REVENGE is a bitter pill, and the brave or desperate one who orchestrates it, may achieve his goal but it can also consume his energy until he is left with nothing but an empty heart.
This in essence is what Buried Hearts is all about. One of the most avidly watched dramas this season, it features Park Hyung Sik in the main role, portraying a dark, morally grey character in what is most likely the best performance of his career.
This suspense thriller on Disney+ opened with a modest 6 percent rating that climbed steadily until its 16th episode garnered 15.4 percent on Nielsen Korea. The viewership platform IMDb gave it an audience rating of 4.5 (with 5 the highest).
The Korean Business Research Institute brand representative rankings gave it the No. 1 drama rating on its Friday and Saturday time slot for most of its 16-episode run.
Buried Hearts climbed the ratings chart, and fans of the series hailed it thus:
“This drama is truly amazing featuring numerous twists and surprises that keep viewers on the edge of their seats. The intricate plot unfolds in unexpected ways, making each episode a thrilling experience.” — jemima joyce mydramalist.com
Revenge dramas are quite common in K-drama land, but for one in this genre to attract a huge following, it must offer something new, or as viewers are wont to look for, a full repertoire of bloody encounters, murder, treachery, a huge pile of money, a mysterious love interest, and a birth secret or two.
Now this is an extensive catalog from which to draw from to create a blockbuster. For Buried Hearts, a check on all the entries. Week after week, it serves viewers episodes that keep their pulses racing, but just as they think they’ve got it all figured out, writer Lee Myung Hee (Money Flower) springs a surprise and a lethal twist in the narrative. Director Jin Chang Gu (Military Prosecutor Doberman) ups the ante with a chase to the death and some gruesome torture scenes to induce knuckle-twisting or nail-biting among audiences.
If you think the protagonist in a drama doesn’t die, or at least not until he has exacted his revenge, think again
And, if you think the protagonist in a drama doesn’t die, or at least not until he has exacted his revenge, think again. In this one, Seo Dong Ju (Park Hyung Sik) is found on a broken raft floating at sea. He is bloodied, presumably dead from gunshot wounds—in the first episode.
Another man fishing for octopus in the vicinity finds him with his designer watch gleaming in the water. The man steals the watch but takes Dong Ju to his hut, cleans his gunshot wounds, tends to him until he regains consciousness. But once he wakes up, he has no idea who he is. There is no identity card in his pockets. The label on his torn coat reveals it is a bespoke number. In this scene, the writer uses the first of many tropes—amnesia.
Seo Dong Ju is the highly efficient, secretive corporate secretary of Daesan Group with a burning ambition fueled by the desire for revenge. He is cunning enough to navigate the power plays within the chaebol, flirts with death at every turn, and seamlessly switches from intense lover to dark and ruthless power player. This is a marked departure from PHS’ previous roles, his maturity as an actor on full display.
It helps tremendously that he is tall and dashing in his power suits. As a netizen— Key_Rope_9765 said in r/KDRAMA on reddit.com—said: “Three minutes in and Park Hyung Sik has never looked hotter omfg”
Center to the plot is the two-trillion-won political slush fund that Dong Ju hacks to bankroll his revenge and to protect himself. He astutely moves through treacherous corners, anticipating every move of his powerful and ruthless antagonist, Yeom Jang Sun (Heo Jun Ho), a former intelligence director and power broker who schemes to control others.To up the stakes some more, Jang Sun has commissioned his thugs to kill Dong Ju. Faced with this, the latter makes ruthless choices.
But, it is not just the owner of the slush fund who wants Dong Ju dead. There are others. Aside from the slush fund that Jang Sun is holding in trust to finance the electoral victory of someone he refers to as the “elder,” there is another pile—a whole vault of gold bars and row upon row of crates chock full of dollars in the study of the aging Daesan Group chairman Cha Gang Cheon (Woo Hyeon), father to a toxic bunch of ruthless siblings and grandfather to two apparent heirs. The old man also has “stashed away” in a quiet bakery a distance from his palatial mansion, a younger woman (a news anchor who quietly disappeared from the airwaves), who is the mother of his illegitimate son.
