Think you have already watched the best K-dramas of 2024 after Queen of Tears and Lovely Runner? Don’t be too quick to dismiss what’s coming up for the rest of the year. The good news is that there are always new K-dramas being produced every month, so your to-watch list will never run dry. Whether you are a fan of romance, crime or historical dramas, you can be sure there’s always something on Netflix, Viu, Disney+, or Prime Video that will tickle your interest.
We’re seeing a couple of new dramas headlined by some of the biggest names, some of the freshest plots, and the sequels to favourites from previous years. So get your device ready because we’ve listed 18 K-dramas to watch in 2024 that are currently airing, or coming out this year.
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1. Sweet Home 3
Monster-fighting continues with season 3 of the popular Netflix original series, Sweet Home. This is the final season of the series, and in an interview, Lee Jin Wook, who plays Pyeong Sang Wook, describes this season as the characters trying to find a balance as they transition to the new era. If you haven’t watched the previous seasons, this is not a show where you can jump in halfway and understand immediately, so we recommended binge-watching the previous seasons before this new one drops!
Available on Netflix from July 19.
2. The Auditors
You know you’re in for a good watch if Shin Ha Kyun fronts a drama. His latest work sees him playing the role of the leader of an audit team at a company. When he discovers that corruption is rife there, he sets out to clean everything up to make it a better place. Based on the trailer, it’s not going to be your typical corporate drama, but more action-packed and full of badassery.
Stream it now on Viu.
3. Red Swan
Oh Wan Soo (played by Kim Ha Neul) is a golf player who climbs her way to the top, married the heir to Hwan Group to pay off her mother’s debt, and eventually became a philanthropist. However, she has been stuck in an unhappy marriage after finding out about her husband’s affair. Though she has been trying to make the marriage work for over a decade, a near-death incident involving her bodyguard causes her to reflect on her life. She falls in love with her bodyguard, but suspects he has an
ulterior motive for working for the Hwan Group.
Stream it now on Disney+.
4. Gangnam B-side
Looking for a new crime drama to watch? Keep an eye out for this upcoming Disney+ drama. Jo Woo-jin acts as a demoted high-flyer detective; Ji Chang-wook plays a mysterious broker who has control over Gangnam, and Ha Yun-kyung (who acted as Choi Su Yeon in Extraordinary Attorney Woo) is a prosecutor. The trio teams up to fight against the dark forces that could be linked to the country’s wealthiest elites.
It is scheduled for the latter half of 2024, and will be available on Disney+.
5. Pachinko Season 2
When Pachinko first aired, it received rave reviews because, apart from the fact that people were already looking forward to see how the best-selling novel would be adapted as a screenplay, many were impressed by the cinematography. Season 2 continues to follow the stories of the four generations of a Korean family. Expect another rollercoaster ride of emotions that will leave you smiling, crying, and empathising with the characters.
It will start streaming on Apple TV+ on August 23.
6. The Player 2: Master of Swindlers
The second season of The Player sees the crime-fighting squad back to serve justice to criminals in their own way. Song Seung Heon, Lee Si Eon and Tae Won Seok reprise their roles, and is joined by a new addition to the team, Jang Gyu Ri. In this season, they continue to band together to steal dirty money rom scammers and hackers.
Now on Viu.
7. The Whirlwind
Not a fan of melodramas? If the game of politics is your thing, you’d love this new drama starring two top actors, Sol Kyung-gu and Kim Hee-ae. The pair previously starred as a divorced couple in the 2023 movie, The Moon. This time round, they play adversaries: Kyung-gu is the Prime Minister who tries to assasinate the president, while Hee-ae is the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs who tries to stop him.
Stream it now on Netflix.
8. Miss Night and Day
You might have seen snippets of the drama on TikTok, particularly the scene where the lady spits out Excel formula like rap lyrics. The drama revolves around the story of a 20-something job seeker who finds herself suddenly stuck in her 50s one day. She would live her life as a 50-something woman in the day, and reverts to her 20-something self at night. She used the opportunity to work as a public intern with her older persona, under a picky prosecutor whose staff usually quits because of his attitude.
Stream it now on Netflix.
9. Marry My Husband
Park Min Young stars as a cancer patient who walks in on her husband having an affair with her best friend. She gets into a scuffle with him and is killed by him. She wakes up 10 years earlier, in a time when they were still in their dating phase, and sets out to get revenge on both of them. She gets help from her colleague who has been harbouring an unrequited love for her. The K-drama started airing on January 1, and based on what has been aired so far, we have this advice: keep your cool while watching it because you will get angry.
