My wife have watched K-Drama long before Netflix thought they were popular. According to her, the Netflix (co-)produced series had better special effects but tend to cut the story short by not having more than 1 season or 2.
One of the most epic K-drama series is Arthdal Chronicles. Think Dune meets LotR meets Conan.
But they have all kinds of shows for all kinds of viewers. One of their game shows pit high IQ people against each other. The challenges / tasks were so sophisticated we had to re-watch a couple of time to get what they tried to accomplish.
The popularity of BTS (K boy band) should straighten up any warped view people might have