14 Best New K-Dramas You Should Be Watching In 2023
All the new shows that'll reel you in
By Michelle Lee SM -
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2023 is proving to be yet another strong year for South Korean content. From new seasons of hit shows like Sweet Home and Glory to upcoming romantic dramas and thrillers that star the likes of fan-favourites Song Hye-kyo, Han So-hee, and Park Seo-jun, scroll down for a line-up of buzzy new K-dramas coming to (or are already on) our screens.
A remake of Taiwanese drama Someday or One Day, this time-slip series stars two leads of two other popular dramas — Ahn Hyo-seop of Business Proposal and Vincenzo's Jeon Yeo-been.
Han Jun Hee (Jeon Yeo-been) can't get over her boyfriend Ko Yeon Jun, who died a year ago. In a twist of fate, she somehow travels back in time to the year 1998 and finds herself as high school student Kwon Min-Joo. There, she meets fellow student Nam Si-heon (Ahn Hyo-seop). She is surprised by his uncanny resemblance to her late boyfriend.
Each lead takes on the challenge of playing two characters who look identical, but have completely different personalities — and all the complications that creates when it comes to love.
'A Time Called You' is set to premiere on Netflix in the third quarter of 2023.
Based on the webcomic called Shinsunghan, Yihon (2019) by Kang Tae-kyung, the story follows the journey of Shin Sung-Han (Cho), a music professor at a German university. Following a personal tragedy, he makes a career switch into a lawyer who delves into the complex world of divorce, and fights for his clients to win by any means necessary.
Divorce Attorney Shin is now on Netflix.
Mr. Queen's Shin Hye-sun stars in this fantasy romance spinoff from a hit webtoon, playing Ban Ji-eum, a woman who can endlessly reincarnate and remember all her past lives. As a young girl in her 18th life, she falls for a thoughtful boy next door but dies in an accident. In her 19th life, she goes to great lengths to find her way back to the boy, Moon Seo-ha (Ahn Bo-hyun), but realises he has become an aloof guarded man who doesn’t want to get close to anyone after his first love, who's Ji-eum in her 18th life, died.
See You In My 19th Life premiered on Netflix on June 17.
In this eight-episode action series, two rookie boxers find themselves throwing punches outside the ring in a fight for justice. Woo Do-hwan plays Kim Gun-woo and Lee Sang-yi takes on the role of Wong Hoo-jin, who meet in the ring and soon become fast friends.
Their newfound brotherhood is taken up a notch when scheming loan sharks from the shady Smile Capital trick Gun-woo’s mother into debt and trash her cafe, spurring Woo-jin to help avenge her.
With the help of President Choi (Huh Joon-ho), a retired legend in the moneylending industry, Gun-woo and Woo-jin take their boxing skills into the real world to confront the Smile Capital’s vile head honcho, Kim Myeong-gil (Park Sung-woong), and his ruthless runners.
Bloodhounds premiered on Netflix on June 9.
Catch this time-travel drama which stars Kim Dong-wook as TV reporter Yoon Hae-joon and Jin Ki-joo as Baek Yoon-young, his accidental female companion as they mysteriously travel back to the year 1987, and soon find themselves trapped in the era. Yoon Hae-joon investigates a series of murders in hopes of saving the victims, while Baek Yoon-young tries to prevent her parents from marrying to avoid her future. They soon find that their seemingly unrelated goals are intertwined.
My Perfect Stranger is now on Viu.
The Glory
After the show's debut in December 2022, the second installation of revenge drama The Glory season one hit Netflix in March this year.
The storyline follows aspiring architect Moon Dong-eun (Song Hye-kyo), who was a victim of high school violence perpetrated by her fellow students. Years later, she cooks up an elaborate revenge scheme to make the perpetrators pay for their bullying - including becoming the homeroom teacher of one of the bullies' child. The cast also includes Lee Do-hyun, Im Ji-yeon, Park Sung-hoon, Yeom Hye-ran and Jung Sung-il.
The Glory is now on Netflix.
2020's award-winning apocalyptic horror K-drama series Sweet Home stars Song Kang as troubled high school student and social recluse Cha Hyun-soo, who lives in an apartment complex called Green Home. However, the residents of Green Home soon find themselves turning monsters, driven by their desires. Meanwhile, the rest of the survivors have to fight for their lives.
The season ended on a cliffhanger with Hyun-soo (Song Kang) being captured by the military, and the remaining survivors’ narrow escape from Green Home. The actor will return for the upcoming season, alongside Lee Jin-uk, Lee Si-young, Ko Min-si and Park Kyu-young, which will tell the unfinished story of the survivors. Newly confirmed cast members Yoo Oh-seong, Oh Jung-se, Kim Moo-yeol and Jung Jin-young round up the ensemble.
