I don’t watch that many dramas without romance as it turns out, I haven’t seen any of these but have heard many, many good things about some of them - especially Forest of Secrets.

As non-romance dramas go I enjoyed Tunnel (has some slight romance but is mostly time travel and crime) but I can’t think of many others I’ve even watched 😅

To be correct Chief Kim has little romance plots it just not with the ML and FL Though the latter did have a little crush on Chief Kim. SL got the girl because the Lead apparently had no interest in women or sex.

Although I watch a lot of thrillers with little or no romance, there aren't many that I'd put on a recommended list. Excluding those already mentioned above, my list would be:

1. Through the Darkness - Call it recency bias but this is probably one of the best thrillers I've seen in a long time.
2. Life on Mars - Near-perfect adaptation with a very slight tinge of romance in the background.
3. Stove League - More Namgoong Min excellence with Park Eun-bin as a bonus.
4. School 2013 - Unless you count the Nam-Soo ship, I appreciated this show being romance-free.
5. Kairos - Time-travel done right.

I respectfully object. The love between Deokchul and Haenam was achingly romantic even if it didn’t have the usual tropes and romantic manifestations. There was also an implied nascent romance between Eunho and Chaerok.

MISAENG

Signal, Misaeng, D.P, Move to heaven, My mister
mostly, a slice of life / thriller drama that no need for romance plot.

Out of all the non romance Kdrama shows i've watched, these are the ones that have stood out to me.

Memorist:
Yoo Seung-ho (I am not a robot) as Dong Baek / Sung Ju-ho. He portrays A police officer and detective who is very passionate about catching criminals and has the supernatural ability to read a person's memories by touching their skin.

Lee Se-young (The Red Sleeve Cuff) as Han Sun-mi / Kim So-mi. She portrays a woman who is the youngest Superintendent of a Special Investigation Headquarters and was originally a lawyer but later on became a police officer to find the truth about her father's murder 20 years ago.

Signal:
Lee Je-hoon (Move To Heaven) as Park Hae-young, the criminal profiler who finds a walkie-talkie by chance, and uses it to solve cold cases.

Kim Hye-soo (Juvenile Justice) as Cha Soo-hyun, the first woman police officer in the Special Task Force, becomes the leader of the Seoul cold case squad.

Cho Jin-woong (Man of Men) as Lee Jae-han, the somewhat clumsy and socially inept but incorruptible police officer from the past who establishes a rapport with Park.

Sketch:
Jung Ji-hoon (Rain) (Ghost Doctor) as Kang Dong-soo. An ace detective armed with excellent intuition and executive ability.

Lee Dong-gun (Angels last mission: Love) as Kim Do-jin. A member of a Republic of Korea Army Special Warfare Command who seeks revenge for the death of his wife.

Lee Sun-bin (Work later, Drink now) as Yoo Shi-hyun. A detective who has the psychic ability to sketch out drawings of what will happen three days in the future.

Tell Me What You Saw:
Jang Hyuk (Bloody Heart) as Oh Hyun-jae. A genius criminal profiler who became a recluse after losing his fiancée in an explosion.

Choi Soo-young as Cha Soo-young (So I Married my Anti fan). A rookie detective from the countryside with a photographic memory.

Jin Seo-yeon (One the woman) as Hwang Ha-young. The team leader of the Regional Investigation Unit (RIU).

Juvenile Justice:
Kim Hye-soo (Signal) as Shim Eun-seok, a stern judge of the Juvenile Court with a bitter past that shaped how she perceived juvenile offenders.

Kim Mu-yeol (Grid) as Cha Tae-joo, a compassionate judge of the Juvenile Court with a past history as a victim of domestic abuse and being in a juvenile reformation center

I just finished Hot Stove League, so uh, Hot Stove League, lol.
(Despite the fact that there's a super background one sided crush and that the perfect ending for me personally, would've been Baek Seung Soo recently reunited with his wife at the championship game. But otherwise, you're safe)
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.
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How much lack of romance are we talking here? I'm just trying to figure out what counts.
At what point does dysfunction outweigh the romantic attraction? (Extracurricular)
What if it has a background crack ship, but it thrives on cast chemistry and Sexual Tension Stares, and it sailing is only implied at the very, very end? (Mad Dog)
No romance, but a past relationship that influences motivations? (White Christmas)

I also think Sell Your Haunted House counts. They remained canonically platonic till the final episode, no romance interrupts the story, or is necessary for the story, but there's potential for one if you want to ship, or it works perfectly without it as well, and you get to enjoy an awesome relationship between the leads anyway.

