The 7 Best Korean Shows of 2023

There was no shortage of quality Korean shows to watch this year. From mystery thrillers (The Devil, Mask Girl) and classic dramas (Oasis, Divorce Attorney Shin) to riveting reality series (Physical: 100, Single’s Inferno) and heart-fluttering romances (My Demon, My Perfect Stranger), 2023 was truly the year K-content ruled the roost. More recent releases like 1940s historical thriller, Gyeonseong Creature, with Park Seo-joon (The Marvels) and Han Soo-hee (My Name), and the latest season of horror drama favorite, Sweet Home, prove the momentum isn’t dying down anytime soon as we head into 2024.

The continued rise in popularity of Korean shows shouldn’t be a surprise either, following the massive international success of pop culture phenomenons Squid Game, the zombie apocalypse drama All of Us Are Dead, and the romantic comedy Crash Landing on You. And after Netflix committed over $2.5 billion to expand its footprint in Korean content across nearly every genre, it’s no shock many of the best Korean dramas on this year’s list belong to the streamer.

While it was a difficult task whittling down hundreds of Korean shows that dropped this year to a select few, we looked for picks that were both unexpected and undeniable. Here are seven of the best Korean shows of 2023.

A Good Day to Be a Dog (Viki)

K-dramas can get a little goofy with their concepts, and on paper, A Good Day to Be a Dog is about as nutty as it gets. The romantic dramedy tells the story of a schoolteacher, Haena (Park Gyu-young), who struggles with a family curse that dates back centuries: She turns into a dog — albeit a cute one — after she accidentally kisses a fellow teacher, Seowon (Cha Eunwoo). The curse can only be broken if she kisses him back, but while she’s in dog form. Unfortunately for her, he has an intense fear of dogs due to childhood trauma. Ridiculous premise aside, A Good Day to Be a Dog is refreshingly unpredictable, incredibly swoonworthy (just look up those kissing scenes), and poignant in its examination of love in the unlikeliest places.

Crash Course in Romance (Netflix)

Sometimes the road to love is paved with awkwardness. Crash Course in Romance delightfully depicts the rocky road to romance between a modest banchan shop owner Haeng-seon (Jeon Do-yeon), whose daughter is about to endure competitive university entrance exams, and a popular instructor Chi-yeol (Jung Kyung-ho), whose arrogance leaves a lot to be desired. The pairing — hard-working woman meets love-afflicted man — is a go-to K-drama trope, with comedy mined from Chi-yeol’s inability to understand the basics of dating and how to properly romance a woman. (To add another twist, there’s a murder mystery weaved into the storyline that feeds the inner detective.)

The Devil’s Plan (Netflix)

Brains and teamwork are valued over brawn and individualism in The Devil’s Plan, a Survivor or Big Brother-type strategy-first competition series that re-energizes the reality genre. Featuring a mix of 12 Korean personalities with high-ish IQs — from a K-pop idol and actors to a science YouTuber and an attorney, to name a few — the show does an excellent job bringing people together with a wide range of backgrounds and expertise levels, and forcing them to carve out alliances and snuff out potential backstabbers through different social situations. The main objective of The Devil’s Plan — through various mind games that test players’ abilities to memorize, strategize, and deduce — is to win gold coins (which they can choose to give to a fellow competitor). Once players run out of gold coins, they’re eliminated from the game, until there’s one left standing in the end.

The Glory (Netflix)

Four months after Part 1 premiered last December, the second installment of the revenge drama dropped on Netflix, cementing its place as one of the year’s best Korean series. The Glory centers around Dong-eun (Song Hye-kyo), a woman seeking revenge 20 years later on the five teens who severely abused her in high school. We’re not talking about verbal assaults or a slap in the face; Dong-eun endured harrowing experiences, from having her skin burned by a curling iron to being physically beaten. There have been plenty of revenge drama plots involving school violence (it’s a familiar theme in K-dramas as it is a systemic issue in Korea), but this one hits differently, thanks to Song’s blistering portrayal of a woman desperate to bring pain to those who inflicted it onto her. The ending is equally satisfying, giving Dong-eun both closure and the promise of a new beginning.

King the Land (Netflix)

Chemistry in Korean romantic dramas can save even the dullest premises. In King the Land, which ranked in Netflix’s global Top 10 for two months, K-pop idols and actors Im Yoon-ah (aka Yoona of Girls’ Generation) and Lee Jun-ho (aka Junho of 2PM) have it in spades. The drama follows a devoted hotel employee (Yoon-ah) who becomes entwined with the rebellious CEO (Jun-ho) of the luxurious King Hotel. (Think of it as a worthy heir to the excellent 2018 office romance, What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim.) What sets King the Land apart from typical K-romances is the irresistible onscreen sparks that fly between both leads as they navigate their enemies-to-lovers storyline, while subverting the expected archetypes that make rom-coms of this ilk so engaging.

Moving (Hulu)

Based on the webtoon by Kang Full, sci-fi superhero drama Moving is, at its core, about a group of relatable teenagers who yield different superpowers: one has the ability to fly and heightened senses, another harnesses super strength and speed, and the third possesses superhuman strength and healing powers. They do their best to hide their supernatural abilities from people with unsavory intentions, while their parents — whom they inherited their powers from — do everything to try and protect them.

There is so much to appreciate about Moving, from the visually arresting action sequences, to the wonderfully-acted ensemble performances, to the well-established backstories, to the heartbreaking exploration of the consequences that come with being extraordinary. It was the most-watched original series on Disney+ internationally and on Hulu, where it streams in the U.S. (Due to its popularity, a dubbed English-language version was recently released on Hulu.) If there is such a thing as the perfect show of 2023, Moving earns that distinction.

Queenmaker (Netflix)

It’s not often a Korean series centers a story around a fierce, independent woman in middle age, let alone two. Queenmaker puts the spotlight on two female characters in their 40s and 50s: Hwang Do-hee (Kim Hee-ae), a genius image strategist, and Oh Seung-sook (Moon So-ri), a human rights lawyer running for mayor of Seoul. The two women are complete opposites and naturally butt heads in the political drama, but find themselves united against a common enemy. They gradually develop an unexpected but undeniable friendship as they aim to put Seung-sook in the mayor’s office and stop a corrupt family from gaining power. From director Oh Jin-seok, Queenmaker is an effective and biting portrayal of the shifting power dynamics within the political arena, revenge and moral justice — and an ending that is fitting and deserved for the two unlikely partners.

Philiana Ng is a Los Angeles-based writer covering TV, celebrity, culture and more. Her work has appeared in The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, Entertainment Tonight, TV Guide, Yahoo Entertainment, and The Daily Beast, among others.