The K-Drama Contract: Making And Breaking One

There are plenty of contracts in k-dramas. They are sometimes practical, such as the contract signed by Park Shin Hye's fictional brother to join the band ANJELL, which then forces her to attempt the very unpractical task of impersonating him. But some k-drama contracts are pretty silly and the silliest often have to do with romance, dating and marriage.

Of course the absurd contracts are the most entertaining, even if they create problems for the characters.

Here are a few examples of the absurd romantic contracts signed in k-dramas.

In "The Greatest Marriage," No Min Woo will sign the document agreeing to relinquish all rights to their child if Park Si Young will never marry and become his mistress. She's desperate to have him out of her life so she signs a paper that permits him to become a feature in her life? It's odd but it keeps the plot interesting. And it proves she still has feelings for him, even if has acted badly enough for her to want to disown their child.

In "Mary Stayed Out All Night," Moon Geun Young gets close to Jang Geun Suk because she wants him to sign a contract that he won't hold her responsible for a car accident in which she hit him. At the same time she is victimized by a contract signed by her father. That contract gives her hand in marriage to the handsome young chaebol played by Kim Jae Wook. She's not happy but her father says she cannot opt out of the contract unless she spends 100 days with both of them.

The contract marriage appears in several dramas, including "Fated To Love You," starring Jang Nara and Jang Hyuk, "The Prime Minister and I," starring Le Bum Soo and Yoona and "Princess Hours," starring Yoon Eun Hye and Ju Ji Hoon. In "Full House" Rain and Song Hye Kyo also sign a contract for a marriage of convenience.

In most cases, the contracted husband and wife will learn to love each other.

Sometimes the contract only requires the participants to date. That happened in "My Lovely Kim Sam Soon," when Hyun Bin's character had Kim Sun Ah's character sign a contract to pretend to be his girlfriend. In "Lie To Me" Kang Ji Hwan and Yoon Eun Hye also sign a contract to have a pretend relationship.

In real life, no one would ever sign such a silly contract but k-drama characters consider them legally binding and do what they can to uphold them.

Will Park Si Yeon's character fulfill her contractual obligation to be No Min Woo's mistress? Tune into "The Greatest Marriage" to find out.