The best Korean dramas on Netflix in 2026 start with Squid Game, the survival thriller that became the service's most-watched series, and Crash Landing on You, the romance that made millions of viewers try their first K-drama. Behind them sits a deep bench of quieter masterpieces, from My Mister to Reply 1988, plus 2026 hits such as Agent Kim Reactivated.
Every one of the 20 shows below is streaming on Netflix in the US as of November 2026. Each entry lists the original network, episode count and lead cast, then explains what the show does better than anything else on the service. The order rewards real achievement first: Baeksang and Emmy wins, ratings records and long runs on Netflix's global chart.
All 20 Korean Dramas on Netflix: Years, Network, Episodes and Genre
| # | Show | Aired | Network | Episodes | Genre |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Squid Game | 2021 to 2025 | Netflix | 22 | Survival thriller |
| 2 | Crash Landing on You | 2019 to 2020 | tvN | 16 | Romantic comedy |
| 3 | My Mister | 2018 | tvN | 16 | Character drama |
| 4 | Extraordinary Attorney Woo | 2022 | ENA | 16 | Legal drama |
| 5 | The Glory | 2022 to 2023 | Netflix | 16 | Revenge thriller |
| 6 | When Life Gives You Tangerines | 2025 | Netflix | 16 | Family saga |
| 7 | Reply 1988 | 2015 to 2016 | tvN | 20 | Family drama |
| 8 | Kingdom | 2019 to 2021 | Netflix | 12 plus a special | Period zombie thriller |
| 9 | Queen of Tears | 2024 | tvN | 16 | Romantic comedy |
| 10 | Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha | 2021 | tvN | 16 | Small-town romance |
| 11 | Mr. Sunshine | 2018 | tvN | 24 | Historical epic |
| 12 | It's Okay to Not Be Okay | 2020 | tvN | 16 | Dark romantic comedy |
| 13 | Vincenzo | 2021 | tvN | 20 | Crime comedy |
| 14 | Prison Playbook | 2017 to 2018 | tvN | 16 | Prison comedy |
| 15 | Move to Heaven | 2021 | Netflix | 10 | Family drama |
| 16 | D.P. | 2021 to 2023 | Netflix | 12 | Military drama |
| 17 | Agent Kim Reactivated | 2026 | SBS | 10 | Action thriller |
| 18 | Business Proposal | 2022 | SBS | 12 | Office romance |
| 19 | Weak Hero | 2022 to 2025 | Wavve, Netflix | 16 | School action |
| 20 | Signal | 2016 | tvN | 16 | Crime mystery |
The 20 Best Korean Dramas on Netflix, Ranked
1. Squid Game: The Show That Changed Netflix
Network: Netflix | Episodes: 22 across three seasons | Starring: Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, Wi Ha-joon
Seong Gi-hun, a divorced gambler deep in debt, accepts an invitation to play children's games for money and wakes on a hidden island with 455 other desperate players. Losing a game means death, and every death adds to a prize pool that can reach 45.6 billion won. Hwang Dong-hyuk wrote and directed every episode, working from an idea he first outlined in 2009.
The first season became Netflix's most-watched series and won six Primetime Emmy Awards, plus the Grand Prize and Best Director at the 58th Baeksang Arts Awards. Across its three seasons it spent 19 weeks at number one on Netflix's global non-English TV chart. Seasons two and three, released in December 2024 and June 2025, finish Gi-hun's story for good.
2. Crash Landing on You: The Gateway Romance
Network: tvN | Episodes: 16 | Starring: Hyun Bin, Son Ye-jin, Kim Jung-hyun, Seo Ji-hye
Yoon Se-ri, a South Korean heiress, is paragliding when a tornado sweeps her across the border into North Korea. She lands at the feet of Captain Ri Jeong-hyeok, who hides her in his village while his squad tries to work out how to send her home. Writer Park Ji-eun built the premise from a real incident in which a South Korean actress drifted into North Korean waters.
It held the record as tvN's highest-rated series until Queen of Tears, by the same writer, passed it in 2024. Kim Sun-young won Best Supporting Actress at the 56th Baeksang Arts Awards as the village gossip. Few K-dramas balance comedy, longing and real danger this well, which is why it remains the most common first recommendation.
