Must Watch Korean Dramas of 2025

Looking back at 2025? These ten Korean dramas cover a lot of ground, from a decades-long Jeju love story and a time-travelling royal chef to a trauma ward, a revenge thriller and a very odd haunted palace. Every premise below is spoiler-free, so pick the one that sounds like your kind of binge and press play.

The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call (중증외상센터)

Release Date: January 24, 2025 Genre: Medical drama, Comedy

Who's in the cast:
Ju Ji-hoon as Baek Kang-hyuk
Choo Young-woo as Yang Jae-won
Yoon Kyung-ho as Han Yu-rim
Jeong Jae-kwang as Park Gyeong-won

What it's about: Baek Kang-hyuk is a gifted trauma surgeon who has worked in conflict zones. He joins a hospital's struggling trauma team, and his unconventional methods rub his new colleagues the wrong way at first. His results are hard to argue with. It is a fast, funny medical drama based on a webtoon.

Network: Netflix · Episodes: 8

Watch it on Netflix

Melo Movie (멜로무비)

Release Date: February 14, 2025 Genre: Romantic comedy

Who's in the cast:
Choi Woo-shik as Ko Gyeom
Park Bo-young as Kim Mu-bee
Lee Jun-young as Hong Si-jun
Jeon So-nee as Son Ju-a

What it's about: Ko Gyeom is a film lover who starts out as an extra. Kim Mu-bee wants to make her mark as a director. They meet young, lose touch, and cross paths again five years later, when he is a film critic and she is a director. Expect a romance that loves cinema as much as it loves its leads.

Network: Netflix · Episodes: 10

Watch it on Netflix

Buried Hearts (보물섬)

Release Date: February 21, 2025 - April 12, 2025 Genre: Revenge drama

Who's in the cast:
Park Hyung-sik as Seo Dong-ju
Huh Joon-ho as Yeom Jang-seon
Lee Hae-young as Huh Il-do
Hong Hwa-yeon as Yeo Eun-nam

What it's about: Seo Dong-ju is the chairman's confidential secretary at Daesan Group, a powerful conglomerate. He makes a daring grab for a political slush fund worth two trillion won, and that makes him a target for some very dangerous people. It is a twisty, high-stakes revenge story with a darker role for Park Hyung-sik.

Network: SBS · Episodes: 16

Watch it on Hulu

When Life Gives You Tangerines (폭싹 속았수다)

Release Date: March 7, 2025 - March 28, 2025 Genre: Romance drama, Slice of life

Who's in the cast:
IU as Oh Ae-sun (young)
Park Bo-gum as Yang Gwan-sik (young)
Moon So-ri as Oh Ae-sun (older)
Park Hae-joon as Yang Gwan-sik (older)

What it's about: Oh Ae-sun is a headstrong girl from Jeju Island who dreams of becoming a poet, and Yang Gwan-sik is the fisherman's son who loves her. The story follows them across about 50 years on Jeju and in Seoul, told out of order. IU and Park Bo-gum play the couple when they are young, while Moon So-ri and Park Hae-joon play them later in life. Netflix released it in four weekly batches of four episodes.

Network: Netflix · Episodes: 16

Watch it on Netflix

The Haunted Palace (귀궁)

Release Date: April 18, 2025 - June 7, 2025 Genre: Romantic comedy, Fantasy, Period drama

Who's in the cast:
Yook Sung-jae as Yoon Gap
Kim Ji-yeon as Yeo-ri
Kim Ji-hoon as King Lee Jeong

What it's about: Yeo-ri is a shaman who refuses to accept her destiny as a medium. An ancient serpent spirit ends up trapped in the body of her first love, Yoon Gap, and the two have to face a vengeful ghost together. The king, who has banned shamans from the palace, gets pulled into the fight. It blends palace intrigue, spooky fantasy and a slow-burn romance.

Network: SBS · Episodes: 16

Watch it on Viki

Our Unwritten Seoul (미지의 서울)

Release Date: May 24, 2025 - June 29, 2025 Genre: Coming-of-age, Romance

Who's in the cast:
Park Bo-young as Yu Mi-ji and Yu Mi-rae
Park Jin-young as Lee Ho-su
Ryu Kyung-soo as Han Se-jin
Jang Young-nam as Kim Ok-hee

What it's about: Yu Mi-ji and Yu Mi-rae are identical twins with very different lives. Mi-rae has an office job at a public corporation in Seoul. Mi-ji, a former sprinter whose injury ended her Olympic hopes, stays in their hometown and looks after their grandmother. When Mi-rae runs into trouble at work, the sisters swap places, and each has to live the other's life. Park Bo-young plays both of them.

Network: tvN · Episodes: 12

Watch it on Netflix

Good Boy (굿보이)

Release Date: May 31, 2025 - July 20, 2025 Genre: Action comedy, Crime, Romance

Who's in the cast:
Park Bo-gum as Yoon Dong-ju
Kim So-hyun as Ji Han-na
Oh Jung-se as Min Ju-yeong
Lee Sang-yi as Kim Jong-hyeon
Heo Sung-tae as Ko Man-sik
Tae Won-seok as Shin Jae-hong

What it's about: A group of former national athletes, once hailed as medal-winning heroes, now face money worries and cut-short careers. They join the police through a special recruitment drive and turn the skills they built in sport into an unusual crime-fighting team. Expect punchy action, team banter and a little romance.

Network: JTBC · Episodes: 16

Watch it on Prime Video

Mercy for None (광장)

Release Date: June 6, 2025 Genre: Action, Noir, Revenge drama

Who's in the cast:
So Ji-sub as Nam Gi-jun
Huh Joon-ho as Lee Ju-woon
Gong Myoung as Gu Jun-mo
Choo Young-woo as Lee Geum-son
An Kil-kang as Gu Bong-san

What it's about: Nam Gi-jun was once a top enforcer in Seoul's underworld, and he walked away from that life 11 years ago. When his younger brother is murdered, he goes back to find out who is responsible and make them pay. It is a brutal, stylish noir based on a webtoon, with all seven episodes released at once.

Network: Netflix · Episodes: 7

Watch it on Netflix

Bon Appétit, Your Majesty (폭군의 셰프)

Release Date: August 23, 2025 - September 28, 2025 Genre: Historical, Fantasy, Romance, Time travel

Who's in the cast:
Lim Yoon-a as Yeon Ji-young
Lee Chae-min as Yi Heon
Kang Han-na as Kang Mok-ju
Choi Guy-hwa as Grand Prince Jesan

What it's about: Yeon Ji-young is a South Korean chef who has just won a major cooking competition in Paris when she is suddenly sent back to the Joseon dynasty. There she meets King Yi Heon, a young ruler with a fearsome reputation and a very particular palate. Her modern cooking starts to win him over, while she tries to survive the politics of the court.

Network: tvN · Episodes: 12

Watch it on Netflix

Typhoon Family (태풍상사)

Release Date: October 11, 2025 - November 30, 2025 Genre: Period drama

Who's in the cast:
Lee Jun-ho as Kang Tae-poong
Kim Min-ha as Oh Mi-seon
Kim Min-seok as Wang Nam-mo
Mu Jin-sung as Pyo Hyeon-jun

What it's about: It is 1997, and the Asian financial crisis is hitting Korean businesses hard. Kang Tae-poong is a carefree young man who has to grow up fast when he takes over his late father's struggling trading company. With help from Oh Mi-seon and the company's remaining employees, he fights to keep it alive as the economy worsens.

Network: tvN · Episodes: 16

Watch it on Netflix