“Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links.”
There’s a reason Korea’s major entertainment boom—better known as the Hallyu wave—is taking over television right now. In tandem with the country’s equally buzzworthy films, Korean TV shows, better known as K-dramas, have had their fair share of mainstream cultural impact over the years, which have garnered massive fan bases worldwide and much-deserved international acclaim. The secret behind the K-drama magic? Interesting storylines packed with intense plot twists, romance, and social commentary that neatly wrap loose ends in a dozen or so episodes.
Perhaps you’re well-versed in the K-drama universe or are looking to dive into Korean television by way of viral shows like Netflix’s Squid Game or early 2000s classics like Boys Over Flowers. No matter your entry point, we’ve found 15 of the best and highly-addictive Korean TV shows to watch now, ranging from dystopian twists, heart-melting romances, revenge plots, and more. Luckily, they are easily accessible on streaming platforms, including Prime Video, Netflix, Apple TV+, and other platforms in 2025.
Pyramid Game (2024)
This webtoon-inspired show depicts the brutal hierarchy at an all-girls school. Seong Soo-ji, who transfers to class 2–5 at Baekyeon Girls’ High School, discovers that her classmates partake in a popularity poll every month. Those who rank at the top are provided privileges, while those ranking at the bottom become outcasts and victims of bullying, until the next poll. After finding herself at the bottom, Soo-ji is desperate to climb the social ladder to save herself. She’s determined to abolish the game once and for all, but first, it requires taking down the class’s top-performing queen bee, Baek Ha-rin.
Shop Now
Business Proposal
Business Proposal is one of Netflix’s most-viewed series of 2022 for good reason. The rom-com stars Shin Ha-ri (Kim Se-jeong), a food researcher at a company that just welcomed their new president, Kang Tae-moo (Ahn Hyo-seop). Her wealthy best friend (Seol In-ah) asks her to go on a blind date on her behalf, but it turns out to be Tae-moo. Ha-ri receives a call that Tae-moo felt otherwise about their date-gone-wrong, and their unlikely spark leads to a comedy-packed, swoon-worthy courtship spanning across 12 episodes.
WATCH
All Of Us Are Dead
Netflix’s Korean horror thriller, based on a webtoon of the same name, follows a herd of high school students who are left alone on school grounds to deal with a deadly virus that has turned their classmates into zombies. As the infection spreads and they are cut off from the outside world, the group tries to help one another survive the outbreak and find a way out of the chaos. The second season is currently in production, and let’s just say, there seems to be more to the deadly virus than ever before.
WATCH
Marry My Husband
In Marry My Husband, Kang Ji-won arrives home from cancer treatment to find her husband, Min-hwan, in bed with her only best friend, Jeong Su-min. After a fight ensues, Min-hwan pushes Ji-won to her accidental death. But that’s not all: Ji-won wakes up having time-traveled back 10 years, when her then-boyfriend and friend were her co-workers at a food marketing firm. Once the realization sinks in, Ji-won takes advantage of her second chance at life. With the help of her boss and secret admirer Yu Ji-hyuk, who has also been transported back in time, the duo ensures that their deadly fates are prevented.
Shop Now
Crash Landing On You
Crash Landing on You has reached record-shattering feats in Korean television history—and after watching the 16-episode saga unfold, you’ll see why. The adventure-filled rom-com follows South Korean heiress, Yoon Se-ri (Son Ye-jin), who finds herself paragliding off course, landing across the border in North Korea. Se-ri then runs into Ri Jeong-hyeok (Hyun Bin), Captain of the North Korean Special Forces and a member of the North Korean elite family. Captain Ri devises a plan to help Se-ri return to South Korea, but the journey is packed with obstacles along the way.
WATCH
When Life Gives You Tangerines (2025)
When Life Gives You Tangerines, another multi-generational series, spans the 1950s to the 21st century. The tearjerking romance drama follows Ae-sun (played by IU and Moon So-ri at different ages), a poor girl striving to become a poet. She falls in love with her childhood friend, Gwan-sik (played by Park Bo-gum and Park Hae-joon) and together, the two raise their family in Jeju Island, a tropical island at the tip of the Korean peninsula. As their relationship unfolds, they tackle a series of family struggles, setbacks, and triumphs in their ever-modernizing hometown.
WATCH
Boys Over Flowers
Boys Over Flowers is considered one of the most influential K-dramas of all time, which helped propel the Hallyu wave and the flower boy era that dominated Korean pop culture in the late 2000s and early 2010s. The throwback romance series, inspired by the Japanese manga of the same title, stars Geum Jan-di (Goo Hye-sun), a poor yet eccentric girl who saves a boy from taking his own life while making a dry-cleaning delivery for her parents. When Jan-di discovers that he was severely bullied by Shinhwa Group’s arrogant heir, Gu Jun-pyo (Lee Min-ho), she is offered a scholarship to attend the prestigious high school to appease public outrage. There, Jan-di becomes entangled with Jun-pyo and his groupies, which leads to unlikely friendships and a love triangle.
