The Korean drama world was in two minds in 2024. In one corner, romance continued to reign supreme, with runaway hits such as viral sensation Lovely Runner and the soapy goodness of Marry My Husband being the talk of the time. On the other end, some shows were also a lot more cerebral, with morality being questioned in A Killer Paradox and The Frog taking a closer look at society and its issues.
But whether you prefer a K-drama that makes you question the meaning of life or one that requires a copious amount of tissues, 2024 was certainly no slouch – even if the most anticipated show of the year, season two of Squid Game, narrowly misses this list. Join NME as we look back on 2024 and the 10 best Korean dramas that made the year so great.
Puah Ziwei, Associate Commissioning Editor (Music)
Words by: Daniel Anderson, Carmen Chin, Sara Delgado, Tamar Herman, Tanu I. Raj and Gladys Yeo
Credit: Coupang Play
10. ‘What Comes After Love’
Love is not a straight line; sometimes, it takes many twists and turns to get to the final destination, and that’s what What Comes After Love explores so beautifully. Based on the collaborative novel by South Korea’s Gong Ji-yeong and Japan’s Hitonari Tsuji, the series follows the story of Choi Hong (Lee Se-young), when she moves to Tokyo to study and meets Aoki Jungo (Kentaro Sakaguchi).
As expected, the couple immediately hit it off – but that’s all in the past. Five years after their fairytale romance, Hong is now back in Korea and about to marry Song Min-jun (Hong Jong-hyun), when Jungo, now a famous author under the moniker of Sasae Hikari, unexpectedly comes back into her life. SD
Credit: Netflix
9. ‘A Virtuous Business’
Equal parts heartwarming, raunchy and dramatic, A Virtuous Business is an offbeat, boundary-pushing K-drama that’s a delight to watch. The series follows a group of small town women in the ’90s who start a door-to-door business promoting and selling adult toys.
Despite the resistance and ridicule they face for the nature of their business, the four ladies – led by the naive but stubborn Han Jeong-suk (Penthouse’s Kim So-yeon) – push against social taboos surrounding sex, finding fulfillment and success in their friendships, romances and career. GY
Credit: SONG KYOUNG SUB/Netflix
8. ‘A Killer Paradox’
Morality is an inherently nuanced concept, one that the law strives to delineate into clear frameworks. This endeavour has only ever revealed human ethics to be an incredibly complex phenomenon where things exist in countless shades of grey. This genre-splicing crime drama reckons with this reality: Does taking the life of a murderer make you a hero?
A Killer Paradox paints the brutal process of university student Lee Tang’s (Choi Woo-shik) gradual moral decay as he begins to give in to the delights of murder. This K-drama is unafraid to ask questions about the human condition, but ultimately presents you with the best answer it can muster: a wholly “good” person cannot exist. CC
Credit: Disney+
7. ‘A Shop for Killers’
A prime example of excellent storytelling, A Shop For Killers felt more like an experience in extreme immersion than a television show. It often left us to figure things out right along with the characters, but the narrative jumps in the story never felt overwhelming.
The magnetic Kim Hye-jun kept the story in her tight grasp, eschewing the wide-eyed young female lead for a lithe, cunning and quick-thinking vixen. The smattering of Lee Dong-wook as the unlikely mentor figure was just a welcome bonus. TR
Credit: Viu
6. ‘Pyramid Game’
Depictions of bullying are a hallmark of Korean dramas, but Pyramid Game elevates the trope into a chilling psychological thriller. In a school where students rank each other in a secret popularity contest, those at the bottom face brutal abuse. WJSN’s Bona delivers a standout performance as Soo-ji, a cunning exchange student determined to dismantle the system and outmatch the machinations of mastermind Ha-rin (Jang Da-ah).
With a stellar supporting cast, Pyramid Game probes the dangers of social hierarchies. It’s a sharp reminder of how mob mentality and bystander apathy can thrive in uncompassionate environments. DA
Credit: Netflix
5. ‘The Atypical Family’
The Bok family might have amazing superpowers, ranging from time travel to flight, but they’re just like everyone else when it comes to life’s hardships. Losing their powers – and their senses of self – to depression, insomnia and body image issues, the Bok clan members spiral and spiral towards self-destruction.
Then there’s Do Da-hae (Chun Woo-hee), whose interest in regret-ridden single father Bok Gwi-ju (Jang Ki-yong), and the Bok family fortune, is inspired by freeing herself from the burden of her own unique family dynamic and their scams. As overdramatic as The Atypical Family’s premise is, the poignant acting and the absolutely brilliant, heart-stirring writing builds a story that is one of the year’s best. TH
Credit: LIM HYOSEON/Netflix
4. ‘The Frog’
The Frog is a beautifully shot and mind-twirling psychological horror meets gripping thriller that explores the ripple effects of a small action. Set across two timelines, one in the early 2000s and one in the early 2020s, the K-drama centers around the chilling, nearly identical parallel stories of two motel owners who cross paths with two serial killers.
Using non-linear storytelling to its advantage, the series interposes commentary on South Korean societal issues like criminal maladministration, bullying and more. Though it takes a couple of episodes to pick up the pace, once it does, it’s impossible to stop watching, mainly thanks to the stellar acting by its standout cast. SD
Credit: Prime Video
3. ‘Marry My Husband’
Park Min-young shines in this time-travel revenge K-drama as Kang Ji-won, a dying cancer patient who’s killed by her husband after she discovers he’s having an affair with her best friend. Kang doesn’t die though, instead waking up in the past with a second chance and determined to spend her life differently.
After finding a bold path for her life’s do-over and love with her former boss, she spends the series taking on the villainous duo who would go on to betray her. It’s over-the-top and melodramatic in all the best ways. You can’t help but cheer Kang on, and sit in awe as the loveable heroine tries to find a happy ending built on deathly foundations. TH
Credit: tvN
2. ‘Lovely Runner’
Time-travel has been a common theme for K-dramas this year, but Lovely Runner balanced out the cliches through incredibly earnest characters and narrative curveballs at every end. Rather than being a bumbling fan, Kim Hye-soon’s Sol was a purposeful female lead with a believable transition into a love interest.
Though, it was Byeon Woo-seok’s Ryu Sun-jae as the immovable object to Sol’s unstoppable force that was the best part: nothing wrecked us more than realising that Sun-jae would accept his fate a thousand times over if it meant Sol’s continued survival. Lovely Runner might have started off as a fan’s desperate attempt to save her favourite idol from a tragic fate, but ended up as a story for the ages. TR
Credit: Netflix
1. ‘Queen of Tears’
A phenomenon like Crash Landing On You can be hard to top, but writer Park Ji-eun and director Jang Young-woo managed to do just that with Queen of Tears. Starring Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-won, Queen of Tears combines tried-and-true tropes (office romance, fake marriage and terminal illness), enthralling emotional inner turmoil and impeccable comedic timing to create an incredibly balanced, well-rounded and satisfying watch.
The reach of Queen of Tears was so far and wide that even stars like A$AP Rocky and Rihanna were spotted enjoying the show. In case there were any doubts, tissues should be readily available for this one because tears will be shed – triggered not only by the lead actors’ soul-stirring performances but also the show’s beautifully crafted soundtrack, featuring ballads by the likes of SEVENTEEN sub-unit BSS, Heize, Crush and even leading man Kim Soo-hyun himself. SD
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