15 most anticipated K-dramas of 2024

In 2023, there was a significant increase in activity in the K-drama realm, and it seems that 2024 will continue this trend. Prepare to note down the dates as we reveal the top highly anticipated K-drama series of the year.

Fans are eagerly awaiting news of the Squid Game Season 2, All of Us Are Dead, Moving, and more. But for 2024, the list of K-dramas is more than plenty to keep fans preoccupied the entire year. 2023 has ended on a strong note with My Demon, Gyeongseong Creature, and fan favorites like Vigilante. Gyeongseong Creature and Death’s Game returned in the first week of the year.

This coming year the genre pool is heavy with an an action crime-comedy starring Ahn Bo-hyun to a Hospital Playlist actor in a historical K-drama. While the list for 2024 is well-packed, there are a few that are at the top of the list with anticipation.

Here’s everything you need to know about which 2024 K-dramas to look out for, the storyline, and the release date.

15. Midnight Photo Studio

Released by ENA in March, Midnight Photo Studio mixes fantasy, romance, and emotion. The storyline focuses on Seo Ki-joo (Joo won), a seventh-generation owner of his family’s photo studio. While appearing ordinary, the shop caters to ghosts stuck after their deaths.

Ki-joo’s work is anything but normal as he listens to their stories and takes their photos as a way to ease their pain. He meets justice driven lawyer, Han bom (Kwon Na-ra). She partners with him and helps the ghosts on their journey to the afterlife.

Release date: March 11, 2024

14. The Impossible Heir

Disney+’s newest K-drama The Impossible Heir already has fans talking. Han Tae-oh (Lee Jae-wook) is marked as the son of a killer and meets illegitimate chaebol heir Kang In-ha (Lee Jun-young). While from different backgrounds they both strive to reach the top to prove people wrong.

Mixed in their journey is Na Hye-won (Hong Su-zu). She becomes responsible for her mother’s debt and looks for a way out of her life. To change her fate, she joins In-ha and Tae-oh on their journey. The K-drama has gained traction for its riveting love triangle.

Release date: February 28, 2024

13. Sweet Home Season 3

Netflix

One of Netflix’s biggest hits is the apocalyptic thriller Sweet Home. Its second season was a success among fans as it expanded the apocalypse beyond the residential building and introduced new characters. Sweet Home Season 2 left the door open for Season 3 which was greenlighted by Netflix alongside the second season.

The news season will continue Cha Hyun-soo’s story alongside the main characters as they shift into a new phase of survival. Hyun-soo has given control over to his monster side as the reality of who Sang-won really is. The third season will be Song Kang’s last project as he will enlist in the military.

Release Date: Q2

12. Resident Playbook

tvN

K-drama fans are ecstatic over the news that Resident Playbook will premiere in 2024 on Netflix. The medical K-drama is a spinoff of the popular Hospital Playlist. Alchemy of Souls star Go Young-jung will star as the lead with her character as a first-year obstetrics and gynecology resident.

Resident Playbook will follow the same idea as its predecessor by focusing on the lives and friendships of a group of hospital residents. Set in the Jongno branch of Yulje Medical Center, the K-drama explores the lives and friendships of young obstetrics and gynecology residents. 

According to Soompi, Resident Playbook has pushed been pushed back to 2025. Due to an influx of medical resident resignations in South Korea, the K-drama has been postponed with no set release date.

Release Date: 2025

11. Queen of Tears

Showcasing a dynamic love story mixed with emotional grit and comedy is Netflix’s Queen of Tears. Hong Hae-in (Kim Ji-won) and Baek Hyun-woo (Kim Soo-hyun) don’t start out as two people falling in love as they are already married in the K-drama. Hae-in is a chaebol heir known for her cold demeanor running her family’s department store.

A stark difference to her husband, legal director of Queen’s Group and the pride and joy of his childhood town. As turmoil hits their marriage, it opens their eyes about each other and they begin a real journey of falling in love.

Release Date: May 9, 2024

10. Mr. Plankton

Netflix

Announced in 2023, Mr. Plankton is an upcoming 2024 K-drama from Netflix. Details are scarce, but fans are pleased with its leading actors and its story of being outcasts. Like plankton, Hae-jo (Woo Do-hwan) is seen as an outcast and is unloved because he doesn’t know who his father is.

He receives news one day that changes everything and he sets out to find him. Meanwhile, Jo Jae-mi (Lee Yoo-i) has always wanted a big family and is set to marry the son of the Eo family who owns a food company. But the family patriarchs are not too pleased with the relationship but make do because their son told them Jae-mi is pregnant. On the day of the wedding, Jae-mi disappears and embarks on a journey with Hae-jo.

Release date: Q4

9. Everything Will Come True

After his success with Black Knight, actor Kim Woo-bin is set to return for a Netflix K-drama in 2024. Everything Will Come True star Woo and Doona! actor Bae Suzy in a romantic comedy with a fun twist. Woo stars as Genie, that’s right, a spirit that comes out of a lamp. The character’s full of conflicting and changing emotions.

Ga-young is a woman who feels no emotion but finds herself having summoned a genie out of his lamp. As the story goes, she’s granted three wishes. Everything Will Come True is an anticipated K-drama for 2024 as it will be a reunion between the two actors on screen since starring in Uncontrollably Fond.

Release date: 2024

8. A Killer Paradox

This 2024 K-drama will tickle a few fans who like mysteries with a bit of comedy. A Killer Paradox has confirmed its three leading actors with Parasite actor Choi Woo-shik, My Liberation Notes Son Suk-ku, and Lee Hee-joon.

