A lot of people seem to be wondering if Seoul Busters has any romance, so I’ll try to keep this short and clear.
There’s no romance in the typical K-drama sense where two leads end up together, but romance does exist in the story.
The male lead, Yubin, has flashbacks of his girlfriend, but she’s no longer in his life and so we are left waiting to see if she died or if they broke up. Jung Ryeok has dated a lot of women but never fully moved on from his first love. Jeong Hwan is married with four daughters, and some episodes dive into how much he loves his family and the tough choices he faces—decisions that could help his family but hurt the team. Min Seo also had a past relationship, and there’s an episode showing flashbacks of her breakup and why it happened. As for Tan Shik, there’s been no mention of past or current partners, so it’s safe to assume he hasn’t been in any serious relationships. So yeah, there is romance, but it’s more in the background rather than a major plotline like in typical K-dramas.
I'd say Taxi Driver, although no romance, but s2 kinda shows us they plan to go in that direction in s3. hopefully
Yh but the female lead in their taxi service is the FL in s2 and shes much better and has the connection with the ML and she's also in s1. The FL in s1 is a prosecutor and she's briefly mentioned in s2.
This aired on KBS2's Saturday & Sunday 19:55 time slot after My Husband Got A Family, and before that was Ojakgyo Family. Three of the greatest family kdramas aired in a row!
Westerners saying Koreans have a bully culture is like the pot calling the kettle black. Westerners are WAYYYY…
You're not wrong that Western celebrity culture can be invasive and toxic, but to say Korea isn’t worse in many ways is ignoring reality. The level of public scrutiny and career-ending consequences in Korea far exceed what happens in the West.
Korean netizens take "cancel culture" to a completely different level, often harassing celebrities to the point of them leaving the industry or even facing severe mental health struggles. Sulli and Goo Hara are tragic examples of how relentless netizen bullying can push someone to the edge. The pressure to be "perfect" in Korea’s entertainment industry is suffocating, and any slip-up—no matter how small—results in overwhelming backlash.
And let’s not forget that idols in Korea can’t even date without their careers being put in jeopardy. The fact that relationships—something completely normal—can lead to mass hate, contract terminations, and even public apologies is insane. In the West, fans might gossip about celebrity relationships, but they don’t demand apologies for them.
In addition, Korea’s approach to crime in the entertainment industry is often inconsistent, where drug offenses—especially involving substances like weed—receive harsher scrutiny than crimes like sexual assault. For example, BIGBANG’s T.O.P faced immense backlash, legal trouble, and was essentially blacklisted after being caught using marijuana, while some actors convicted or accused of sexual assault have managed to continue their careers with little consequence. Lee Kyung-young, who was convicted of sexually exploiting a minor, has still been cast in major films and dramas, playing respected roles without much backlash.
Also, your take on Kim Sae Ron ignores a key issue: Korean society doesn’t easily allow fallen celebrities to just "work normal jobs." Public figures who lose favour aren’t just losing fan support—they are blacklisted from opportunities, ridiculed for taking regular jobs (see former celebrities caught working part-time being mocked online), and often shunned permanently.
Yes, celebrity worship happens everywhere, and no one has to support a fallen celebrity. But pretending Korea isn't uniquely harsh about this is just ignoring the reality of how its entertainment industry works.
I watched this as it was being released and rated it 8.5, thinking it was a good kdrama to watch at least once, only to come back recently and see its rated pretty lowly. Honestly I enjoyed it.
The male lead, Yubin, has flashbacks of his girlfriend, but she’s no longer in his life and so we are left waiting to see if she died or if they broke up.
Jung Ryeok has dated a lot of women but never fully moved on from his first love.
Jeong Hwan is married with four daughters, and some episodes dive into how much he loves his family and the tough choices he faces—decisions that could help his family but hurt the team.
Min Seo also had a past relationship, and there’s an episode showing flashbacks of her breakup and why it happened.
As for Tan Shik, there’s been no mention of past or current partners, so it’s safe to assume he hasn’t been in any serious relationships.
So yeah, there is romance, but it’s more in the background rather than a major plotline like in typical K-dramas.
Korean netizens take "cancel culture" to a completely different level, often harassing celebrities to the point of them leaving the industry or even facing severe mental health struggles. Sulli and Goo Hara are tragic examples of how relentless netizen bullying can push someone to the edge. The pressure to be "perfect" in Korea’s entertainment industry is suffocating, and any slip-up—no matter how small—results in overwhelming backlash.
And let’s not forget that idols in Korea can’t even date without their careers being put in jeopardy. The fact that relationships—something completely normal—can lead to mass hate, contract terminations, and even public apologies is insane. In the West, fans might gossip about celebrity relationships, but they don’t demand apologies for them.
In addition, Korea’s approach to crime in the entertainment industry is often inconsistent, where drug offenses—especially involving substances like weed—receive harsher scrutiny than crimes like sexual assault. For example, BIGBANG’s T.O.P faced immense backlash, legal trouble, and was essentially blacklisted after being caught using marijuana, while some actors convicted or accused of sexual assault have managed to continue their careers with little consequence. Lee Kyung-young, who was convicted of sexually exploiting a minor, has still been cast in major films and dramas, playing respected roles without much backlash.
Also, your take on Kim Sae Ron ignores a key issue: Korean society doesn’t easily allow fallen celebrities to just "work normal jobs." Public figures who lose favour aren’t just losing fan support—they are blacklisted from opportunities, ridiculed for taking regular jobs (see former celebrities caught working part-time being mocked online), and often shunned permanently.
Yes, celebrity worship happens everywhere, and no one has to support a fallen celebrity. But pretending Korea isn't uniquely harsh about this is just ignoring the reality of how its entertainment industry works.