Just between Lovers.

While there are a lot of thriller dramas that take inspiration from real-life crimes - the Hwaseong serial murders are truly a k-drama favourite - there aren't too many modern dramas based predominantly on real events.

Among historical dramas, I really liked Hymn of Death - a moving story told with a lot of gentleness and empathy. Also covers a period of time we don't see often in k-dramas.

Most of the ones I can think of are more of a nod to historical events than truly based on them, and most are either 20th century sageuks or crime dramas. I guess this makes sense, as it's the big, tragic events that tend to get written down, more than some ordinary person's love story (although I'd be here for that).

I think it's clear that the building collapses in Move to Heaven, Just Between Lovers/Rain or Shine, and Chocolate were inspired by the Sampoong Department Store Collapse in 1995. A collapse is an important event in each of the dramas, but is featured to different extents in each one, and I would recommend them all.

I often think of sageuks as pre-20th century, which is not really correct I guess, but two historical dramas with a slightly more modern setting are Mr. Sunshine and Hymn of Death. Mr. Sunshine is a totally fictional story but is set in amongst real historical events. I know I spent a lot of time reading about the beginning of the Japanese occupation and annexation of Korea while I was watching. Hymn of Death might be more in line with the prompt since the main characters were real people and all the major events, I'm pretty sure, were things that really happened to them.

Then there are the crime dramas. Narco Saints is based on true events, and ones like Signal feature cases that are based on real historical cases, but are obviously less close to the real thing.

Fly Dragon.
Writer Park Hae-young's works.
Writer Noh Hee-kyung's works.
Former Judge turned Screenwriter Moon's works.

The only one I can think of is Pachinko which shows the horrific treatment of the Koreans during the Japanese occupation, the experiences of the Korean immigrants in Japan and how Korea came to be divided because of politics. I think using the microcosm of one family’s experience over multiple generations is a great way to humanise historical events.

'Youth of May' was set during Gwangju Uprising. It was quite heartbreaking in many ways.

Youth of May, Nokdu Flower

All of the Reply series have references to real life events, trends, celebrities, etc.

Nokdu Flower

Three Musketeers was a clever combination of based on a true story and on the novels. It wrapped up well enough even though it only ever completed 1 of the initially-planned 3.

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bokju was inspired by a real person, but not sure how much the events were based on real life.

For Koreans, it is the movie "The Admiral: Roaring Currents." Admiral Yi Sun-sin faces a tough challenge when he is forced to defend his nation with just 13 battleships against 300 enemy vessels. It is still the #1 domestic box office movie in Korea.

I thought Youth of May was especially relevant to current times. I also enjoyed Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo. If I recall the leads there dated in real life.

Gaksital - Japanese occupation of Korea , heard so much brutality on this in real life

Reply series - The period was captured well 90's and 80's.

Youth of May- focused on Gwanju Uprising

Snowdrop - loosely based on June Democratic Struggle

Most 'inspired by true life' stories involve an event in the news or an historical event. But to me the best example of a very good drama inspired by a true life event was a personal tragedy: It was he early death of a good friend which inspired the writer of GOBLIN: THE GREAT AND LONELY GOD, which is a wonderful meditation on life, love and death.

Though it’s not a drama, I can recommend the movie “Escape From Mogadishu.” It’s based on the true story in which diplomats at the North and South Korean embassies—sworn enemies—joined forces to escape when a violent civil war breaks out in Somalia in 1991. I’d never heard about this incident before, even though it’s a fascinating, suspenseful story.