2024 started off immediately with some of the best K-dramas dropping at the beginning of the year. There were action-packed, supernatural, and definitely some romantic comedies, setting the tone for how the year would look. With more and more K-dramas coming to Netflix, Disney+/Hulu and Amazon Prime, there are an endless number of K-dramas to watch with all your favorite stars who have shown year after year that they have what it takes to deliver the right performances to stir the masses.
With so many K-dramas such asLove Next Door,When The Phone Rings,Hierarchy, and more, there were so many to choose from that looked worthy enough of making it into the best K-dramas of 2024 list. There’s a mixture of romantic comedies, supernatural, and sci-fiction dramas throughout this list. This year some big names even made some big waves in Korea with their choice of drama genre and that made those K-dramas even more special.
15’A Killer Paradox' (2024)
Created by Kim Da-min
A Killer Paradoxwas slightly underratedin 2024, flying by under the radar but sticking with the viewers who found it.Choi Woo-sikcomes back to streaming after gaining more fame fromParasiteas an ambiguous lead you want to cheer for but can’t make yourself to at the same time. It’sone of the few K-dramas that has a very morally gray protagonist as the lead, and no one is really likable inA Killer Paradox, but they are very realistic and interesting characters, so much so that you actually end up liking some of them by the end of the final episode. Choi is joined bySon Suk-ku, who you might know from many other dramas, includingD.P.andMy Liberation Notes.
A Killer Paradoxfollows Lee Tang (Choi), a young man who recently returned from his military service to a dysfunctional family life. Tang works at a convenience store, and one night, an altercation with a customer goes too far, and the customer ends up dead. However, it turns out the customer was a sought-after serial killer, and Tang is now torn between feeling regret and actually feeling like a hero. Son plays an intuitive but moody detective looking for the serial killer, and their cat-and-mouse chase often turns into dark comedy and thriller. It’s a pretty interesting spin on a serial killer story.
A Killer Paradox
14’Gyeongseong Creature' (2023–2024)
Created by Kang Eun-kyung and Chung Dong-yoon
Park Seo-joonandHan So-heecame back with Season 2 ofGyeongseong Creaturewith another eye-catching performance as Jang Tae-sang and Yoon Chae-ok—two ill-fated individuals who have loved and who have had their fates continuously entwined. Still in a fight against the monsters being created, Season 2 takes viewers into the future where Tae-sang has lost some of his memory. Chae-ok is still trying to get to the bottom of the monsters showing up on the streets.New monsters and a new setting in the year of 2024, which is 70 years after the events of Season 1, bring out some new and old faces back to life. When the two meet once again, they join together to shut down the operation run by the same corporation, with Yukiko Maeda (Claudia Kim) still leading the charge from the shadows.
Gyeongseong CreatureSeason 2, which was teased immediately after the conclusion of Season 1, brings familiar vibes with a twist to those who loved the K-drama. The teaser allowed for a lot to be anticipated and opened room for many questions that needed to be solved. With just the right amount of wait time in between seasons, the second installment was able to hold that thrill that came with the first one and bring back the central monster. It gave the audience a great number of new elements but also brought back thatwill they, won’t theyfeeling between the Chae-rok and Tae-sang that carried throughout the season. Park and Han have great chemistry, and it doesn’t take much to capture those precious moments on screen. There is a particular scene in part two between So-hee and Seo-joon after they reunite that was filmed as one continuous shot. The beauty of the moment is enough to make this K-drama one of the best historical, sci-fi K-dramas to come out of 2024.
Gyeongseong Creature
13’Mr. Plankton' (2024)
Created by Jo Young
Mr. Planktonis an interesting K-drama, but it’s a pretty fresh perspective on the rom-com genre. While the dynamic between the leads borders on toxic, individually they’retwo people who realize their life’s purpose while on an impromptu journey together. The show is a romantic dark comedy meditating on love, the meaning of life, and how the past can define us (if we let it). Starring the hottest star of the past couple of years,Woo Do-hwan,Mr. Planktonmakes him a charismatic and troubled lead with a lot of unresolved trauma, embracing the role perfectly. Joining him is the lovelyLee Yoo-mi, and as the third most important character, veteran actorOh Jung-se.
Mr. Planktonfollows Hae-jo (Woo), a freelancer who does favors for people as a job. An ex-girlfriend approaches him, asking him to kidnap her during her wedding to a crime boss, and he agrees. Hae-jo also finds out he has a terminal illness that is genetic, and while he’s on the run from the crime boss, he decides to find his biological father and confront him. To do that, he crashes Jae-mi’s (Lee) engagement party to Eo Heung (Oh), kidnaps her, and takes her on the journey with him. There’s a lot of history between Jae-mi and Hae-jo, and their story unfolds as they travel and discover more about themselves.