3. My Mister: The Critics' Masterpiece
Network: tvN | Episodes: 16 | Starring: Lee Sun-kyun, IU (Lee Ji-eun)
Park Dong-hoon is a middle-aged structural engineer who keeps his head down at work and his feelings to himself. Lee Ji-an is a 21-year-old temp worker crushed by debt and caring for her grandmother. She is hired to help push him out of the company, and the two slowly recognize the same exhaustion in each other.
Writer Park Hae-young and director Kim Won-seok made something rare: a drama about ordinary people that never feels small. It won Best Drama and Best Screenplay at the 55th Baeksang Arts Awards. The late Lee Sun-kyun gives one of the finest performances in Korean television here, and IU proves she is far more than a pop star.
4. Extraordinary Attorney Woo: The Most Charming Lawyer on TV
Network: ENA | Episodes: 16 | Starring: Park Eun-bin, Kang Tae-oh, Kang Ki-young
Woo Young-woo is an autistic rookie attorney with a photographic memory and a lifelong love of whales. A major Seoul law firm hires her, and each episode hands her a new case where her blunt honesty and fresh way of seeing the facts turn the argument. Her colleagues start out wary and end up relying on her.
The series set the record for the highest ratings in ENA's history, and on Netflix it spent 21 weeks on the global non-English chart, nine of them at number one. Park Eun-bin took the television Grand Prize at the 59th Baeksang Arts Awards, and Yoo In-shik won Best Director. Most episodes resolve a case, so it is easy to watch one at a time.
5. The Glory: Revenge Served Over Two Decades
Network: Netflix | Episodes: 16 in two parts | Starring: Song Hye-kyo, Lee Do-hyun, Lim Ji-yeon, Yeom Hye-ran
Moon Dong-eun was tortured by classmates in high school and dropped out with burn scars and no future. She spends the next 18 years building a plan, becoming the homeroom teacher of her chief bully's daughter. Writer Kim Eun-sook, better known for big romances, turned in her darkest and most controlled script.
Netflix released it in two parts, in December 2022 and March 2023, and it spent five weeks at number one on the global non-English chart. At the 59th Baeksang Arts Awards it won Best Drama, Best Actress for Song Hye-kyo and Best Supporting Actress for Lim Ji-yeon. Expect patient plotting rather than action, and an ending that pays off every setup.
6. When Life Gives You Tangerines: A Whole Life in 16 Episodes
Network: Netflix | Episodes: 16 | Starring: IU, Park Bo-gum, Moon So-ri, Park Hae-joon
On Jeju Island, a sharp-tongued girl named Ae-sun who dreams of becoming a poet and a steady boy named Gwan-sik who adores her grow up, marry and raise a family across decades. IU and Park Bo-gum play the couple young, while Moon So-ri and Park Hae-joon take over in later life. Writer Lim Sang-choon and director Kim Won-seok, also behind My Mister, pace it like a novel.
It won Best Drama, Best Screenplay and both supporting acting awards at the 61st Baeksang Arts Awards, and Time named it the best Korean drama of 2025. Netflix released it in four weekly batches of four episodes through March 2025. Keep tissues close; the comparison viewers make most often is to Reply 1988, which also stars Park Bo-gum.
7. Reply 1988: The Neighborhood Everyone Wants to Live In
Network: tvN | Episodes: 20 | Starring: Lee Hye-ri, Ryu Jun-yeol, Go Kyung-pyo, Park Bo-gum, Lee Dong-hwi
Five teenage friends and their families share one alley in a Seoul neighborhood in 1988, the year the city hosted the Olympics. The plot is mostly daily life: exams, borrowed side dishes, a child prodigy at the board game baduk, and a long guessing game over who the heroine marries. Writer Lee Woo-jung and director Shin Won-ho later made Hospital Playlist and Prison Playbook.
Its finale drew an 18.8% nationwide audience share, the highest for any drama in Korean cable history at the time, and Shin Won-ho won Best Director at the 52nd Baeksang Arts Awards. Episodes run long, often past 90 minutes, so treat it as a slow, rewarding commitment. Viewers still call it a national drama in Korea.
8. Kingdom: Zombies in the Joseon Court
Network: Netflix | Episodes: 12 across two seasons, plus a feature-length special | Starring: Ju Ji-hoon, Bae Doona, Ryu Seung-ryong
In 1601, three years after the Imjin War, Crown Prince Lee Chang tries to learn why his father the king has vanished from view. He finds a plague that turns the dead into ravenous hunters, and a powerful clan ready to use the chaos to seize the throne. Writer Kim Eun-hee adapted it from her own webtoon with artist Yang Kyung-il.
