Lol, thumbs up!

Love it!

I too secretly enjoyed the height differences of the Strong Woman Do Bong-soon leads ?

Height differences! Yes!!
I really loved the height difference between Park Eun Bin (Oh Dong Hee) and Lee Tae Hwan (Han Sung Joon) in Father I'll Take Care of You <3 <3

I see my Puppy Couple, I click =))
Thanks for sharing, @since2006 !!!

Can i just say i truly enjoyed your writing and your honesty? Loved it!

Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People, anyone? I adore the height difference between Yoon Kyunsang and Chae Soobin ♥

I love this. I never even thought of it as catnip, but this is brilliant. Thanks for sharing @since2006!

Goblin? I'm not a fan of the main couple but Gong Yoo and Ldw are so tall and swoony

I haven't yet mastered how to visualize/convert to centimeters, but I appreciate the swoony moments when the guy gazes lovingly down at the girl, and when he has to stoop to kiss her, and just, agh -- definitely a catnip of mine as well!

LOL You and your kdrama heights expertise are awesome!

Oh, my goodness yes this catnip speaks to the short girl that I am so strongly it’s like a fist to the heart. I am vertically challenged myself with an unhealthy obsession with tall men. Kdjad;fj.

“I’m here to catnip” Officially, putting that phrase in my dictionary. Thank you @since2006. I too am a raging feminist who lives for the inequality of height differences in a relationship. It just tickles all the right spots in my mushy heart. I don’t go as far as researching their heights first, but I might do it during the watch and it definitely makes my drama antennae perk up when I see the unequal height dynamic.
This actually reminds me of the American TV show Sleepy Hollow (May the perfection that was S1 RIP. All other seasons did not exist. I’m still so angry about it). The height difference between the two leads Ichabod Crane and Abbie Mills was just perfection *__*.

I’m not ashamed to say that one of the reasons Park Bo Young is one of my favorite actresses (aside from being super talented) is because she’s so short like me! I just love seeing her be romanced by men much taller than her and living vicariously through her due to our mutual height disadvantage.

The height difference in Queen Inhyun's Man was everything ?

Yeees! Reminds me of one of my favorite drama moments to date: the kiss in Queen In-hyun's Man when she tiptoes on his feet, ahhh.

Link for those who haven't seen it (or want to watch it again. And again): https://youtu.be/CXpnPN-dr7w

I'm not as obsessive about it as to look up or know their heights...LOL...BUT, I will definitely sit on this bench with you! I love to see a tiny woman with a tall protective man. I can't even explain it. My hubs is a full foot taller than I am, and it makes me feel petite and feminine. :)

Omg, dead. Didn't think it would go as far as checking heights first thing. This is definitely catnip.

And I agree. There is something suuuuuper cute about height differences. I didn't even understand how two people could date when they were a similar height, until well, I did it myself.

I would add though - height difference PLUS SHOULDERS.

SHOULDERS ARE SO GOOD, especially when the girl is slight. Sung Hoon is the obvious winner, but Ji Chang Wook does it great too.

Age of Youth's Yoo Eun-jae and her Sunbae (Yoon Jong-yeol).. The dramatic height differences is wow but cute lol

HAHAHA omg this!! Love this

Jang Na-ra and all her leading men :).

I love and wish I could upvote/thumbs up this post!!!

I... Am the exact opposite. Am I the only one here who doesn't like large height differences? I can totally see the appeal because it's adorable but on a personal level it does nothing for me. ?

I'm 5 foot 9, at least 10-15cm taller than most of my peers and I've always felt like the gangly, large, ugly friend. It doesn't help that the average height of men in my country's demographics seems to be 5 foot 9, and I personally love meeting taller people because it makes me feel... Tiny. I hate feeling like a giant! The only problem is few people here are tinier than me. ?

That's why when I watch a drama, I love when the male lead is very tall (180+ is good for me) but when I see a tiny female lead I can't help but feel so miffed that I don't ever get to meet someone tall like that and the petite girls are stealing all the giant men for themselves. Am I making any sense? ?

