Lately, movies, TV shows, and music from South Korea have become incredibly popular all over the world. Despite the fact that these songs, movies, and shows are in a language that many people around the world that watch or listen to them don’t even speak or understand, Korean pop culture is still totally taking over the world. Luckily, subtitles are really useful and enjoying music doesn’t necessarily require understanding the lyrics for a lot of people!
One of the most popular forms of Korean pop culture that has taken root lately is the K-drama. K-dramas are Korean TV shows that date back to the 1960s. Musicians, also known as idols, are often cast in these but actors and actresses are also cast in a lot of K-dramas. Despite the name, not every K-drama is a dramatic show, though many of them do have some kind of romantic or suspenseful element that really draws in visitors. To see 10 of the best K-dramas you can watch on Netflix right now, keep reading!
Updated by Lacey Womack, February 27th, 2020: Netflix is constantly adding new shows and movies. This is great because it means that after we finish watching one, we’ve got so many other options to check out. Netflix’s different categories make it so easy to find a show that fits exactly what a person is looking for when they sit down and start searching for a new show. Their catalog of K-Dramas and other international TV shows is also expanding all the time. Because of this, we’ve come back and added five more binge-worthy K-Dramas that can be watched on Netflix right now!
Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung
Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung is a K-Drama that aired in 2019 for a total of 40 episodes. The series is perfect for anyone that is into historical shows because of the fact that it’s set way back in the Joseon Dynasty, a period of time that lasted from around 1392 to 1897.
The series follows Goo Hae-ryung, a woman who starts working as an intern as a government historian. This is a unique position for her due to the fact that, in this time period, women who attempted to gain knowledge and power were somewhat looked down upon.
My First First Love
My First First Love is a Netflix original K-Drama that was released on the streaming service in 2019. The series is a reboot of a K-Drama that aired in 2015, My First Time, and is a fun series to watch for anyone that likes romance and drama.
My First First Love follows five friends who all find themselves living in the same house for a variety of different reasons. Being in such close quarters leads to their lives intersecting in new and unexpected ways and leads to a ton of drama, romance, and some budding friendships.
Memories Of The Alhambra
Memories of the Alhambra aired from December 2018 through January 2019 for a total of 16 episodes. Even though this K-Drama has fewer episodes than a lot of other K-Dramas that have aired and been put on Netflix, that didn’t stop this series from becoming one of the most popular in South Korean TV history. The series is well-loved for its unique plot and engaging twists that will keep viewers on the edge of their seats and wondering about what’s going to happen next.
The series is mostly set in Spain, but there are some episodes in the later parts of the series that are set in South Korea like a more traditional K-Drama. The series follows Yoo Jin-woo, a businessman who travels to Spain in order to meet the mysterious creator of an AR game. There, he meets and falls for Jung Hee-joo, the owner of the hostel where he’s staying. The two of them become tangled up in a mystery stranger than they could have ever dreamed of.
When The Camellia Blooms
When the Camellia Blooms is a K-Drama that aired in 2018. A total of 40 episodes and 4 specials aired for this series, so anyone who really gets hooked on this series won’t have to worry about running out of episodes too soon after they start watching. And that’s definitely a good thing since this K-Drama has such a unique plot and engaging elements to the storytelling!
The series follows a woman named Dong-baek. Dong-baek is a single mother who opens a bar named Camellia. Her life becomes complicated when a police officer comes into the Camellia and falls for her, determined to win her affections even though Dong-baek isn’t interested. Unfortunately, Dong-baek’s status as a single mother makes their potential relationship complicated.
Part-Time Idol
These days, K-Pop is everywhere. Just like K-Dramas are TV shows from South Korea, K-Pop is pop music that comes out of the country. Groups like Red Velvet, BTS, and BLACKPINK have become incredibly popular with audiences all over the world. There are even a lot of K-Pop idols that star in different K-Dramas, so it’s no surprise that there’s even a K-Drama all about K-Pop idols.
The series follows a music producer who steps back from the entertainment industry for a while. He returns to the industry and finds a group of trainees working in his company and decides to take them under his wing in order to debut them as a co-ed K-Pop group.
Oh My Ghost
Oh My Ghost is a Korean drama that began airing in 2015 and aired a total of 16 episodes while it was on the air. The series follows a young woman named Na Bong-sun who isn’t exactly all that popular and tends to be pretty down on herself. Thanks to the powers that her grandmother had, Na Bong-sun often sees ghosts, which is totally normal for her.
One day, her life changes when she becomes possessed by a spirit named Shin Soon-ae who believes that she’s not able to move on to the afterlife because of the fact that she didn’t have any romantic relationships while she was alive. Shin Soon-ae decides to make up for lost time and try to remedy that while in Na Bong-sun’s body so that her spirit will be released.