WATCH
Pachinko (2022–present)
Pachinko spans four generations of a Korean family living as permanent residents in Japan, beginning in a Japanese-occupied Korea in the 1910s. With a star-studded cast including Oscar winner Youn Yuh-jung, Hallyu star Lee Min-ho, and rising actor Kim Min-ha, this American-made Korean drama is a must-watch tearjerker that follows the lives and struggles of Korean immigrants in Japanese society.
Shop Now
The Glory (2022–2023)
When Moon Dong-eun (Song Hye-kyo) was in high school, she was severely bullied by a group of classmates, led by Park Yeon-jin (Im Ji-yeon). Years of bullying and assault leave Dong-eun traumatized, causing her to drop out of school with deep emotional scars, leading her to dedicating her life to getting revenge. Decades later, Dong-eun puts her elaborate scheme into action, beginning with becoming the homeroom teacher of Yeon-jin’s young daughter.
WATCH
Extraordinary Attorney Woo (2022)
Woo Young-woo is a law prodigy who is on the autistic spectrum. She’s fresh off graduating at the top of her class, quickly landing a job at Hanbada Law Firm. Here, she learns to navigate the challenges of her career as her social skills differ from those of her colleagues, clients, and opponents. But with the help of her kind co-workers and her affinity for whales, Young-woo finds success at work, and possibly too, a romantic partner.
WATCH
Squid Game
If you love the game-ification of dystopian worlds, popularized by The Hunger Games franchise and its Japanese predecessor Battle Royale, then Squid Game is a must-watch Korean thriller worth checking out—but you probably already have, given its viral success. The Netflix series, directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk, tells its story in three seasons: A group of 456 contestants are drowning in debt, and are lured in by an attractive game recruiter (played by Gong Yoo) to participate in a series of children’s games for a chance to win 45.6 billion won (roughly $38 million). There’s a catch: If they don’t succeed in winning rounds of Tug of War, Hide and Seek, or other Korean traditional games like Gonggi, then death awaits.
WATCH
Twenty-Five Twenty-One (2020)
Twenty-Five Twenty-One depicts the romantic lives of five characters spanning from 1998 to 2021. It is a cross-generational, coming-of-age story that begins in 2021 when Kim Min-chae quits ballet and runs away to her grandmother’s house. There, she discovers her mother Na Hui-do’s diary from her teenage years as an aspiring fencer, detailing the adversities of her career and her first-ever love.
WATCH
Weak Hero (2022–present)
In Weak Hero, Yeon Si-eun (Park Ji-hoon) prides himself on his academic success—he’s at the top of his class, but he finds himself frequently bullied at school. When Si-eun falls into grave danger, he forms alliances with fellow class outcast Oh Beom-seok (Hong Kyung) and the school’s strongest fighter An Soo-ho (Twenty-Five Twenty-One’s Choi Hyun-wook). This action-packed, coming-of-age thriller has major twists that will have you on the edge of your seat—and luckily, there’s a second season available to stream now.
WATCH
Reply 1988
The Reply series approaches period dramas differently. Instead of opting for Korea’s Goryeo or Joseon eras, this lighthearted series takes viewers back to the 1980s and 1990s, inspired by nostalgic pop culture events that inspire the characters’ coming of age. For its third and final installment, Reply 1988 follows teenage friends and their families—played by an ensemble cast featuring Lee Hye-ri, Park Bo-gum, and Ryu Jun-yeol—as they navigate their issues in a post-war Seoul.
WATCH
Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (2016–2017)
Also known as Goblin, Squid Game’s Gong Yoo stars in this award-winning fantasy drama as Kim Shin, a former military general from the Goryeo dynasty. He lives as a modern-day goblin who needs a bride (Kim Go Eun) to remove the sword piercing his chest and end his cursed, immortal life. Along the way, Kim Shin becomes acquainted with a cynical yet humorous grim reaper (Lee Dong-wook) through his nephew, Yoo Deok-hwa (Yook Sung-jae). Though the grim reaper has no recollection of his past life, the two discover that their lives are more intertwined than they think, complicating Kim Shin’s search for a wife.
Shop Now
You Might Also Like
-
4 Investment-Worthy Skincare Finds From Sephora
-
The 17 Best Retinol Creams Worth Adding to Your Skin Care Routine
