Korean Dramas Featuring Characters With Flexible Morals

Healer - Jung-Hoo, the male lead, is the best night errand boy there is. He’ll take any job as long as it doesn’t involve murder. All he wants is to save enough money to buy his dream deserted island. He’s aided by a middle aged female hacker, who  negotiates, researches and runs his jobs. Add in a satisfying romance arc and an amazing cast and it’s a must watch. - u/typefast

Healer - Kim Moon Shik, wealthy news CEO, has an infectious smile brimming with charm, peace, and happiness. He devotedly cares for his disabled wife in a mansion adapted to her needs. Surely his youthful years risking his safety as the driver for his friends' illegal radio broadcast truck prove his idealism. But while he raised his younger brother like his own son, that brother seems bitterly resentful. Veteran actor Park Sang Won’s performance is compelling and unforgettable, and overflows with irony in the context of his past work in the famed Sandglass. - u/thiswillallpass

Anna - Lee Yu-Mi is a girl who has faced difficulties most of her life and so she decides to fake her identity/take someone else's identity and live her life in order to get what she wanted. However this leads to a series of events that actually lead her to face the consequences. Suzy plays the character of Lee Anna/Lee Yu-Mi who is a morally gray character. Although you cannot really root for her actions, you can see why she does what she does but even then it is not justifiable. I loved the performances in this drama especially that of Suzy. It's so far her best work. I also appreciated how the writer fit the story in 6 episodes and the direction was great. Definitely worth the watch.  - u/Fatooz

Cheese in the Trap - Yoo Jung is an all rounder ML who is good at everything but has a dark personality. His dark personality comes from a childhood where he didn't get the love and attention he needed but obviously it doesn't excuse his actions. Hong Seol ends up getting on his wrong side and facing the consequences of his personality. This drama was a case of serious second lead syndrome for most viewers. I wouldn't say it's a perfect drama but all the main leads did a great job and Park Hae-Jin deserves applaud for portraying this character. Though it's not an amazing drama, I kind of liked how the portrayal of certain relationships were so realistic. Watch it especially for Baek In-Ho (Seo Kang-Joon)! - u/Fatooz

Flower of Evil - Baek Hee-Seong is living a happy married life but has some dark secrets which are hidden from the people around him, while he is secretly living under someone else's identity. Ji-Won is a detective who ends up getting involved in a case that leads her to find the truth behind those dark secrets of her husband. I absolutely love this drama for the acting of both our main leads. I also loved the FL's character, she was truly a strong woman and a great wife. The story was gripping although not perfect. The execution was great and it keeps you on the edge of your seat.  - u/Fatooz

Tempted - Kwon Shi-Hyun, Choi Su-Ji and Lee Se-Ju are three musketeers who like to mess with people's lives in the form of "revenge" when they're wronged by someone. In one such bet for "revenge", Shi-Hyun ends up meeting Eun Tae-Hee and falls in love with her finding this new will to change his life. However, it's a forbidden romance since Shi-Hyun approaches Tae-Hee with the wrong intentions and Tae-Hee is completely unaware of it. Shi-Hyun and the other two friends are all morally gray characters especially Su-Ji. They all have a backstory as to why they are how they are but clearly this backstory doesn't excuse their behavior. Even though not many people liked it, I really enjoyed the romance, and the soundtrack was also great. - u/Fatooz

The Red Sleeve - Based on a true story and a novel of the same name, The Red Sleeve is a story about Yi San (King Jeongjo) and Seong Deok-Im (Royal Noble Consort Uibin Seong) and their forbidden romance. Yi San is a morally gray character. He wants to become the King of Joseon but he clearly is aware of all the actions and decisions he will have to make in order to fulfill his goal. Also with regards to fulfilling his love and convincing Deok-Im to become his concubine, there are things which can make his character morally gray as he resorts to ways which forces her to become his concubine. However, this drama has a very special place in my heart. Both Lee Jun-Ho and Lee Se-Young showed such great performances and their chemistry was so palpable. The story writing and direction was also mind blowing. A must watch if you enjoy forbidden romances and historical dramas.  - u/Fatooz