Dong Ju is the chairman’s favored underling; he is complicit in hiding the old man’s forbidden stash of soju and other alcohol, which is kept in a safe to which only Dong Ju knows the combination. Ditto with the password to open the humongous vault. Dong Ju knows all these because he has one secret weapon—a photographic memory so that with only a cursory glance, he has the codes memorized. Old man Cha has bouts of dementia, so he needs Dong Ju to open the liquor cabinet and vault.
Dong Ju also has a mission: to eventually bring his illegitimate son into the family. Seon Hu considers Dong Ju like an older brother, the same way he is regarded by Huh Tae Yoon, son of Il Do and half sibling of Yeo Eun Nam by her mother Cha Duk Hee, one of the daughters of chairman Cha.
The other driving force in Buried Hearts is the most painful betrayal of Dong Ju by his girlfriend
Aside from revenge for the death of his presumed father at the hands of someone from the Daesan group, the other driving force in Buried Hearts is the most painful betrayal of Dong Ju by his girlfriend, Yeo Eun Nam (Hong Hwa Yeon in her first lead role). An employee of Daesan, the two had been living together and after a night of steamy unprotected sex (her decision), he wakes up alone in bed.
He gets a call from the secretary of chairman Cha. He must accompany the old man to the wedding of the latter’s granddaughter. There he gets the shock of his life. The invitation says the bride is Jennifer Huh; it is in fact Eun Nam, who used that name when she was in the US. Before Dong Ju can react, armed bodyguards seize him and lock him up in a room as the wedding proceeds.
The night before, he had diamond rings in a drawer and was planning to propose marriage to Eun Nam. Once out of captivity, he corners Eun Nam on her way to the restroom saying: “You bitch, you were in bed with me last night, now you just married another man.” She answers: “Take your revenge. I want to see you with a woman in your arms.”
Some kind of betrayal it is. Eun Nam has just married the prosecutor-nephew of Jang Sun. It is an arranged marriage, and the groom is the one who caused Dong Ju’s expulsion from high school. Eun Nam has agreed to the marriage on the promise that grandfather would give her a huge chunk of shares in Daesan. Turns out she has planned this all along. Jang Sun and Huh Il Do (Lee Hae Young), Eun Nam’s stepfather, knew that Dong Ju and Eun Nam were lovers.
Dong Ju throws his watch at Eun Nam’s feet. She tells him to pick it up and wear it unless he wants everyone to see his bare wrist with her name tattooed on it. Eun Nam has his name inked on her wrist as well, but it is covered by a necklace of precious stones that Dong Ju gifted her with. This same watch is the one he is wearing when he is found on the broken raft drifting at sea.
Buried Hearts moves on at breakneck speed with Dong Ju’s desire for revenge stoked further by Eun Nam’s betrayal.
Viewers are hooked but amid all this, they also get lost, confused in the web of events
The chase is on. Back and forth the drama goes on with a twist at the end of every episode. Viewers are hooked but amid all this, they also get lost, confused in the web of events. Dong Ju battles the henchmen of Jang Sun plus Huh Il Do, son-in-law of chairman Cha who’s furious that Dong Ju has the old man’s favor, shoots the former while he is on yacht in the high seas waiting for Eun Nam to join him so they can elope and get married. Earlier, Eun Nam has decided to divorce her husband. Il Do is also egged on by Jang Sun.
But Jang Sun’s elation at Dong Ju’s presumed death, however, is clouded by his need to get to the contents of old Cha’s vault and the slush fund that Dong Ju has stolen. The “elder,” who turns out to be the president of Korea, needs the slush fund to bankroll his reelection.
Il Do is left wishing that Dong Ju would come back from the dead. With old man Cha having frequent bouts of dementia, they need the password or code to open the vault.
When Don Ju returns—still not knowing who he is; he has amnesia—the thugs of Jang Sun abduct him and subject him to water torture in a safe house. Il Do comes to his rescue.
Don Ju then recovers his memory, unknown to his enemies. We are privy now to his cohorts in hacking the slush fund and the identity of the man who found him in the raft. The hacker is his friend, a woman who is adept at busting complicated programs. His rescuer, Bae Won Bae, is actually a nurse on the run for an unspecified reason, which is why he couldn’t bring him to the hospital.
