20 Best Korean Dramas on Netflix
That South Korean pop culture has become at least as beloved outside the Republic should come as no surprise in 2025 — consider the massive critical and streaming success ofK-Pop’s Demon Hunters , which is technically an American production but makes the most of its South Korean cast and background.
It all may have started with the international rise of K-pop, a broad term for virtually any popular music from Korea, though South Korean films were enjoying reverent interest in the U.S. long before Parasite’s historic Oscar win in 2019. As with any country’s or culture’s arts, not all South Korean entertainment is gold, but the country’s TV and film exports are more than capable of competing on a global level.
Case in point: Game of the Squid , the acclaimed survival drama, has captured the world’s attention over its three seasons, with its first episode becoming the most-watched in the streaming service’s history , beating the previous record-holder, the equally acclaimed Bridgerton , by nearly 30 million viewers. Even before Game of the Squid , Netflix was betting big on Korean dramas, and while having a lot of choice is a good thing, it can be hard to know where to start. Here are some of the best and most popular shows on Netflix that represent the breadth of South Korean television: crime, horror, romantic comedy, sci-fi, historical drama… whatever your taste, you’re sure to find something special in Korean.
Karma (2025)
A deeply satisfying, Coen-esque crime thriller, Karma stars Lee Hee-joon as Jae-young, a guy who’s desperately in debt to a loan shark, but hey! It turns out he’s the beneficiary of his dad’s rather large life insurance policy. What else is there to do but hire a co-worker to kill his dad? That part goes well, but then a couple on a date hits a body, and believing he’s killed the man, the driver Sang-hoon nearly kills an onlooker before paying the guy for his help in disposing of the body. The body is found by a tourist, the insurance payment is delayed, and Sang-hoon comes to believe he’s been played. It’s one of those wonderful, twisty crime dramas where no character emerges without blood on their hands.Watch Karma .
Crash Landing on You (2019)
The title is more than just a metaphor: the series is literally about a disastrous landing on the northern side of the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Yoon Se-ri (Son Ye-jin) is an heiress and independent business owner whose difficult relationship with her family has caused her to distance herself from them. While paragliding, a tornado carries her north, and a North Korean special forces captain saves her from disaster. The romance between the two strong leads, as well as the sensitive and humane portrayal of life in the north, made the series a mega-hit on South Korean television and a favorite of viewers around the world.Watch Crash Landing on You .
We Are All Dead (2022–, renewed for a second season)
For a little Z-drama with your K-drama: In All of Us Are Dead , high school becomes hell, almost literally, when a viral outbreak leaves Hyesan High School as the epicenter of a strange plague. Though it’s not clear at first, the teens soon realize that they’re isolated from the rest of the town. No help is coming. Nihilism is not uncommon in zombie stories, as are themes surrounding the breakdown of social structures. All of Us Are Dead , instead, explores the world of an isolated high school under constant threat as a parallel to our own: Class and background continue to be powerful forces, even (or especially) amid the trauma of attacks, and arbitrary social hierarchies are reinforced by constant trauma rather than adapted. The school’s closed location is used brilliantly, and there’s a bit of appropriately soapy drama, too. Look out for Emmy-winner Lee Yoo-mi of Squid Game as spoiled rich girl Lee Na-young. Filming of the long-awaited second season has recently started.Watch “We Are All Dead” .
The Eighth Show (2024)
Just a few years ago, this might have seemed a little extreme, but now it looks and feels like a pretty good distillation of our current capitalist hell. Here, eight strangers are chosen to participate in a game in which they are locked together in a building and isolated on a different floor each night. They earn money for every minute they play, but all their provisions must be bought with their winnings, at a huge markup. At first, the contestants pool their resources so that everyone gets more money — until they discover that the people on the top floors get more. Then things get ugly.Watch The 8 .
It’s Okay to Not Be Okay (2020)
The debate around mental health in general remains tense around the world, and South Korea is no exception. While treatment options are better here than in many other parts of the world, social stigma remains an issue. That’s one reason Jo Yeon and Park Shin-woo’s miniseries became such a sensation when it aired last year: Writer Jo based the series on her own experiences, as well as solid research. The series follows the slow-burning romance between Moon Gang-tae (Kim Soo-hyun), a medical worker living with her autistic brother, and a renowned children’s author (Seo Ye-ji) with antisocial personality disorder. It’s sweet, and was popular enough in South Korea to inspire a series of children’s books based on the works of the series’ fictional writer.Stream It’s Okay to Not Be Okay .
