Queen of Tears: Honest Review & Filming Locations (2026)
Short version: the title makes Queen of Tears (눈물의 여왕) sound like sixteen hours of sobbing. It is not. It is a comedy for long stretches, the chemistry between Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-won is the whole engine, and the "one more episode" pull is dangerous. Spoiler-free review below.
📌 What it is
A chaebol heiress and her husband — a lawyer from a small pear-farming town — are quietly heading for divorce when a medical diagnosis rearranges everything they thought they knew about each other. Sixteen episodes, originally on tvN in 2024, streaming on Netflix.
It works on three levels at once: a marriage falling apart and re-forming, a family power struggle inside a conglomerate, and a fish-out-of-water comedy about a rural family colliding with extreme wealth.
💬 My honest take
I put this off for months. People kept recommending it and I kept thinking: I do not want to spend sixteen hours crying, thank you. That was completely the wrong read on it.
There are far more genuinely funny scenes than sad ones — the husband's family alone carries entire comic sequences — and the plotting keeps moving so there is never a stretch where you check how much is left. The tension and the sweetness alternate so cleanly that each episode ends at exactly the wrong moment to stop.
But what really carries it is Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-won. Their chemistry is good enough that you stop caring about the corporate scheming and simply follow their faces. I found myself watching their expressions in scenes where nothing was being said, which is not something I do often.
Result: the classic "just one more episode" spiral, and another night gone. If you have been avoiding it because of the title, that was me — start episode one and see.
✅ Watch it if…
- You want to laugh and cry in the same episode.
- You like romance with real stakes rather than misunderstandings.
- You enjoy big glossy productions — cars, houses, tailoring, all of it.
- You have two weekends. This one is long.
⚠️ Maybe skip it if…
- Illness storylines are difficult for you right now.
- You dislike chaebol-family plots and boardroom scheming.
- You want something short. Sixteen hour-plus episodes is a commitment.
👑 Planning a Korea trip around your watchlist?
🚌 Queen of Tears Filming-Location Day Tour (Mungyeong) →🏨 Compare Seoul Hotels & Train Tickets →📍 Where it was filmed — and what you can visit
🍐 Mungyeong · Gyeongsangbuk-do
"Yongdu-ri", the husband's rural hometown, was shot largely around Mungyeong — pear country in the mountains of North Gyeongsang province — with additional filming in Goesan, Chungcheongbuk-do. Note that the family house and the village supermarket were purpose-built sets and have since been dismantled, so you are visiting the landscape rather than the buildings.
🚲 Guryangri Station rail bike · Mungyeong
The rail-bike date was filmed at a disused station turned into a rail-bike attraction. You can ride the same line — it is one of the few scenes here you can reproduce almost exactly.
🎡 Mungyeong EcoWorld
The amusement-park sequences were shot here, in the same city, which is why Mungyeong day tours from Seoul bundle the two.
🗿 Korean Stone Art Museum · Seongbuk-dong, Seoul
The lavish estate scenes used this museum in the hills of Seongbuk-dong in northern Seoul — a beautiful, quiet spot with stone sculptures and a garden view over the city, and easily the most accessible location on this list. Combine it with a walk through Seongbuk-dong's cafés.
🚄 Mungyeong is roughly 2–3 hours from Seoul and awkward without a car, which is why guided day tours exist for exactly this drama. If you would rather stay in the capital, the Seongbuk-dong museum gives you a location in an afternoon.
🔁 If you liked it, watch next
- A Time Called You — if you want the same "one more episode" pull with a mystery. Our review.
- Our Beloved Summer — quieter, funnier, equally romantic. Our review.
- When Life Gives You Tangerines — for when you actually do want to cry.
- The full list: 15 best Korean dramas on Netflix.
❓ FAQ
How many episodes is Queen of Tears?
Sixteen, each running over an hour — about 20 hours in total.
Is Queen of Tears on Netflix?
Yes in most regions. It aired on tvN in Korea and streams internationally on Netflix, though licensed titles can vary by country.
Is it as sad as the title suggests?
No. There is heartbreak, but the register is closer to romantic comedy for much of the run.
Do I need to know anything about chaebol dramas first?
Not at all — the show explains its own world quickly.
Can I visit the Yongdu-ri village set?
Not anymore; those structures were temporary and were removed after filming. The surrounding Mungyeong scenery and the rail bike are still there.
🎬 Turn the watchlist into an itinerary:
🗺️ Browse Korea Day Tours & Tickets →📶 Korea eSIM for Naver Map & Streaming →The 💬 My take section is a personal opinion, not a sponsored review. Filming locations were confirmed from Korean coverage as of July 2026; sets are frequently removed after production, so check locally before travelling a long way.