Halfway into the 16 episodes, Buried Hearts turns into a confusing mix of sub-plots
Halfway into the 16 episodes, with viewership ratings steadily going up, Buried Hearts turns into a confusing mix of sub-plots, numerous characters engaging Dong Ju in furious and almost lethal fights, adrenaline-pumping chase scenes, with the scheming children of chairman Cha thrown into the pot. By this time, there are so many plot twists that the writer seems to have forgotten to explain crucial details.
Aside from the murder plots (Il Do has attempted to kill Dong Ju twice), Jang Sun has also ordered the murder by a truck of doom (a favorite trope of K-drama writers) of Sister Agnes, Dong Ju’s adoptive sister. His mother died when he was very young. The father he knew as a child, died in a car crash perpetrated by Il Do (supposedly a close friend of Dong Ju’s dad). The young Dong Ju, known then as Sheung Hoon, was in the car and witnessed Il Do ramming his father’s car. This is a recurring nightmare he has as an adult, the reason he plotted his revenge.
Before we forget, Eun Nam’s biological father also perished in an earlier car crash shortly before the one that killed Dong Ju’s dad. Her mother was also among the group of friends. Hence, Eun Nam blames her stepfather for this so he can marry her mother. This little detail confuses viewers into thinking that Dong Ju and Eun Nam could be half-siblings.
Still following Buried Hearts? As viewers held in thrall by this elaborately drawn-out drama, we keep at it hoping our questions will be answered. There are also viewers still banking on a rekindling of the Dong Ju and Eun Nam romance after she divorces her prosecutor-husband.
However, with the sub-plots unravelled and crucial details unexplained, we follow the drama to its conclusion. We do get a reward in one of the most bizarre twists a writer has ever concocted. There are two, in fact. Here are clues: one has to do with a birth secret involving Dong Ju. The other concerns what happens to Jang Sun. Does Dong Ju kill him? There is a scene where Eun Nam asks Dong Ju if he did, “If you killed him, it is only right, I don’t blame you.” (Huh!) Dong Ju just gives her a look that says nothing.
IG post of Park Hyung Sik’s golf ‘reunion’ with friends from the cast of Burning Hearts—Lee Hae Young, Lee Yoo Joon
Words from viewers and critics:
>> This drama unfolds like a chess match, where power struggles, hatred, and revenge drive the conflict between Dongju and antagonist Yeom (Jang Sun). It starts strong, teasing deep and emotional family and business secrets that could hook any viewer. Yet in the middle, it stumbles, losing its grip and focus. What could have been a captivating tale of power play instead leans heavily on dramatic music, tangled family relationships, and a pace that swings from uneven to outright chaotic — omo-omo-omo, IMDb
>> This corporate revenge thriller drama tries to juggle too many moving parts and twists, and ends up a confusing mess. Over 16 episodes Buried Hearts stuffed a lot of plot into our eyeballs, but what exactly was the story? — Pierce Conran, scmp.com, April 15, 2025
>> What a masterpiece (of a) show! The story is so engaging like you can’t wait to see how the story will unfold. It has such incredible actors/actresses and their performances are amazing… The OST and the instrumental songs are so well incorporated in the drama. It gives me goosebumps… Park Hyung Sik is so freaking hot!! — NawSuzy, IMDb
My verdict
Yes. Buried Hearts did become one hell of a tangled mess, BUT I would say watch it… all 16 episodes to savor Park Hyung Sik in a stellar performance that shows him deftly switching emotions in seconds, from that of a besotted lover to one whose steely gaze masks deep pain caused by the betrayal by the woman he loves. And, he is dapper in his bespoke suits and is really HOT.
Watch it for the brilliant performances of veteran character actor Heo Jun Ho as the antagonist Yeom Jang Sun. Watch it also for those electric scenes with Park Hyung Sik and Lee Hae Young in the role of Huh Il Do.
As for fans of Buried Hearts, who were left disappointed by what they regarded as a rushed ending because the ship of Dong Ju and Eun Nam didn’t sail, I would say, forget it. This drama was not really intended to be a love story. In the end, Dong Ju sails alone in his yacht, away from Daesan, with only a final embrace with Eun Nam. Ultimately, he does succeed in waging revenge, but all he has left were his heart(s) to bury.
