10 small-town and rural romances in K-dramas, from ‘When Life Gives You Tangerines’ to ‘Sold Out on You’

Undoubtedly one of the most memorable rural romances in K-drama is from this Netflix original series, which traces the enduring love story of Oh Ae-sun and Yang Gwan-sik, played by global superstars IU and Park Bo-gum, with Moon So-ri and Park Hae-joon portraying their later years. Spanning decades—from the 1950s to the present day—and stretching from Jeju Island to Seoul, the series captivated audiences worldwide. Gwan-sik’s steadfast devotion and Ae-sun’s quiet resilience made them one of the most beloved couples in recent K-drama history.

Beyond the sweeping romance, When Life Gives You Tangerines is a multi-generational tale that explores themes of family, sacrifice and parental love. The healing K-drama also touches on how Jeju’s renowned haenyeo, its landscape and the sea shape the lives of the people on the island, highlighting their struggles and triumphs.

Brought to life by Signal and My Mister director Kim Won-suk and Fight for My Way and When the Camellia Blooms screenwriter Lim Sang-choon, the series was a resounding success, winning over critics and audiences alike. It swept major awards, including Best Drama, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Choi Dae-hoon) and Best Supporting Actress (Yum Hye-ran) at the 2025 Baeksang Arts Awards, as well as Best Actress (IU), Best Supporting Actress (Yum Hye-ran) and the Grand Prize or Daesang at the 2025 Blue Dragon Series Awards.

See more: 5 life lessons from ‘When Life Gives You Tangerines’

Netflix’s popular small-town rom-com K-drama stars “dimple couple” Shin Min-a and Kim Seon-ho as Yoo Hye-jin and Hong Du-sik. It’s a big-city girl meets country-boy romance that sees the image-conscious Hye-jin clashing with the no-nonsense Hong Du-sik (or Hong Banjang to the local townsfolk). The love story, anchored by the leads’ playful chemistry, won the hearts of K-drama fans.

Set in the fictional coastal town of Gongjin, Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha is as much a healing K-drama as it is a romance. Following the lives of the tight-knit community—from the grannies (including the legendary Kim Young-ok) to the café owner to the supermarket couple—audiences get to know and grow to love the quirky residents as much as the lead couple themselves.

The popularity of the series turned the real-life shooting locations into tourist destinations, with fans flocking to Pohang’s Sabang Memorial Park boat, Cheongha Market and Wolpo Beach to relive the magic of the series or soak in the slow-living vibe of Gongjin.

See more: From ‘Start-Up’ to ‘Can This Love Be Translated?’: 15 K-dramas and movies that made Kim Seon-ho a star

When the Camellia Blooms, which comes from the same screenwriter who brought When Life Gives You Tangerines to the screen, is a charming small-town romance K-drama starring Gong Hyo-jin as Dong Baek, a single mom who moves to a small village, and Kang Ha-neul as Hwang Yong-sik, the earnest police officer who falls head-over-heels for her.

When Dong Baek first arrives in the fictional town of Ongsan, the locals can’t help but gossip about her circumstances. She’s placed under even greater scrutiny when she opens a bar frequented by the town’s men. Yet despite the whispers, Yong-sik remains steadfast in his affection, openly and wholeheartedly supporting her.

Beyond capturing the hearts of audiences, the award-winning K-drama took home the Grand Prize at the 2020 Baeksang Arts Awards as well as Best Screenplay for Lim Sang-choon, Best Actor for Kang Ha-neul and Best Supporting Actor for Oh Jung-se.

The inimitable Shin Hye-sun stars alongside Hallyu heartthrob Ji Chang-wook in this healing coastal romance set in Jeju Island. In the K-drama, they play Cho Sam-dal and Cho Yong-pil, whose mothers—both haenyeo and lifelong best friends—raised them side by side. It comes as no surprise to anyone in the small town of Samdal that the two would fall in love. But what shocks everyone is their inexplicable breakup.

Sam-dal moves to Seoul and becomes a world-class photographer, while Yong-pil stays behind and starts a career as the island’s intrepid meteorologist. The two reconnect when Sam-dal moves back home after a devastating career setback, with Yong-pil determined to learn why she left him all those years ago.

