If you’re a writer and want to find inspiration and learn lessons from experts in storytelling, it’s note-worthy to share these promising Korean shows on Netflix in 2023. Here’s why.
I understand other writers would disagree, given that writing novels and screenplays are different.
Still, I couldn’t dismiss the lessons I earned in my childhood, where I grew up watching the classic Kdramas and Kshows for most of my early life, aside from the crazy Mexican telenovelas and animes in the 90s.
Looking back, I realize how much of an impact these Korean writers had on me now that I am (technically) in the same industry despite the different mediums of choice.
With these considered, I am excited to share the complete list of Korean dramas, films, and documentaries Netflix announced in January. So, look at the list and let me know your thoughts and expectations. Enjoy!
Table of Contents
- About the Korean Shows on Netflix List
- Series
- 1. Behind Your Touch (working title)
- 2. Black Knight:
- 3. Bloodhounds
- 4. Celebrity
- 5. Crash Course in Romance
- 6. Daily Dose of Sunshine
- 7. Destined with You*
- 8. Doona!
- 9. D.P., Season 2
- 10. Goodbye Earth
- 11. The Glory, Part 2
- 12. The Good Bad Mother
- 13. Gyeongseong Creature*
- 14. King the Land
- 15. Love to Hate You
- 16. Mask Girl
- 17. Queenmaker
- 18. See You In My 19th Life*
- 19. Song of the Bandits
- 20. Sweet Home, Season 2
- 21. A Time Called You*
- Films
- Unscripted Series
- Documentaries
- Your Takeaway on My Korean Shows on Netflix List
About the Korean Shows on Netflix List
According to Netflix, you will have an array of titles, which include television series that showcase eye-popping original productions.
“With this lineup of Korean titles, Netflix will continue to be the ultimate destination for compelling, diverse, and must-watch Korean storytelling,” Don Kang, vice president of content, told Netflix Korea.
If you’re curious (as I am), let’s look at each in categories to make this list less overwhelming, especially with additional future updates.
Series
1. Behind Your Touch (working title)
In the tale “Hip,” also known as “Behind Your Touch, the main characters reside in a small farming community.
It tells the story of a veterinarian named Ye Bun, who possesses superhuman psychometric abilities, and a dedicated detective named Jang Kyul, who both get involved in investigating small-time crimes. (Source)
2. Black Knight:
In a dystopian 2071 devastated by air pollution, the survival of humanity depends on the Black Knights—and they’re far from your average delivery men. (Source)
3. Bloodhounds
In order to pay off their debt, three daring youths jump into the money-lending business while confronting the rich and powerful who prey on the weak. (Source)
4. Celebrity
Fame. Money. Power. One young woman fights to become the next hottest celebrity in the glamorous yet scandalous world of influencers in Seoul. (Source)
5. Crash Course in Romance
A mother with a heart of gold navigates the cutthroat world of private education when her daughter tries to join a celebrity math instructor’s class. (Source)
6. Daily Dose of Sunshine
Determined to provide a ray of light for those under her care, a young nurse navigates the world of mental health and the diverse stories surrounding it. (Source)
7. Destined with You*
A drama depicting an irresistible romance between a woman who obtained a forbidden book that was thoroughly sealed 300 years ago and a man who became a victim of the forbidden book. (Source)
8. Doona!
A college student navigates life and school while dealing with a unique predicament—he’s living with a beautiful former K-pop sensation. (Source)
9. D.P., Season 2
Private soldier Jun Ho is a confused youth who served in the military normally like other Koreans. One day, he suddenly becomes a member of the military defector arrest team.
As such, he is tasked with capturing deserters and must grapple with the more troubling cases of why some soldiers feel they have no other choice but go absent without official leave. (Source)
10. Goodbye Earth
As an asteroid hurtles towards Earth with nothing to stop it, one determined teacher fights to keep her former students safe—no matter the cost. (Source)
11. The Glory, Part 2
Years after surviving horrific abuse in high school, a woman puts an elaborate revenge scheme in motion to make the perpetrators pay for their crimes. (Source)
12. The Good Bad Mother
A drama about a mother, Young Soon, who has lived for her child all her life, and her son, prosecutor Kang Ho, who suffers from amnesia in an unexpected accident and returns to being a child. (Source)
13. Gyeongseong Creature*
Park Seo-Joon, Han So-hee, Soo Hyun, Kim Hae-sook, Jo Han-Chul, and Wi Ha-Joon are part of the cast of the upcoming South Korean television series Gyeongseong Creature.
In the spring of 1945, a grim era of bitter darkness, a young man and woman struggle for survival while fighting monsters born out of human greed. (Source)
14. King the Land
The son of a chaebol family is Lee Joon-character Ho’s Gu Won. The King Group is owned and controlled by his family.