Itaewon Class (2020)
Another shining example of South Korean producers’ willingness to tackle increasingly complex social issues alongside action and drama, Itaewon Class stars Park Seo Joon as Park Sae Ro Yi, a high school student whose life is ruined by Geun Won, the son of a powerful food conglomerate owner. First, he’s suspended from school for fighting a bully, and then his father is killed in a reckless driving incident involving Geun Won. Instead of the rich kid suffering consequences, it’s Sae Ro Yi who ends up in prison for nearly beating her father’s killer to death. Once released, he opens a local bar for outsiders while plotting to bring down the all-powerful conglomerate that ruined his life. His bar is staffed by a transgender woman, a Guinean-Korean man, and another ex-con, all of whom struggle with acceptance but find refuge among the bar’s other outsiders.Watch Itaewon Class .
Business Proposal (2022)
Many of the shows on this list are pretty heavy; it’s time to lighten things up a bit with this popular romantic comedy-drama. The plot is classic romantic silliness: Shin Ha-ri (Kim Se-jeong) goes on a blind date by pretending to be her best friend, who doesn’t want to go because her dad set it up. Ha-ri is just doing a good deed for her best friend, but things get complicated when her date turns out to be Kang Tae-moo (Ahn Hyo-seop), the CEO of the company where Ha-ri works. Tired of being pressured by his grandfather to find the right woman and secure the future of the family business, Ha-ri decides to marry his date, who, again, is pretending to be someone she’s not. It’s complicated in the best traditions of the genre, and it’s also pretty darn cute.Business Proposal Stream .
Frog (2024)
After his wife dies, Young-ha (Kim Yoon-seok) dreams of a quiet life in the secluded town where he lives, renting out the house next door for vacations, though even that doesn’t exactly inspire him. All is well until a young woman shows up with her son, the same woman who suddenly leaves behind bloodstains and, even more terrifyingly, a baby. While it’s a minor spoiler, this is a very leisurely, cinematic thriller that spans multiple time periods—a clever move considering the show’s constant setting.Watch Frog .
The Silent Sea (2021)
Bae Doo Na, who you’ll recognize from everything from Cloud Atlas to Sense8 to Rebel Moon , stars in this twisted sci-fi drama that begins on a dry, nearly waterless Earth in the near future. The story follows a team of astronauts and scientists sent to an abandoned lunar base. They’re tasked with retrieving a mysterious sample, and it soon becomes clear that Earth officials know a lot more about the sample than they’re letting on. Suffice to say, things don’t go smoothly — there are deaths, betrayals, and something deadly that could be the future of humanity, but could also easily be its end.Watch Silent Sea .
Vincenzo (2021)
Adopted as a child by an Italian crime family, Park Joo-hyun takes the name Vincenzo Cassano and becomes a mafia adviser. After the death of his adoptive father, Don Fabio, his biological son begins hunting his brother, whom he now sees as nothing more than a rival. He flees to Seoul in search of a secret sum of money, but along the way discovers a love interest and a new enemy in the form of a giant business conglomerate that deserves to be destroyed. Another incredibly popular series that definitely brings a unique flavor to the gangster drama genre.Watch Vincenzo .
Alice in Borderland (2020–, season 3 coming soon)
Video game addict Arisu gets his wish, of sorts: He and a couple of friends find themselves transported to an alternate, eerily abandoned version of Tokyo—the Borderland of the title—brought to life with some clever green-screen work. The three are ushered into an arena and given instructions for a game—which they’ll play whether they want to or not. The first challenge, for example, involves a locked-room-style puzzle; if they fail, the room will go up in flames with them inside. Think Ready Player First , with more deadly stakes. Games are held every night, though the rules allow the winners to get a vacation… there are actually a lot of rules, but the games are cleverly and sadistically designed. Season 3 is on the way.Check out Alice in Borderland .
Sweet Home (2020–2024)
Judging by the title, you might guess that Sweet Home is a charming family comedy about three generations of a family living under one roof. But no, it’s actually the story of the residents of an apartment building who have locked themselves in to escape a zombie plague that’s ravaging the world (here, the infection turns people into various monsters, but otherwise follows traditional zombie plot lines). High school student Cha Hyun-soo loses his entire family in a car accident and moves into the building just in time. The added twist? Hyun-soo eventually gains control of his infection and develops some sort of superpower. This popular series is based on a very popular webtoon.Watch Sweet Home .