Kingdom was Netflix's first original Korean series, and it showed the service what Korean studios could do with a real budget. Each season runs just six episodes, so the whole story fits in a weekend. The special Kingdom: Ashin of the North, released in 2021, explains where the plague began.
9. Queen of Tears: A Marriage Worth Saving
Network: tvN | Episodes: 16 | Starring: Kim Soo-hyun, Kim Ji-won, Park Sung-hoon, Kwak Dong-yeon, Lee Joo-bin
Baek Hyun-woo, a lawyer from a farming village, married Hong Hae-in, heiress to a department store empire, and three years later both want out. Then Hae-in receives news that forces them to see each other again, while a rival schemes to take her family's company. Park Ji-eun, the writer of Crash Landing on You, wrote it.
Its final episode drew a 24.85% nationwide rating, the highest in tvN's history. Netflix's September 2024 engagement report logged 682.6 million hours viewed, and the show spent 15 weeks on the global non-English chart. It is a crowd-pleaser in the best sense, mixing slapstick in-law comedy with real heartbreak.
10. Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha: The Coziest Seaside Romance
Network: tvN | Episodes: 16 | Starring: Shin Min-a, Kim Seon-ho, Lee Sang-yi
After quitting her job in Seoul, dentist Yoon Hye-jin opens a clinic in the seaside village of Gongjin. The town handyman, Hong Du-sik, can fix anything and seems to know everyone's business. It remakes the 2004 film Mr. Handy, Mr. Hong, and adds a full cast of nosy, lovable villagers.
It peaked at a 12.665% nationwide rating and stayed on Netflix's global non-English chart for 16 straight weeks. Fans then turned its filming locations in Pohang into a pilgrimage spot. Choose this when you want low stakes, warm humor and a slow-burn couple who argue their way into love.
11. Mr. Sunshine: The Grandest Period Drama on Netflix
Network: tvN | Episodes: 24 | Starring: Lee Byung-hun, Kim Tae-ri, Yoo Yeon-seok, Kim Min-jung, Byun Yo-han
Eugene Choi was born into slavery in Joseon, escaped to the United States as a boy and returns to Hanseong, now Seoul, as an American Marine officer. In the early 1900s he meets Go Ae-shin, a noblewoman secretly training as a sniper for the independence movement. Kim Eun-sook wrote it and Lee Eung-bok directed it with film-level scale.
Its final episode reached 18.129%, the third-highest rating in Korean cable history at the time, and Lee Byung-hun won Best Actor at the 55th Baeksang Arts Awards. The cinematography alone justifies the 24 episodes. Lee Byung-hun later played the Front Man in Squid Game, so fans of that show will spot a familiar face.
12. It's Okay to Not Be Okay: A Fairy Tale About Healing
Network: tvN | Episodes: 16 | Starring: Kim Soo-hyun, Seo Yea-ji, Oh Jung-se
Ko Moon-young is a famous, antisocial children's book writer. Moon Gang-tae works as a caretaker on a psychiatric ward and has spent his life looking after his autistic older brother, Sang-tae. When Moon-young follows Gang-tae back to their hometown, all three begin to face the childhood trauma they have been avoiding.
Oh Jung-se won Best Supporting Actor at the 57th Baeksang Arts Awards for his role as Sang-tae. Its episodes lean on the dark fairy tales Moon-young writes, and illustrated storybook sequences set it apart visually. It treats mental health with more care than most romances, though its moods swing from gothic to goofy within a scene.
13. Vincenzo: A Mafia Lawyer Takes On a Conglomerate
Network: tvN | Episodes: 20 | Starring: Song Joong-ki, Jeon Yeo-been, Ok Taec-yeon, Kim Yeo-jin, Kwak Dong-yeon
Vincenzo Cassano, a Korean-born consigliere for an Italian mafia family, flees to Seoul to recover a fortune in gold hidden under a rundown plaza. A powerful conglomerate wants the same building, so he teams up with lawyer Hong Cha-young and the plaza's eccentric tenants to fight it with every dirty trick he knows.
Its final episode drew a 14.6% rating, among the highest in tvN's history, and Song Joong-ki earned a Best Actor nomination at the 57th Baeksang Arts Awards. The tone swings between broad comedy and brutal payback, and the villains are gloriously hateful. Pick it when you want a revenge story that never takes itself too seriously.
