K-Drama Flashback: Five Best Backstage Moments from Popular K-dramas of 2020 and 2021

The backstory of a K-drama can be just as fascinating as the plot itself and considering how well-produced Korean dramas are, I am even more captivated by what transpires backstage. If these expertly crafted narratives have received praise for their ability to convey emotions, their behind-the-scenes videos have (usually) amassed an equal number of eyeballs for capturing what happens when the true action unfolds on and off camera. So, let’s take a look at the fascinating situations surrounding the production of five well-known K-dramas of 2020 and 2021 in today’s edition of K-drama Flashback.

Inside the Kingdom of Corea and Filming Lee Min-ho and Kim Go-eun’s First Kiss in The King: Eternal Monarch (2020)

Lee Gon (Lee Min-ho), the reigning king of the Kingdom of Corea, breaches the barrier and enters the Republic of Korea (an alternate world). He runs across detective Jung Tae-eul (Kim Go-eun), whom he recognizes from an identity card he acquired during the key moment of his childhood: the murder of his father. Lee Rim (Lee Jung-jin), Lee Gon’s half-uncle who killed Lee Ho (Lee Gon’s father), the former king, is in hiding and building forces while transiting to and fro between the two parallel realities.

It is one of the few K-dramas that is both thrilling and healing, as well as thought-provoking. The show attracted viewers and received high praise for its plot development and deft handling of situations. Together with Kim Eun Suk’s incredibly innovative Korean drama, the emotional portrayal of the situation in the plot is more intricate than we can conceive. The idea of a parallel universe called the Kingdom of Corea, where time stands still, and the explosive chemistry between Lee Min-ho and Kim Go-eun were what I found to be the most compelling aspects of the drama.

What Exactly Happened During the Knife Grabbing and Butterfly Hug Sequence in It’s Okay to Not Be Okay?(2020)

It’s Okay to Not Be Okay received positive responses from almost all the quarters, owing to its unique premise, aesthetic narrative structure, brilliant acting, and increased focus on mental health. It was dubbed one of the best K-dramas of 2020, gaining worldwide fame starring Kim Soo-hyun, Seo Yea-ji, and Oh Jung-se in the lead roles. The series depicts a psych ward attendant and socially inept children’s book writer.

Moon Gang-tae (Kim Soo-hyun) lives with his autistic older brother Moon Sang-tae (Oh Jung-se). Gang Tae works as a caregiver in a mental facility where he meets Ko Moon-young (Seo Yea-ji), a famous writer for children’s books who is rumoured to have antisocial personality disorder. As the story develops, Moon Young develops a romantic interest in Gang Tae after discovering that their pasts are intertwined. She follows him to Seongjin (a fictional city shown in the drama), where the trio (including Sang Tae) gradually mends each other’s internal struggles. They uncover the secrets of their harrowing pasts, seek solace in one another, and move on with their lives.

The protagonists revealed in an interview that the filming process was also a process of comfort and recovery for them. The following footage shows the making of the touching drama scene in which Kim wraps Seo in the iconic butterfly hug.

Heart-touching moments from the sets of Lovestruck in the City (2020-2021)

The Park Shin-woo-directed series implicates the true stories of urban youth, as well as the complexities of their love lives. Park Jae-won (Ji Chang-wook), a 32-year-old architect, cannot ignore the woman he alludes to as a “camera thief” who pilfered his heart and then went missing. Lee Eun-o (Kim Ji-won as the woman in question), a 29-year-old independent salesperson, lives a fairly normal life but has a doppelgänger named Yoon Seon-a. One day she encounters Park on Yangyang Beach while pretending to be someone else, and the two end up falling in love.

This is an extraordinarily convincing and heartwarming drama. Lovestruck in the City will remind you about hardships, falling in love, tender moments, heartaches, moving on while greatly missing the other person, and much more. Take a look at the sequence below to get a sense of this.

The Amazing Chemistry of Song Joong-ki and Jeon Yeo-been, as well as the Other Side of Ok Taec-yeon on the Units of Vincenzo (2021)

Song Joong-ki stars as the eponymous Vicenzo, alongside Jeon Yeo-been, Ok Taec-yeon, Kim Yeo-jin, and Kwak Dong-yeon. Vincenzo Cassano / Park Joo-hyung, an Italian attorney and Mafia consignee of Korean heritage, serves as the plot’s focal point. He is the actual representative of Geumga Plaza and the adopted child of the late Cassano Family leader. He joins Jipuragi Law Firm as an advisor and foreign legal counsel, working with Hong Cha-young to take down the conglomerate Babel Group and recover the gold stashed away in Geumga Plaza.

Catch some of the most endearing and fun moments from the sets of Vincenzo. You’ll undoubtedly enjoy seeing the incredible chemistry between Song and Jeon again, as well as our Korean hunk Ok, who, despite portraying the obnoxious villain on screen, is quite funny off-screen. Additionally, the Babel brothers display how entertaining workouts can sometimes be!

Han So-hee Loses Control When She is Close to Song Kang in Nevertheless (2021)

Nevertheless, starring Han So-hee and Song Kang is an adaptation of the same-titled popular webtoon. It tells the story of two people who are drawn to each other but are wary of falling in love. The show depicts the beginning of an ambiguous romance between Yoo Na-bi (Han), a devastated woman who no longer believes in love but still desires to go on dates, and Park Jae-eon (Song), a flirty man who is averse to settling down. Although he is kind and nice to everyone, he has no interest in them. He is even more mysterious as a result of his prowess at playing hard to get and his unwillingness to express his true emotions. The plot twists when Yoo and Park develop an uncontrollable attraction to one another despite knowing it isn’t love.

The backstage clip that follows is one of many scenes from the drama that attest to Yoo’s acute sense of seduction, which overcomes her willpower and causes her to lose control despite her best efforts to avoid Park.