The 10 Best Korean Series to Watch on Netflix Right Now

If you are looking for a new show to entertain you, there are many good Korean series on Netflix and I’m sure there is at least one you’ll like. Here are the 10 best Korean series to watch on Netflix right now!

 

Reply 1988

Genres: Comedy – Romance

Themes: Friendship – Love triangle – Nostalgia

Our rating: 5/5

Reply 1988

Reply 1988 follows the lives of five families and their five teenage children in a neighborhood in Seoul in the 1980s, the golden age of western music and films.

Deok Seon, Seon Wu, Dong Ryeong, Taek, and Jeong Hwan are childhood friends.

Join these five 18-year-olds as they navigate their first loves, difficulties, responsibilities, and disappointments during the bitter-sweet transition to adulthood.

This series will make you both cry and laugh, but most of all, you will quickly become attached to these five childhood friends and their different personalities and stories.

If you like this drama, you should also watch Reply 1994 and Reply 1997, which follow the same concept.

 

Thirty-Nine

Genres: Drama – Romance

Themes: Friendship – Love – Daily life

Our rating: 4/5

Thirty-Nine

As they approach their 40th birthdays, the three friends Mi Jo, Chan Yeong, and Ju Hee will encounter unexpected events and overcome obstacles together.

Mi Jo is a dermatologist at a clinic in Gangnam. Raised in a wealthy family, she has never lacked anything.

Chan Yeong dreamed of becoming an actress, but now she teaches drama. Her character is rather gruff, but she is a good, sincere, and honest friend.

Ju Hee manages the cosmetics shop in a department store. She is very shy and has never been in a romantic relationship.

Thirty-Nine is a very emotional everyday-life drama. It is a real gem!

 

Kingdom

Genres: Historical – Horror – Thriller

Themes: Survival – Zombie

Our rating: 4/5

Kingdom

During the Joseon period, several years after the Japanese invasions of Korea, rumors begin to spread that the king is suffering from a mysterious illness.

Crown Prince Lee Chang and his bodyguard decide to investigate to unveil the truth.

They discover that a mysterious epidemic is spreading across the kingdom.

Prince Chang will have to do everything he can to protect the kingdom from this terrible threat.

A warning to sensitive viewers: if you are afraid this drama might keep you from sleeping at night, don’t watch it!

If you like season 1, however, you’re in luck – season 2 is already out.

 

Vincenzo

Genres: Comedy – Thriller – Romance

Themes: Love – Mafia – Crime

Our rating: 5/5

Vincenzo

Vincenzo Cassano, a young consigliere from a mafia family, returns to his home country of Korea to escape Italy, where he grew up.

When he arrives, he quickly becomes entangled in a case involving a large pharmaceutical company and a small law firm.

He meets Hong Cha Yeong, an ambitious young lawyer who will support him throughout his adventure. From blackmail and corruption to assassination, Vincenzo will put all his ingenuity and his former experience as a mafioso to work in the service of justice.

Both the script and the imagery of this exceptional drama are breathtaking.

If you are looking for a drama with a touch of humor and romance, you should watch Vincenzo.

 

Itaewon Class

Genres: Drama

Themes: Cuisine – Love triangle – Revenge

Our rating: 4.5/5

Itaewon Class

On his first day of high school, Park Sae Roy beats up one of his classmates to defend a student who was being bullied.

The bully turns out to be the son of CEO Jang Dae Hee, head of the Jangga catering company where Park Sae Roy’s father works.

After refusing to apologize, he’s expelled from high school and his father is fired.

Several years later, Park Sae Roy’s father dies in an accident caused by his former classmate.

In an outburst of anger, Park Sae Roy beats him severely, which sends him to jail.

After being released, he opens a restaurant in Itaewon, a lively district of Seoul, with one goal: destroy the Jangga company and take revenge on the CEO and his son.

In a country where racism and LGBT phobia are sensitive issues, Itaewon Class takes a big step forward by tackling these themes in the context of a thrilling storyline.

 

It’s Okay to Not Be Okay

Genres: Drama – Fantasy – Psychology – Romance

Themes: Love – Trauma – Medicine

Our rating: 4.5/5

It’s Okay to Not Be Okay

Moon Kang Tae is a community health worker in a psychiatric ward whose older brother, Moon Sang Tae, has symptoms of autism.

One day, Kang Tae meets Go Mun Yeong, a fiction author of whom his older brother is a fan.

It turns out that the author suffers from an anti-social personality disorder, which is the complete opposite of Kang Tae.

The two very different protagonists defy fate and fall in love, finding their identities as the story unfolds.

This series deals with mental illness and represents autism very well as it follows the evolution of the protagonists in a story that falls somewhere between romance and drama.

 

Hymn of Death

Genres: Drama – Historical – Romance

Themes: Music – Based on a true story

Our rating: 4.5/5

Hymn of Death

The year is 1921 in Tokyo. Korea is under Japanese occupation.

Twenty-five year old Kim U Jin is an English literature student at Waseda University.

With a group of other students, he decides to organize a theatre tour to restore pride and hope to the Korean people.

One of the characters in the play they choose is a woman, and no one wants to take on the role. Finally, someone suggests offering the role to Yun Sim Deok, an opera student at Ueno University.

This drama based on the true story of Kim U Jin and Yun Sim Deok is very poignant and poetic. It portrays on screen the real life experiences of many people who lived during the Japanese occupation.

 

Hometown Cha Cha Cha

Genres: Comedy – Romance

Themes: Love – Countryside – Daily life

Our rating: 4.5/5

Hometown Cha Cha Cha

Yun Hye Jin is a young dentist who left the city to move to the coastal village of Gongjin.

After opening her office, she meets a strange young man named Hong Du Sik.

Though unemployed, he spends his time helping the people of his village – so much that he earns the nickname “Chief Hong”.

While they seem to be very different, Hye Jin becomes interested in Du Sik.

The series follows the two protagonists as they gradually become friends and grow closer.

If you are looking for a light-hearted series that will make you feel good, Hometown Cha Cha Cha is the show for you. This fresh and touching drama has very endearing protagonists!

 

Tomorrow

Genres: Action – Fantasy

Themes: Ghosts

Our rating: 4/5

Tomorrow

Although he graduated from a prestigious university, Choi Jun Wung is having trouble finding a job.

One night, after an accident that leaves him in a coma, his spirit separates from his body and he meets two angels of death: Gu Ryeon and Im Ryung Gu.

They are part of a crisis management team whose mission is to rescue suicidal people.

Gu Ryeon is the leader of the team and Ryung Gu is a member.

Following their encounter, Jun Wung joins the understaffed Reapers of Hell agency to help them carry out their mission.

This drama deals with poignant and sensitive issues such as suicide and harassment, but it still manages to includes touches of love and humor at times.

 

Twenty Five Twenty One

Genres: Comedy – Romance

Themes: Friendship – Sports

Our rating: 4.5/5

Twenty Five Twenty One

This drama follows the life of Na Hee Do from her 18th birthday to the present, as seen through the eyes of her daughter reading her diaries.

When she was a teenager, Na Hee Do was a member of her high school fencing team.

The team was disbanded in 1998 because of the Korean crisis, but she still managed to join the national team.

The crisis also changed Baek Yi Jin’s life – he had been living comfortably until his father’s business went bankrupt and he became poor.

He took on various odd jobs to support himself during his studies and eventually became a sports journalist.

This drama explores the first love of a teenage girl while following her sports career. It takes you into the world of fencing in a time that has become nostalgic with subtlety and precision.