14. Prison Playbook: The Funniest Show About Doing Time
Network: tvN | Episodes: 16 | Starring: Park Hae-soo, Jung Kyung-ho
Kim Je-hyuk is a star baseball pitcher about to sign with a Major League team when he is jailed for assaulting the man who attacked his sister. Inside, he has to learn prison life from scratch, helped by a guard who happens to be his childhood friend. Shin Won-ho, the director of Reply 1988, fills the cell block with oddballs who become family.
It was Park Hae-soo's first lead role; he later played Cho Sang-woo in Squid Game. Park Ho-san won Best Supporting Actor at the 54th Baeksang Arts Awards, and the series became one of the highest-rated in Korean cable history. The humor is gentle, but the show never forgets that these men are serving real sentences.
15. Move to Heaven: Ten Episodes About What People Leave Behind
Network: Netflix | Episodes: 10 | Starring: Lee Je-hoon, Tang Jun-sang, Hong Seung-hee
Geu-ru, a young man with Asperger's syndrome, runs his late father's trauma cleaning business, sorting the belongings of people who died alone. His uncle Sang-gu, an ex-convict and former cage fighter, becomes his reluctant guardian and co-worker. Each job uncovers the story of the person who lived there.
Netflix released all ten episodes worldwide on May 14, 2021. It is the shortest show on this list and one of the most emotional, built around small details such as a box of letters or an unsent gift. Lee Je-hoon, also the lead in Signal, gives the gruff uncle real depth.
16. D.P.: Hunting Deserters, Exposing the Army
Network: Netflix | Episodes: 12 across two seasons | Starring: Jung Hae-in, Koo Kyo-hwan, Kim Sung-kyun, Son Suk-ku
Private Ahn Jun-ho is assigned to D.P., short for Deserter Pursuit, a military police unit that tracks down soldiers who have gone AWOL. With his partner Corporal Han Ho-yul, he learns that most deserters are running from brutal hazing the army refuses to admit. Director Han Jun-hee adapted it with Kim Bo-tong from Kim's webtoon D.P Dog's Day.
At the 58th Baeksang Arts Awards it beat Squid Game for Best Drama, and Koo Kyo-hwan and Cho Hyun-chul won acting prizes. Since nearly every South Korean man serves in the military, the show sparked a national debate about abuse in the ranks. Season two, released in July 2023, follows the same pair into a larger cover-up.
17. Agent Kim Reactivated: The Biggest New K-Drama of 2026
Network: SBS | Episodes: 10 | Starring: So Ji-sub, Choi Dae-hoon, Yoon Kyung-ho, Joo Sang-wook, Son Na-eun
Mr. Kim is a retired black-ops agent living quietly as a bank employee and single father. When his high school daughter is kidnapped, he digs up the skills he buried years ago and goes after the people who took her. It adapts the Naver webtoon Manager Kim, and media outlets compared it to the film Taken.
It took over the number one spot on Netflix's global non-English TV chart in July 2026 and held it for three straight weeks, with 10.5 million views in its biggest week. It ran eight weeks on the chart in total. So Ji-sub carries the fights with a grim weariness, and the ten-episode run keeps the story lean.
18. Business Proposal: Pure Romantic Comedy Fun
Network: SBS | Episodes: 12 | Starring: Ahn Hyo-seop, Kim Se-jeong, Kim Min-kyu, Seol In-ah
Shin Ha-ri agrees to go on a blind date in place of her rich friend, planning to behave so badly the man never calls back. The date turns out to be Kang Tae-moo, the new CEO of her own company, and he decides on the spot to marry her. It adapts a web novel by HaeHwa and leans happily into every office romance cliche.
It spent 13 weeks on Netflix's global non-English chart, three of them at number one. At 12 episodes it is short for the genre, and the second couple, Tae-moo's secretary and Ha-ri's friend, nearly steals the show. If you want to laugh and switch off, start here.
19. Weak Hero: Brains Against Bullies
Network: Wavve (Class 1), Netflix (Class 2) | Episodes: 16 across two seasons | Starring: Park Ji-hoon, Choi Hyun-wook, Hong Kyung, Ryeoun
Yeon Si-eun is the top student in his class, slight and silent, until a bully picks on him. He fights back with physics, timing and whatever object is closest, and soon a group of outcasts gathers around him. Writer and director Yoo Soo-min adapted the Naver webtoon by Seopass and Kim Jin-seok.
