Korean dramas have been gaining international popularity. Many of the shows are original stories, but there are some that start off as a webtoon. A webtoon, or manhwa, is a digital comic originating in South Korea. In terms of adaptations, think of it as how Marvel and DC Comics are now being turned into blockbuster movies and some of the most talked-about television shows.

When webtoons are recreated into dramas, sometimes the storyline can change. This can lead to original characters, different endings, or other things that can cause people to become interested in reading the original versions. In case you are one of those people, or maybe you’re interested in learning more about webtoons, here are seven popular Korean dramas that started as webtoons.

Cheese in The Trap

Cheese in The Trap is one of the OGs when it comes to webtoons-turned-dramas. The 2016 drama stars Park Haejin and Kim Goeun as college students navigating their way through a relationship for 16 episodes. Yoojung (Park Haejin) is friendly to Hongseol (Kim Goeun) when others are around, but when she is alone, things get strange. Does Yoojung have a darker side that Hongseol should be worried about?

Cheese In The Trap is based on the 2010 webtoon with the same name and is available to read on the WEBTOON app. If you are interested in watching the drama, you can check it out on Netflix or Viki.

True Beauty

True Beauty is an ongoing popular webtoon that has been recently turned into a popular drama. The female lead Jugyeom (Moon Gayoung) has terrible skin. To feel better about herself and avoid bullying, she becomes a master at applying makeup. Her new look increases her popularity and soon she finds herself in the middle of a love triangle with two of the most popular boys at school, Suho (Cha Eunwoo) and Seojun (Hwang Inyeop). This isn’t a typical love triangle, however. Who will Jugyeom end up with the end? The webtoon is available on WEBTOON, while the drama is available on Viki.

Itaewon Class

Make sure there are tissues nearby while watching this JTBC show. Itaewon Class is about the life and trials of Park Saeroyi (Park Seojoon). He has a dream and will stop at nothing to make it a reality. Along the way, he accumulates a crew of friends and enemies that force him to make decisions he isn’t comfortable making but the result is sure interesting to watch, which you can do on Netflix.

The drama is based on the 2016 webtoon by Jo Gwangju and is available to read on the tapas app.

Sweet Home

Danger! Nightmares are ahead. The announcement of Sweet Home being turned into a Korean drama for Netflix excited the webtoon’s legions of fans. The story follows Cha Hyunsoo (Song Kang) as he navigates a world consumed by monsters. He is trapped in his apartment building with many of his neighbors. Slowly they begin to change into mindless, blood-thirsty monsters, and it’s up to Hyunsoo to figure out how to survive before he loses the battle to his inner demon. The completed webtoon is available to read on WEBTOONS.

What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim

Tissues will be needed for this drama but only because of the hilarity of it! Secretary Kim (Park Minyoung) decides to quit her job with the self-centered vice president Youngjoon (Park Seojoon). He decides that the only reason she would quit is that she’s fallen madly in love with him and he decides he will stop at nothing to get his perfect secretary to stay. What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim is available to read on the tappytoon app. The drama is on Viki.

Love Alarm

Imagine having an app that controls a person’s love life. That’s the premise of Love Alarm. Kim Jojo (Kim Sohyun) has a painful past but always tries to be bright and cheerful. Her world is turned upside down when two of her classmates, Hwang Sunoh (Song Kang) and Lee Hyeyoung (Jung Garam), vie for her love. Love Alarm is the only drama on this list that doesn’t have an English version of the webtoon available, but with season two of the drama being released this past Friday on Netflix, there’s a chance that it might be available in the future.

The Uncanny Counter

The Uncanny Counter allows someone to unleash their inner superhero. The main cast’s job is to hunt down evil spirits and send them into the afterlife. Somun (Jo Byeonggyu) joins the team as the newest counter and uses his abilities to solve the mystery of why his parents were killed and by whom. It’s not an easy mystery to solve. Somun must put faith in his newfound abilities and his team members to help him fight evil until they can serve justice to all. The Uncanny Counter is available to watch on Netflix and read on the tapas app.

7 Popular Korean Dramas That Started As Webtoons