I find Scriptwriter Kim 's dramas generally have very good OSTs, say, *Goblin*, *City Hall*, *Descendants of the Sun*.

A bit notalgic here: *Goong*'s intrumentals are great! The mix of traditional sounds with modern, I am a sucker for it.

Other OSTs I love: *Moonlight Drawn By Clouds*, Band songs of *Hospital Playlist S1-2*, *My Girl*, *Full House*.

My favourite: *Brilliant Legacy/ Shining Inheritance*- the violin song (called "Fate, Second Story") got me everytime!

I am far too indecisive to ever properly answer the question, even narrowing down the options is impossible for me. I tend to listen more to individual songs, than soundtracks/albums, which doesn't help. That said, I feel like deciding the 'best' really depends on the criteria one uses.

Do we go by the OSTs that were used with the most care and consideration, for optimal tear-shed? If so, 'Moments' by Christopher, from Moments at Eighteen is a standout for me. In the funeral scene where we first hear it, it almost feels like Joon-woo's friend Jung-hoo is the one singing; calling out to his friend, letting Joon-woo know that things will be alright, even if Jung-hoo isn't there with him. It also beautifully contrasts with the heart-wrenching performance by Ong Seong-wu, wherein he shifts from despair, to realisation, to rage. That scene stuck with me far longer than I expected it to, and the song played a big role in that.

Or do we judge an OST track by how well it encapsulates the drama as a whole? Considering that a drama is inevitably going to take us through a journey of emotions, it takes a lot of work to capture the ~vibe~ of a drama in a single song. If that's the case, then '... Adrenaline' by Solar perfectly captures the suave slickness of Vincenzo, from the opening baseline, I can FEEL the song adjusting its cufflinks, and slicking back its hair. We've also got Itaewon Class's OST, particularly Gaho's 'Start Over' which plays like a manifestation of Saeroyi's unbridled determination and willpower. And then there's a personal, underrated favourite of mine, The Guest's 'Somewhere' by o3ohn, which so perfectly captures the desperation and yearning of its three main characters, as they are haunted not only by literal ghosts, but by loneliness, guilt, and trauma.

Or is it just the really, really, damn good songs? If so, there's Chicago Typewriter's 'Satellite' by SALTNPAPER, which has already been mentioned multiple times by my fellow beanies, and deservedly so?

That said, I can definitely see why the consensus in the comments seems to be that the frontrunners are Just Between Lovers (<3), Goblin, Mr Sunshine, My Mister (<3 <3), and It's Okay to Not Be Okay. These dramas really do hit all of the criteria, used (for the most part) with careful consideration, thematically and tonally reflecting the dramas and characters, and just being well-written, composed and performed.

That’s an easy one for me: It’s Okay to Not Be Okay. Because there’s so many good soundtracks in that show in all kinds of moods. With the absolute gem ‘In Your Time’ the absolute top.

Many drama’s have splendid songs but the OST as a whole is less impressive: Seo Hyun Jin’s version of Falling Flower (You are my spring), ‘If we were destined’ (A Korean Odyssey), ‘Till the end of time’ from the Black Skirts (Another Miss Oh).

OMG OMG OMG It's ok not to be okay. It's on repeat on my Spotify library lol

If we are talking about great pop songs that suit the mood of the drama, then the ultimate OST for me will always be Soulmate! I still listen to it to this today. Lately I have been listening to the OST for Netflix's jdrama First Love. Mostly instrumental music, but it's so beautiful!
I'm also going to mention A piece of your mind, which I don't think anyone has done yet. Lovely selection that perfectly reflects the mood of the drama.

I’ve been scanning all the posts to look for “Twenty-five, Twenty-one”…I might have missed seeing it. Definitely another favourite OST.
It’s also one of 3 OSTs for I’ve purchased a hard copy; the other two were “Goblin” and “It’s Okay To Not Be Okay”. I have to say, the packaging of these three OST albums is magnificent.

Maybe I'm the only one, but I adore the background music/score in Tale of the Nine-Tailed. It's clever, using the theme in many versatile ways, but it also has some really rousing sections that get my blood pumping (two brothers, house of ghosts). The song I really love is The Guard's Raid which intersperses exciting battle music with a moment of romantic clarity...awesome.

Urghh can I pick like HUNDREDS? OST is a very important ingredient for me to like a drama. OSTs & BGMs help to provoke feelings associated with the drama very easily, so I'm happy you mentioned it.

Now I have a huge dilemma between Happiness & IOTNBO. Happiness provides the perfect amount of thrilling & close to heart osts ( Specially Enigma, Heaven, Portrait, Pain,What lies ahead, She, can I mention more??) where IOTNBO's ones take us to emotional roller coaster rides ( In silence, In your time, I'm your psycho, Lighting up your world, Wake up etc) . These are the two dramas I found almost all the OSTs very compelling & suitable with the storyline.
However, Little Women, Search WWW , Our Beloved Summer also had some amazing osts & bgms which can't be ignored.

While we are at it, I wanna mention some of my all time favourites: Stay with me ( yeah, the undeniable classic from Goblin) , Lucid Dream ( WYWS) , Auditory Hallucination ( idk, I felt this represented the whole drama( Kill me heal me) itself), Kiss Me Kiss Me ( ( Lovestruck in the city) guess what? Isaac Hong is my favourite ost singer after this) & recently Dice Game from Interest of love has been added to the list.

I'm a little embarrassed to write this, but Boys Over Flowers is full of ear worm worthy tunes that are hard to get out of your head. Even though it was one of my earliest dramas that I watched (around 2016), and I know it is an older drama, I can still listen to songs like "Because I'm Stupid" (Kim Hyun Joong).---and the song will make me smile. So in honor of the post about being OK with fluff, my OST choice is BOF.

