Netflix’s K-content for 2023 is its biggest yet which means more titles for us to watch and obsess over.
Related: Here Are The Netflix Movies We’re Most Excited About In 2023
When it comes to Korean content, Netflix always knows how to deliver. From K-dramas, movies, reality shows, and more, you know it’s going to be good when you hear a tudum before it starts. But even after two strong years of Korean content from Netflix, the streamer still isn’t letting up on giving us what we want. In fact, this 2023, Netflix is going bigger than ever with their largest collection of K-content to drop in a single year.
A total of 34 titles that range from a diverse array of Korean TV series, films and unscripted shows are set to drop on Netflix in the coming year. And in a bit of a happy problem, Netflix gave us a preview of what we can expect from these projects which has us stressing over which to watch first. From rom-coms to thrillers and everything in between, here are just some of the K-content coming to Netflix that have a guaranteed spot on our watchlist.
CRASH COURSE IN ROMANCE
Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha director Je Won Yu is back to give us some more wholesome entertainment with his new series, Crash Course In Romance. This romantic comedy follows a hotshot instructor Chi-yeol, who works at the Daechi District known as the education hotspot in Korea, and an ex-handball national team athlete Haeng-sun, who now runs a side dish store near him. Haeng-sun belatedly enters the private education field for a rigorous college entrance exam for her nephew and unexpectedly gets involved with Chi-yeol. Soon they find their bittersweet romance to become scandalous due to the fame of Chi-yeol.
IN THE NAME OF GOD: A HOLY BETRAYAL
If there was one thing we loved on Netflix in the past years, it’s true crime documentaries. And this 2023, we’re getting one from Korea. In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal is an eight-episode true-crime documentary that explores the self-proclaimed “messiahs” in modern Korean history and the shocking events behind them. Get ready to go into a deep dive mode when it begins streaming on Netflix on March 3.
THE GLORY PART 2
If you aren’t watching The Glory, then you’re missing out on one of the most exciting new K-dramas on Netflix. And luckily for us, the follow up of the hit series is dropping this March. The Glory Part 2 is a beautiful, unrelenting portrayal of the destruction of the perpetrators of school violence led by Yeon-jin as they fall, one by one, into the trap designed by Dong-eun.
KILL BOKSON
A mother who moonlights as an assassin? Sign us up. The movie centers on Boksoon who leads a double life—she is both a mother of a teenage daughter and a legendary professional killer at top-tier killing agency MK. Caught between the mission of killing someone and the mission of raising someone, Boksoon refuses to complete an assigned mission and is thrown into an inevitable fight. The movie drops on Netflix in Q1.
BLACK KNIGHT
Looking for another dystopian K-drama? Black Knight has got you covered. Set in 2071, where people depend on respirator masks to breathe due to extreme air pollution, the show follows the legendary deliveryman 5-8 (Kim Woo-bin) with extraordinary battle skills, as he encounters refugee Sa-wol, who dreams of following in his footsteps, as becoming a deliveryman is the only hope for refugees in this world. Based on a popular webtoon, the series depicts a world where only one percent of the human race has survived and strict social stratification has been established in the deserted lands of the Korean Peninsula, where deliverymen play critical roles in society that has stopped functioning properly. The series drops in Q2.
ZOMBIEVERSE
Zombies, Korea, and especially zombies in Korea have been all the rage as of late. And Zombieverse looks to channel that energy into something wholly unique, a reality show. In Zombieverse, participants must complete quests to survive in Seoul, which has been turned into a zombie world. The art team from All of Us Are Dead and the zombie action choreographer from Kingdom work behind the scenes, adding to the anticipation of how realistically and thrillingly the zombie universe will be portrayed.
Their endeavors to survive until the end by completing quests such as looking for food, transportation, or a safe haven; or deciding whether to save a colleague who has been infected by a zombie, will keep viewers at the edge of their seats. It already sounds exciting. See how all this unfolds when it releases in Q3.
A TIME CALLED YOU
Ahn Hyo-seop is back in another K-drama that looks to give us yet another dose of kilig. The Korean adaptation of Taiwanese series Someday or One Day, A Time Called You is a time-slip romance where Jun-hee, missing her boyfriend who passed away a year ago, goes back in time to 1998 to meet Si-heon, who looks identical to her boyfriend. Ahn Hyo-seop plays the double role of Jun-hee’s boyfriend Gu Yeon-jun and his look-alike Nam Si-heon from 1998. Jeon Yeo-been will play Han Jun-hee and Kwon Min-ju. Jeon Yeo-been plays two characters that look the same but have completely opposite personalities, delivering delicate performances. The show premieres in Q3.