12 Years Promise
12 Years Promise aired in 2014 for a total of 26 episodes. The series begins in 2002 after the night that Korea won the World Cup. A pair of high school sweethearts, Jang Guk and Yu Jun-su, are together on this night and Jang Guk becomes pregnant. The two were ready to get married, until a tragic event caused their family to split the two of them up.
Over a decade later, after Jang Guk moves to the US and changes her name, the two of them meet again. But, Yu Jun-su doesn’t recognize her and Jang Guk is in no hurry to tell him about their past together as their lives become entangled up together once more.
Crash Landing On You
Crash Landing on You began airing in December 2019 and is set to air a total of 16 episodes. New episodes are put on Netflix each week, so while fans will have to wait between episodes, this show is already pretty promising and a good one to start watching if you don’t mind having to wait between new episodes.
The series follows a South Korean heiress named Yoon Se-ri who is in a really scary paragliding accident that forces her to make a crash landing in North Korea. There, she meets a member of the North Korean army named Ri Jung-hyuk who she falls for while he helps her to hide.
Nightmare High
Nightmare High is a Korean drama that aired in 2016 for a total of 12 episodes. This series may be short, but it’s definitely a suspenseful and often scary one that will draw in K-drama fans that want to watch something creepy.
The series follows a class of Korean students who recently learned that their regular teacher has become injured and isn’t going to be able to teach their class until they’re better. A mysterious new person steps up as their temporary teacher and takes over for their regular one. After this new teacher comes and starts to get to know the students in the class, things get strange immediately and one of the students has to figure out why before it’s too late.
Chocolate
Chocolate is a K-drama that began airing in November, 2019. Two new episodes are put on Netflix each week, so even though fans are going to have to wait in between episodes and won’t be able to just binge-watch the entire series until it’s over, this series is definitely still a good one to start watching.
Chocolate follows a man named Lee Kang who dreamed of becoming a chef, but ended up becoming a neurosurgeon instead. Moon Cha Young is a young woman who once met and tasted a dish that Lee Kang had cooked and became so inspired by the delicious food that she became a chef herself. The two of them meet later on in their lives and become close while cooking food together.
Love Alarm
Love Alarm aired for a total of eight episodes in August 2019. Shortly after that, the series was renewed for a second season, which means that now is the perfect time to start watching the series. The first season is pretty short, so it won’t take long to get caught up and this show is so fun to watch, you’ll definitely find yourself eagerly awaiting the release of the second season.
Dating apps and websites have become pretty popular in recent years. So many people talk about the fact that they met through some kind of an app, but this show takes that concept to a whole new level. In this show, there’s a service that alerts all of its users if there’s someone within a 10-meter radius that has romantic feelings for them.
Reply 1997
Reply 1997 was released in 2012 with a total of 16 episodes. This K-drama is the first in the Reply series and is set in two different timelines: one back in the 1990s and one in the present day when the main characters are adults. The series focuses on fan culture and the way that fans of different K-pop groups or actors and actresses can get obsessive about the idols that they love.
The series goes back and forth between two different timelines. One follows the days when Shi-Won was a teenager who, like her best friends, was obsessed with a boy band called H.O.T. and dreamed of getting to marry her favorite member. The other follows Shi-Won and her friends as adults in 2012 as they reminisce on their high school days.
Hello My Twenties
Hello My Twenties is a slice of life Korean drama that began airing in 2016. Two seasons of the series have aired, meaning that there are plenty of episodes for fans of the series to enjoy if you find yourself getting sucked into the storyline and really fall in love with the characters in this series.
This show is about a group of five college students who are all housemates. Despite the fact that they each have different interests, personalities, and life experiences, the five of them become close friends and bond over the things they love and the things they’ve gone through in life.
Cinderella With The Four Knights
Cinderella with the Four Knights is a Korean drama that aired in 2016 for 16 episodes. The series is based on a novel by the same name and often got compared by K-drama loves to Boys Over Flowers, another incredibly popular series that just about every K-drama lover has seen time and time again.
The series follows Eun Ha Won, a college student who is dedicated to her education and plans to become a teacher. Unfortunately, after she loses her mother, her life changes and she no longer has money to pay for college, forcing her to move in with her stepmother. One day, she gets an invitation to move in to a mansion with a group of rich cousins.
Romance Is A Bonus Book
Romance is a Bonus Book aired in early 2019 for a total of 16 episodes. This series quickly became one of the most popular K-dramas on TV while it was airing.
The series follows Cha Eun Ho, an author and editor at a publishing company. Cha Eun Ho has known Kang Dan-i for a long time, but the two of them get closer and closer during the series when Kang Dan-i goes through some major changes in their life.
Next: 10 Highest-Grossing Low-Budget Drama Movies Ever Made
