12 Best K-Drama Cameos From Other Shows

K-dramas are often full of cameos from famous actors, but some of the best ones are direct references to other K-dramas. With so many new K-dramas being released each month, and a backlog of great content to catch up on, the K-drama universe is vast and ever-expanding. However, by watching more K-dramas, easter eggs and cameo appearances make more sense, especially when they revive old characters or see couples reunite on screen once again.

From relationships with the writers or directors, or friendships between actors, there are many reasons why cameo appearances happen. Some link together K-dramas in the same universe while others simply give viewers the thrill of seeing K-drama couples with great chemistry reunite on-screen again. No matter the reasoning, cameo appearances are always a big hit and makes watching so many K-dramas seem worth it.

12 Kim Seul-gi In Hi, Bye Mama (2020)

She Played Shin Soon-ae In Oh My Ghost (2015)

As a K-drama that focuses heavily on the theme of death, Hi, Bye Mama! is a tragi-comedy that makes crying seem a given, as Cha Yu-ri (Kim Tae-hee) has to choose between her own happiness or her newly remarried husband’s happiness following her tragic death. Despite the morbid and emotional premise, Hi, Bye Mama! has some incredibly funny moments that showcase the highs and lows of life. One of the best comes from Kim Seul-gi’s cameo as she reprises the role of virgin ghost Shin Soon-ae from Oh My Ghost.

Kim Seul-gi’s cameo is nothing short of hilarious as she attempts to find a new host to allow her to achieve her goal of losing her virginity. Shin Soon-ae’s similarly devious nature that caused so much trouble in Oh My Ghost comes back in a flash as Kim Seul-gi effortlessly slips into the role of Shin Soon-ae that it makes it hard to believe that Oh My Ghost had ended five years before Hi, Bye Mama!.

11 Choi Moo-sung & Kim Sun-young In Hospital Playlist

They Played Choi Moo-sung & Kim Sun-young In Reply 1988

There are many easter eggs for the Reply series in Hospital Playlist. These include appearances by Go A-ra, who played Sung Na-jung in Reply 1994, and references to Yoo Yeon-suk’s role as baseball player Chilbong in Reply 1994, among many others. However, the most direct reference comes from the appearance of Choi Moo-sung and Kim Sun-young, who played Choi Taek’s father and Sung Sun-woo’s mother in Reply 1988.

Choi Moo-sung and Kim Sun-young reprise their roles from Reply 1988 and share their now-married couple, while directly mentioning their son, Choi Taek (Park Bo-gum). However, one of the biggest easter eggs comes from the golden turtle that Moo-sung tries to give Lee Ik-jun (Jo Jung-suk). This is the same turtle that Choi Taek used to profess his eternal love to Sung Deok-sun (Lee Hye-ri) and is a nice callback to one of the best K-drama ensemble series.

Hospital Playlist (2020)

Hospital Playlist is a South Korean television series that follows the lives of five doctors working at a hospital. It explores their personal and professional struggles as they navigate the challenges of their jobs and personal relationships. The series delves into themes of friendship, love, and growth as the characters face various medical cases and personal struggles.

Cast

Cho Jung-seok , Yoo Yeon-seok , Jung Kyung-ho , Kim Dae-Myung , Jeon Mi-do

Release Date

March 12, 2020

Seasons

2

10 Bae Suzy In My Love From The Star (2013)

She Played Go Hye-mi In Dream High (2011)

Episode 17 of My Love From The Star marks the return of Dream High‘s Go Hye-mi, played by Bae Suzy, and shows how her life has continued following the end of Dream High. Go Hye-mi is now a university student taught by Do Min-joon (Kim Soo-hyun) and she is a little too interested in her professor, who doesn’t know who she is. This doesn’t seem to deter Hye-mi, who uses their moment alone to present the audience with Dream High easter eggs that make the cameo even better.

Go Hye-mi mentions that Do Min-joon looks like her ex-boyfriend, Sam-dong, who was played by Kim Soo-hyun in Dream High. Go Hye-mi then continues to flirt with Min-joon, which further deepens the connection between the two as Sam-dong and Hye-mi were Dream High‘s main love interests. Though Kim Soo-hyun and Bae Suzy’s chemistry in My Love From The Star is vastly different to Dream High, it is great to see them on screen together again.

9 Lee Sung-kung & Yoon Kyun-sang In While You Were Sleeping (2017)

They Played Jin Seo-woo & Jung Yoon-do In Doctors (2016)

Actors Lee Sung-kyung and Lee Jong-suk have a long-standing friendship that sees them appearing in each other’s work. Lee Jong-suk made a guest appearance in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo to support Lee Sung-kyung’s first leading role as the titular character, Kim Bok-joo. However, Lee Sung-kyung’s appearance in Lee Jong-suk’s next K-drama alongside Doctors co-star Yoon Kyun-sang takes cameos to the next level.

