The 5 best Korean dramas to watch on Netflix this winter

Although Korean dramas have become popular in many parts of the world since the 2000s, Their global popularity has exploded in recent yearsthanks in large part to the rise of Netflix. The anchor recently revealed Over 80% of global subscribers watch Korean content – This number should come as no surprise considering how often Korean shows land. Netflix’s top 10 most-watched non-English programs worldwidesometimes occupying at least half of the list.

Whether you’re a long-time fan of Korean dramas or new to Korean television, here are five great Korean dramas you’ll want to start the new year with. Our roundup includes thrillers featuring scary zombies, gruesome grim reapers, armed guards in pink jumpsuits, and some low-key workplace dramas, giving us a glimpse into the breadth of K-dramas available to today’s audiences. Despite their different themes, these five shows all feel incredibly relevant and timely—each for their own reasons.

So, make yourself a cup of hot cocoa, snuggle up under a warm blanket, and press play—though if you’re a little squeamish, you might want to watch some of these shows with the lights on.

type: A zombie thriller for those who are usually afraid of zombie thrillers
Number of episodes: 12

Korean drama A-list star Han Hyo-joo (move, No blood) and Park Hyung-sik (Dr. Plunge, Soundtrack #1) stars in this one-of-a-kind thriller, directed by Ahn Gil-ho, who has also directed other popular Korean dramas such as stranger, Memories of the Alhambra, youth recordand glory.

Savvy police squad member Sae-bom (Han) has her heart set on moving into a newly built luxury high-rise, but there’s a problem: New tenants give priority to married couples. To get an apartment, she convinces her old friend, police detective Yi-hyun (Park), to agree to a marriage of convenience. However, soon after they move in, a mysterious disease begins to spread among the building’s residents, turning the infected into zombies and prompting the military to quarantine the apartment complex. Isolated residents turned against each other, fighting to survive the outbreak.

happiness This is not your typical zombie thriller. For starters, it’s slower-paced and arguably less scary than most other zombie movies, simply because most scenes don’t involve zombies (the zombies themselves still look scary, though). Those infected with the disease aren’t even called zombies, and in most cases their madness and flesh-eating rampage appear to be temporary. Instead, the show feels more like an exploration of human nature in times of crisis — something that resonated with viewers when it premiered in 2021 during the pandemic.

type: Dark supernatural fantasy thriller with eerie parallels to the real world
Number of episodes: 6

November 2021, limboThe first season premiere became Netflix’s most-watched show worldwide that week. Although the show’s second season – which aired last October – didn’t garner much attention, many viewers praised it for being more thrilling than the first.

Directed and co-written by renowned film producer Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan, boys, Parasite: gray,as well as Highly anticipated upcoming movies on Netflix Revelation), limbo Imagines a dystopian world where people are condemned to hell due to “decrees” issued by “angels” predicting the date and time of their death. At prophesied times, three giant monsters appear out of thin air, pummel and batter their hapless victims before burning them to smithereens.

In the second season, two people who traveled through hell and came back again──Park Jung Ja (played by Kim Shin-rok) unexpectedly resurrected. sweet home and move) and cult leader Jung Jin-soo (Kim Sung-cheol) our favorite summer)—raises all kinds of questions about these supernatural events and leads to power struggles between various ideological groups to advance their own agendas.

Based on the same name webcomic Co-created by Director Yan, limbo On the surface, this is a pretty scary fantasy thriller. But Yeon says the series is also symbolic representation “The misfortune we face in life” and the hell many of us have created for ourselves. As religious and political extremism rises around the world, social review finds limbo Feels especially relevant to these times.

type: If children’s games could kill people…
Number of episodes: 7

On December 26, 2024, Netflix finally dropped the most anticipated series of 2024 – Season 2 squid gameIt is the anchor’s highest-rated program ever. Screenwriter and director Hwang Dong-hyuk often talks about The pressure he felt while writing the show’s second seasonBut it looks like he’s really outdone himself. (But let’s face it, if season 2 wasn’t actually that good, do we really think Netflix would be going all out to promote it?)

Three years after being the sole winner and survivor of a deadly game, Player 456 Sung Ki-hoon (played by the incomparable Lee Jung-jae) returns to the high-stakes competition, this time with the goal of ending it all once and for all. But will the other contestants – who are just as desperate for money as he once was – agree to team up with him, or will greed get the better of them? Will Ki Hoon finally come face to face with the lead singer?

The cast is star-studded, including some of the most recognizable faces in Korean film and television (and even K-pop!), with returning actors Lee, Wie Ha-joon, Lee Byung-hun, and Gong Yoo as well as newcomers like Im Si-wan, Lee Jin-wook, Park Sung-hoon, Kang Ha Na, Park Kyu Young, Jo Yuri, former BIGBANG member TOP

Featuring a host of new kid’s games, surprise reveals, gripping performances and, of course, iconic costumes and candy-colored set designs, the latest season is just as intense and bloody as the first season.

The blockbuster series will continue with a third season, expected to be released later this year.

type: Inspirational workplace drama
Number of episodes: 20

This is an old Korean drama that was released in 2014, but we included it here because it is a classic and features several stars from Season 2. squid gameIncluding Im Si-wan, Kang Ha-neul, and Jeon Seok-ho.

Zhang Gelai (played by Yan) is a Go genius (known as Go) we have Korean), but his family situation prevented him from pursuing a professional career. Forced to face the real world, Ge Lai started an internship in a trading company, but was immediately belittled by his colleagues due to his lack of academic qualifications and work experience. Nothing to rely on except the techniques and strategies you learned we havecan Geu-rae successfully navigate the workplace and ultimately win the favor of her colleagues?

Adapted from the webcomic of the same name written by Yoon Tae-ho, directed by Kim Won-seok (Arthda Chronicles, my sir, signal, Sungkyunkwan Scandal), missan (one we have (a term referring to a stone that is neither dead nor alive) provided many lessons about work and daily life, and subsequently inspired remakes in China and Japan.

Due to the show’s huge success (it won multiple domestic television awards in 2015 and 2016) and its cultural influence in South Korea, many Korean dramas began to be adapted from online comics – a trend that continues to this day.

type: boy meets girl in space
Number of episodes: 16

Here’s another workplace K-drama – but this one takes place in outer space! Billed as South Korea’s first space-set office drama, the highly anticipated sci-fi romantic comedy stars heavyweight Lee Min-ho in the title role.pinball machine, King: Eternal Monarch) and Gong Hyo-jin (When camellias bloom, producer), directed by Park Shin-woo (fatal vote, It doesn’t matter if it’s not good), written by Xu Shuxiang (pasta, romantic town).

Kong Yong (Lee), an obstetrician-gynecologist and future son-in-law of the chairman of South Korea’s largest conglomerate, paid a large sum of money to travel to the space station as a space tourist. There, he meets Eve Kim (Gong), a highly capable Korean-American space scientist who likes to play by the rules. She also happens to be the commander of a space station, and she hates tourists like Kong Long who pay to travel into space without receiving proper astronaut training. Will they be able to tolerate each other when they are forced to live in close quarters hundreds of miles from Earth?

When celebrities gossip Premieres on January 4th.