Korean Dramas - The Formulaic Nature of Romantic Comedies

When you look at Korean dramas, at least the romantic comedies, they seem to be Cinderella stories and follow a basic formula:

1. (usually poor) Girl 1 Meets (usually rich) Guy 1
2. Girl 1 falls in love with Guy 1
3. Girl 2 (usually Guy 1's old flame/current crush and often of the same social class/wealth/education, etc) appears and causes misunderstandings between Girl 1 and Guy 1
4. Guy 2 (who is usually more sensitive, richer, nicer, more sincere than Guy 1 and who I usually like better because he only has eyes for Girl 1) appears and comforts Girl 1 causing more misunderstandings between Girl 1 and Guy 1
5. Girl 1 and Guy 1 eventually solve their misunderstandings, get back together and live happily ever after (even though I'm usually cheering for Guy 2)

Both Goong and Sassy Girl Chun-hyang, both seem to follow this formula.

*Spoilers*

In Goong, commoner Shin Chae-gyung finds out she's been engaged with the Crown Prince of Korea Lee Shin because their grandfathers were friends. They marry and go live in to the palace because Shin's girlfriend, Min Hyo-rin, rejected him since she wants to go abroad and be professional ballet dancer. Meanwhile, Lee Shin's cousin and competitor to the throne Lee Yul comes back and pursues Shin Chae-gyung avidly. At the same time, Min Hyo-rin is jealous that of Shin Chae-gyung and Lee Shin's budding relationship and begins pursuing Lee Shin again. Many misunderstandings, scandals, crying scenes ensue. Finally Lee Shin and Shin Chae-gyung get back together and go off together somewhere (at least in the drama) with Lee Shin's sister inheriting the throne.

Sassy Girl Chun-hyang is pretty much the same. Poor, daughter of a cabaret singer, Chun-hyang and relatively richer, son of a police commissioner, Myong-rong are forced to be married (due to a misunderstanding) by their parents and high school teachers. Chun-hyang and Myong-rong fall in love gradually. Myong-rong's old flame, Chae-rin comes back after being dumped by her boyfriend and pursues Myong-rong avidly. Meanwhile, Byeon Hak-do, the rich director of a talent agency, meets Chun-hyang and is totally enchanted by her, even though she's about half his age....I think she's around 16-17 and he's ~30. Misunderstandings, separation, mountains of tears ensue. Finally Myong-rong and Chun-hyang get back together at the end and live happily ever after.

So why do I like Korean romantic comedies? After all, the plots are extremely predictable.

Perhaps its the setting?
To be honest, I like the manhwa (comic book) of Goong much better of the drama in terms of plot, but the drama totally swept me away with the beautiful houses/palaces, the colorful and beautiful clothes, and great soundtrack (even though I don't understand a word of Korean).

Or perhaps its the actors/actresses?
In terms of male actors, I think Oh Ji-ho (오지호) from Fantasy Couple is pretty hot and in terms of female stars I think Han Chae-yeong (한채영) from Sassy Girl, Chun-hyang has a good figure and Song Hye-gyo (송혜교) from Full House is quite beautiful.

Or perhaps I just like the formula itself...as I and probably the rest of the Korean drama-watching population may be romantics as heart and the perfect (personality and wealth-wise) guys in the dramas give us plenty of fuel to fantasize about...

Finally, let me end with some recommendations in terms of Korean dramas. If you liked Goong and/or Sassy Girl, Chun-hyang you may also like the following, most of which follow the Cinderella formula:

Sweet 18: poor/middle-class girl with prosecutor/illustrious family guy
Full House: Poor girl and movie star main guy
My Girl: poor swindler girl with rich hotelier guy
Fantasy Couple: Reverse Cinderella with rich girl and poor guy