Still, I don't choose to watch dramas just because of the height, so I'll watch regardless, haha!

I have always loved dramatic height difference in dramas, (Nine Times Travel comes to mind) and I still do, a lot.

But recently I have watched Jealousy Incarnate and I have been shaken completely. I don't know why but the slight height difference in that drama seemed to majorly contribute to the crackling chemistry. I swooned at how taller Go Kyung Pyo was than Gong Hyo Jin who is herself tall. And then Jo Jung Suk came into the scene, and it was a feast of fireworks!

Somebody tell me why!

Haha... It is a rather weird catnip. I do prefer my drama men to be tall, but not necessarily the women to be tiny. Just that the men are taller.

I've seen enough height differences that it doesn't really phase me anymore. But I'm a sucker for when the woman is taller than the man (especially if it's extremely noticeable), though I rarely ever see it.

I do love the height difference!!! I like men who are tall!! For a girl who is 170cm, short men are a nightmare.... I just hate it so much to stand next to guys who are shorter than me, which happens most of the time.... At the same time, I am also not a fan of shorter girls too!!! I hate when I can't reach things, which doesn't happen btw!!! Anyway a man of >185cm is my ideal one!!!

I sooooo get that as I'm doing exactly the same thing!
I'm quite short (159cm - sorry, no inches I'm European), but any man below 180cm is too short for me - both in real life and in dramaland.
In Korean actors it influences a lot the intensity of their swooning effect on me. #diggingtall&tiny?

Oh my God. This is like, the single most relatable catnip so far.

I'm 158 cm or around 5'2" (I think you'd know better), so I'm pretty tiny (probably Park Bo Young-tiny), but ever since I grew to be that tall (or that tiny, depending on how you see it) I've always felt, well... not exactly gigantic but really not at all small. Just like you, I'd like to consider myself a feminist. And similarly, for some reason I just like the image of a tall, broad-shouldered guy paired with a tiny girl. And I'm not afraid to admit this somewhat shallow, maybe un-feminist idea of mine.

However, where I live, 158 cm isn't so short, and I've always felt I tower over girls around me that average between 150-155. 155-158 is a small margin, but still, I feel big... wherever I go.

Before I go on a tangent here, I just want to say that I find the idea of a male lead towering over the female lead adorable because it's something very relatable to me. I also like to be towered over by guys, since it's like a breathe of fresh air from the normalcy of myself towering over girls (not by much, but who says feelings are rational).

So thank you for writing this and showing me that being a feminist doesn't mean you can't get behind this catnip, something that might seem shallow. Sometimes... the heart wants what it wants.

I remember watching The Ten Commandments as a teenager and swooning over the way Charleton Heston towered over his petite and feminine costars. He was so big and strong and masculine. And I mourned the fact that it would never be me -- even then I was monster amazon woman. The only chance I have at a man a foot taller than me is if I can somehow manage to meet a professional basketball player. Le sigh. Hooray for dramas and fantasy!

This is so real, it has even invaded my personal life. Whenever the issue of height comes up, I'll tell my husband that he's short, very much to his annoyance. I've never thought of it that way before I started watching kdramas. I guess it would serve me right if he ever starts on kdramas and quip "Why aren't you petite/cute/beautiful?" I am 5 ft 6" and let's just say my only hope in showbiz is gags.

I love how you made something as simple as height differences into a catnip, and worded it so well here! Laughed so much while reading this! As a person who is quite short I do enjoy watching dramas with such a height difference (because apart from it looking cute onscreen, I can imagine myself next to those tall guys. Like, ah, I'm up to his chest, so a hug would put my face right there in the middle. Or maybe I'm up to his shoulders, so I can lean on those sturdy things. HAHAHA)

I remember the height of my crush on Park Bo Gum and was sad to that Hyeri and Kim Yoo Jung were quite taller than me, because their height always looked so compatible onscreen HAHAHA

And when he has to bend to look her in the eyeeee! *squeeee* ???

