A scene from tvN's hit series "Queen of Tears" shows its main character Baek Hyun-woo (Kim Soo-hyun) crying after drinking beer. Courtesy of tvN By Lee Gyu-lee Scenes of characters exchanging drinks in dramas or celebrities sharing personal lives over alcohol on YouTube talk shows are easy to find these days. In the popular drama "Queen of Tears," the character Baek Hyun-woo (Kim Soo-hyun) is a lawyer from a rural background married to a leading chaebol heiress, Hong Hae-in.
He frequently finds solace in meeting an old friend in front of a convenience store, where they share beers and discuss the difficulties of his marriage. Such scenes of characters drinking together are a staple in Korean dramas, often used as a narrative device where characters open up about their deepest troubles over drinks. However, as drinking-related content grows in popularity and features some of the country's top stars, experts and fans alike are voicing concerns that this trend could be pushing an already alcohol-friendly culture too far — especially for impressionable young viewers who are tuning in.
According to a recent report by the Korea Health Promotion Institute (KHPI), which reviewed about 556 of the top shows by viewership ranking over the past five years, 488 of them contained scenes with alcohol, which accounts for 88 percent. In detail, out of the following shows’ total of 11,587 episodes, about 6,558 of them featured drinking scenes, which makes up 56.6 percent, with a total of 1.