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(; ) in Korean language denotes , including traditional drama plays, films or Korean drama. In English language literature 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, RR: Gojeon Yeonghwa) 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 . The heyday of Korean cinema began in the 1950s and lasted until the 1980s, with many films released, like Lee Gyu-hwan's Chunhyangga adaptation in 1955. In the 1960s, historical 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, films started flourishing, between 2012 and 2015 Korean cinema produced five that broke the 10 million viewership record. As of 2016 June, the highest grossing South Korean film is also a historical drama: .
The first television series, a , of South Korea aired on state channel KBS in 1962, titled . 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 ('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 . The 2000s saw the birth of the "fusion " 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 include elements from Korean folklore and Korean mythology, famous or notorious princes, kings, palace intrigue, national heroes and famous women.
After the Korean War, romanticism was the ruling school of 1950s historical movies in South Korea, often focusing on female characters. The roots of this can be traced back to theatres: grand , or folk operas, had been popular, so much so, that they began to be adapted to film. Since these stories focused on human nature, fate, and feelings, actual historical backgrounds were irrelevant. These stories usually preferred the period of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, factual details of which were scarce, thus attention to historical factual accuracy could be avoided. In 1956, (왕자호동과 낙랑공주) adapted the story of Prince Hodong and the Princess of Nakrang, Korea's very own Romeo and Juliet tale.
The 1950s to the 1980s are considered the heyday of Chungmuro, or the Korean Hollywood, when more than 100 films were produced annually. The need for historical films was boosted by the success of such works as Lee Gyu-hwan's Chunhyangga adaption (1955), Kim Ki-young's Yangsan Province or Jeon Chang-geun's (King Gojong and martyr An Jung-Geun; 1959).
successes of the 1960s were adaptations of works that had previously been successful in other art forms, for example as radio plays, theatrical plays, [[changgeuk]] operas or novels. Examples include (장희빈; 1961), (내시, 'Eunuch'; 1968) or ''Women of Yi Dynasty'' (이조 여인잔혹사, ; 1969). The atmosphere this time was more conservative than in the 1950s, partially due to Park Chung Hee's dictatorship. Conforming to the circumstances, historical melodramas were preferred, but there were exceptions like [[Jeong Chang-hwa]]'s martial arts films, inspired by the Shaw Brothers. This is the period when [[Joseon]] became the focus of attention, depicting the relationship between kings and officials, determining the nature of historical films for the next decades. Viewers were now more interested in actual historical events than in mystified, old legends. Previously, people were searching for familiar themes in , due to modern inventions being relatively new to Korea at the time. By the 1960s, however, they got used to modernities, thus filmmakers turned to decadent themes or novel stories.
The first historical television series in South Korea was aired in 1962 on state channel KBS, titled (국토만리), directed by Kim Jae-hyeong (김재형), set in the era of Goguryeo.
As television dominated, cinema declined, and out of all the historic films of the period only two could achieve success at the box office: Lee Gyu-ung's (성웅 이순신) and yet another Chunhyangga adaptation, this time by Lee Seong-gu. Critics applauded other works, like Gate of Woman (홍살문, , 1972), An Executioner (망나니, , 1974), Concentration of Attention (집념, , 1976) or A War Diary (난중일기, , 1977).
The diverse programming on television devoured viewers from attending cinemas, and the film industry had but one way out: show a genre that could not be accessed through television. This is why they turned to making erotic films, a good portion of which were set in historical times. Movies like Eoudong (1985) or Does the Cuckoo Cry at Night (뻐꾸기도 밤에 우는가, , 1985) were also popular at the box office. Although erotic movies were popular, the genre saw a decline in South Korean cinema generally.
The 1990s saw a number of on television, like (한명회, 1994), (장녹수, 1995), Tears of the Dragon (용의 눈물, 1996–1998) or King of the Wind (대왕의 길, 1998). However, viewership ratings could not match up to that of contemporary , only a few could reach 30%, while for example the modern themed Eyes of Dawn recorded 58.3%, Sandglass broke 50.8%.
Sungkyunkwan Scandal (2010), Moon Embracing the Sun (2012) and Love in the Moonlight (2016) were all adapted from popular novels. They were initially targeted to a younger demographic but has since received mainstream and international success. The productions have also put the spotlight to then emerging actors Song Joong-ki, Yoo Ah-in, Kim Soo-hyun, Park Bo-gum and Kim Yoo-jung.
Large-scale s have been rarely produced, but when they were launched, they often caught the attention of the public. Most of them have been fantasy-based, telling the audience a unique story of kings and queens who lived in the ancient era. The most well-known one so far has been The Legend (2007), which featured the Korean wave star Bae Yong-joon. In 2018, Studio Dragon announced it is working on Arthdal Chronicles, a new fantasy casting Song Joong-ki and Kim Ji-won. The drama started its first shooting on 1 June and recorded 8% personal best rating.
On March 5, 2017, Netflix announced that it had given the production a series order for a first season of Kingdom. Alongside the series announcement, it was confirmed that Kim Seong-hun would direct the series and that Kim Eun-hee would be credited as the writer. Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of AStory.
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