Netflix has become one of the internet’s premiere destinations for engaging, innovative Korean dramas and series. The streaming service provides a home for gripping thrillers like 2021’s breakout Squid Game, romances like It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, and horror series like All of Us Are Dead, as well as a way for Korean stories to reach a wider audience. While Korean TV has had a sizable international following since the days of romantic comedies like Coffee Prince and Boys over Flowers, thanks in part to accessibility via streaming, dramas are captivating audiences worldwide like never before. That increased popularity comes with increased output and increased budgets, leading to even more highly binge-able Korean content.
Over time, Netflix has become the go-to streaming service for Korean TV — both those made in-house and sourced from outside Netflix —currently has over 250 dramas available for subscribers to stream. This number isn’t going to shrink anytime soon; in April, Netflix announced it was investing an additional $2.5 billion in the creation of Korean media, so expect even more high-quality projects in the future.
As we enter the latter half of 2023, there are still some upcoming Korean dramas I’m looking forward to streaming in the near future. Here are 10 of the ones I most anticipate and when they’re expected to premiere.
Celebrity (June 30, 2023)
This drama explores the allure of fame as well as its dark side. The plot follows Seo A-ri (played by Park Gyu-young), a woman who becomes an internet celebrity and enters a bright and glamorous world powered by the rich and famous. While I love a good charming show, Celebrity looks like it will not only deliver in that department but also offer an authentic crime twist on that genre; Seo A-ri uploads a pre-recorded live stream after her apparent death, prompting her 1.3 million followers to wonder who the killer is — and her circle of industry frenemies to fear for their own lives. A murder mystery set in the surprisingly under-explored world of online influencers, starring a handful of K-pop celebrities (CN Blue’s Kang Min-hyuk, Secret’s Jeon Hyo-sung, (G)I-DLE’s Song Yuqi)? Sign me up.
Behind Your Touch (Aug 12, 2023)
This upcoming drama is a romance that delves into the supernatural. Behind Your Touch is about a veterinarian named Bong Ye-bun (Han Ji-min), who lives in a farming village and exhibits magical abilities, and a detective named Jang-yeol (Lee Min-ki). The two soon begin to solve small crimes together, no doubt using Ye-bun’s powers to crack open some cold cases. Supernatural crime-solving romances are (perhaps surprisingly) typical in the K-drama world, but I eat it up every time, so I’m looking forward to this. While not much is known about Behind Your Touch beyond basic plot details, there’s a decent amount of hype behind the drama thanks to EXO member Suho making his Netflix debut as Kim Sun-woo.
Mask Girl (Aug 18, 2023)
Another drama based on a popular webtoon, Mask Girl, follows an ordinary office worker named Kim Mo-mi (Go Hyun-Jung), who is a popular live-streamer by night. Despite her popularity, Mo-mi retains her anonymity by wearing a mask when she streams, stemming from her insecurity in her appearance. The original webtoon is rather adult with a mature rating, and it remains to be seen if the drama will keep that energy, but I am looking forward to a mature and unpredictable dark comedy with commentary on Korean beauty standards. Also of note is this will be former After School-member-turned-actress Nana’s first Netflix role, and I’m excited to see what role she plays in the drama.
Destined With You (August 2023)
There aren’t many details about Destined With You yet, but the official Netflix synopsis sounds promising. Netflix describes the drama as “an irresistible romance between a woman who obtained a forbidden book that was thoroughly sealed 300 years ago and a man who became a victim of the forbidden book.” Starring SF9‘s Rowoon and Jo Bo-Ah as the two leads, the drama’s plot sounds appropriately mysterious (what is the deal with this book? How is this man a victim, and why is the book forbidden?), and I’m looking forward to discovering more.
