8 brand new Korean dramas to watch now on Netflix

Excellent production, captivating storylines, Oscar-worthy acting, and Lee Min Ho.

Korean dramas typically have just one season, but a couple here are the rare exception of being ongoing series. Each episode is about an hour long so don’t expect to get through a whole season in a day, but do expect to be pleasantly surprised if this is your first foray into the world of Korean dramas. These eight newly released ones are proof:

The King: Eternal Monarch

Genre: Fantasy, romance, historical

The King: Eternal Monarch has received the most buzz since its production as it marks actor Lee Min Ho’s first role since completing his military service, and he stars alongside the popular actress Kim Go Eun who’s most known for her role in Guardian: The Lonely and Great God. In this ongoing series, two parallel universes start to start to collide; one as the modern Korea, and the other where Korea is an empire ruled by a monarch.

My Holo Love

Genre: Sci-fi, romance

30-year-old Han So-Yeon lives a pretty uneventful life until one fine day when she comes into possession of a AI hologram device. Through the device, she meets a hologram of a man known as Holo. So-Yeon and Holo start to develop feelings for each other, so you can imagine how weird even they feel about it. But that’s not the height of complication in this storyline, as Go Nan-Do, the creator of Holo and who he’s in fact based on, moves right next door.

Hi Bye, Mama!

Genre: Heartfelt, drama, fantasy

Since her death five years ago, Cha Yu-Ri has been living as ghost unseen by humans, which include her daughter and husband. By divine intervention, Yu-Ri is given a chance of literally, a lifetime: she has 49 days as a “human” to get her old life back to the way it was when she was alive, and should she succeed, get to keep it.

Hyena

Genre: Drama, romance

Yoon Hee-Jae, played by Ju Ji-hoon aka Lee Chang, the Crown Prince of Joseo in Kingdom,  is the attorney you’d want to represent you in court — he’s just that good, and he knows it too. He meets a mysterious woman at a laundromat and ends up falling for her, only to later discover that she’s actually an attorney representing the opposite side. The woman, Jung Geum-Ja, will do anything to save her business, including stealing his case files and fighting it out in court.

Hospital Playlist

Genre: Drama,

It’s no Korean Grey’s Anatomy, if that’s what you’re thinking. A group of five doctors who have been friends since med school, now work in the VIP wing of a hospital. Each doctor has a very different personality — there’s the socially awkward one, the hospital’s top surgeon, and the one that parties hard off-the-clock. They’re bonded by work, and their love of music, hence the title of the show.

Extracurricular

Genre: Drama, crime, teen

Think Itaewon Class with a dark twist. A high school student named Jisoo, played by Kim Dong-hee, is a model student who’s dishonest attempt at paying for his university tuition fee leads to a serious crime. Fellow students find themselves tangled in the crime in an off-beat storyline that depicts the consequences of their choices.

Rugal

Genre: Crime, drama

Kang Gi-beom, played by Choi Jin Hyuk, is an elite police officer. He’s made many attempts to take down a criminal organisation known as ‘Argos’, and ends up losing his eyes and wife, who’s been murdered by the group that has now framed him for the crime. He then embarks on a mission to take the real murderers down by joining ‘Rugal’, an organisation known for using biotechnology on humans that supplies him with artificial eyes, so he can put his plan into motion.

Mystic Pop Up Bar

Genre: Sci-fi, comedy

The webtoon also known as Ssanggap Pocha is given a real life adaption. Starring Yong SungJae of Who Are You: School 2015 and Goblin fame, Mystic Pop-Up Bar tells the story of a mysterious outdoor drinking establishment ( a pojangmacha in Korean) run by a go-getting businesswoman (played by Hwang JungEum) and a part-timer who visit their customers dreams to help resolve their personal problems.