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Vow to never marry in 'My Royal Nemesis' reflects changing realities of modern women's singlehood

Published: 05 Jun. 2026, 07:00

KIM JU-YEON
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Actor Lim Ji-yeon as Shin Seo-ri in SBS's romantic comedy series, ″My Royal Nemesis″ [SBS]

In the first episode of SBS’s rom-com “My Royal Nemesis,” the female protagonist declares, “I will swear off marriage in this lifetime, devote myself to learning and rise to the very top, in whatever path I choose.”

Lim Ji-yeon’s character Seo-ri — formerly Dan-shim, a royal concubine from the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) who finds herself inhabiting the body of an unknown actor in modern-day Seoul after her death — delivers the snarky line in response to a rival actor who says that her dream is to become a devoted wife and mother.

Call it a basic feminist remark or an obvious punchline to the ironic situation, but the statement seems to have struck a chord with the audience. The clip of the speech, depicting Lim’s wide-eyed, smug performance, went viral on social media, with viewers commenting that they could empathize with Seo-ri's outburst regarding the expectations still placed on women.

Actor Lim Ji-yeon's character Shin Seo-ri announces her intent to “swear off marriage in this lifetime, devote [herself] to learning and rise to the very top, in whatever path [she] chooses” in SBS's romantic comedy series ″My Royal Nemesis.″ [SCREEN CAPTURE]

According to Kang Hyeon-ju, the series’s writer, Seo-ri’s fixation on singlehood and independence came from “a small idea that [the character] would actually do well for herself if she came to the present day.” Kang said that she wanted to “re-examine what a ‘villainess’ could be,” noting that a “fearless woman with strong survival instincts can be read differently depending on the era.”

“I think that viewers find a sense of catharsis with a character who crosses between reality and fantasy,” Kang said in a written response.

The scene also reflects a broader cultural shift in Korea, with women’s choices around marriage and family being increasingly represented in media in more varied ways. Shows that treat singlehood as a valid choice rather than a problem to be solved are still relatively new phenomena in the country, where Confucian traditions have long emphasized the conventional nuclear family structure.

Fictional women in Korean dramas from the 1980s and 1990s were largely confined to roles as stay-at-home wives and mothers. Even when more assertive female characters began to appear on screens in the 1990s, they still “ultimately failed to break away from the family” and were often consumed as “potential romantic interests,” Ha Jeong-min writes in her 2024 graduate thesis.

Promotional photo for romantic comedy series ″My Lovely Sam Soon″ (2005) [MBC]

Through the early 2000s, singlehood continued to be the punchline — albeit with a refreshingly honest take on the social pressure placed on unmarried women — in popular series such as MBC’s “My Lovely Sam Soon” (2005). The show’s logline described the hero as an “old maid in her 30s [...] who lives confidently despite insecurities over her old-fashioned name and chubby appearance.”

But the 21st century has seen more Korean dramas explore postpatriarchal themes and storylines.

In SBS’s “Bad Couple” (2007), female lead Kim Dang-ja declares that she “doesn’t want marriage but wants a child” and sets out to become pregnant by finding a man with the “best genes.” The series aired around the same time that a well-known broadcaster publicly revealed her pregnancy outside of marriage and helped further challenge the stigma surrounding single mothers.

Even now, births outside of marriage remain rare in Korea, accounting for about 5.8 percent of births in 2024, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics, far below the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) 2025 report’s average of 43 percent. The OECD also placed Korea as having the third-lowest share of such births among member states.

An illustration of Jang Ha-ri, the lead in ″Oh My Baby″ (2020) with the text ″I'm not going to marry. I'm just going to have a baby.″ by illustrator Ari [TVN]

More recently, the protagonist of tvN’s “Oh My Baby” (2020), Jang Ha-ri, decides to try in vitro fertilization, or IVF, after facing the reality that her chances of pregnancy will decline with age. In KBS2’s “Men are Men” (2020), hero Seo Hyun-joo declares, “Today, before my beloved parents and friends, I would like to introduce my lifelong partner. That partner is myself.”