Watch it on Prime Video.
10. Doctor Slump
Love a good medical drama but can’t give up on rom-com? You’d wanna catch this one. Park Hyung-sik acts as Yeo Jung-woo, a top medical student in the country who went on to become a popular plastic surgeon. A medical accident pushes him to the edge, and he falls into a slump. Park Shin-hye plays Nam Ha-neul, who used to be Jung-woo’s rival in school. After studying hard, she became an anesthesiologist, but eventually realised she isn’t happy with her life. The former rivals meet at their worst moments, and end up offering comfort to each other.
11. Love Song for the Illusion
If you are into sageuk (Korean period dramas), you might want to check this out. The story follows a woman who becomes an assassin to avenge her family. However, she unwittingly falls into a trap while trying to assassinate the king. When she wakes up, she has no memory of her past, and becomes the Crown Prince’s concubine.
12. Good Partner
It seems like it’s comeback season for top veteran actors, as apart from Shin Ha Kyun, Jang Nara also has a new drama coming up in July! She plays a divorce lawyer, facing a crisis of her own potential divorce. She works with a rookie lawyer who is the complete opposite of her in working style and personality (played by Nam Ji Hyun), and they find themselves having to work through their differences.
Good Partner is now on Viu.
13. The 8 Show
Enjoyed watching the Korean movie Emergency Declaration? You’d be happy to know that the director of the movie will be heading a Netflix series, The 8 Show, adapted from. The premise is similar to Squid Game, where a group of participants are invited to appear on a reality show where they have to stay in the same studio space for 100 days. If they can get through it, they can split the prize money of 44.8 billion won. But everything they spend on, including food and water, costs 1000 times more than the normal price – and these expenditures are deducted from the prize money. Ryu Jun Yeol and Chun Woo Hee have been confirmed to star in this K-drama.
Coming to Netflix.
14. A Shop for Killers
A Korean drama with Lee Dong-wook? Must watch! That aside, the plot of this upcoming drama is pretty intriguing. Lee Dong-wook plays an owner of a mysterious store, who took in his niece and brought her up after she lost her parents at a young age. As she grows up, she teaches her fencing and how to use weapons, and she couldn’t understand why. One day, her uncle was found to have committed suicide under mysterious circumstances. She then finds herself being hunted by a group of assassins, and eventually, she finds out the secret of her uncle’s shop.
Now on Disney+.
15. Everything Will Come True
When it comes to K-dramas, the stars of the shows are not the only ones we look forward to – the director and writer also matter. This upcoming drama starring Kim Woo Bin and Suzy (their reunion after Uncontrollably Fond!) will be directed by Lee Byeong Hun, the director behind the box office hit Extreme Job, and written by The Glory’s writer, Kim Eun Sook. Sounds like a dream team already! If that’s not enough to pique your interest, maybe the storyline would: Kim Woo Bin plays an emotional genie who grants the woman who released him three wishes.
Coming to Netflix.
16. Flex X Cop
A chaebol (or heir to a conglomerate) who is a police officer? Yep. Ahn Bo Hyun takes on that character in this upcoming Korean drama that is set to premiere on January 26 on Disney+. Like a stereotypical chaebol often depicted in dramas, he is immature, rash, and demanding. However, after getting involved in a case, he becomes a police officer. He joins the violent crime investigation team, and is assigned to work under a hard-boiled detective, and slowly started to change.
Coming to Disney+ on January 26.
17. Squid Game 2
Season 2 of the Korean drama that took the world by storm is finally going to be released this year! Season 1 saw top names such as Lee Jung-jae and Lee Byung-hun among the cast. Season 2 will see Im Siwan, Kang Haneul, and more joining the cast. The exact release date is still up in the air, but many are guessing it would be in the fourth quarter of the year. We don’t know what exactly the plot will be, but are we adding this to our to-watch list? Yes!
Coming to Netflix.
18. A Killer Paradox
If you’re an avid fan of K-dramas, you know you can’t go wrong with a Son Suk Ku drama. In this Netflix series, he plays a detective who pursues Choi Woo Shik, a college student who murdered a serial killer. From the trailer alone, you can tell this is not going to be your typical crime drama. We’re excited for the cinematography and visual spectacle that this will offer.
Now on Netflix.
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