Kingdom (2019 – 2021)
It’s not exactly a history lesson, but Kingdom does offer a window into the middle of Korea’s Joseon Dynasty, an era that lasted more than 500 years, well into the 20th century. History doesn’t record an actual zombie epidemic in the early 17th century, so some liberties may have been taken. Early in the series, rumors circulate that the king has died, and his son, Crown Prince Lee Jang, is trying to find out the truth. It turns out that the king is indeed dead—from smallpox—but the Queen Consort and her father, a powerful courtier, have a plan: They’ve given the king an obscure plant that brings him back to life (you know where this is going), in the hopes of keeping him alive long enough for the queen to have a son. Since Lee Jang is just the son of a concubine, he would lose his claim to the throne. The series cleverly blends horror and medieval political intrigue to make it greater than the sum of its parts. The series has two seasons, including a spin-off,Ashin of the North , but there are constant rumors of a possible revival.Watch Kingdom .
Memories of the Alhambra (2019)
Sounds like an episode of Black Mirror , only less dystopian. There’s an impressive new augmented reality game with a neat but very specific spin-off: it involves medieval battles at the Alhambra fortress in Granada, Spain (where much of the series was filmed). A tech CEO interested in investing in it travels to Spain to meet its creator, only to find him missing. Luckily, the creator’s super-cool sister owns a local hostel, and sensing romance in the air, they set out to hunt for her brother as the lines between reality and fantasy become increasingly blurred. Another Korean hit, this one features excellent location work and quality special effects.Watch Memories of the Alhambra .
Movie Melo (2025)
Go Gyeom (Choi Woo Sik, Parasite ) is a film critic obsessed with cinema. He dreams of watching every movie ever made, which, despite their quixotic nature, has a deep charm. He accidentally moves in next door to Kim Moo Bi (Park Bo Young), an old girlfriend from his past with whom he broke up under mysterious circumstances. This romantic drama uses movie references to underscore the love story, but also to remind us that life is not a movie for these two characters who are dealing with unresolved issues.Watch Melo .
Extracurricular activities (2020)
Another drama about a seemingly boring teenage straight-A student who runs a sex club at night. So, this one is quite unusual, combining black comedy and action with hints of relationship drama. Needing extra money, Oh Ji-soo turns to prostitution in his spare time, but otherwise acts like a typical teenage idiot. His girlfriend Gyuri is from a rich family, but still wants to join when she finds out about Ji-soo’s part-time job. Soon, competitors and the police start appearing, and the teenagers’ lives become significantly more dangerous.Watch “Extracurricular” .
When the Camellia Blooms (2019)
I think we can all agree that the American romantic comedy genre has been missing one thing: serial killers. Oh Dong-baek (Gong Hyo-jin) is a single mother who moves to a small town and opens a bar, then begins a relationship with the local police officer. At times, he seems to be the only one who welcomes her presence: the older, more traditional women are both upset that Dong-baek is a single mother and equally outraged by her liquor business. The series gently critiques some of these outdated attitudes, but it also complicates matters by introducing a serial killer whose next victim may well be Dong-baek.
Oh yeah, while it’s technically only one season, it’s 20 pretty long episodes, so it’s longer than you might think, but it’s fun once you get into it.Watch When the Camellia Blooms.
When Life Gives You Tangerines (2025)
An epic love story that brought order to the 2025 Baeksang Arts Awards (South Korea’s most prestigious entertainment awards ceremony), Tangerines stars IU as Oh Ae-sun (as well as Ae-sun’s daughter and narrator, Geum-myung), a young woman born in the 1960s on Jeju Island. The series covers the decades of her life with her friend and later lover Yang Gwang-sik (Park Bo-gum), and how South Korea changes around them and their family. In this regard, the series is a bit like pachinko , though the focus is more on family and Ae-sun’s personal love story.Watch When Life Gives You Tangerines .
Mister Sunshine (2018)
Another sweeping historical drama (a genre that South Korea excels at and, coincidentally, one that I really enjoy), Mr. Sunshine is set at the very end of the Joseon Dynasty, when activists are fighting for Korean independence. At the heart of the epic, naturally, is the love story between a retainer who returns to Korea after serving in the U.S. Marines and the granddaughter of a powerful Korean aristocrat. Several significant local and global events serve as turning points throughout the series’ 24 episodes, so in addition to being an impressive historical drama, this series also offers a glimpse into critical moments in world history through Korean eyes.Watch Mr. Sunshine .
Bloodhounds (2023–)
Woo Do Hwan and Lee Sang Yi play unlikely best friends Kim Gun Woo and Hong Woo Jin, a pair of aspiring boxers trying to save their families from a loan sharking organization euphemistically called Smile Capital. The fights are staged, and Woo and Lee are apparently best friends in real life, giving this action-crime drama a bromance-like feel. A second season is on the way.Watch Bloodhounds .