Mr. Plankton
12’Lovely Runner' (2024)
Created by Lee Shi-eun
Adapted from the web novelThe Best of Tomorrow,Lovely Runnerisa fantasy romantic comedyabout unexpected consequences and love. Im-sol (Kim Hye-yoon) is a fan of the K-pop idol, Ryu San-jae (Byun Woo-seok), and becomes devastated by his tragic death. In this time-traveling nostalgic romantic comedy, Im Sol decides to go back to stop his death from happening in the year of 2008, when San-jae was only 19 years old. Many things ensue, like unexpectedly getting a chance at love, a surprise murder plot, and decisions on how to change the future without completely succumbing to the consequences.
Byun Woo-seok is coming off a big year of K-dramas and show appearances, so hopping into another nostalgic drama isn’t far from his realm of expertise.20th Century Girlbrought Byun to the spotlight, and this drama helped to secure his continuous rise in the K-drama genre.Hye-yoon and Woo-sek are great together, and their chemistry blossoms throughout each episode. There’s always been a twist in romantic comedy K-dramas lately, and this one is no different. The finale brings the series together and helps make it so memorable in 2024.
Lovely Runner
11’Begins Youth' (2024)
Created by Kim Soo-ahn and Choi Woo-joo
Begins Youthis based on the BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan) universe, which the musical group started to do as a means of storytelling based around their songs in 2015, starting with their hit song “I Need U.” The K-drama follows seven young boys as they navigate their own personal traumas and find friendship among themselves.Begins Youthfollows Kim Hwan (Seo Ji-hoon), Min Ce-in (Noh Jong-hyun), Jeong Ho-su (Ahn Ji-ho), Kim Do-geon (So Young-joo), Park Ha-ru (Kim Yoon-woo), Kim Joo-an (Jung Woo-jin), and Jeon Jae-ha (Jeon Jin-seo). Abusive and neglectful parents, the pressure of being the best, loneliness, and mental health issues are just some of the negative experiences that the boys face throughout the series.Begins Youthhas BTS songs guiding the show along and showing them at different stages of their teen years. Not every moment is a happy one, but it makes the ones that are that much more special.
This series is more than just a retelling of the songs' storylines created by BTS, but digs deep into each characters' lives, where it seems so natural and true to watch. Viewers watch as the eldest members of the group take care of the younger ones by supporting them in doing things they enjoy, allowing them to have a safe place for them to talk about their hardships, and even providing them with a place to stay when things are not going well at home. The casting of the characters is done so perfectly. ThoughBegins Youthis not based on the lives of the actual BTS members, the mannerisms and quirks that the members possess are present in the story, which makes it an even more enjoyable experience for Armys and fans of the show to watch. Excellent performances from Kim Yoon-woo and Jung Woo-jin are something that needs to be seen by a larger audience, plus Kim Chang-jun (The Glory) among the cast. The overall writing is enthralling and the quality of this series is not like most newly produced K-dramas from smaller sites. Hopefully, this show will be able to be spread more widely to the public as it is currently on a newer streaming service called Xclusive.
Begins Youth
10’Love Next Door' (2024)
Created by Shin Ha-eun
Seok-ryu (Jung So-min) and Seung-hyo (Jung Hae-in) have known each other since birth. And even though Seung-hyo likes to act as if he is annoyed by Seok-ryu, he’s secretly in love with her and has been harboring those feelings all the way through college and some of their adult lives. After losing touch with each other, Seok-ryu shows back up in their hometown, where the two start to reconnect and become even closer than before. Seok-ryu’s reason for returning to her hometown is unknown, and Seung-hyo is an architect who is just trying to run his new office when she comes back.
The comedic value of the leads and the ensemble cast carries this show to the end.The writing that may sometimes feel mundane and slow to some is actually perfectly executed to show the struggles30-something year-olds go through when they’ve hit a wall in their life. There are scenes where Hae-in and So-min look so fully emersed in these characters that you forget you’re watching a fictional K-drama. It’s an easy watch and has aformula that is attuned to older K-dramaswhere everything isn’t revealed within the first few episodes. It also has a longer season than most of them do these days as well. Laughing, crying, and uwu-ing are all guaranteed to ensue while watchingLove Next Door.
Love Next Door
9’A Shop for Killers' (2024–)
Created by Lee Kwon and Lee Eon-hee
Lee Dong-wookis a household name in South Korea now, and he continues to dominate the K-drama field. With Disney funding more and more original K-drama content, the show that stood out in 2024 for many fans wasA Shop For Killers, with Lee as the lead co-star with Kim Hye-jun. Though Kim is the real protagonist,Lee’s performance is the standout of the series, and he solidifies his popularityby portraying a morally gray character with heroic tendencies.A Shop For Killershas eight episodes only, but season 2 is on the way and will give us more insight into the mysterious world of assassins and brokers.