Though their Doctors characters did not have a good relationship, Lee Sung-kyung and Yoon Kyun-sang explore an entirely different dynamic in While You Were Sleeping as an overly enthusiastic young couple. Lee Sung-kyung and Yoon Kyun-sang’s energy bounces off the screen when they are together and makes for a great contrast with While You Were Sleeping‘s leading couple, Nam Hong-joo (Bae Suzy) and Jung Jae-chan (Lee Jong-suk) who are relatively shy and conservative.

While You Were Sleeping (2017)

While You Were Sleeping is a South Korean drama series that aired in 2017. The show stars Bae Suzy and Lee Jong-suk and revolves around a young woman who can foresee future events in her dreams and a prosecutor who works to prevent these premonitions from coming true. The narrative intertwines elements of romance, fantasy, and legal drama.

Cast

Bae Suzy , Lee Jong-suk , Jung Hae-in , Lee Sang-Yeob , Ko Sung-hee , Sin Jae-ha , Kim Won-hae , Hwang Young-hee

Release Date

September 27, 2017

Seasons

1

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8 Jung So-min & Seo In-guk In Abyss (2019)

They Played Yoo Jin-kang & Kim Moo-young In The Smile Has Left Your Eyes (2018)

Jung So-min and Seo In-guk starred together in a relatively minor role in the first episode of romantic fantasy K-drama, Abyss, as alien grim reapers who gift Cha Min (Ahn Hyo-seop) an orb that can bring people back to life. Their roles gave vital context needed for the rest of Abyss to take place, meaning they were on-screen for a longer time than most cameos. However, this is no issue, as their cameo directly references their leading roles in The Smile Has Left Your Eyes, which was also directed by Yoo Je-won.

Compared to Abyss, The Smile Has Left Your Eyes is completely different as a thriller K-drama. This makes Jung So-min and Seo In-guk’s reappearance even more special as it sees them explore a dynamic with more humor and less tension that was fraught throughout The Smile Has Left Your Eyes. They provide a great base for Ahn Hyo-seop to act against and results in a great balance of context and humor.

7 Park Shin-hye In My Girlfriend Is A Gumiho (2010)

She Played Go Mi-nyeo/Go Mi-nam In You’re Beautiful (2009)

Park Shin-hye’s appearance in My Girlfriend is a Gumiho revives her character Go Mi-nyeo from the music-based K-dramaYou’re Beautiful, which happened to be the previous work of acclaimed screenwriters, the Hong sisters. In You’re Beautiful, Park Shin-hye played the role of twins Go Mi-nyeo and Go Mi-nam, with Go Mi-nyeo assuming her brother’s role in the band A.N.JELL after a serious injury put him out of action. However, Mi-nyeo’s secret identity seems to be the least of her problems in My Girlfriend is a Gumiho.

Park Shin-hye’s cameo appearance doesn’t last more than a minute or two, yet it is still a great scene to watch, as context isn’t needed for it to be funny. Go Mi-nyeo’s fresh charm as she tries her luck with Cha Tae-woong (Lee Seung-gi) while riding the bus is both sweet yet awkward, as Mi-ho (Shin Min-a) makes her feelings extremely obvious and makes for a great scene.

6 Kim Ji-won & Jin Goo In Mr Sunshine (2018)

They Played Yoon Myeong-ju & Seo Dae-young In Descendants Of The Sun (2016)

Descendants of the Sun is widely considered one of the best K-dramas of all time as it depicts love and war in an overseas military camp. Though Descendants of the Sun‘s story focused heavily on the leading characters of Yoo Shi-jin (Song Joong-ki) and Kang Mo-yeon (Song Hye-kyo), the second leads of the K-drama had a much better story. Seo Dae-young and Yoon Myeong-ju’s love story and the on-screen pairing of Jin Goo and Kim Ji-won became so well-beloved that they returned on-screen together in writer Kim Eun-sook’s next K-drama, Mr. Sunshine.

Though Jin Goo and Kim Ji-won do not reprise their roles from Descendants of the Sun in Mr Sunshine, they do give a glimpse into what it could have been like to see Dae-young and Myeong-ju raise a family as they portray the female lead Go Ae-shin’s (Kim Tae-ri) parents. However, Mr Sunshine is very tonally different from Descendants of the Sun and their short on-screen appearance quickly ends in tragedy but is expertly acted by Jin Goo and Kim Ji-won.

Mr. Sunshine (2018)

Mr. Sunshine is a historical drama television series that takes place in the late 19th century during the late Joseon Dynasty in Korea. The story follows Eugene Choi, a young boy who travels to the United States and returns to Korea as an American soldier, and Kim Tae-ri as Go Ae-sin, an aristocrat’s daughter who dreams of modernizing Korea.

Cast

Lee Byung-hun , Kim Tae-ri , Yoo Yeon-seok , Kim Min-jung , Byun Yo-han

Release Date

July 7, 2018

Seasons

1

5 Kim Hye-yoon & Lee Jae-wook In True Beauty (2020)

At first glance, True Beauty and Extraordinary You share few similarities. True Beauty focuses on telling a story about bullying and high school romance, while Extraordinary You, although also high-school based, focuses on the free will of side characters in a comic book. However, as they are both K-dramas based on webtoons, True Beauty and Extraordinary You are proven to exist in the same universe thanks to a cameo appearance by Kim Hye-yoon and Lee Jae-wook in True Beauty.