A Time Called You (Q3 2023)
Based on the Taiwanese series Someday or One Day, this drama follows Han Jun-hee (Jeon Yeo-bin) as she mourns her boyfriend, Ko Yeon-Jun (Kang Hoon), who died a year prior. One day, she suddenly wakes up as a high school student named Kwon Min-joo in the year 1998 and meets another high school student named Nam Si-heon, who looks alarmingly like her deceased love. I find the premise intriguing, and I already want to know how all of these people are inevitably connected. This is one of those dramas that could end up being a real tearjerker or a suspenseful thriller— or ideally, a combination of the two — and since I enjoyed Jeon Yeo-bin’s work in Vincenzo, I’m excited to see her in such a complex role.
Doona! (Oct 20, 2023)
Many popular Korean dramas are adaptations of popular webtoons (think Itaewon Class and True Beauty) and Doona! will continue that practice. Based on the webtoon The Girl Downstairs, the show will follow college student Joon (Yang Se-jong), who discovers an ex-celebrity (Bae Suzy) is living in the apartment underneath him. While initially trying to ignore her presence, he eventually finds himself intrigued by her life and her sudden retirement from the idol industry. Since Suzy was once an idol herself (in the criminally underrated Miss A), she seems like a natural fit for the role, and she’s definitely demonstrated her acting chops with other Netflix dramas like Start-Up. Combining mystery, romance, and likely some comedy as well, Doona! looks right up my alley.
Diva of the Deserted Island (October 2023)
If you’ve noticed a trend on this list, it’s that I’m really into dramas that explore aspects of fame and are mysterious in some way. Diva of the Deserted Island fits right in as it follows Seo Mok-ha, a girl who has always dreamed of being a singer who survived 15 years alone on a deserted island. Now, returning to society after a life of solitude is a new challenge she’ll have to face. While the plot sounds rather serious, Diva of the Deserted Island is a romantic comedy, but I’m still curious to find out why Mok-ha went missing in the first place. Actress Park Eun-bin will be playing the lead role, and I absolutely loved Extraordinary Attorney Woo, so I’m excited to see her in something new. Playing an aspiring singer won’t be too much of a stretch for Eun-bin as she’s a singer herself, even proving music for the Attorney Woo soundtrack.
Gyeongseong Creature (Dec 22, 2023)
A historical drama slated for the end of the year; not much is known about the plot other than that the drama is set in 1945 and that characters will be facing down monsters created by human greed. Even with few details, the drama has such a talented cast that it’s hard not to be hyped. Starring Park Seo-jun (Itaewon Class) as a wealthy merchant and Han So-hee (Nevertheless) as an accomplished bounty hunter with a troubled past, as well as Wi Ja-hoon (Squid Game) and Claudia Kim (Avengers: Age of Ultron) in supporting roles, Gyeongseong Creature earns a spot on this list based on talent alone.
Ballerina (Late 2023)
The only movie on this list, Ballerina, is a revenge thriller, and one thing about me is I’m a sucker for a good female-led revenge story. In the film, Jeon Jong-Seo plays a former bodyguard who is asked by her close friend, ballerina Min-hee (played by Park Yoo-rim), to help her get revenge on a man named Choi Pro (Kim Ji-hoon). Both Jong-Seo and Ji-hoon were costars (as Tokyo and Denver, respectively) in Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area, and it will be interesting to see the two reunite as adversaries in this film. The short clip from Netflix’s Tudum K-Content Preview looks promisingly action-packed, and I’m looking forward to more plot details as the year progresses. There’s no official release date as of writing, but production wrapped in October of last year. I’ll definitely be streaming when this comes out.
Doctor Slump (Late 2023)
There are a ton of Korean dramas about those in medical professions, but it’s rare to watch one about doctors burning out and switching careers, which is why Doctor Slump sounds so intriguing to me. The show will revolve around two doctors struggling with their profession, a plastic surgeon named Yoo Jeung-woo (Park Hyung-sik), whose career falls off after a surgical accident, and anesthesiologist Nam Ha-Seul (Park Shin-hye), who realizes she has no life outside of her hospital. I’m looking forward to seeing the two characters bond and discover there’s more to life than having a prestigious yet exhausting career. Another reason this drama is notable is that it marks a return for Shin-hye after a two-year hiatus from acting, and I usually enjoy her work on the screen.