A Shop For Killersfollows Ji-an (Kim), who lives with her uncle Jin-man (Lee). Jin-man lives in and runs a small shopping mall, inconspicuously named Murthehelp, and after his disappearance, Ji-an realizes Jin-man used the mall as an undercover provider of weapons and tools to professional killers. Ji-an has to learn the mystery behind her uncle before she’s hunted down and killed by his enemies. The show is very reminiscent ofJohn Wick, including the action sequences, which are pretty cool and brilliantly done. This show will be a great watch for all fans of relentless action, mysterious assassins, and slick weapon-wielding characters.
A Shop For Killers
8’The Trunk' (2024)
Created by Park Eun-young
With the anticipation of seeingGong Yooin another drama,The Trunkis a series that was made for the yearners! The series opens with a trunk falling into a lake and sinking to the bottom, as the audience then sees a flashback to five months ago as a woman leans over a man in the hospital. The man dies, and the woman gives the doctors a card telling them to get in touch with his guardian because they are no longer married, but divorced. Noh In-ji (Seo Hyung-jin) works for a contract marriage company that arranges 1-year marriages, and her next one will be to Han Jeong-won. He’s still married, but his wife is in favor of this so that they can spend time apart. Jeong-won is a troubled music producer who uses pills to cope with his nightmares and other trauma-induced issues. After Jeong-won meets In-ji, he eventually begins to develop feelings for her and struggles with coming to terms with that while still wanting to stay committed to his marriage to his wife, Seo-yeon (Jun Yun-ha). Throughout the 8-episode run, the secrets of the trunk and the NM company unravel.
The Trunkleads with a gradual progression of events that make the audience wonder what the point of two married people getting into a contract to live as a married couple with someone else is actually for. This K-drama had been teased for a while, butThe Trunkwas still dropped ontoNetflixquietly, and if it wasn’t already on a viewer’s list this year, it would have been missed.Gong Yoo is in this vulnerable and taciturn role, and brings a new acting range that audiences haven’t seen much of from him. Seo Hyun-jin brings such a stern, strong demeanor to the character of In-ji that when she unfortunately breaks down, it hurts all the more. Gorgeous cinematography captures the full essence of the house, and the use of chandeliers that play such a huge role in this K-drama are just some of the reasons this K-drama is in the best 10 K-dramas of 2024.
7’Queen of Tears' (2024)
Created by Park Ji-eun
She’s the queen of department stores, and he’s the man from a small town whose family is well-respected in the town. Hong Hae-in (Kim Ji-won) and Baek Hyun-woo (Kim Soo-hyun) are a married couple already going through a rough patch when Hae-in learns some terminal news that brings a different dynamic back to their relationship. Hyun-woo decides to divorce Hae-in, but because of her medical news, he decides to stick by her side through all that is to come. The two find love within each other again and begin to take a heart-wrenching, devastatingly beautiful journey through this sudden crisis.
Soo-hyun and Ji-won are the perfect married couple in this horribly sad, butoften funny K-drama. The leads are able to easily look and act like a married couple in the most natural way, which sets them apart from some other K-drama married couples. The audience also gets to witness this couple have amazing comedic timing, even when Haein is supposed to be a more straightforward and serious character.Kim Ji-won hits the emotional highs and lows with ease while maintaining a personality that is true to her character.Just like its namesake,Queen of Tearsis a K-drama that will definitely make the audience cry. From Seoul to Germany, this K-drama pushes its limits and allows this couple to take you from thinking about how they could love each other again, to how they have to stay together, because their love is so real.
Queen Of Tears
6’Parasyte: The Grey' (2024)
Created by Yeon Sang-ho and Ryu Yong-jae
HellboundandTrain to BusanauthorYeon Sang-hoco-wrote the script for one of Netflix’s best K-dramas of 2024,Parasyte: The Grey. This six-episode series is inspired by the famous mangaParasyte, hailing from Japan, which has had its fair share of adaptations in the form of anime, live-action shows, and feature films.The Greyplaces the well-known world of alien body snatchers in South Korea, where they land and begin an invasion. The show stars the charismaticKoo Kyo-hwanand the beautiful and mysteriousJeon So-nee, and the show is thrilling, full of brilliant twists, and has great visual effects and cinematography. There are glimpses of dark comedy in it, too, which Koo is mostly in charge of with his genius comedic timing.
Parasyte: The Greyfollows the young cashier Su-in (Jeon), who lives a pretty ordinary life and isn’t among the most noticeable people in her environment. One evening, while returning home from work, Su-in encounters a drunk man who tries to assault her. They get into a fight, and she nearly dies, but at the same time, an invasion of body-snatching creatures from outer space begins and Su-in is possessed by one.The alien saves her life, which makes it harder to snatch her awareness completely, and now Su-in and the alien communicate and fight for dominion over her body. Parasyte is a brilliant watch for fans of sci-fi thrillers.