Vincenzo - Vincenzo is an Italian mafia consigliere who comes to South Korea for a purpose and ends up meeting Hong Cha-Young, a corrupt lawyer. Turn of events lead them to work together and they deal with many corrupt people with corruption. Both Vincenzo and Cha-Young are morally gray characters and Vincenzo is someone who can resort to any lengths to teach these "bad" guys a lesson. Song Joong-Ki and Jeon Yeo-Been were great in their roles, however, it was Ok Taec-Yeon who stole the show with his mind blowing performance. I would recommend this drama solely for Taec-Yeon any day!  - u/Fatooz

Woman of 9.9 Billion - Seoyeon, the female lead, cheats on her husband, steals money from a crashed car, and spends the whole series refusing to part with the cash. Her friend Taewoo, an ex-cop, helps her get away with it. Her other friends Heeju and Jaehyun commit several crimes of their own. And Seoyoon's husband has very few morals to speak of, though he has moments of decency. The prevailing message to the story is that almost no one is completely moral or amoral, we're just human. - u/spinereader81

Hyena - Female lead Jung Geum Ja and male lead Yoon Hee Jae are lawyers, and this drama is like a lawyer joke supernova. In comparison to the drama’s law firm boss, who’s utterly corrupt and power mad, these two battling hotties are full of moral intricacies and surprises. This is an insanely fun, larger than life drama for folks who love a woman legal warrior who takes no prisoners, never blinks, doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty, and sees it all coming from around the corner. - u/thiswillallpass

Pinocchio - This romantic dramedy / morality tale of two generations marked by corrupt journalism has many characters with twisty moral depths. The character referred to by the title, a young woman with a disability that causes her to hiccup uncontrollably if she tries to lie, is more innocent than others, which makes her the perfect foil for their complex and even criminal choices. Look for the stunning contrast between two mothers, one an airhead chaebol who pampers her son, and another who’s so coldly ambitious she abandoned her own daughter. - u/thiswillallpass

Chicago Typewriter - Watching kdrama, I keep hearing the saying that a fortunate person “must have saved the country” in their past life, but it’s never been so fully explored as in this drama of morally complex, melodramatic past lives in the Occupation, and the unspooling of those past karmic actions in a romantic dramedy present. Like other reincarnation dramas I’ve seen, this drama is an elegiac reveal of agonizing choices made under terrible duress. A great mashup of genres and time periods, and three unforgettable lives, multipled by two lifetimes. - u.thiswillallpass

Chief Kim - Delightfully immoral badass embezzler Chief Kim might be the genius force that could stop evil corporate slugs from success with their bad, bad deeds. But whose side is he on, other than his own? This is a great drama if you love watching Korean workplace families form out of suspicion and conflict. And an epic bromance, with plenty of heat between a frequently-chewing-in-a-sensual-manner, slouching, sadistic Junho and his ostensible victim, the bruised but electric Namkoong Min. - u/thiswillallpass

Doctor Prisoner - The lead character helps guilty people get out of jail by ruining their health to make it look like they have health conditions, totally going against the principle of "do no harm". Deep down he is a caring doctor with a strong sense of right and wrong, but does many very unethical things in his quest for justice. Many of the "good" characters aren't above being unethical, corrupt or selfish either. It's totally worth a watch. The whole cast is excellent and it's thrilling to wonder if and how Namkoong Min is going to outwit the villains every time they do something outrageously evil and how they'll react if they're thwarted. - u/cherylvandertunt

Cruel City - Young innocent FL agrees to go undercover in a drug/prostitution ring. We see another undercover cop who has been in there too many years and comes out very grey. Both  go in with good intentions, but we'll see where they end up.  - u/LcLou02

Military Prosecutor Doberman - Do Bae-man, a manipulative military prosecutor who acts at the behest of a powerful lawyer, crosses path with Cha Woo-in, who has an agenda for private justice. This drama delivers a mix of revenge, courtroom drama, kick-ass action and Korean politics (corruption, abuse in the military) at a fast pace. DBM as an anti-hero reckons with his past, which is refreshing, and Noh Tae-nam, the villainous chaebol, goes through an unlikely arc, adding to the morally grey cast.

(ps, Ahn Bo-Hyun is in military fatigues or a suit most of the time, which is a completely legitimate reason to watch.) - u/everyversion22