On Jan 17, Netflix announced that season 2 of Sweet Home will premiere globally in the fourth quarter of 2023. It has also renewed the series for season three.
Sweet Home is now on Netflix.
Dystopian sci-fi series Black Knight arrived on Netflix this May. Set in a fictional 2071, the six-episode series stars Kim Woo-bin as the legendary delivery driver “5-8”, in the deserted Korean Peninsula that has been made unliveable due to air pollution. Only one percent of the human race has survived, and a strict social stratification has been established. Delivery drivers, also known as knights, play a crucial role in this system.
Sawol, a refugee boy who admires “5-8” and dreams of becoming a delivery driver, is played by rising star Kang you-seok. The drama is based on the popular webtoon of the same title that won the E-IP Award at the Asian Film Market.
Black Knight is now on Netflix.
Poong The Joseon Psychiatrist S2
Born into a prestigious family during the Joseon era, Yoo Se-poong (Kim Min-jae), a talented young royal physician. However, after falling victim to a conspiracy, he is ousted from the palace and stumbles into the remote Gyesu Village. He winds up staying here, and treating the locals as part of the Gyesu Clinic, headed by Gye Ji-Han, a middle-aged local doctor.
He also crosses paths with Seo Eun-woo (Kim Hyang-gi) a widow who once showed outstanding talent in examining a corpse to figure out everything related to its death. However, like all other widows at the time, Eun-woo is forced to be faithful to her deceased husband. The world has turned its back on both Se-poong and Eun-woo, and when the two begin to feel how meaningless their lives are, they cross each other’s paths.
The second season picks up on the story of Se-poong returning to Hanyang, the capital of Joseon, together with the motley crew of the Gyesu Clinic. You can also expect more romance between Se-poong and Eun-woo.
Joining the cast is Woo Da-Vi who plays Lee Seo-Yi, a woman who claims to be Yoo Se-poong's first love.
'Poong The Joseon Psychiatrist' S2 is now on Viu.
The coming-of-age series spotlights the romance between a college freshman and a former K-pop idol, played by Bae Suzy, who's a K-pop star herself.
Suzy takes on the titular role of Lee Doo-na, once the main vocal of an idol group and a key member of the group’s popularity. She abruptly declares retirement and shuts herself inside a college town sharehouse. Yang Se-jong plays Doona’s love interest Joon, an ordinary, broke college student. He has nothing to offer but his warmth and integrity to help her navigate her emotional world.
Based on the webtoon The Girl Downstairs by Min Song-a, the series is helmed by veteran K-drama director Lee Jung-hyo, who's also behind Netflix’s smash hit series Crash Landing on You.
'Doona!' is set to air on Netflix in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Popular stars Park Seo-jun and Han S0-hee team up to headline this period action drama set in 1945 Gyeongseong (known today as Seoul). The story follows the two characters who battle for survival against monstrous creatures who have been created out of human greed.
Jang Tae-sang (Park Seo-jun) is the wealthiest, most-connected person in the city and he puts money before justice. However, that changes when he crosses paths with Yun Chae-ok (Han So-hee), a bounty hunter and sleuth who tracks down the missing.
The cast also includes Squid Game's Wi Ha-joon and Claudia Kim, who starred in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald as Nagini.
'Gyeongseong Creature' is set to premiere on Netflix in the fourth quarter of 2023.
This upcoming political K-drama follows two powerful women who live different lives but combine forces for the same goal. The World of the Married's Kim Hee-ae takes on the role of Hwang Do-hee, an expert in the consulting field. She joins Oh Seung-sook (Moon So-ri)'s campaign to help the latter become the next mayor of Seoul. Seung-sook is a labour rights lawyer and popular YouTuber but has no interest in authority. However, thanks to “Queen Maker” Do-hee, she becomes determined to be the next mayor.
They have differing opinions and often butt heads during the election but work together towards the same goal.
'Queenmaker' is now on Netflix.
Heartthrob Jung Hae-in returns as An Jun-ho in season two of D.P. The explosive military series follows the life of new military recruits in the South Korean army, with Jung's Private An Jun-ho assigned as a Deserter Pursuit soldier or D.P. soldier. He teams up Corporal Han Ho-Yul (Koo Kyo-hwan) to form an incredible duo tasked with capturing deserters, but they come to realise that the common cause of why many recruits desert the army is due to bullying and harassment. This forms the narrative of the drama.
The suspenseful ending sees Jun-ho walking away after a tragedy, and seemingly deserting the army himself. It also left viewers wondering about the main characters' futures, which will likely be revealed in season two.
Leads Jung Hae-in and Koo Kyo-hwan will reprise their roles, and new additions to the cast include Move To Heaven’s Ji Jin-hee and Thirty-Nine’s Kim Ji-hyun.
D.P. season two is set to premiere in the third quarter of 2023.
This article was originally published on Jan 25, 2023, and updated on June 19, 2023.