TV reflects real-life sentiment. More people are choosing to stay single, citing economic reasons such as skyrocketing housing prices and rising living costs. The number of single households in Korea reached a record high in 2024, surpassing 8 million for the first time and accounting for 36.1 percent of all households, according to the latest government data.

Romance dramas’ recognition of singlehood, nonmarital cohabitation and childbirth outside of marriage reflects a growing acceptance of diverse family forms, culture critic Moon Sun-young wrote for the international edition of Le Monde diplomatique in 2021.

“As younger generations place greater value on personal choice, the idea of family is shifting away from the legally married ‘normal family’ toward new forms of kinship.”

That acknowledgment also mirrors changing gender expectations in Korea.

A 2025 survey of Koreans in their 20s to early 40s found that unmarried women were more likely than men to be unsure about or opposed to marriage, with women citing concerns over patriarchal family culture and the possibility of marriage hindering their careers as major deterrents.

Lim Ji-yeon as Shin Seo-ri in SBS's romance comedy series, ″My Royal Nemesis″ [SBS]

But given that most of these shows are romances, many of the women who start single in the first episode do not remain that way by the end — probably to no one’s surprise.

In “My Royal Nemesis,” now eight episodes in, Seo-ri appears to be wavering on her vow of singlehood. In the fifth episode, after rejecting the male lead’s advances, she swears to live like a “wealthy nun”: “If your heart weakens, you’re done for. [...] The only thing that never changes in this world is money.” But that vow begins to crack as she becomes entangled with business tycoon Cha Se-gye, her former nemesis, and the two move from enemies to romance.

Earlier series, including “Men are Men” and “Oh My Baby,” follow a similar narrative.

“Within the conventions of romance, ‘singlehood’ often functions merely as an obstacle to be overcome for love to reach completion, and the simplistic way that it is resolved makes it difficult to say such portrayals reflect reality,” Moon said.

While portrayals of singlehood have changed, “women are still limited in how actively they are allowed to express desire or make their own choices,” Ha writes. While women in earlier series faced open stigma and social labeling, modern characters police their own desires and words.

Kim Go-eun plays the titular role of Yumi in the third season of ″Yumi's Cells″ (2021-), a romantic comedy series adapted from the eponymous webtoon. [TVING]

Take, for instance, tvN’s recently concluded “Yumi’s Cells” (2021-), which Ha uses as a case study.

The three-season series follows 30-something Yu-mi as she navigates love and work. Her brain cells, animated and brought to life by voice actors, personify different functions of her psyche — from “rational” and “loving” to even “hungry” — and provide commentary on Yu-mi’s daily life.

Ha argues that those cells reveal how social expectations have been internalized: In the first episode of the third season, Yu-mi’s anxiety cell wonders whether she may “really grow old alone,” and it, alongside her etiquette cell, repeatedly restrains her from acting on her desires.

Her lust cell, too, is constantly held back by other cells, a contrast that Ha draws with Yu-mi’s boyfriend’s much freer “Lustsaurus” to suggest that the series still limits how openly women can be shown as subjects who desire others and are not just desired.

Lim Ji-yeon as Seo-ri/Dan-shim, left, and Heo Nam-jun as Cha Se-gye/Grand Prince Cheongheon in ″My Royal Nemesis″ [SBS]

Seo-ri’s dilemma with love in “My Royal Nemesis” will continue to play out through June 20. The rom-com has climbed from a 4.1 percent premiere rating to a series high of 13.7 percent. On Netflix, the show topped the weekly non-English chart in its first week and has logged 8.9 million views as of May 24.

“I hope that viewers will root for the growth and salvation that come when flawed, somewhat incomplete, people meet each other and move forward together while struggling,” writer Kang said.

BY KIM JU-YEON [[email protected]]