The Story of Chun-hyang

Sageuk (Korean: 사극; Hanja: 史劇; ) in Korean denotes historical dramas, including traditional drama plays, films or television series. In English language literature sageuk usually refers to historical films and television series (of South Korea). In North Korea, South Korean historical dramas are generally called 고전 영화 (Hanja: 古典映畫; MR: kojŏn yŏnghwa) or classic film. The first known historical film, The Story of Chun-hyang filmed in 1923, was directed by a Japanese filmmaker. The first Korean sound film was also sageuk. The heyday of Korean cinema began in the 1950s and lasted until the 1980s, with many sageuk films released, like Lee Gyu-hwan's Chunhyang adaptation in 1955. In the 1960s, historical melodramas were significant, as well as martial arts films. In the 1970s, due to the popularity of television, cinema started to decline, and in the 1980s it encountered a crisis, which prompted filmmakers to try to win viewers back with erotic pieces. From the 1990s, Im Kwon-taek's movies, as well as The Legend of Gingko and The Eternal Empire are significant works. From the 2000s, sageuk films started flourishing, between 2012 and 2015 Korean cinema produced five sageuk that broke the 10 million viewership record. As of March 2026, the highest-grossing South Korean film was also a historical drama, The Admiral: Roaring Currents, while the 2026 sageuk The King's Warden ranked third. The first television series, a sageuk, of South Korea aired on state channel KBS in 1962, titled Gukto malli. In the 1970s, in contrast to the previous decade, historical TV series portrayed national heroes like Yi Sun-sin or Sejong the Great. The characteristic series of the 1980s was Joseonwangjo 500 nyeon ('500 Years of Joseon'). The 1990s were dominated by contemporary dramas with regard to popularity and viewership ratings, despite having produced a number of quality sageuk. The 2000s saw the birth of the "fusion sageuk" genre, which changed the historical series genre in South Korea. Some of the significant works from this period are Hur Jun, Damo, Dae Jang Geum and Queen Seondeok. Popular themes of sageuk include elements from Korean folklore and mythology, famous or notorious princes, kings, palace intrigue, national heroes and famous women.