Quite often, and perhaps rightly so, K-Drama female leads are seen as the typical damsels in distress, always in need of saving. But then comes a K-Drama where the women dish out the distress—on a silver platter, or with no platter at all, as Song Hye-kyo from The Glory will make crystal clear. If your perceptions of K-Drama women need a little correcting, we’re here to help.
Here’s our list of revenge-driven dramas led by powerful women who refuse to back down. The Glory Ah, Song Hye-kyo’s hysterical laughter still rings in my ears. The Glory is a gritty, raw tale of a woman seeking revenge for the monstrous bullying and attacks she suffered in school.
Song Hye-kyo plays Moon Dong Eun, who decides to channelise her rage into meticulously plotting the ruin of her perpetrators. Despite being haunted by the past, Dong Eun, now a highly qualified teacher, enrolls at the same school where the daughter of her main tormentor, Yeon Jin (Lim Ji Yeon), attends. Hye-kyo delivers one of her career-defining performances as the hardened, desensitised Dong Eun.
Her rage and seemingly cold exterior is reflected even in her fashion choices, where she chooses black, and gray. And let’s not forget Lee Do-hyun as the plastic surgeon Joo Yeo Jeong, who, despite his own painful past, becomes captivated by Dong Eun and offers to be her ally in this dark journey of vengeance. Streaming on Netflix My Name I sacrificed my future and name for revenge.
Fueled by a burning desire to avenge her.
