Must Watch Korean Dramas of 2024

Looking back at 2024? These eleven Korean dramas cover a lot of ground, from a time-slip romance and a chaebol marriage in crisis to a vigilante thriller and the return of Squid Game. Every premise below stays spoiler-free, so pick the one that sounds like your kind of binge and press play.

Marry My Husband (내 남편과 결혼해줘)

Release Date: January 1, 2024 - February 20, 2024 Genre: Romantic comedy, Fantasy, Revenge

Who's in the cast:
Park Min-young as Kang Ji-won
Na In-woo as Yoo Ji-hyuk
Lee Yi-kyung as Park Min-hwan
Song Ha-yoon as Jeong Su-min
Lee Gi-kwang as Baek Eun-ho

What it's about: Kang Ji-won is betrayed by the two people she trusts most, her husband and her best friend. Then she wakes up in 2013 with every memory intact. This time she plans to rewrite her fate, starting with who ends up married to whom. Her manager at work seems to understand more than he should, and the revenge plot picks up a romantic streak.

Network: tvN · Episodes: 16

Watch it on Prime Video

Doctor Slump (닥터슬럼프)

Release Date: January 27, 2024 - March 17, 2024 Genre: Medical drama, Romantic comedy

Who's in the cast:
Park Hyung-sik as Yeo Jeong-woo
Park Shin-hye as Nam Ha-neul
Yoon Bak as Bin Dae-yeong
Kong Seong-ha as Lee Hong-ran

What it's about: Yeo Jeong-woo and Nam Ha-neul were fierce rivals in high school. Years later he is a plastic surgeon and she is an anesthesiologist, and both careers fall apart at the same time. He ends up renting the rooftop room in her family's building, and the old competition slowly turns into leaning on each other. It is a soft, funny, feel-better pick about burnout and starting over.

Network: JTBC · Episodes: 16

Watch it on Netflix

A Killer Paradox (살인자ㅇ난감)

Release Date: February 9, 2024 Genre: Crime thriller, Dark comedy

Who's in the cast:
Choi Woo-shik as Lee Tang
Son Suk-ku as Jang Nan-gam
Lee Hee-jun as Song Chon

What it's about: Lee Tang is an ordinary young man working at a convenience store, until one violent night with a customer changes everything. Afterward he realizes he can pick out people who have done terrible things and gotten away with it, and he has to decide what to do about it. Detective Jang Nan-gam is soon on his trail. Based on a webtoon, it keeps a darkly funny edge throughout.

Network: Netflix · Episodes: 8

Watch it on Netflix

Queen of Tears (눈물의 여왕)

Release Date: March 9, 2024 - April 28, 2024 Genre: Romantic comedy

Who's in the cast:
Kim Soo-hyun as Baek Hyun-woo
Kim Ji-won as Hong Hae-in
Park Sung-hoon as Yoon Eun-sung
Kwak Dong-yeon as Hong Soo-cheol
Lee Joo-bin as Cheon Da-hye

What it's about: Hong Hae-in is a third-generation chaebol heiress who runs a department store. Baek Hyun-woo is a lawyer from a farming village who works for her family's company. Three years into their marriage they are close to calling it quits, until a crisis forces them to face each other again. It is a big, emotional romantic comedy, and its finale scored 24.9 percent nationwide (Nielsen Korea), the highest rating of any drama in tvN history.

Network: tvN · Episodes: 16

Watch it on Netflix

Parasyte: The Grey (기생수: 더 그레이)

Release Date: April 5, 2024 Genre: Horror, Science fiction

Who's in the cast:
Jeon So-nee as Jeong Su-in
Koo Kyo-hwan as Seol Kang-woo
Lee Jung-hyun as Choi Jun-kyung

What it's about: Parasitic creatures arrive and take control of human hosts. One of them fails to fully take over a young woman, Jeong Su-in, and ends up sharing her body instead. She teams up with a small-time gangster, Seol Kang-woo, while a special police unit led by Choi Jun-kyung hunts the creatures. Expect a tense body-horror story with a small, tight cast.