In a small mountain village, Lee Sun-bin’s Kim Mi-kyung leads a quiet life working at the Potato Research Institute, when Kang Tae-oh’s So Baek-ho, a cold and pragmatic corporate strategist, rolls into town and upends both her workplace and personal life.

Kang Tae-oh, back from mandatory military training, plays a character that’s a far cry from his beloved turn in the K-drama Extraordinary Attorney Woo. Baek-ho is an exacting and guarded outsider—qualities that immediately put him at odds with Mi-kyung’s warmth and emotional openness. As their worlds collide and clash, it sparks friction and undeniable romantic chemistry.

Before his string of star-making roles in Netflix’s global K-drama hit The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call, Amazon Prime’s Head Over Heels and the Korean film remake Even If This Love Disappears Tonight, Choo Young-woo starred opposite Red Velvet’s Joy (Park Soo-young) in the rural rom-com Once Upon a Small Town.

Adapted from the webtoon Accidental Country Diary, the K-drama chronicles Ji-yool’s journey toward embracing a simpler life in Heedong. If Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha centres on the love story between a city girl and a country boy, Once Upon a Small Town features a city slicker and a small-town girl falling in love.

Choo Young-woo is Han Ji-yool, a young veterinarian who is roped into moving to the quiet village of Heedong, where he meets Ahn Ja-young, a warm-hearted local police officer played by Joy. The two initially don’t get along, and their romance is further complicated by a love rival in Baek Sung-chul’s Lee Sang-hyeon, but a shared past quickly narrows the emotional gap between them.

Similar to When Life Gives You Tangerines and Our Blues, the romance isn’t central in this healing K-drama. Instead, the plot revolves around three siblings—Yeom Mi-jeong (Kim Ji-won), Yeom Chang-hee (Lee Min-ki) and Yeom Gi-jeong (Lee El)—who, each in their own way, feel stuck in the remote Sanpo village.

However, it’s the quiet slow-burn romance between Kim Ji-won’s Mi-jeong and Son Suk-ku’s Mr Gu that fans of the series gravitated to. In one of the most memorable scenes, Mi-jeong tells Mr Gu that if he has nothing better to do, he can “worship” her. Unbeknownst to them, this no-small ask is exactly the lifeline they needed to escape their mundane lives.

Beer isn’t the only thing brewing in this rom-com K-drama starring Kim Se-jeong of Business Proposal and Lee Jong-won, who currently appears in the horror film Salmokji: Whispering Water with Kim Hye-yoon.

In this countryside romance, Kim Se-jeong plays Chae Young-ju, a top sales agent at Jiang Liquor, a company on the brink of collapse. In a bid to save both her job and the business, she seeks out Yoon Min-ju (Lee Jong-won), the reclusive CEO and master brewer behind Uilhan Brewery, hoping to secure his prized craft beer.

She’s a determined go-getter who stops at nothing to get what she wants; he’s a sensitive empath who retreats from the world to escape overstimulation. This sets up their story for plenty of misunderstanding, comedy and, of course, romance.

The Jeju Island healing K-drama boasts an ensemble cast of top-tier talent led by Lee Byung-hun, Shin Min-a, Kim Woo-bin, Han Ji-min, Lee Jung-eun, Cha Seung-won and Uhm Jung-hwa. Our Blues paints a rich tapestry of idyllic island life, made up of the everyday stories of a tight-knit community on Jeju. 

Two threads interwoven in this tale are two moving rural romances. Lee Dong-seok and Min Seon-a’s relationship is tender and restrained, marked by a shared sense of loneliness. Meanwhile, the romance between Park Jeong-jun and Lee Yeong-ok unfolds slowly, balancing lighthearted flirtation with deeper questions of trust and acceptance.

See more: Our 5 favourite Shin Min-a and Kim Woo-bin moments

Whether it’s the coastal villages of Jeju and Gongjin or the remote towns of Deokpung, Ongsan and Sanpo, these small-town and rural romance K-dramas prove that romance can flourish far from the chaos of city life. With their sweeping landscapes, tight-knit communities and slower pace of living, these stories remind us that sometimes, love is found where life feels simplest.

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