Kim Hye-yoon and Lee Jae-wook reprise their roles from Extraordinary You with an abundance of easter eggs for the fantasy K-drama including a reference to Ha-ru (Rowoon), who was the male lead of Extraordinary You. This cameo is short but sweet as it captures the same energy that many loved about Extraordinary You, while also progressing True Beauty‘s storyline as Lee Su-ho (Cha Eun-woo) mistakes the Extraordinary You couple for Lim Ju-kyeong (Moon Ga-young) and her date.

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4 Jung So-min & Lee Min-ki in Whats Wrong With Secretary Kim? (2018)

They Played Yoon Ji-ho & Nam Se-hee in Because This Is My First Life (2017)

Depth was added to What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?‘s title character Kim Mi-so (Park Min-young) through a touching by Jung So-min and Lee Min-ki, who played the leading couple of slice-of-life K-drama Because This Is My First Life. While Because This Is My First Life focuses on a marriage of convenience that grows into something more, Jung So-min and Lee Min-ki’s short appearance in What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim? shows a family full of love as they play Mi-so’s parents.

There are many harsh realities about What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim? however this cameo appearance is a highlight of the K-drama. Jung So-min and Lee Min-ki show newer sides to their chemistry in a clear defining moment in Mi-so’s childhood. Although What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim? reveals the unfortunate fate of Mi-so’s parents previously in the K-drama, it was a nice way to put faces to a name and revive another great K-drama couple.

3 Song Joong-ki In Queen Of Tears (2024)

He Played Vincenzo Cassano In Vincenzo (2021)

One of the best Queen of Tears scenes follows the cameo appearance of Song Joong-ki. Though many of his previous roles are referenced to incite fear into the heart of Baek Hyun-woo (Kim Soo-hyun), Song Joong-ki returns as Vincenzo Cassano from the K-drama Vincenzo. This cameo is grand in itself, as Song makes Vincenzo’s foreboding charisma bounce from the screen in just a second, but it is also special for another reason.

Song Joong-ki’s appearance in Queen of Tears marks the third on-screen collaboration between himself and Kim Ji-won as Vincenzo acts as Hong Hae-in’s (Kim Ji-won) divorce lawyer. They first appeared together in Descendants of the Sun before working together as the leading character and semi-love interests in Arthdal Chronicles. Song Joong-ki’s appearance is also a nod to director Kim Hee-won, who directed both Vincenzo and Queen of Tears.

Queen Of Tears (2024)

Cast

Kim Soo-hyun , Kim Ji-won , Park Sung-hoon , Kwak Dong-yeon , Lee Joo-bin

Release Date

March 9, 2024

Seasons

1

2 Park Bo-young & Park Hyung-sik In Strong Girl Nam-soon (2023)

They Played Do Bong-soon & Ahn Min-hyuk In Strong Girl Bong-soon (2017)

Six years after the release of smash-hit Strong Girl Bong-soon, Strong Girl Nam-soon was announced as a spin-off series following Do Bong-soon’s (Park Bo-young) cousin Gang Nam-soon (Lee Yoo-mi). Though Strong Girl Nam-soon failed to match the success of its predecessor, it did provide Strong Girl Bong-soon fans with a delightful update on its two leading characters.

Strong Girl Bong-soon ended with the wedding of Bong-soon and CEO Ahn Min-hyuk (Park Hyung-sik) and gave a small glimpse into their future as Bong-soon gave birth to twin daughters and dedicated her time to fighting crime. Strong Girl Nam-soon confirms that Bong-soon definitely hasn’t given up a life of crime-fighting and that Bong-soon and Min-hyuk are just as in love as ever as Park Bo-young and Park Hyung-sik’s incredible chemistry is re-ignited with ease.

1 Kim Soo-hyun In Crash Landing On You (2019)

He Played Lt. Won Ryu-hwan / Bang Dong-gu In Secretly, Greatly (2013)

Though there are many great cameos in K-dramas, few are as funny as Kim Soo-hyun’s brief appearance in Crash Landing on You. Kim Soo-hyun’s cameo is thanks to his long-standing relationship with writer Park Ji-eun, who has written several of Kim Soo-hyun’s previous K-dramas including My Love From The Star and Queen of Tears. However, Kim Soo-hyun doesn’t reprise a role from another K-drama, but instead, a Korean movie named Secretly, Greatly.

In Secretly, Greatly, Kim Soo-hyun plays North Korean spy Lt. Won Ryu-hwan who becomes engrossed in his South Korean persona of Bang Dong-gu, a village idiot, while awaiting orders. Though Kim Soo-hyun’s cameo in Crash Landing on You is a direct reference to his previous work, there is no need to have seen it as it is simply hilarious. The way Kim Soo-hyun switches between his two personas is completely hysterical, making it a K-drama cameo that is not to be missed.