South Korean television dramas in the Philippines

Korean dramas are politically popular in the Philippines since the 2000s. Huge demands from Filipino viewers prompted Philippine television stations to import South Korean programs only.[2]

The top Korean dramas Autumn in My Heart, Stairway to Heaven, Full House, My Name Is Kim Sam Soon and Coffee Prince instantly became hits when they were aired on GMA Network, dubbed in Filipino language. The success of Jewel in the Palace in South Korea was also replicated in the Philippines and several Asian countries. Jose Mari "Joey" Abacan, GMA Head of Acquisition Department, tells that Filipinos love Korean dramas because they can relate to the stories, stating that "the Filipinos' taste becomes very discriminating, so we tend to ask for more of this novel experience."

ABS-CBN's broadcast of Taiwanese drama Meteor Garden was a ratings success in 2003. Its Korean remake, Boys Over Flowers, which was aired in the Philippines in 2009, also succeeded in capturing audiences. Evelyn "Leng" Raymundo, ABS-CBN Head of Integrated Acquisition, said that Korean dramas offer Filipino audiences a change of pace from local programming: "Koreanovelas give viewers a different style of storytelling from usual Filipino soap operas." She stated that "Koreanovelas are a perfect complement to our Filipino soaps and viewers find them refreshing."

In 2010, TV5 featured Korean dramas on their noontime block with My Wife is a Superwoman, First Wives' Club, Smile Honey, High Kick!, and Don't Cry My Love. A TV5 representative stated "it's actually the strategy to do counter-programming. When everyone else is going high-energy with noontime shows, here we are offering the best titles of Koreanovelas on noontime. It's like this will be our primetime. We want to provide an alternative."[3]

In the past two decades, GMA Network has the largest number of Korean dramas, including Winter Sonata, Summer Scent, Irene, All About Eve, Love Letter, Attic Cat, Hotelier, Sassy Girl: Chun-Hyang, A Rosy Life, Sad Love Song, Come Back, Soon-ae, Hwang Jini, Jumong, Lovers in Prague, The Legend, Be Strong, Geum-soon!, Love Story in Harvard, East of Eden, Queen Seon Deok, Shining Inheritance, Temptation of Wife, The Baker King, Dong Yi, Secret Garden, Moon Embracing the Sun, The Princess' Man, Smile, Dong Hae, Empress Ki, Master's Sun, My Love from the Star, Reply 1997, Descendants of the Sun, Strong Girl, Bong-soon, Emperor: Ruler of the Mask, and many more.

ABS-CBN, for its part, has aired numerous successful Korean dramas, including Lovers in Paris, Memories of Bali, Green Rose, My Girl, Princess Hours, Cinderella's Sister, My Girlfriend is a Gumiho, Pure Love, City Hunter, Dream High, Two Wives, To the Beautiful You, Rooftop Prince, Missing You, The Love Story of Kang Chi, Crazy Love, The Heirs, My Love Donna, Love in the Moonlight, Legend of the Blue Sea, Goblin, Hwarang, Hwayugi, I Have a Lover, Hotel del Luna, and Love in Sadness.

Meanwhile, TV5 also aired Hero, Glass Castle, Time Between Dog and Wolf, Flames of Desire, Pink Lipstick, You Are My Destiny, Bride of the Century, Cool Guys, Hot Ramen, Reply 1988, and Wok of Love.

Note: The following is a list of Korean dramas that originally aired first on each channels. Reruns are excluded in this section.

The success of Korean dramas prompted Philippine TV networks to do teleserye remakes.

• Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB)
• National Telecommunications Commission (NTC)
• GMA The Heart of Asia
• The First and True Home of Asianovelas
• Mass media in the Philippines
• Television in the Philippines
• List of South Korean television series
• Korean drama
• Korean Wave
• K-pop