Worst K-drama Kisses Of All Time
Kissing Scenes are always a guilty pleasure for many viewers of tv shows and when it comes to K-dramas, it is a scene that most viewers look forward to.
While K-drama kisses have come a long way from the early years of the genre, there are still some awkward kissing scenes that give us a cringe-inducing shudder.
Join us as we recount 8 of the worst kisses from Korean dramas and read why they make us squirm from sheer second-hand embarrassment.
Itaewon Class
If there is one K-drama kiss that made me squirm because of how much it lacked passion, it comes from 2020 drama, Itaewon Class. More specifically, the kiss between actors Park Seo-joon and Kim Da-mi. There is no doubt that Seo-joon is an excellent K-drama actor but something about his chemistry was off in this show.
While the non-consensual first kiss when Jo Yi-seo kisses Park Sae-royi when he is unconscious was a real buzz-kill, the couple’s finale kiss was even worse with Sae-royi trying to kiss Yi-seo with every single fibre of his being but Da-mi’s character unwilling to co-operate during the process.
So Not Worth It
After his success being a member of GOT7, Youngjae’s first kiss in this comedy-drama was just not worth it. The Netflix original stars GOT7’s vocalist Choi Youngjae and (G)I-dle’s main vocalist, Minnie as Sam and Minnie respectively.
Given the fact that their first kiss was shared at a time when they were in public, sitting in a Korean barbeque restaurant, it was shocking how the other guests did not look at the two. The ‘pork-fat’ kiss was extremely awkward with Minnie wide-eyed and shocked as Sam pulls her in to give her two, emotionless pecks on her lips.
Iris 2
2013’s action-thriller Iris 2 has made multiple ‘Worst K-drama Kiss’ lists and there is a pretty good reason as to why. In a scene from Episode 4 of the show, actor Jang Hyuk shows viewers how exactly one must not surprise their partner with an unexpected kiss.
After Lee Da-hee’s character Soo-yeon is talking about how being shy makes a guy much more attractive, Jang Hyuk’s character, Yoo-geon grabs her by the face and starts sucking on her lips like a pucker fish. Adding to the chaos, their positioning makes the kiss way more awkward and cringeworthy and Soo-yeon is just left at a loss for words, rightfully so.
Heirs
If there is one actress that has the potential to be called the worst K-drama kisser of all time, it is Park Shin-hye and this is an already well-established fact. Shin-hye has been called out for her awkward kissing scenes but her kiss with Lee Min-ho in the 2016 K-drama Heirs is really one that you won’t expect to feel so awkward about.
Considering the fact that most of the kisses in this show were forced (we will talk about this in a different article), it is possible that Shin-hye was trying to show Eun-sang’s discomfort when Kim Tan (played by Min-ho) tried to force kisses on her lips. However, the lack of resistance and trying to fight Tan away made the kisses really awkward on Eun-sang’s part.
Now We Are Breaking Up
Another actress that holds a candle to Park Shin-hye is Song Hye-kyo with her stiff kiss scene from her comeback K-drama in 2021, Now We Are Breaking Up. Hye-kyo’s character, Yeong-eun, initiates the kiss with Jae-gook (played by Jang Ki-yong) in an elevator. The kiss was a surprise to Jae-gook but despite it being their second kiss together, Hye-kyo’s stiffness was a buzzkill.
On the other hand, some of the other kissing scenes from this show were great to some extent. However, Hye-kyo really appeared to be out of her element in this show and looked like someone who was not enjoying the kisses as much as Yeong-eun, her character was supposed to.
When A Man Loves
Who would’ve thought that an actor who was included in the best K-drama kisses of all time would be included in the list of the worst K-drama kisses of all time too? Yeon Woo-jin is that actor and is best known for his appearance in the 2018 K-drama Introverted Boss. However, years before appearing in the show, Woo-jin starred in the 2013 romance drama, When A Man Loves with Shin Se-kyung in the lead role.
The show had some of the most awkward and passionless kisses of all time and adding to it, we have a scene where Jae-hee (played by Woo-jin) forcefully enters Mi-do’s (played by Se-kyung) hotel room and violently kisses her only for the woman to shove him away by force. The scene is utterly distasteful and takes away from their romance because of the ’emotional cheating’.
Full House
Old K-dramas were really cringeworthy for modern-day viewers and the 2004 Korean drama, Full House is no exception. The show stars Song Hye-kyo and K-pop sensation, Rain in the lead roles of Ji-eun and Yeong-jae respectively. Almost all kisses from this show lacked passion and felt awkward.
It also did not help that Song Hye-kyo was as stiff as she could ever be. The kisses were as good as pecks on the lips with little to no effort so as to sell the romantic moment between the characters making viewers feel no emotion at all.
Heartstrings
This list would have been incomplete without another Park Shin-hye mention and this final pick for the worst K-drama kisses of all time is from her 2011 romance drama, Heartstrings opposite CNBLUE’s Jung Yong-hwa.
In episode 4 of the show, Yong-hwa’s character, Lee Shin, is supposed to kiss Shin-hye’s character Gyu-won in the middle of a concert where Lee Shin is the musician and Gyu-won is a member of the audience.
Gyu-won’s reaction to the surprise kiss came from miles away, way before Lee Shin could even kiss her giving fans one of the most awkward K-drama kisses of all time. Not only that but Gyu-won continued to let Lee Shin kiss her whilst being motionless and wide-eyed, adding on to the cringe.
So there we have it, our picks for the worst on-screen K-drama kisses of all time!
What do you think of our picks? Did these make you cringe too? Are there any notable omissions? Let us know in the comments below!
I don’t know a lot of these but I disagree about IC. I thought their real first kiss was excellent, in episode 16, and the last one in that episode was not as good as the first but not cringey or anything.
I completely agree with most of these, even just from seeing your screenshots. Full House left me enraged! I didn’t feel a drop of love between the leads. Rain tried hard, but Song Hye-kyo’s character was mean and cold to the end. Utter kiss fail.
I respectfully disagree about Iris 2 because I’m biased. If Jang Hyuk grabbed me and kissed me like that, well, goodnight!! LOL. I think he is one of the best Kdrama kissers out there. I give his character a pass since he dies at the end. But I’m foggy about the drama as a whole. It’s been so long.