Squad 38
Angry Mom
Squid Game
Law School? (I know the characters had crushes but I don’t remember if it developed further than that)

Beyond Evil
Hyena - Do a complicated relationship that kinda took a back seat count as romance?
Stove League
D.P.
Signal

P.S. Can the next game be five dramas that should remove romance from their plot? I call Cafe Minamdang.

Of course, here I have Stranger aka Forest of Secrets.

Next on my list will be Juvenile Justice. A drama that sends us to view the juvenile justice system through the eyes of a no-nonsense juvenile judge who was scarred by the juvenile justice system itself somewhere along the line in her career. Her approach pissed me off twice as being extreme and unforgiving to the defendants but you can help but agree with her, grudgingly. Most times we take a look at the justice system through the eyes of the attorneys, but here, it is a journey through the lens of the judges. I haven't watched other judge-themed kdramas, but this one is really well done.

Also is Through the Darkness, and Grid. I haven't finished this two, but I know I'll do - when the mood sets in.

I don't know but can we include Life in this list. Even though there was romance here, it wasn't in any way one of the central themes of the entire plot. I'm a sucker for medical - legal. And while there was no actual legal, we had the doctors looking for legal ways to make Hwajeong foundation stay off thier business. So, yes, it was fun exploring the corporate area of medicine we usually do not see in medical dramas, which is usually where the sweet dirty drama takes place - tussle with hospital foundations who wants maximum profit from what is supposed to be a nonprofit.

Nobody Knows may have had a crush, but no romance.

I am out the loop on dramas without romance as that what I go for. So I have only watched Navillera from the list.

I have a couple of KBS drama specials/film titles not sure if they count?

Brilliant Life about a boy born to young parents who has a very rare aging disease which means he will die young and looks like an old man despite his young age. Shows the family experiences of struggles and friendships.

Secretly greatly - North Korean sleeper spies in the Republic of Korea searching for defectors a comedy and thriller combined. Violent in parts not sure how I survived it! The main character played by Kim Soohyun was revised for a cameo in Crash landing on you.

KBS special - The taste of curry a woman runs a curry house that struggles as no one likes the food. She meets a man loitering outside the restaurant who helps her to find the secret ingredient to make the curry taste better. Over time the girl finds out they have an unexpected connection. This stood out for me as it has a Swahili love song Malaika in the OST. I really want to know how it came to be included.

KBS special the Dirge singer - historical drama I remember this as two people from different walks of life creating their own path for acceptance but because they are man and woman there may have been some romantic element. If there was it does not stand out as the main focus. I remember the gender and class issues more.

The way home - film about a young city boy being left in a village with his very elderly grandmother while his mum sorts out work in the city. The boy is appalled at the living conditions and limited access to fun activities. Over time he learns to respect and love his grandmother who tries her best to reinvent the things he loves and tolerates his initial rude behaviour.

Thank you for the beautiful love letter to STRANGER @solstices Please add me as a signatory 💙

Besides those already been mentioned, here are some others.

I probably sound like a broken record, but I'd definitely add "ON THE VERGE OF INSANITY" to this list. I'd also consider "DESIGNATED SURVIVOR: 60 DAYS" (not just for SSK pfft).

There are a few non-kdramas I'd recommend too:
THE WORLD BETWEEN US (twdrama);
HIKARU NO GO, THE LONG NIGHT, THE BAD KIDS (cdramas);
MIU 404 and UNNATURAL (jdramas)

These are all either a 9.5/10 or a 10/10 in my list, I'd say, and all non-romances.

Dear @solstices,

Thank you for one of the most beautiful love letters to a show I’ve ever read. Forest of Secrets cast and crew would be on cloud nine reading this. And I’m absolutely on board with this description.

It is funny how the series with non-romantic genre ,have leads with such great chemistry, than those romantic drama couples.
My ultimate non romantic genre couple are Hwang Si Mok and Yeo Jin. I dont know why they have such sizzling chemistry.

Chief Kim has the BEST love at first sight scene I have EVER seen. I would never count it in this category.

Stove League
Partner
What's Up
God of Study
Punch
Defendant
Life
Confession
The Devil Judge
Through the Darkness
And Lookout if you ignore the slight secondary couple romance.

So happy to see Chief Kim being mentioned as it is one of my favorite dramas. Circle, Mad Dog, My Fellow Citizens, Move To Heaven and Hikaru no Go are some other recommendations.😘

Kairos!!!!

The Guest
The Guest
The Guest
The Guest
And finally The Guest

Folks have already mentioned My Ajusshi and Move to Heaven, but I think they both deserve another mention! Also +1 to Beyond Evil and Kingdom. I would also put Tomorrow in this category, as there is only a very slight hint of romance for the ML, and the FL only has it in flashbacks, but it's clearly in the past.

Off the top of my head, STOVE LEAGUE was all business. CHIEF KIM was all about competitive bromance.

