‘Shaman wave’ takes hold in K-dramas and pop culture
Cho Yi-hyun plays Park Seong-a, a high school student and celestial shaman in the drama “Head over Heels.” Courtesy of tvN
Fading stigma, cultural confidence, storytelling fuel shaman-themed K-content
Once considered a cultural taboo, shamanism is emerging as a mainstream element in Korean dramas, films and variety shows, with young audiences embracing it as part of a broader “K-fantasy” trend.
TvN’s new series “Head over Heels,” which premiered Monday, opens with a seemingly typical teenage romance. But its female lead, Park Seong-a, played by Cho Yi-hyun, is far from ordinary.
A high school student by day and a shaman by night, she performs rituals and sees spirits. When her first love Bae Gyeon-u (Choo Young-woo) is fated to die, Seong-a uses her supernatural powers to try to save him.
The show marks a striking shift, with shamanism, once avoided in youth-oriented entertainment, now serving as a central plot device.
The genre’s transformation began gaining steam last year. The occult film “Exhuma,” centered around a shaman involved in a grave relocation gone wrong, drew over 10 million viewers.
Park Seong-a (Cho Yi-hyun), a celestial shaman, and her first love Bae Gyeon-u (Choo Young-woo) in the drama “Head over Heels.” Courtesy of tvN
Around the same time, SBS launched the dating variety show “Fortune Tellers' Love,” featuring young shamans navigating romance. This year, the SBS historical drama “The Haunted Palace,” about a shaman resolving grudges of palace spirits, reached a peak viewership of 11 percent. “Head over Heels” also debuted strongly, topping its time slot with a 5.2 percent rating.
Just a decade ago, supernatural themes like spirit possession or ghost sightings in dramas were often met with skepticism.
“Audiences used to value realism, so when shamanistic elements appeared in early dramas by writer Lim Seong-han, people found it bizarre,” said Yoon Suk-jin, a professor of Korean literature at Chungnam National University. “But today, shamanism is used as a fantasy tool to solve difficult problems and spark curiosity about the unknown.”
Societal perceptions have also evolved. Yoon Soo-jung, writer of “The Haunted Palace,” noted that shamanism had long been marginalized in Korea.
“Now that it’s recognized as an intangible cultural heritage, people have begun to embrace it as part of our traditional identity,” she said.
Yeori (Kim Ji-yeon), a shaman in the drama “The Haunted Palace” / Courtesy of SBS
Critics say this growing acceptance is rooted in the rising confidence of K-culture. “For a long time, Korea chased Western models and viewed its own traditions, especially shamanism, as something backward,” said culture critic Hwang Jin-mi. “But the global success of shows like ‘Guardian: The Lonely and Great God’ (2016) and the ‘Along with the Gods’ film series (2017, 2018), both infused with Korean mythology, has helped reframe shamanism as a unique and engaging content source.”
For creators, shamanism offers narrative depth. “It deals richly with life and death, tapping into primal fears,” Yoon said. “Its mythologies provide endless material for world-building in the K-fantasy universe.”
The trend shows no signs of slowing. As economic uncertainty and social anxiety deepen, more young viewers are turning to spiritual themes for meaning and comfort.
“Unlike more institutional religions, shamanism doesn’t feel repressive or doctrinal,” Hwang said. “It speaks directly to everyday struggles, which is why younger generations are embracing it as a ‘hip’ cultural form.”
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.