Get ready for unforgettable and gripping stories of Korean dramas! Discover the top rated Korean dramas to watch in 2023, featuring captivating storylines, talented actors, and stunning cinematography. From heartwarming romances to thrilling suspense, these dramas will leave you on the edge of your seat. “Don’t miss out on the must-watch kdramas of 2023.”
Binge-Worthy Korean Dramas to Watch in 2023
1. Extraordinary Attorney Woo
- Genres: Law, Drama
- Total Episodes: 16
Extraordinary Attorney Woo tells the story of a genius woman with autistic spectrum disorder who becomes a lawyer for a prominent law firm.
2. Alchemy Of Souls
- Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Period Drama
- Episodes: 20
Alchemy of Souls is about the love and progress of young magicians as they face their twisted fates in a mythical kingdom named Daeho that does not exist in history or on maps.
3. Business Proposal
- Genres: Romance, Comedy
- Total Episodes: 12
Business Proposal is based on a web novel that was adapted into a webtoon and is a romantic comedy-drama in which an office worker has a blind date with the company’s CEO instead of a friend and hides her identity. Ahn Hyo-Seop plays Kang Tae-Moo, the perfect third-generation conglomerate. On the other hand, Kim Sejeong plays Shin Ha-Ri, a regular office worker who hides her true energetic self and transforms into a charismatic femme fatale for her blind date.
4. Anna
- Genres: Thriller, Drama
- Total Episodes: 6
Anna is a thriller drama starring Bae Suzy as the solo lead actress. It is directed and written by Lee Joo-Young. Anna is a story of a woman who begins her life by telling a minor lie and then goes on to live a completely other life due to her lie.
5. The Glory
- Genres: Thriller, Drama, Melodrama
- Total Episodes: 8
The Glory drama tells the sad revenge story of a high school student who dropped out of school after being exposed to brutal school violence. A few years later, the former victim becomes an elementary school teacher for her bully’s child, and she embarks on a quest for a thorough revenge on her painful high school abuser and her bystanders.
6. Twenty Five Twenty One
- Total Episodes: 16
- Genres: Coming of Age, Sports, Drama
Set in 1998, Twenty-Five Twenty-One depicts the stories of two young people who have found new directions and growth after being deprived of their dreams. Kim Tae-Ri and Nam Joo-hyuk will appear as Na Hido and Baek I-jin, who meet for the first time at 18 and 22, respectively, and fall in love a few years later.
7. All Of Us Are Dead (13.2%)
- Genres: Thrill, Horror, Science Fiction
- Total Episodes: 12
A group of high school students are trapped in Hyosan High School, where a zombie virus has spread. The students desperately escape from school to avoid becoming zombies.
8. Vincenzo
- Genre: Crime-drama; Dark comedy, Thriller, Suspense
- Episodes: 20
It is a drama about a boy who is adopted by a family in Italy, he is now an adult and is a lawyer named Vincenzo Cassano, who works for the mafia as a consigliere. He gets into disputes with the mafia groups and a war starts between them so he flees to South Korea. There he meets an attorney named Hong Cha-Young, who will do anything to win a case, but later changes her mind and fights for justice with Vincenzo Cassano.
9. Hometown Cha Cha Cha
- Genres: Romance, Slice of life
- Total Episodes: 16
It is a story of an intelligent and pretty dentist Yoon Hye-jin who resigns from her job after finding that the head of the hospital is corrupt. One day she sets on a trip to a beautiful seaside village where she meets a handsome and attractive man named Hong Du-sik, who is called chief in that village due to his generous and kind personality. He always helps her whenever she is in trouble. It is interesting to see how they develop romantic feelings for each other.
10. The Red Sleeve
- Genres: Romance, Historical drama, Political
- Episodes: 17
The Red Sleeve drama is set in Joseon Era, it depicts the love story of a crown prince who falls in love with a court maid.
Doek Im is a court maid with whom crown prince San falls in love, the storyline is very interesting in that he hides his identity of being the crown prince from her and started to fall in love with her, when she finds the truth about him being the crown prince, she hides her feelings from him and refuses to become his concubine. It is very interesting to see how they will conquer their love amidst the political tension in the palace.
11. Crash Landing On You (2020)
Genre: Romance, Military, Comedy
Episodes: 16
A rich woman who owns a skincare-making company in South Korea accidentally while paragliding lands in North Korea, there he meets a man who is an army officer of North Korea. He helps her, hides her in his banquet, and tries to protect her in every possible way until she safely returns to South Korea. While protecting and helping her return to South Korea he falls for her.
12. Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016)
- Genres: Romance, Politics, Historical Drama, Action, Fantasy
- Episodes: 20
During a solar eclipse, a 25-year-old, 21st-century lady, Go Ha-jin (Lee Ji-Eun), is transported back in time, to the Goryeo Dynasty. She wakes up in the year 941, within the body of Hae Soo, among the numerous sovereigns of the administering Wang family, amid the rule of Ruler Taejo.
13. It’s Okay Not To Be Okay
- Genres: Romance, Romantic Comedy, Psychological
- Episodes: 16
Story of a woman named Ko Moon-young, a children’s book author who has an antisocial personality disorder and does not get well with people she is very arrogant and rude, and a man named Moon Gang-Tae, a psychiatric hospital caregiver who lives with his older brother Moon Sang-Tae who is mentally ill. The drama displays how Moon Ga Young develops a Romantic Obsession with Moon Gang-Tae, and starts following him.
14. What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim (2016)
- Genres: Friendship, Business, Comedy, Romance
- Episodes: 16
Lee Young-Joon is a large corporation’s vice-chairman. His world is turned upside down when his brilliant secretary, Kim Mi-so, announces her resignation after nine years of service to Lee Young-Joon. After speaking with his best friend, who also happens to be a board director in his company, Young-Joon vowed to do everything he could to ensure Mi-so remained by his side.
15. Descendants Of The Sun
- Genres: Action, Comedy, Romance, Melodrama
- Episodes: 16
Kang Mo Yeon, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Haesung Hospital, is a lovely and confident woman. She isn’t hesitant to confess when she’s made a mistake, and she believes that ability trumps connections. She quickly realizes, however, that she cannot progress based just on her talent. When she meets Yoo Shi Jin, the Captain and team leader of the Alpha Team, her life is forever transformed.
Yoo Shi Jin is more concerned with defending everyone in need of assistance as well as his country, even if it goes against his superiors’ orders. This drama will depict how they join together during a time of conflict and overcome the odds.
16. Squid Game
- Genres: Suspense, Crime, Thriller
- No. of episodes: 9
It is a survival drama. In this drama, 456 people who are highly in debt are invited to play a children’s game, and the one who wins all the games will be rewarded with a large cash prize. The drama starts with a man named Seong Gi Hun, who is a gambler who is highly in debt and a divorced father who lives in a small apartment with his mother and daughter.
It is very interesting to watch how these people are made to play the children’s game and what they will do in order to win the game in order to win a huge amount of cash price.
17. My Name
Total Episodes: 8
Release Date: October 15, 2021
Yoon Ji-woo’s (Han Seo-hee) father passed away suddenly. She longs for revenge on the man responsible for her father’s death. Ji-woo Yoon works at the Dongcheongpa drug club. Choi Moo-jin (Park Hee-soon) is the boss of a drug gang. To uncover the cause of his father’s death with Choi Mu-jin’s help, Yoon Ji-woo enlists in the police and becomes a mole in a drug trafficking gang. Yoon Ji-woo was assigned to the drug investigation team of the National Police Agency. Her partner is detective Jeon Pil-do (Ahn Bo-Hyun).
18. My Mister
- Genres: Psychological, Life, Drama, Family
- Episodes: 16
My Mister is a drama about an underprivileged and indebted young woman who is trying to remain alive while caring for her deaf, ailing grandma and working a part-time job. Her unexpected friendship with one of her similarly miserable superiors is scrutinized and manipulated by their coworkers, friends, and dysfunctional families. They come together, forging new relationships, keeping pieces of themselves hidden but ultimately mending one another’s old traumas, despite the weight of their existence.
19. Mr. Sunshine
- Genres: Military, Historical, Romance, Melodrama
- Episodes: 24
Mr. Sunshine is about a little boy who is born into a family of house servants and travels to the United States during the Shinmiyangyo of 1871. (U.S. expedition to Korea). Later, as a US marine officer, he returns to his homeland. He meets and falls in love with the daughter of an aristocrat. At the same time, he uncovers a scheme to colonise Korea by foreign powers.
20. Money Heist: Korea-Joint Economic Area
- Genres: Heist, Crime, Drama
- Total Episodes: 12
The Netflix original Korean series ‘Money Heist: Korea-Joint Economic Area‘ depicts an unprecedented hostage robbery set against the backdrop of the Korean Peninsula’s impending reunification, in which genius strategists and criminals with varying personalities and abilities battle extraordinary circumstances.
From highly entertaining to hidden gems, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Whether you’re looking for heartwarming romance, thrilling suspense, or captivating storytelling, the top Korean dramas to watch in 2023 have got you covered.