I think in k-dramas there is probably more FAILED romance than no romance.

Hello Beanies! I hope that you all are having a great week. Here are my recommendations for great dramas with no romantic plots ;)
1. Navillera
2. Beyond Evil
3. The Guest
4. Move to Heaven
5. Children of Nobody
6. Life on Mars
7. Missing: The Other Side

you just named 5 of my very most faves of all! if you have not seen any of them you need to!

First of all, these top 5 rocks. Really good recommendations.

I would recommend...
Sweden Laundry
Sweden Laundry
Sweden Laundry
Sweden Laundry
Sweden Laundry

Okay, now being serious:

Sweden Laundry 😅
Squad 38
The Guest
Nobody Knows
Terius Behind Me
Happiness

I just realized that I watch mostly non romance so I have a long list. Will trim it to my top 5 : Misaeng, Move To Heaven, Hot Stove League, The Fiery Priest, The Good Detective and Sweet Home. Oh, had to add that one, so +1.

Allow me to recommend a Japanese drama: Koisenu Futari. It's about two ace-aro people (= no desire for romantic or sexual relationships) who decide to live together as roommates.

Idol: the Coup. Ignore the opening credits, which make it look like there's going to be a love triangle with the group's leader (played by Hani) while the rest of the band is pushed into the background: neither of those things happens.

There was no romance in Chief Kim??
My OTP flourished in that show! Chief Kim and Gluttunous Psychopath forever! 🤣🤣🤣

NGM and Junho were my favorites in that show. Bromance!

Those are good recommendations, to which I would add Black Dog, featuring Seo Hyun-jin.

the way i wished Forest of Secrets had a sliver or romance tho, the main character's chemistry was so good

While I'm not anti-romance, it's not usually the first thing I look for in shows, so I enjoyed this list, although I would argue that Chief Kim is a rare example of a show with a gay male protagonist and that he clearly has a crush on Junho's character, even if romance isn't the focus of the show. Other shows with no or minimal romance that I've loved include Mixed-Up Investigation Agency, Beautiful World, Beyond Evil, White Christmas, My Ahjusshi, and The Queen's Classroom (Korean version).

I'd be embarrassed to confess how many times I've watched Chief Kim, Forest of Secrets, and The Fiery Priest. Amazing good taste there, whoever compiled the list.

Lookout (Kim Seul Gi and Key don’t count)
Live (Shin Dong Wook, Lee Kwang-Soo and Kim Yu-Mi’s love triangle doesn’t count)
Circle: Two Worlds (Yeo Jin Gu didn’t have a love line—although @leetennant would argue this point)
My Ahjussi (the brother and the struggling actress definitely doesn’t count)

Uncanny Counter

It's the first kdrama that pulled me in kdrama land. I love the fantasy theme.

Forest Secret is the second kdrama that strengthen my love to kdrama world.

Both have no romance. Sometimes I just want platonic relationship that focuses on the main issue.

Both of these shows are great!

This is my list in no particular order for best k dramas where romance isn’t the central theme of the show:

Signal- one of the best police and time travel dramas I’ve watched to date. Kim Hye-soo is an excellent actress.

Sky Castle - all about education and hands down one of my top 5 dramas to date.

Kingdom: seasons 1 and 2 - I hate zombie shows and I loved loved this show. How can a series about zombies have such depth?

Beyond Evil - intriguing, intriguing and intriguing.

Hellbound - liked this. Very different from any drama I’ve ever watched and thought provoking.

I've read everyone's list and it looks like most seemingly romance-free shows still do contain traces of romance: non-lead romantic couples, one-sided love/crushes or super-shippable high-chemistry leads. Even the rather severe Kairos has the wife and her devoted lover and the FL's guy friend.

Through the Darkness really does seem entirely devoid of romance, though. Ditto for Awl and Hellbound. All very good shows with characters who are too busy for love.

Return

Dr. Park's Clinic

STOVE LEAGUE would definitely be one of my top five for this list.

I feel like dramas who go no romance tend to be the ones that are the more creative ones. Most kdramas have romance, so it takes a certain personality to go outside of the box.

I want to suggest a drama where romance is really light: Psychopath Diary. Yeah, Yoon Shi-yoon and Jung In-sun's character liked each other romantically, but the drama didn't devote much time trying to be "oh look at this OTP! Go ship them!" It's pretty much about the two guys: the dummy who convinced himself that he's a psychopath and the real psychopath.

Diary of a Prosecutor
Argon
Leverage

Giving yet another shout out to My Ajusshi and School 2013 (though not counting the Jong-Suck/Woo-bin bromance seems downright dishonest 😅)

I feel like I'm forgetting some, but can't think what 🤔