I usually get the songs from a drama, occasionally the background music too.
I realised in my first drama (Healer) that the music is as important in a drama as a character. And the ambiance sonore plays an important role in my enjoyment (or not).
Listening to music is part of my day. Some of the most played files are (not in order) Auditory hallucination from Kill me, heal me ; Sweet night from Iteawon class ; The nights from The devil judge ; Look at from Doctor John ; Psycho from Flover of evil ; Breaking down from Doom at your service ; Is this love from Vincenzo.
I have made ringtones from the cello in Enemy of truth (The devil judge) ; Quando corpus morietur (K2) and Model taxi (Taxi driver).

The full OST, background and songs, remaining complete is Vincenzo. I love how they declined the main theme.
The OST that I've listened to the longer is K2. There is something in the choirs and the violins that is perfect with writing a report.

I can't pick between two dramas that I Listen to thier full OST even though its been years and they're not that popular dramas

The first one is Heart to Heart it has a realxing and indie feel to it.

The second one is My Beautiful Bride OST. its a master piece soundtrack even my family who dont watch/listen to korean content love it. We play it on repeat in our car.

Sometimes I go to Youtube and simply type the name 'Sondia' into the search engine. Then I get OST songs for 'My Mister', 'Dr. Cha', 'Extraordinary You', 'Doom At Your Service', 'Itaewon Class', 'Devil Judge', 'Sh**ting Stars', 'Secret Life Of My Secretary'... She's an OST generating monster!

Late I've been stuck with all osts from Hotel Del Luna and Forest of Secrets 2.

Master's Sun, Signal, and Faith (The Good Doctor) still are my fave OSTs.

Impossible! I love the OST's for various reasons: sometimes who is singing, sometimes a certain song hits the right notes in my heart, sometimes the music fits the drama's theme, sometimes its music I just love for the music. I have trouble recalling specific songs or OST's but If I hear it, I remember the drama or the emotions that go with it. I love many types of music so ones with good beats or an uplifting feel, or, even sad ones sometimes hit that right note. I love saeguk music when they use traditional Korean music and intstruments. I love it if the actor sings the theme song or other songs in the drama. Music is magical both for what you feel or what you remember in dramas.

Old dramas - You are beautiful
New dramas - Twenty Five Twenty One

Easy stuff…Crash Landing on You, Vincenzo and It’s Okay to Not Be Okay soundtracks are unmatched. Special mention to the piano piece in CLOY which brought me to tears.

Damn I can't choose - the music is what actually makes dramas so good but if I HAD to narrrow it down:
It's okay to not be okay
Strong Woman Do Bong Soon
DOTS
Suspicious Partner

My playlists are mostly OSTs even some of them are songs that came from dramas I haven't watched.
All OSTs in the drama :
-My first and always pick is OSTs from Hospital Playlist (the band members' songs especially)
-I love love all of My Ahjussi OSTs. Even Donghoon' breathing should be included
-Dinner Mate has fun and good OSTs

Memorable OSTs that can suddenly remind me of the drama:
Itaewon Class - Start Over
Reply Series - Don't Worry Dear, Everyday with You, To You
Goblin - Stay with Me, Beautiful
Crash Landing on You - Sigriswil
Queen for Seven Days - Miss You in My Heart

The two dramas that immediately popped into my head after seeing with was Goblin and Are You Human Too. I started both but ended up having to drop them because I got busy. Both have some epic songs that go with them.

The one that comes to mind first is Are You Human Too. The sheer amount of amazing artists whose talent went into that OST blows my mind. I mean, DMEANOR, Kim Na Young, 2BiC, GB9, and Lyn (just to name a few) all on the same soundtrack? Amazing. The songs are so powerful and the instrumental OST is stunning as well.

The drama is a bit of a miss except for those of us who enjoy the nostalgia of it all, but the Full House OST was so memorable and good. I can feel myself transported to when I first discovered kdramas, my enjoyment of Full House, and that time period in general.

I also enjoyed the BGM ost to Giant and have it on my spotify rotation. It really conveyed the epic nature of the drama - the despair of feeling helpless, the sadness of separation, the hope of reunion and then the triumph over adversity. I didn't even watch the entire drama - just some scenes.

If only intro and ending OST, Its Okay Not to be Okay will win. For entire OST, Goblin won by lot.
But, most impressive one for me would be Love Between Fairy and Devil. Still have their OST as my ringtones caller and each single of their OSTs are amazing!

Reply 1988
Chicago typewriter
Watcher

I seem to be attracted to nostalgic rhythms.

The instrumental soundtrack for While You Were Sleeping. It is short, but such a pretty score.

Hotel del Luna.

I like a lot of K and J drama OSTs, and they are almost impossible to get here in UK, so I buy from Japan - IF they are available at all. I have spent HOURS searching for some of them. Difficult when you cannot read Japanese or Korean...
If I have to pick an absolute favourite (for this day) then it will be INSPECTOR KOO, though Jdrama KAGI NO KAKATTA HEYA might win out depending on what day I am asked to choose. Some amazing music there.
It is surprising to me that the composers creatute such good material and then only maybe 30 seconds is heard on the drama - that;s why getting the OST is important.

There are parts of most OST that I love, so I do buy cds or downloads if and when I can find them even if for only one or two tracks.

New to Kdramas and have only watched/ am watching about a dozen series. So far, my favourite OST is from That Winter, the Wind Blows (2013). I like all the songs but whenever I hear this one, I have to pause, sit, and remember all the beautiful scenes in just about every episode. This one is A Winter Story - The One https://youtu.be/nz77xwh5jdc?si=l5f0wsm3jTve6_Zp