The first three episodes premiered at the 27th Busan International Film Festival, and Class 1 debuted on Wavve before arriving on Netflix in 2025. Class 2 followed as a Netflix original in April 2025 and reached number one on the global non-English chart. Park Ji-hoon's blank-faced intensity makes every fight feel earned.
20. Signal: Cold Cases Across Time
Network: tvN | Episodes: 16 | Starring: Lee Je-hoon, Kim Hye-soo, Cho Jin-woong
A police profiler in the present finds a walkie-talkie that connects him to a detective working cases decades earlier. Together they reopen cold cases, and each change to the past ripples into the present. Writer Kim Eun-hee, who later created Kingdom, drew on real crimes including the Hwaseong serial murders.
It won Best Drama, Best Screenplay and Best Actress for Kim Hye-soo at the 52nd Baeksang Arts Awards, and its finale rating of 12.54% made it one of the highest-rated cable dramas of its time. A second season was confirmed in production in March 2024, so now is the right moment to catch up.
Korean Dramas on Netflix by Mood: Where to Start
Not sure which of the 20 suits tonight? Match the show to the mood rather than to the ranking.
- A big, bingeable thriller: Squid Game, The Glory, Kingdom or Agent Kim Reactivated.
- A romance with comedy: Crash Landing on You, Queen of Tears, Business Proposal or Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha.
- Something slow and moving: My Mister, Reply 1988, When Life Gives You Tangerines or Move to Heaven.
- A case-of-the-week format: Extraordinary Attorney Woo or Signal.
- Action and grit: D.P., Weak Hero or Vincenzo.
- History on a grand scale: Mr. Sunshine or Kingdom.
Hospital stories are their own genre in Korea. Our guide to the best Korean medical dramas covers Hospital Playlist, Dr. Romantic and The Trauma Code, which is why none of them appears here.
What Put These 20 Shows Ahead of Netflix's Other K-Dramas
Netflix carries a large Korean catalog in the US, so every show had to clear two checks before it was considered. First, it had to be streaming on Netflix US in November 2026, not just in Asia. Second, it had to be a scripted drama, which leaves out hit reality shows such as Physical: 100 and Single's Inferno.
The order then follows a fixed set of achievements. Major awards came first, led by Primetime Emmys and the Baeksang Arts Awards, Korea's top prize for television. Ratings records in Korea came next, followed by time spent on Netflix's global non-English Top 10, which covers shows released since mid-2021. Ties went to the show that plays better for a first-time viewer.
That method favors proven classics. Newer series such as Agent Kim Reactivated rank lower than their viewing numbers suggest because they have not yet faced an awards season.
Picking Your First K-Drama: Episodes, Pace and Subtitles
Most Korean dramas tell one complete story in a single season of 12 to 24 episodes, and broadcast episodes often run past an hour. A 16-episode show is therefore closer to two seasons of an American drama. Netflix originals such as Kingdom and Move to Heaven are shorter and tighter.
- Start short if you are new: Kingdom, Move to Heaven, Agent Kim Reactivated and Business Proposal all finish in 12 episodes or fewer.
- Give slower shows four episodes: My Mister and Reply 1988 take time to settle before they become hard to stop.
- Watch with subtitles when you can, since much of the comedy lives in wordplay and tone.
- Check the ending type: Korean dramas usually end for good, so you will not be left waiting on a cliffhanger.
For the wider Netflix catalog beyond Korea, see our ranking of the best shows on Netflix by staying power.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best Korean drama on Netflix right now?
Squid Game is the strongest all-round pick, with six Primetime Emmys and the most views of any Netflix series. For romance, Crash Landing on You is the usual first choice. For pure drama, critics rate My Mister above almost everything else.
Are these Korean dramas available on Netflix in the US?
Yes. All 20 shows on this list were streaming on Netflix in the US in November 2026. Licensed shows from Korean networks such as tvN and SBS can leave the service when contracts end, while Netflix originals like The Glory stay put.
What is a good Korean drama for beginners on Netflix?
Crash Landing on You and Business Proposal are friendly entry points because they mix comedy with romance. If you prefer thrillers, Kingdom runs only 12 episodes and hooks most viewers within the first hour.
How long are Korean drama episodes?
Broadcast K-dramas usually run about an hour or longer per episode, and some, like Reply 1988, often go past 90 minutes. Netflix originals tend to be shorter, with fewer episodes per season.
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