2025 was all about amazing Korean content, and there’s enough for it to last you another month, so before the next year rolls around and you have the perfect chance to check out some of the most talked about Korean dramas that released during this trip around the sun!
Here’s our list of the 10 K-dramas that dominated 2025 in no particular order.
1. When Life Gives You Tangerines
Covering the span of four seasons, across the main character Ae Sun’s life after she is born in 1951 to a poor free-diver, the show displays how a girl from a rural background changes her life around. She meets a boy named Gwan Sik who falls madly in love with her and stands beside her through thick and thin. The story is narrated by their daughter, Yang Geum Myeong. The show manages to walk through her life in childhood, teenage, adulthood, and old age via different actors bringing the essence of the headstrong woman to life.
Cast: IU, Park Bo Gum, Moon So Ri, Park Hae Joon, Kim Seon Ho, Lee Jun Young
Director: Kim Won Seok
Language: Korean
No. of Episodes: 16
Genre: Romance, Slice-of-life
Platform: Netflix
Release Date: March 7, 2025
2. The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call
Baek Kang Hyuk is a skilled trauma surgeon who used to work in conflict military zones. After circumstances have him joining a university hospital to help out with its trauma team, he implements his not-so-ideal methods in dealing with emergency patients. He’s paired with a former proctology surgeon named Yang Jae Won and an anesthesiologist resident, Park Gyeong Won, who form a task force team to save lives in the most unexpected ways.
Cast: Ju Ji Hoon, Choo Young Woo, Ha Young, Yoon Kyung Ho, Jung Jae Kwang
Director: Lee Do Yoon
Language: Korean
No. of Episodes: 8
Genre: Medical, Comedy
Platform: Netflix
Release Date: January 24, 2025
3. Friendly Rivalry
Chaehwa High School appears to be your ordinary establishment until deeper secrets about its students come to light. Woo Seul Gi’s sudden transfer to the school with the top 1% of the country puts her among hungry, calculating girls who eye her as competition and do their best to pull her down. As her father is murdered, the mystery begins to unravel, and new friendships threaten her understanding as a person.
Cast: Lee Hyeri, Chung Su Bin, Kang Hye Won, Oh Woo Ri
Director: Kim Tae Hee
Language: Korean
No. of Episodes: 16
Genre: Teen drama, Mystery, Thriller
Platform: Abema TV, Viki, TVING, Netflix, Prime Video
Release Date: February 10, 2025
4. Our Unwritten Seoul
Yoo Mi Ji and Yoo Mi Rae are a set of identical twins whose lives are completely different. Poles apart in personalities as well, the former has had to quit her career as a sportswoman after an injury and now takes on odd jobs in the village in order to run her life as well as take care of her grandmother. The latter is a perfectionist who works in the city and experiences workplace bullying. After they exchange their lives, a past acquaintance comes knocking on the door, much to their surprise.
Cast: Park Bo Young, Park Jin Young, Ryu Kyung Soo
Director: Park Shin Woo
Language: Korean
No. of Episodes: 12
Genre: Coming-of-age, Romance
Platform: TVING, Netflix
Release Date: May 24, 2025
5. Study Group
Based on the webtoon of the same name by Shin Hyung Wook, the story follows Yoon Ga Min, who is skilled at physical fights. However, life at Yusung Technical High School does not come easy to him as he tries his very best to form a study group full of interesting people who could help him enter a university. As he encounters a past teacher, who is trying to save the school, he ends up seeking different ways to spare his friends from bullies.
Cast: Hwang Min Hyun, Han Ji Eun, Cha Woo Min, Lee Jong Hyun, Shin Su Hyun, Yoon Sang Jeong, Gong Do Yu
Director: Lee Jang Hun, Yoo Beom Sang
Language: Korean
No. of Episodes: 10
Genre: Action comedy, Teen, Coming-of-age
Platform: TVING, Viki
Release Date: January 23, 2025
6. S Line
The show follows a series of mysterious events that unfurl when a girl discovers that people end up with a strange red S Line above their heads connecting them to others with whom they’ve had physical relationships. A handsome detective learns about these lines sprouting from his head and gets involved in a case involving a high school student and a teacher.
Cast: Lee Soo Hyuk, Lee Da Hee, Arin, Lee Eun Saem, Kim Dong Young
Director: Ahn Joo Young
Language: Korean
No. of Episodes: 6
Genre: Fantasy, Thriller
Platform: Prime Video, Wavve, TVING
Release Date: July 11, 2025
7. Weak Hero Class 2
Yeon Si Eun has had to transfer schools after the terrible encounter with bullies in his last one left one of his friends in the hospital and another one sent overseas. However, the prevalent case of bullies finds its way to his life once again. Despite forming new friendships, he faces a stronger opponent and must once again use his skills to keep them away. As his squad’s weakness threatens their lives, it remains to be seen how he protects them all.
Cast: Park Ji Hoon, Ryeoun, Choi Min Young, Lee Min Jae, Yoo Su Bin, Bae Na Ra, Lee Jun Young
Director: Park Dhan Hee
Language: Korean
No. of Episodes: 8
Genre: Coming-of-age, Action, Drama, Thriller
Platform: Netflix
Release Date: April 25, 2025
8. Head Over Heels
Park Seong Ah has two lives, one as a high school student by day and the other as a shaman named Fairy Cheon Ji at night. She can see the future and learns about her first love, Bae Gyeon Woo’s ill-fated destiny as he visits her with his grandmother for a reading and the next day transfers to her school.
Cast: Cho Yi Hyun, Choo Young Woo, Cha Kang Yoon, and Choo Ja Hyun
Director: Kim Yong Wan
Language: Korean
No. of Episodes: 12
Genre: Romantic fantasy, Supernatural
Platform: TVING, Prime Video
Release Date: June 23, 2025
9. Resident Playbook
The Jongno branch of Yulje Medical Center has a new set of residents who are each different and come to the hospital at various moments in their lives. As obstetrics and gynaecology residents, they struggle to survive in their department in an era of low birth rates in their country.
Cast: Go Youn Jung, Shin Si Ah, Kang You Seok, Han Ye Ji, Jung Joon Won
Director: Lee Min Soo
Language: Korean
No. of Episodes: 12
Genre: Medical drama
Platform: TVING, Netflix
Release Date: April 12, 2025
10. Bon Appétit, Your Majesty
Yeon Ji Yeong is a modern-day French culinary chef who ends up time-traveling 500 years in the past during the Joseon dynasty, where she is captured. After crossing paths with the ruthless King Yi Heon, she is introduced to the royal court and ends up becoming the royal head chef soon after. As palace politics are unveiled, she finds herself in a fierce competition against some Chinese counterparts, with the future of the country riding on her shoulders. While she remains determined to the cause, her desire to return never fades. Slowly, the King develops affection for her and tries his best to hold her back, to no avail.
Cast: YoonA, Lee Chae Min, Kang Han Na, Choi Gwi Hwa
Director: Jang Tae Yoo
Language: Korean
No. of Episodes: 12
Genre: Historical, Fantasy, Romantic, Time travel
Platform: TVING, Netflix
Release Date: August 23, 2025
Other K-dramas you may want to check out include You and Everything Else, As You Stood By, The Price of Confession, Typhoon Family, Hyper Knife, Mercy For None, and Melo Movie.