When Life Gives You Tangerines: Meet The Real Couple Behind Highest Rated Korean Drama On IMDb

When Life Gives You Tangerines is hands-down the biggest hit of this year so far. The Korean drama has taken the entire globe by storm. What's interesting is that even the Chinese Communist Party's affiliated newspaper, The Global Times, has appreciated the K-drama, which is a rare sight. For the uninitiated, The Global Times is known for its typical coverage that mostly fuels tension with Korea. 

When Life Gives You Tangerines: Netflix's No.1 non-English show beats Squid Game Season 2 

The Korean drama features a series of extremely-talented Korean actors like IU as Oh Ae-sun, Park Bo-gum as Yang Gwan-sik, Lee Soo Kyung as Boo Hyeon-seok, Park Hae-joon as Yang Gwan-sik, and Moon So-ri as Oh Ae-sun, and many others. According to a report on moneycontrol.com, When Life Gives You Tangerines has become the highest-rated Korean drama on IMDb, and it has surpassed the likes of Kingdom, The Glory, and Squid Game.

In April 2025, the Korean series held an impressive rating of 9.3 on IMDb, and its finale (episode 16) received an almost-perfect score of 9.8, making a clear statement about its exceptional rise. When Life Gives You Tangerines has garnered 5.5 million views and held the No.1 spot in six countries. Not only this, the iconic Chinese review platform, DouBan has given a strong rating of 9.4 to When Life Gives You Tangerines, making it the highest-rated Korean drama of recent years. 

When Life Gives You Tangerines: A glimpse into the plot of the highest-rated IMDb Korean drama

One of the biggest reasons why When Life Gives You Tangerines is getting so much love from all corners of the world because of its simple story, which is all about love and empathy. The show revolves around a couple who faces a series of hardships and fights through societal expectations. Apart from love, the series explores the topic of parenting beautifully and helps men learn a lot of things about womanhood. However, what's even more interesting is that the series is inspired by a real-life couple, which makes the entire show more beautiful. 

Meet the real-life couple who is the inspiration behind Netflix's Korean drama, When Life Gives You Tangerines

According to a report in KBIZoom, Hong Kyung Ja is a female, who lived a challenging life on Jeju island, which was full of struggles and hardships. The woman inspired the 'Oh Ae-sun' character, played by IU and Moon So-ri. Even at the beginning of the series, there was a small tribute for her in the show's first episode, in which 'Hong Kyung Ja' was written on top of a tweak. For the uninitiated, tewak is a traditional floating device used by the female drivers of Jeju Island.

According to several reports, Hong Kyung Ja lost her mother when she was just five and after her demise, she took complete responsibility for her siblings. From an early age, she used to dive into the water to capture octopuses, sell them, and earn money for her family. In the show, it is shown that a stepfather raised Oh Ae-sun's character, but in reality, Hong Kyung Ja was taken care of by her stepmother. 

Meet Hong Kyung Ja's husband, who inspired Yang Gwan-sik's character in When Life Gives You Tangerines

Now, come to the character of Yang Gwan-sik, who is getting so much love and admiration from women across the globe. What's beautiful is that it isn't a fictional character but is inspired by the goodness of Hong Kyung Ja's husband in real life. According to several media reports, Hoon Kyung Ja met her husband when they were kids, and as they grew up, they fell in love, after dating each other for six years, they got married.

Throughout her life, Hong Kyung's husband did everything in his capacity to support his wife. The doting husband even won the "Beautiful Husband Award" in 2002 for his love and devotion to the family. While Hong Kyung is still with us, her husband passed away seven years ago. We hope men across the globe learn from Hong Kyung Ja's husband and become a better husband to their wives and a caring father to their kids. 

Have you watched the Korean drama, When Life Gives You Tangerines yet? Share your thoughts with us.

Also Read: Kim Soo-Hyun: Ex-Highest Paid K-Drama Actor, Accepts Dating Kim Sae-Ron, Scene With Sulli In Real

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