his body like he’s being baptised for character development. Reborn Rich (2022) gives Jin Do-jun (Song Joong-ki) multiple shower scenes where mergers and betrayals are silently weighed beneath high-pressure rainfall. This happened in What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?, Dynamite Kiss and more.
This is the only sanctioned moment of chaos: wet hair, clenched jaws, steam fogging glass. Once the water turns off, composure snaps back into place. Problems unresolved. Skin exfoliated.
The black card that solves emotional discomfort
Above Romance begins with a spending spree no one asked for (Photo: IMDB)
Romance begins with a spending spree no one asked for (Photo: IMDB)
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In Secret Garden (2010), Kim Joo-won attempts intimacy via shopping bags, dragging Gil Ra-im (Ha Ji-won) into boutiques where prices are never shown. Business Proposal (2022) repeats the ritual: Kang Tae-moo gestures vaguely at racks while clerks nod like they’ve been waiting all day. The black card appears, sleek and unquestioned, emerging from a wallet that somehow contains no cash and no receipts. In Crash Landing on You, Yoon Se-ri (Son Ye-jin) treats her North Korean friends to an all-expense South Korean experience. In Dynamite Kiss, Gong Ji-hyeok (Jang Ki-yong) buys Go Da-rim’s (Ahn Eun-jin) freedom with a black card.
The joke isn’t extravagance; it’s assumption. Chaebols genuinely believe economic shock therapy is flirtation. Emotional compatibility can be negotiated later, preferably after tailoring.
The envelope of cash (plus optional water assault)
Above Baek Mi-seon (Jang Yoon-ju) is unaware that Hong Hae-in (Kim Ji-won) is a chaebol. Believing the latter is a freeloader who is only after her brother’s money, she attempts to pay her off to leave him
The chaebol mother-in-law is a genre unto herself. In Boys Over Flowers (2009), Kang Hee-soo (Lee Hye-young) offers Geum Jan-di (Ku Hye-sun) money to disappear, framing it as mercy. The Heirs (2013) refines the scene: Kim Tan’s mother (Kim Sung-ryung) and stepmother deploy money, insults and perfectly timed public humiliation.
The meeting is always elegant—coffee ordered, pearls gleaming. The envelope slides across the table. If refused, escalation follows. Water is thrown. Dignity is revoked. The crime is loving above one’s tax bracket.
Bribery as a love language
Above When in doubt, throw money at the problem until it blinks (Photo: tvN)
When in doubt, throw money at the problem until it blinks (Photo: tvN)
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Chaebol families don’t negotiate—they compensate. In Crash Landing on You (2019), Yoon Se-ri’s (Son Ye-jin) corporate world operates on payouts disguised as favours. In Reborn Rich (2022), bribery is practically a family dialect, spoken fluently by Lee Sung-min’s patriarch, who treats prosecutors and politicians as line items.
Romantic obstacles are handled the same way. Jobs are offered. Schools are paid off. Problems vanish without consent. It’s not corruption—it’s convenience with better tailoring.
The boardroom as a surrogate family
Above Emotional milestones are achieved during hostile takeovers (Photo: IMDB)
Emotional milestones are achieved during hostile takeovers (Photo: IMDB)
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Chaebol heirs rarely receive affection at home; instead, they earn validation in glass-walled conference rooms. In Reborn Rich (2022), love, betrayal and inheritance are all negotiated at the table, voices low, stakes lethal. Agency (2023) turns corporate warfare into emotional combat, where promotions sting harder than breakups.
These families don’t argue in kitchens. They vote. They outmanoeuvre. They call it business and mean everything else.
Sasha Lim-Uy Mariposa is a lifestyle journalist who is known for her food writing. Based in Manila, she also covers entertainment and dining, as well as a broad range of topics. She was the former digital editor at Esquire Philippines and was the digital managing editor at Spot.ph, and now writes for the different Tatler Asia markets as a contributing writer for T-Labs.