Network: Netflix · Episodes: 6

Watch it on Netflix

Lovely Runner (선재 업고 튀어)

Release Date: April 8, 2024 - May 28, 2024 Genre: Time slip, Romantic comedy, Fantasy

Who's in the cast:
Byeon Woo-seok as Ryu Sun-jae
Kim Hye-yoon as Im Sol
Song Geon-hee as Kim Tae-seong

What it's about: Im Sol is a devoted fan of the star Ryu Sun-jae, and a sudden loss sends her back to 2008, when they were both high school students. With her adult memories still in her head, she sets out to change both of their futures. It is a sweet, nostalgic time-slip romance, and Time magazine ranked it first on its list of the 10 best K-dramas of 2024.

Network: tvN · Episodes: 16

Watch it on Viki

The Midnight Romance in Hagwon (졸업)

Release Date: May 11, 2024 - June 30, 2024 Genre: Romance, Melodrama

Who's in the cast:
Jung Ryeo-won as Seo Hye-jin
Wi Ha-joon as Lee Jun-ho

What it's about: Seo Hye-jin is a veteran star instructor at a hagwon, a private cram school, in Seoul's Daechi-dong, the neighborhood famous for them. Lee Jun-ho, once her student, quits a job at a big company and comes back to Daechi-dong to teach. Working side by side again, the two grow closer. Alongside the romance, the story follows the other instructors and the pressure-cooker world of the academy.

Network: tvN · Episodes: 16

Watch it on Viki

Love Next Door (엄마친구아들)

Release Date: August 17, 2024 - October 6, 2024 Genre: Romantic comedy

Who's in the cast:
Jung Hae-in as Choi Seung-hyo
Jung So-min as Bae Seok-ryu
Kim Ji-eun as Jeong Mo-eum
Yun Ji-on as Kang Dan-ho

What it's about: Bae Seok-ryu has built a polished career abroad and is engaged to an international lawyer. Then she suddenly comes home to Korea and runs into Choi Seung-hyo, now a celebrated young architect. He is her childhood friend and, as the Korean title says, her mom's friend's son. The old next-door dynamic is back, and neither of them is quite sure what to do with it.

Network: tvN · Episodes: 16

Watch it on Netflix

The Judge from Hell (지옥에서 온 판사)

Release Date: September 21, 2024 - November 2, 2024 Genre: Dark fantasy, Action, Legal thriller

Who's in the cast:
Park Shin-hye as Kang Bit-na
Kim Jae-young as Han Da-on
Kim In-kwon as Gu Man-do
Kim Ah-young as Lee A-rong

What it's about: Justitia, a demon who serves as a judge in Hell, is sent to Earth inside the body of a human judge, Kang Bit-na. She has one year to find and punish ten ruthless people who caused others' deaths. Detective Han Da-on starts looking into the strange cases around her verdicts without knowing who she really is. Expect a mix of courtroom, crime and fantasy.

Network: SBS · Episodes: 14

Watch it on Hulu

When the Phone Rings (지금 거신 전화는)

Release Date: November 22, 2024 - January 4, 2025 Genre: Melodrama, Romance, Mystery, Thriller

Who's in the cast:
Yoo Yeon-seok as Baek Sa-eon
Chae Soo-bin as Hong Hee-joo
Heo Nam-jun as Ji Sang-woo
Jang Gyu-ri as Na Yu-ri

What it's about: Baek Sa-eon, a presidential spokesperson, and Hong Hee-joo, a sign language interpreter, have spent three years in a cold arranged marriage. Then a mysterious caller contacts Sa-eon with a threat, and the secrets between husband and wife begin to surface. It is a slow-burning romance wrapped in a suspense plot, adapted from a web novel.

Network: MBC · Episodes: 12

Watch it on Netflix

Squid Game Season 2 (오징어 게임 2)

Release Date: December 26, 2024 Genre: Dystopian survival thriller

Who's in the cast:
Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun
Lee Byung-hun as Hwang In-ho
Yim Si-wan as Lee Myung-gi
Kang Ha-neul as Kang Dae-ho
Wi Ha-joon as Hwang Jun-ho

What it's about: The story picks up after the first season. Seong Gi-hun is determined to take down the people running the deadly games, while Detective Hwang Jun-ho is still searching for the island where they take place. Start with season 1 if you have not seen it. The story wraps up in season 3, released in June 2025.

Network: Netflix · Episodes: 7

Watch it on Netflix