13 K-drama parents who melted our hearts and left us weeping

We love ‘eomma’ and ‘appa’ characters in K-dramas who feel like sunshine on a rainy day. Here are some of our favorites who left a lasting impact on us!

Having an impactful K-drama parent is as pivotal to the story as having a lead. These characters act as a catalyst for major character development in the protagonists because who even are we without are parents, right? Be it the strict kind who emphasize more on academics or the kind, nurturing ones who show us what healthy parenting can look like, we’ve all had our favorite K-drama parents over the years!

These parental figures in K-dramas help bring so much emotional depth to the story and also help us understand how modern day Korean families are evolving. Through the parental arcs, the story challenges generational traditions that don’t fit anymore, past traumas or just raw authentic relationships between a parent and child! And you best believe that they’ve made us feel thankful towards our own parents and constantly remind us that this is their first life too!

Also Read: POV: 12 thoughts I had while watching Park Bo Young’s Our Unwritten Seoul!

Here are some we love!

Ae-Sun and Gwan-Sik - When Life Gives You Tangerines

I think it's safe to say that Ae-Sun and Gwan-Sik are K-drama parents of the year! They made us weep buckets with their ideal parenting and instances that just hit too close to him. Be it Gwan-Sik and Geum-Myeong’s wholesome father daughter relationship or Ae-Sun’s dreams for her children to have a better life than her, the impact that they left on us was immense and remained intact way after the credits rolled!

Ok-Hui and Beong-Heon - Our Unwritten Seoul

Two single moms with two completely different situations and styles of parenting learning to navigate motherhood even after their kids are grown up adults is what this one is about. Ever since losing her husband, Ok-Hui has been the sole breadwinner of her family and hence spent most of her time outdoors. Even though she is Mi-Ji and Mi-Rae’s mom, she could never tell the twins apart and she hated herself for that. But as time went by, she learnt to open up and make space for all the time and memories she had been losing out on for so many years and it only changed her life for the better. Meanwhile, Beong-Heon constantly overcompensates for the fact that she isn’t Ho-Su’s biological mother and feels the need to always be the best version of herself so he never feels the absence of his real parents. The two women show motherhood in two completely extreme forms and that only added to making the series a lot more interesting!

Han Jeong-Suk and Lee Joo-Ri - A Virtuous Business

Han Jeong-Suk and Lee Joo-Ri were single mothers trying to give their sons the best life possible with a unique business idea. The two promoted self pleasure in an era when it wasn’t even heard of or entertained, especially for women! While they faced a lot of judgement and scrutiny for it, they always kept their head down and worked hard. They made sure to raise their sons right and show them what an independent woman looks like since the very beginning!

Jeong-Jae and Dae-Wook - Family by Choice

Jeong-Jae was raising his daughter all by himself until he adopted Hae-Joon due to unforeseen circumstances. At the same time, Dae-Wook was grappling with his family’s depressing situation and did not want to let that affect his son, San-Ha’s childhood. Here’s when life puts both the families together and navigates all of their struggles one day at a time as a unit. Both, Jeong-Jae and Dae-Wook, treated all three kids as their own instead of only caring about their respective biological children, which is why their relationship stands true to the show’s title that they’re family by choice indeed!

Ha Yi-Chan and Cheong-Haa - Twinkling Watermelon

Ha Yi-Chan and Cheong-Haa portrayed what life looks like for parents who have hearing impairment. Not being able to hear or talk to your child was extremely heartbreaking for the two and hence, when the whole back to future arc takes place in the show, you root for them to change their fate for a second chance at a better life!

Nam Heung-Son - Crash Course in Romance

Nam Haeng-Son fooled us all about the fact that she isn’t Nam Hae-Yi’s real mother, she was her aunt. She had to give up a flourishing career in volleyball because her sister just took off after leaving her daughter’s responsibilities on her. From then on, she became financially independent and single handedly raised her while giving her access to the best of education. No third person would have ever guessed that the two aren’t mother and daughter because that’s just how loving she was towards Nam Hae-Yi!

Young-Soon - Good Bad Mother

Young-Soon was tough on her son on most days and that came from a place of pain over losing her husband. In order for him to have a better future, she always made sure he was studying instead of having a fun childhood like other kids his age. But when life gives her a second chance to rekindle their relationship, she takes it and makes the most out of the time she gets with him!

Woo Gwang-Ho - Extraordinary Attorney Woo

Woo Young-Woo grew up to be a very successful lawyer and a rather confident woman. Even though people had so many prejudices against her because she was autistic, she proved them all wrong and made her way to the top. None of this would have been possible if her father, Woo Gwang-Hoo did not encourage her to reach for the stars and support her with literally anything and everything she needed!

Who are some of your favourite K-drama parents? Let us know in the comments below!

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