Now I'm discovering a variety of catnips that I didn't even know they existed in the first place.
Height difference has never been a big deal for me, I even feel better if the female lead challenges the height of the male leads, because honestly I feel bad for the tall guys having to bend down to kiss the girl (cue baby-faced beauty) , but the height stuff has always been a part of the package, never standing out on its own.
But now I realize many beanies are so drawn towards it :-)

I found myself with a huge grin on my face, reading this... You're so cute, you realize??

Never thought about it but yeah it is intriguing... :)

omo @since2006, this is such a great post! HAHAHAHA I love it and yes to the part where even though you're a raging feminist, you're so unapologetic about loving this one. ME TOO!

If you have a secret group of people-who-swoon-cause-of-the-height-difference, send me a secret letter, I am with you!

Well I am the opposite I guess. I like it more when height difference of male and female leads are balanced, rather than extreme. Say a height difference of 10-15 cm would be ideal for me. Anything around 20 cm or more is too much. Too much height difference gives me the impression of a man and a child, rather than a man and a woman, esp if heroine is on cuter side. I prefer it when hero and heroine are balanced physically and complement each other, rather than heroine looking all fragile and small next to hero. That leads to too much power imbalance IMO. Lol maybe I just have a thing for balance and equality in all aspects of relationships.
Also when height difference is too much, while doing close up scenes, camera has to focus on male lead in one shot and female lead in another shot which kind of breaks the flow. While in case of similar heights camera can capture expressions and reactions of both leads simultaneously which increases the beauty and flow.

Models nam joohyuk,lee jongsuk and kim youngkwang towers over their cast members lol

Boyoung is so smol and cute?

I never really thought about it but I totally agree! I love a good height difference in a romance- the first that comes to mind is Nam Joo Hyuk and Kim Seul Gi in Surpluss Princess. The height difference was so big it was almost funny, and yet it was just so, so adorable!

Haha! The greatest height difference is Park Bo Young and Hyung Sik. She's so tiny while he's so tall and gangly. I'm the same height as her so I know where I will reach if I stand next to him. lol I'm still having withdrawal symptoms with this puppy couple. No other OTP has come close to overtaking their position.

Although I don't watch SWDBS and Fight for My Way but I am too, a fans of this kind of catnip.
To mention some of my favourites:
Ji Hyun woo - Yoo Inna (QIHM)
Lee Taehwan - Park Eunbin (Father I'll Take Care of You)
Kim Youngkwang - Soojin (9+ Boys)
Nam Joohyuk - Kim Seulgi (Surpluss Princess)
Lee Jongsuk - Park Shinhye (Pinocchio) (although I ship PSH - Taecyeon in real life. Lol)
Kim Minjoon - Min Hyorin (Romance Town. Such an old drama)
Hong Jonghyun - Han Sungyeon (Her Lovely Heels. Strangely I watch this several times although I don't like her acting. Lol. Same goes with Kim Young Kwang - Gu Hara in 13 Bucket List)
Jung Kyu won - Hong Soohyun (History of a Salaryman. I watch the drama for their parts only)
I think I have more than this but I can't remember all of them right now.
Btw thank you for writing this. Now I know that I am not alone.

I like some couples with big height differences but other times I'm just reminded of a dad out walking with his daughter, lol. So I guess if the chemistry is there I don't care about height. That said I'd love to see a main couple in kdrama land where the girl is notacibly taller than the guy and I'd especially love it if said height difference was never even brought up in the drama.

Jung Eun-ji's dramas would be good example. So far, she'd been working with tall guys, Seo In-guk, Ji soo, Lee Won-geun, Sung Shin-rok, Ji Hyun-woo. Not to forget, Jo In-sung, although she's not paired with him.

Well I never thought of it as a catnip but as a short girl I prefer tall guys so I like it when in dramas the guy is tall and I enjoy the height difference with the girl too. But it's not something I look for first in a drama. It's more like a bonus

SIG height difference with Cha Ji An in IRY was also really cute. And in 1997.

Sassy Go Go:
Ji Soo - Jung Eun ji - Lee Won geun

OMO!

Brilliant article-i didn't realize this was my irresistible catnip, too!
The scientist in me wants to go back to all my fave dramas and see if second leads tend to be shorter than our main guys......