The heartbreaking romances, thrilling mysteries, and intriguing stories of Korean dramas have been widely popularized and introduced to a worldwide audience with the help of the streaming juggernaut Netflix. The genre has taken the world by storm and provided some of the most engrossing narratives and endearing characters.
Whether you want to channel your inner hopeless romantic with a soulful romance, dive into a sea of emotions that strikes a chord in your heart, or embark on a pulse-pounding adventure that leaves you on tenterhooks, there’s a perfect Korean drama for everyone to relish. From award-winning series like Crash Landing on You and Squid Game to the unexplored feature gems that beckon to be found, here are the 10 best Korean dramas on Netflix right now.
Best Korean Drama Movies
Netflix boasts a huge and diverse library of Korean movies, which also feature many award-winning originals. While it’s hard to choose from the pool of options, these 5 movies should be on your must-watch list at all costs.
1. Okja (2017)
Okja is a South Korean and American international co-production that features a large ensemble cast, led by the young actor Ahn Seo-hyun. It is a pro-animal liberation film that satirizes corporate greed. The narrative centers on a little girl named Mija who reared Okja, a huge genetically altered pig, for 10 blissful years. She embarks on a rescue operation after Okja is kidnapped and taken to New York by a multinational conglomerate organization for her meat. It is a heart-warming adventure that impacts the audience in a way that we are forced to introspect. Okja was also named one of The New York Times‘ 10 most influential films of the decade in November 2019.
2. Silenced (2011)
Silenced is not your typical crime drama; it tells the heartbreaking story of various young deaf children who were sexually assaulted by teachers at Gwangju Inhwa School for the Deaf for five years in the early 2000s. It sensitively depicts both the crimes and the judicial proceedings that allowed the teachers free with just a minor penalty. The film stars Gong Yoo and Jung Yu-mi as a teacher and human rights activist respectively, who join together to expose the crime and fight against it. Silenced generated popular indignation following its debut and finally led to a reopening of the investigations into the incidents. It sparked a demand for legislative reform in Korea, which eventually led to the passing of the Dogani Bill in late October 2011 to abolish the statute of limitations for sex crimes against minors and people with disabilities.
3. The Call (2020)
The Call stands out among other psychological thrillers with an original concept that focuses on two women from different times 20 years apart, who connect through a phone call. The Caller, a 2011 British and Puerto Rican movie, served as inspiration for the film starring Park Shin-Hye and Jeon Jong-Seo. It is essentially the story of a serial killer who risks the past and present of another woman in order to alter her own destiny. The Call‘s effective world-building topped with a spooky and frightening atmosphere leaves you on pins and needles throughout its runtime, leaving it among Netflix’s most mysterious and sinister tales from the Korean cinematic world.
4. Kill Boksoon (2023)
Kill Boksoon is a one-of-a-kind take on the crime action genre that focuses on the life of a woman living dual lives as a lethal contract killer and a single mother. It demonstrates how her problems as a mother and her career as a killer inexorably converge, and it’s still harder to be a mother of a teenage daughter than be a deadly assassin. The main character, played by Jeon Do-Yeon, portrays the work-life presents a thrilling portrayal of work-life-balance, making for an interesting watch. Kill Boksoon exhibits surprising sensitivity and a wide variety of emotions despite being advertised as an action movie. But regardless of the tender mother-daughter bond subplot, the film appeals greatly to fans of over-the-top action.
5. Poetry (2010)
Director Lee Chang-dong won the Best Screenplay Award at the Cannes Film Festival for Poetry in 2010. The movie has received praise from critics all around the world and is still regarded as a classic of Korean cinema. Poetry follows a woman as she nears the end of her life looking for a new purpose, with Yoon Jeong-hee a suburban woman in her 60s who, while coping with Alzheimer’s disease and her wayward grandson, starts to take an interest in poetry. The movie has a delicate aching in the middle that becomes better the deeper you get into it. The Guardian named it the fourth-best film of South Korean modern cinema in 2020.
Best Korean drama series
K-dramas are everyone’s favorite choice for a fun-filled and relaxing Netflix and chill night. Offering the best of every genre, Korean dramas bring the most unique, engaging, and binge-worthy tales to life. These are the 5 best Korean Drama series to watch next!
1. Squid Game
In the most recent TUDUM event, Netflix recently unveiled the cast for Squid Game‘s second season. The popular survival thriller that rose to become Netflix’s most-watched series is already well-known to everyone who hasn’t been living under a rock. Additionally, it was the first non-English-language production to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. The eight-episode series depicts a covert competition in which 456 people who are struggling financially risk their lives by participating in a series of fatal children’s games for the chance to win ₩45.6 billion. The otherwise exciting series’ gentle core conceals a biting social criticism. However, the end product is a groundbreaking drama that keeps you glued to the screen throughout.
2. The Good Bad Mother
The Good Bad Mother broke the record for the highest ratings achieved by any Wednesday-Thursday drama in JTBC history. The story revolves around a pig farmer and single mother whose her kid perceives as a bad mother because of her rigorous upbringing despite her love. The two go through a transforming experience and reconnected after her son returned to his hometown due to an unforeseen mishap. The series offers an extraordinarily satisfying experience that stirs up a storm of feelings. If you’re looking for a show with unrivaled emotional depth, The Good Bad Mother should be your next watch.
3. Twenty-Five Twenty-One
Twenty-Five Twenty-One stars an ensemble cast featuring Kim Tae-ri, Nam Joo-hyuk, Kim Ji-yeon, Choi Hyun-Wook, and Lee Joo-Myung as five young college students. The series follows each of their lives from 1998 to 2021 as they go through the trials of life and flourish into their adulthood. It is packed with life lessons and comes across as a heartwarming tearjerker. It instantly evokes in viewers a connection with all its main characters. Twenty-Five Twenty-One was also featured in Netflix’s Global Top 10 (non-English edition) for 10 consecutive weeks. The series will keep you smiling throughout and is one of the series that you never want to end.
4. Crash Landing on You
You cannot leave out the highest-rated tvN drama and the fourth-highest-rated South Korean TV drama in cable television history out of your watch list on Netflix. Crash Landing on You hits you in the feels with a swoon-worthy romance between a chaebol heiress and the army captain son of the Director of the GPB. The touching love story that crosses borders will make your heart flutter while giving insights into the complexities of interactions between the two countries. Time also ranked Crash Landing on You as one of the best Korean dramas on Netflix in 2020. The drama is addictive and may further elevate your criteria for love.
5. Business Proposal
Business Proposal is based on the web novel titled The Office Blind Date written by HaeHwa, and illustrated by Narak. It tells the tale of Shin Ha-ri, a worker who agrees to substitute for her buddy on a blind date only to discover that her date is actually her boss. It is a modernized version of romantic comedies from the golden age that uses all the clichés without becoming tiresome. Even though the story isn’t a groundbreaking one, it leaves you with butterflies in your stomach. Business Proposal also depicts the issue of molka in South Korea and brilliantly criticizes it. It made history by becoming the first Korean television series produced and initially broadcast by a local firm to top Netflix’s global list of non-English TV shows.