D.P SEASON 2
When D.P first dropped in 2021, the show kept us on our toes with its twists and turns. And we’re about to get more of that with D.P season two dropping later this year. This Jung Hae-in starrer will continue the adventures of Jun-ho and Ho-yeol of the Deserter Pursuit unit in the Korean military as they encounter the realities unknown to them until they chase after the deserters with various backstories.
19/20 (NINTEEN TO TWENTY)
Transitioning into young adulthood isn’t the easiest of things to do with its tough decisions, changes, and drama involved. This is what new reality series 19/20(Nineteen to Twenty) is all about. It tracks the fresh and youthful lives of Generation Z in their last week of being 19 just before they turn 20. During that final week, they attend “19 School” to learn practical things about adult life and prepare for adulthood.
Then on January 1, they all stay at “20 House,” a space where they are independent from their parents and teachers. 19/20 garners much attention as these 19-year-olds, who are on the cusp of adulthood, create unexpectedly vivacious and nostalgic moments throughout the show. KYUHYUN, actress Kim Ji-eun, and LEE SUHYUN from AKMU participate as emcees. The show airs in Q3.
MASK GIRL
Societies obsession with looking perfect is about to be on full-blast when this K-drama arrives on Netflix later this year. Based on the webtoon of the same name, Mask Girl is a story about Kim Mo-mi, an ordinary office worker by day who is insecure about her appearance and a live-streamer by night who covers up her face with a mask, as she becomes embroiled in an unforeseen incident and undergoes a dramatic turn of events.
BALLERINA
We don’t believe in the glorification of violence. But we do believe in the empowerment of women. That is why Ballerina is on our K-movie watchlist this 2023. Dropping on Q4, this film depicts the beautiful and ruthless revenge by Okju, a former bodyguard, for Minhee, her best friend. And the best part about this is that it comes from the director of The Call, one of the most underrated thrillers on Netflix.
GYEONGSEONG CREATURE
Park Seo-jun and Han So-hee starring in the same K-drama? Now that’s iconic. Set in 1945 Korea, this creature thriller follows two young people struggling to survive as they face a monster born out of human greed. Park Seo-jun is playing Jang Tae-sang, the wealthiest man in Seoul and owner of the Golden Treasure Pawnshop. Han So-hee, meanwhile, transforms herself into Yoon Chae-ok, a sleuth infamous for her ability to track down anyone, even the dead. What out for this at the latter half of 2023.
HOME SWEET HOME SEASON 2
After years of waiting, Home Sweet Home season two is finally coming. Song Kang, Lee Jin-uk, Lee Si-young, Ko Min-si, and Park Gyu-young return again in season 2 to offer thrills and tension of a whole new different kind. Joining the cast in the new season are actors Yoo Oh-seon, Oh Jung-se, Kim Mu-yeol, and Jin-young. While we don’t know much yet about the new season, we’re just excited that we get to explore more the show’s world and story. It’s set to drop later this year.
DOONA!
After swooning the world with Crash Landing on You, Director Lee Jung-hyo is back with his latest project about a budding romance between those in their early 20s. Doona! portrays the romance between Won-joon (Yang Se-jong), an ordinary university student, and Doona (played by the one and only Suzy), a former K-pop idol, as they cross paths in a shared house for students. The series is based on a webtoon beloved for the heart-pounding romance with a housemate who is a former K-pop idol and the nuanced depiction of emotions that bring the story to life. The series drops in Q4 2023.
DAILY DOSE OF SUNSHINE
All of Us Are Dead director Lee JQ is coming out with a new show later this year on Netflix. But it’s not the one you’re thinking. Instead, he takes us into the world of a psychiatric ward with Daily Dose of Sunshine. The show centers on Da-eun, who has just become a nurse in the mental health department of a hospital. Jung Da-eun, who experiences personal and professional growth, is unfazed by her struggles at work after being transferred from the internal medicine to the mental health department and caring deeply about her patients.
GOODBYE EARTH
If you ever wondered how Don’t Look Up would look like through the lens of a K-drama, you got your wish with Goodbye Earth. This series depicts the planet in chaos, with 200 days left before an asteroid destroys it, and the stories of those living their remaining days on Earth. Ahn Eun-jin play Jin Se-kyung, once a home economics teacher in middle school, who volunteers at the juvenile department of the Woongcheon municipal office after the news about the asteroid breaks, struggling in silence to protect the children.
Yoo Ah-in is playing Ha Yoon-sang. He’s a long-time lover of Se-kyung and a researcher at a bio-engineering research institute. Yoon-sang leaves the safety of the U.S. behind without hesitation and returns to Korea, a crisis zone, in order to stay by Se-kyoung’s side. How the individual characters will spend the last 200 days on the planet based on their respective beliefs, and what kind of choices they will make will be explored in this release. Watch out for this in Q4.
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