Tearjerker K-pop ballads: Korean songs that will make you cry
When do you break down in tears?
When you go through a breakup, when you can no longer see someone important to you—so many emotions can well up at times like these.
Here, we carefully curate and introduce K-pop “songs that make you cry” that stand close to each person’s desire to weep.
From tracks that overwhelm with grand, expansive worlds to songs that intimately capture everyday life, we cover a wide range—classic staples, of course, and new releases added as they come.
May these emotion-rich songs unique to K-pop help soothe your heart, even just a little.
- K-POP and Korean tear-jerker songs: tracks that deeply resonate and bring you to tears
- [Exquisite Ballad Songs] K-pop that touches the soul. Korean Ballads
- K-pop that touches the heart: masterful ballads by Korean male artists
- K-pop that touches the heart: iconic ballads by Korean female artists
- K-pop and Korean love songs: Love songs that really capture the Korean view of romance
- A poignant, heart-touching K-pop song. A bittersweet track that resonates with many different emotions.
- [K-POP] Korean 'yami' songs that fit a blue mood
- [Tearjerker] Songs that make your heart tremble with tears & moving tracks with lyrics that touch the soul
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- [Korean popular music] Popular trot songs. Masterpieces by trot singers.
- A J-POP song highly popular in South Korea [with a Korean-language cover too!]
- [Korea] A ballad-style friendship song. A roundup of classic K-pop masterpieces
- K-pop to color your Instagram stories: recommended Korean songs
Tearjerker K-POP Ballads: Korean Songs That Will Make You Cry (31–40)
In My DreamSUPER JUNIOR
SUPER JUNIOR, a group whose members have each long led the Korean entertainment scene as individuals as well, released this song on their 4th album, BONAMANA, in 2010.
It’s a ballad that chronicles the feelings after a breakup.
The narrator dreams of peacefully drifting into sleep and spending happy moments there, only to wake and find their lover no longer by their side—overflowing with that kind of poignant sorrow.
The wish to simply fall into an eternal sleep seeps into the hollow left in the heart by lost love.
Their vocal performances, too, draw you in and make you empathize, as if being gently wrapped in the emotion.
APOLOGYiKON
APOLOGY is a heartbreak song that makes you painfully realize that nothing lasts forever.
It’s a track released in 2015 by iKON, the junior group to BIGBANG.
iKON often delivers emotionally resonant songs, and this one hits in that same way.
The lyrics are from a male perspective, where he initiates the breakup, and what’s unusual is the added sense of cool detachment.
It seems to reflect differences in how men and women think, and the gradual misalignment that led to the decision to part ways is all the more heartrending.
That sadness, contrasted with the strength it takes to choose the next step, tugs at your heartstrings.
From HomeNCT U
This is a masterpiece included on NCT’s album “NCT 2020: RESONANCE Pt.
1,” which has taken the world by storm with its most global style, and it was crafted by R&B artist JUNNY.
The vocal lineup features Taeil, Yuta, Haechan, Doyoung, Chenle, Renjun, and Kun.
Set against a laid-back sound, it conveys a message of believing in the bonds we’ve built together and moving forward with strength.
There’s also a “Rearranged Ver.” dedicated to fans.
Watching the music video, you can feel the members’ bonds transcending national borders—it’s truly moving.
Having a place where you belong is so reassuring.
This warm ballad feels like it’s saying, “Welcome home.”
좋더라(I’M YOUNG)WINNER
WINNER is a four-member South Korean male group.
They gained attention even before their debut by appearing as Team A on a South Korean reality competition program in 2013, where they secured their debut by defeating Team B (later iKON).
Your eyes tellBTS
An original Japanese ballad by BTS overflowing with emotion and featuring an exquisite high-tone vocal.
It was chosen as the theme song for the film “Your Eyes Tell,” starring Yuriko Yoshitaka and Ryusei Yokohama, a remake of the Korean drama “Always.” The Japanese lyrics are very beautiful.
The sound—which Jung Kook took part in—feels like the light of dawn, and conveys a powerful resolve to “move forward no matter what happened in the past.” A song that brims with Jung Kook’s talent! With an atmosphere like offering up a prayer, this track stays close to you in hard times and brings you to tears.
K-pop ballads that are sure to make you cry: Korean tearjerker songs (41–50)
Only I didn’t knowIU
A song wrapped in IU’s heartrending vocals.
It’s a track from the mini-album Real+, released in February 2011.
The lyrics, depicting the pain of heartbreak and regret, deeply resonate.
The feelings of blaming oneself for not realizing the breakup with a lover are expressed with delicate nuance.
IU’s crystalline voice and the grand orchestral sound are a perfect match.
It’s said that Yoon Sang composed this piece as a gift for IU.
When you want to heal the pain of a broken heart, why not listen to this song and sort out your feelings?
Love StoryLyn
This is an OST from the poignant romance drama The Legend of the Blue Sea, starring Lee Min-ho and Jun Ji-hyun.
Please look up the lyrics and give it a listen! It’s truly a tearjerker.
The joy of being with the one you love whom you met as if by fate—and yet the two share a heartrending story… You can feel all of that in this song.
Lyn, who sings this track, rarely appears on TV and the like, but she has made her mark with her lyrical, beautiful voice, which you can hear in this song.