Based on a webtoon, A Killer Paradox focuses on Lee Tang (Choi). He’s an ordinary college student who realizes he can detect evil people. It just so happens he discovered his ability after accidentally killing a serial killer. His life spirals when the detective in charge of the case, Jang Nan-gam (Son), begins to hunt him down for the murder. Song Chon (Lee) is also a former detective hunting Lee Tang. It becomes an endless cat-and-mouse chase.

Release date: February 9, 2024

7. Sejak: Charmed Deceit

Hospital Playlist fans might not get to see Jo Jung-suk return to the medical K-drama, but he will return in a new K-drama. Sejak: Charmed Deceit is also titled under the name Captivating the King. Lee In (Jo) is a crown prince who holds his older brother the king on a pedestal. He vows his loyalty to him but when he is taken prisoner, the king begins to hate him for it.

Lee In soon becomes captivated by a buduk player named Kang Hee-soo (Shin Sae-kyeong). Soon Lee In becomes king and is well respected and powerful, but is still heartbroken inside. Unknown to him, Hee-soo had fallen in love with him while she was a player. She becomes a spy hellbent on revenge against Lee In in a surprising twist of fate.

Release date: January 21, 2024

6. The Bequethed

The dark reality behind her family begins to unfold when Yoon Seo-ha (Kim Hyun-joo) inherits a gravesite after her uncle’s death. She soon begins to be at the center of a series of bizarre occurrences and incidents. The Bequethed is dark, mysterious, and cold and will intrigue any thriller fans.

Seo-ha is thrown into more confusion due to her step-brother Kim Young-ho (Ryoo Kyung-soo). Soon detective Choi Sung-joon (Park Hee-soon) gets involved after believing the series of events are connected to the family gravesite. At the same time, he has a less-than-friendly relationship with the chief of the detective squad due to a past case.

Release date: January 19, 2024

5. Long Time No Sex (LTNS)

The title alone of the 2024 K-drama is enough to arouse interest. In recent years, K-dramas have experimented with more risky and sexually driven content like Love and Leashes and Hit the Spot. Adding to the roster is Long Time No Sex or LTNS.

Woo-jin (Esom) is a driven woman when it comes to what she wants but can be kind and tenderhearted at times. She has been married for five years with no children to Samuel (Ahn Jae-hong). She works for decent money at a hotel. Samuel is now a taxi driver after having graduated from a good college, climbing the corporate ladder, and having quit due to his mental health.

Slightly bored with life, Woo-jin discovers the truth about a couple they know. She and Samuel begin to follow them to uncover their secrets and soon begin to blackmail them. Along the way, they learn more about their own relationships.

Release date: January 19, 2024

4. A Shop For Killers

While K-dramas have gotten into the routine of developing second seasons, they have also developed a taste for spinoffs. A Shop For Killers will sound familiar to fans for a reason. The 2024 K-drama is a spinoff of A Killer’s Shopping List.

In the K-drama, Jung Ji-an (Kim Hye-jun) was left alone after her mother’s murder and her father dying by suicide on the day of her grandmother’s funeral. She was left to be raised by her uncle Jung Jin-man (Lee Dong-wook). Growing up, Ji-an always found something odd about the shopping mall her uncle ran.

When she’s at college, she’s informed that her uncle has died. She goes back home and learns the truth behind the shopping mall, its purpose, and its customers. A Shop for Killer’s ending leaves the door open for a new season.

Release date: January 17, 2024

3. Flex X Cop

Ahn Bo-hyun will star in another crime-driven K-drama for 2024 with Flex X Cop. He plays the role of Jin Yi-soo, a third-generation chaebol heir who is childish and likes to have fun. He becomes a detective devoted to stopping criminals using his connections, wealth, intelligence, and charm.

Flex X Cop catalogs his relationship with detective Lee Kang-hyun (Park Ji-hyun). She’s a veteran in the Violent Crimes unit and devoted to stopping crime. She’s a smooth talker and finds Yi-soo to be a pain in her side. But due to a change in her life, she finds herself becoming partners with him.

Release date: January 26, 2024

2. Marry My Husband

Amazon Prime Video will release Marry My Husband, a 2024 K-drama starring Park Min-young. Based on a popular webtoon, the actor lost weight to portray her leading character Kang Ji-won. Marry My Husband is a romance revenge K-drama worth watching.

Ji-won has done everything to appease her husband and her in-laws. But they often neglect her efforts and her husband is selfish, unemployed, and riddled with debt. To make matters worse, she discovers she has cancer. The tragedies don’t end there. She also uncovers that her husband has been having an affair with her best friend.

The day she discovers it’s also the day she’s accidentally murdered by them. Instead of death, she’s given retribution. She wakes up in the past when she was only engaged to her husband. Ji-won decides to change her fate after already knowing her future. She purposely sets out to get her best friend and husband together and find her own form of happiness. Yoo Ji-hyeok (Na In-woo) works with Ji-won and begins to reveal his true feelings for her.

Release date: January 1, 2024

1. Doctor Slump

Two people who knew each other in the past met at the lowest point in their lives. Yeo Jung-woo (Park Hyung-sik) had his life made by excelling in his academics, going to a top medical school, and becoming a good plastic surgeon. But after a mysterious medical accident, his life goes down the drain.

Meanwhile, Nam Ha-neul (Park Shin-hye) has always been known for her diligence and devotion to academics. She’s now an anesthesiologist who has little time for anything else but her work. One day, Ha-neul realizes she’s unhappy and wants to make a change. Ha-neul and Jung-woo meet at a crucial point in their lives and begin to lean on each other and develop a romance.

Release date: January 27, 2024

You can read more on Dexerto’s best 2023 K-dramas, and a list of Korean movies to watch this year. You also don’t want to miss the new Netflix superhero K-drama The Atypical Family and Cashero.