Engineers over lawyers? Chip boom reshapes K-drama, dating market
Comedian Kim Kyu-won performs wearing a bald wig and a vest featuring the SK hynix logo in a scene from Coupang Play's comedy show "SNL Korea 8" released in April. Captured from Coupang Play
Chip boom elevates engineers over lawyers as romance leads
"Hynix almighty!"
The exclamation did not come from a church, but rather a luxury clothing store in Seoul. When a clerk spotted a customer wearing a vest with the logo of chipmaker SK hynix printed prominently across it, she gave him the royal treatment. She repeatedly exclaimed "Hynix almighty!" The clerk completely changed her attitude toward the balding man in a shabby jacket, whom she had previously greeted with a mocking tone.
The scene, part of an April episode of Coupang Play comedy show "SNL Korea 8," satirizes a rapidly changing social climate. The public view of engineers — men once deemed as "engineering nerds" — has transformed due to the semiconductor industry boom and massive performance bonuses that came with it.
Shift in office romance settings
The global chip and artificial intelligence (AI) boom has reshaped the conventions of television romance. Electronics companies are emerging as new settings for office romance, recasting engineering graduates as romantic leads.
TvN drama "See You at Work Tomorrow!," which concluded last month, embodies this shift. Office romances traditionally centered on law firms in dramas like "Law and the City" and "Beyond the Bar," department stores in "My Dearest Nemesis" and "VIP," and broadcasting stations in "Worlds Within" and "Be Melodramatic."
The new tvN series instead centers on a romance between two engineering graduates at an electronics company. The broadcasting industry adapted the original webtoon set entirely at a chipmaker to reflect how the criteria for social status and desirable jobs have changed in Korea.
End of plaid-shirt stereotype
The shift extends beyond the setting of office romances. The way television dramas portray the romantic appeal of engineering professionals has also evolved.
In "See You at Work Tomorrow!," female protagonist Cha Ji-yoon (Park Ji-hyun), a senior product-planning employee, develops romantic feelings for her superior, Kang Si-woo (Seo In-guk), when he fills an office board with mathematical formulas to fix a product-development error. While past dramas relied on the sharp eloquence of lawyers, technical problem-solving has now become a source of romantic appeal.
"Aren't you an engineering graduate? I think you would have done well even if you did more creative work." As this line reveals, the drama treats creativity as inherent in engineering talent. It is a stark departure from the stereotypical male engineer that dramas have portrayed in the past, breaking away from existing tropes regarding appearance and eloquence.
In the drama, Kang wears sleek suits, easily wins over female colleagues and speaks concisely during presentations to earn the company president's recognition. He is not depicted as the typical engineer in a plaid shirt and horn-rimmed glasses. Viewers responded positively to this change, leaving comments such as "engineering-style flirting is charming" and "his speech is concise because of his engineering background" on video clips where he declares he has "never lost to a machine."
This combination photo shows the evolving portrayal of male engineers in television dramas. Seo In-guk, left, who plays an engineering professional in the recently concluded drama "See You at Work Tomorrow!," wears a sleek suit, while Nam Joo-hyuk, who portrayed a rookie engineer in the 2020 drama "Start-Up," wears a plaid shirt. Courtesy of tvN
Historically, television producers rarely cast engineers as romantic leads.
"The stereotype of male engineer was someone good with machines but lacking emotional intelligence," an anonymous television producer who previously directed a lawyer-led melodrama said. "So they weren't often used as romantic leads."
However, "See You at Work Tomorrow!" recasts that exact stereotype as a romantic lead. The trend extends beyond a single show. Similar narratives, such as the drama "LOVE.exe," released last winter on the streaming platform Wavve, have emerged in quick succession over the past year.
Newfound advantage in dating market
The cultural shift of engineers emerging as romantic leads mirrors reality. Online, a photo of a man going on a blind date wearing clothing with a chipmaker's logo recently went viral as a meme. In university admissions, applicants now add semiconductor departments to the traditional Korean acronym for elite medical, dental and pharmacy schools, creating a new top-tier designation.
A viral meme shows a man wearing clothing with a SK hynix logo, jokingly describing the look as the "best blind date outfit." Captured from online forum
What exactly makes a semiconductor engineer attractive in the dating and marriage markets? Three anonymous female office workers in their 20s shared what appealed to them, excluding high salaries.
"An intellectual feeling? They look like they have expertise and would be good at their jobs. Since their major and profession are male-dominated, it seems like there wouldn't be women around them, which also generates a favorable impression," one said.