The King Group inheritance war is then launched against him. Gu Won is a young man who is intelligent, stylish, and fashionable, yet he struggles when it comes to dating. He can’t help but smile artificially.
Cheon Sa-Rang (Lim Yoon-A) has a friendly demeanor and a lively attitude. She starts working at the King Hotel, which serves as the setting for some of her most fantastic childhood memories.
She encounters a variety of challenges while working at the hotel. She develops personally as well. When Gu Won and Cheon Sa-Rang first meet, they start dating. (Source)
15. Love to Hate You
For an attorney who despises losing to men and an A-list actor who distrusts women, love means nothing—until they’re forced to date each other. (Source)
16. Mask Girl
An office worker who is insecure about her looks becomes a marked internet personality by night—until a chain of ill-fated events overtakes her life. (Source)
17. Queenmaker
An accomplished fixer for a powerful business conglomerate jumps into politics to make a headstrong civil rights lawyer the next mayor of Seoul. (Source)
18. See You In My 19th Life*
Ban Ji Eum has an extraordinary ability: she can remember the memories of all her past lives. Repeating her reincarnation for nearly a thousand years, Ban Ji Eun has been living her life diligently.
After her previous life is cut short by a tragic accident, she sets out to reconnect with the people of her past life in her current one and decides to find a man named Moon Seo Ha, whom she met in her 18th life.
Will memories of her 18th life sabotage romance in her 19th? Or will love endure across different lives?
On the other side, there is also Yoon Cho Won, a landscape architect and the younger sister of Yoon Joo Won, whose life collapsed after her older sister’s death.
She is courageous and kind even after facing the death of her beloved sister, but she struggles to maintain her brightness. When Yoon Cho Won meets Ban Ji Eum by chance and sees her older sister in her, she wonders about Ban Ji Eum’s identity.
Then there’s Ha Do Yoon, Moon Seo Ha’s secretary and best friend since childhood. Although they come from completely different backgrounds, Ha Do Yoon feels an affinity for him. (Source)
19. Song of the Bandits
In the lawless land of Gando, fierce bandits will stop at nothing to fight for their precious homeland and loved ones—even if it means life or death. (Source)
20. Sweet Home, Season 2
As humans turn into savage monsters and wreak terror, one troubled teen and his apartment neighbors fight to survive—and to hold on to their humanity. (Source)
21. A Time Called You*
A grieving woman magically travels through time to 1998, where she meets a man with an uncanny resemblance to her late love. (Source)
Films
22. Ballerina
Grieving the loss of a best friend she couldn’t protect, an ex-bodyguard sets out to fulfill her dear friend’s last wish: sweet revenge. (Source)
23. Believer 2
A determined detective continues his search for the truth behind Asia’s largest drug organization and its elusive boss he has unfinished business with. (Source)
24. JUNG_E
In a post-apocalyptic near-future, a researcher at an AI lab leads the effort to end a civil war by cloning the brain of a heroic soldier—her mother. (Source)
25. Kill Boksoon
At work, she’s a renowned assassin. At home, she’s a single mom to a teenage daughter. Killing? That’s easy. It’s parenting that’s the hard part. (Source)
26. The Match
Two legendary Go players, once student and master, face victory and defeat as they inevitably come face to face as rivals. (Source)
27. Unlocked
A woman’s life is turned upside-down when a dangerous man gets a hold of her lost cell phone and uses it to track her every move. (Source)
Unscripted Series
28. 19/20 (Nineteen to Twenty)
A group of young adults share their last week of teens and first week of twenties together—experiencing freedom and all the “firsts” of adulthood. (Source)
29. The Devil’s Plan
In this mind-bending game of survival hosted by “the Devil,” contestants have one week to be crowned the brainiest player and win the ultimate prize. (Source)
30. Physical: 100
One hundred contestants in top physical shape compete in a series of grueling challenges to claim the honor—and cash reward—as the last one standing. (Source)
31. Siren: Survive the Island
24 female police officers, firefighters, bodyguards, soldiers, athletes, and stuntwomen team up by profession to compete for survival on a remote island. (Source)
32. Zombieverse
In Seoul, where a zombie virus outbreak has run amok, who will outwit the undead in the face of challenging quests and come out alive? (Source)
Documentaries
33. In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal
This docuseries examining the chilling true stories of four Korean leaders claiming to be prophets exposes the dark side of unquestioning belief. (Source)
34. Yellow Door: Looking for Director Bong’s Unreleased Short Film (working title)
Follows the story behind the first short film done by Bong Joon Ho, director of Parasite, a short film allegedly seen just by ten people. (Source)
Your Takeaway on My Korean Shows on Netflix List
After compiling these promising and highly anticipated Korean shows on Netflix in 2023, I hope this list helps you find story inspiration or distraction from long-hour writing.
If you’ve seen a few, let me know what you think is the most addictive Korean drama or the best Korean series on Netflix in the comment section below.
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