Another said, "I think that because he works in a major industry of the future, I’d be able to introduce him to the people around me without hesitation when they ask what he does. Of course, if he actually showed up to a blind date wearing a shirt with a semiconductor company’s logo on it, that might be a bit of a turn-off."
"Even if his looks or other things aren't my style, when going home after the blind date, I think I would think, 'Isn't it a bit of a waste if I just let him go?' or 'Should I date him briefly?' As long as he doesn't act arrogant about working at a chipmaker," a third one said.
Even when excluding high salaries, the women focused on professional prestige, the symbolism of a key future industry and social status. The occupation itself holds newfound romantic appeal strong enough to outweigh physical attractiveness.
The trend has also drawn international attention. Bloomberg reported that the semiconductor boom is reshaping preferences in Korea's marriage market, quoting a matchmaking agency manager who said she had never seen employees of chipmakers become so popular in her 15 years in the industry.
These real-world preferences are also felt in the television industry. A drama production company official with over 10 years of experience said producers frequently discuss developing stories about semiconductor engineers instead of lawyers.
"The talk is that setting a story against a chipmaker background draws viewers in more," the official added.
The semiconductor boom has not only changed the industrial landscape, it has completely rewritten the romantic ideal portrayed in office dramas.
Understated romance, new masculinity
The reason engineering professionals have emerged as romantic leads is not simply because the profession's growingg prestige.
A shift in how people form relationships and exchange emotions has also played a role. In an era of emotional fatigue that comes from emotional overload and exhaustion, the emotional restraint and matter-of-fact speech that were once considered flaws in the stereotypical male engineer are now viewed as romantic advantages.
Novelist and television drama critic Park Jin-gyu pointed out the background of this shift.
"If love was used as a life-or-death subject matter in past content, these days it is utilized in pop culture to create small disruptions and sparks of excitement in a repetitive daily life," Park said. "In an era wary of emotional over-immersion, the stereotypical male engineer who signals affection through brief, dry words and actions rather than dramatic emotional displays, has emerged as a character archetype perfectly suited for an understated romance."
The newfound appeal of the engineering-minded man also signals an evolution in the ideal image of masculinity itself.
During the era of industrial capitalism, society prized a strong, macho masculinity symbolized by soldiers or construction workers. Later, in the service and finance era, a sophisticated and compassionate masculinity represented by professionals like lawyers became the ideal.
Lee Jong-suk, left, and Moon Ga-young portray lawyers involved in a workplace romance at a law firm in the drama "Law and the City" (2025). Courtesy of tvN
In the AI era, the technical expertise symbolized by developers and engineers, combined with a demeanor that is not excessively swayed by emotions, holds newfound romantic appeal.
"Rather than the paternalistic intimacy like protection and devotion expected of men in the past, a 'smart intimacy' that forms accurate and rational relationships in the individualistic era is drawing attention as a new masculinity," said Kim Sung-yoon, a full-time researcher at Dong-A University's Institute of Convergence Knowledge and Society.
Rising preference for rags-to-riches saga
The newfound romantic appeal of the hands-on technical competence of developers and engineers also reflects a cultural reaction to an era where images, videos and even writing are easily generated by AI.
Kim Hern-sik, a specialist at Jungwon University's College of Social and Cultural Studies, explained the shift.
"As synthetic and virtual content proliferates, the ability to build and operate something physical, which cannot be replaced by words, holds newfound romantic appeal," Kim said. "If the social authority of a profession itself was the object of envy in the past, actually making something and producing a tangible result has now become the standard for a new charm."
While professions defined by eloquence, such as lawyers, were previously the standard romantic leads, hands-on technical competence now sparks romantic excitement. In "See You at Work Tomorrow!," the two engineering graduates finally open up to each other and kiss while dismantling and repairing an analog audio system.
Kang Si-woo, left, played by Seo In-guk, kisses his co-worker Cha Ji-yoon, played by Park Ji-hyun, while repairing an analog audio system in the tvN drama "See You at Work Tomorrow!" which concluded last month. Captured from tvN
Underlying this admiration for technical competence is a deep desire for upward mobility. Jin Su-heon, a research professor at Chung-Ang University's Institute of Multicultural Content, analyzed the trend.
"In a reality grappling with a broken social ladder, technologies like AI and semiconductors are seen as new opportunities to generate wealth and enable upward mobility through an individual's skill," Jin said. "While a lawyer symbolized a rags-to-riches success story in the past, the expectation that an engineer can take that place in the AI era is now being projected onto romance narratives."
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.