10 Best K-Dramas of 2023

In every way that a story may be addictive, I have found them to be so. Here are my top 10 picks for the best K-dramas of 2023.

Crash Course in Romance

The show shot to fame and currently ranks as one of the highest-rated dramas on Korean cable television ever. As things play out, Choi Chi-yeol (Jung Kyung-ho), an elite math specialist whose courses are a craze among students, and Nam Haeng-seon (Jeon Do-yeon), an ex-national handball player running a side dish shop and whose daughter gets caught up in the tough college application processes, grow close.

I love how it raises awareness of the demanding curriculum in Korea. It attacks its unjustifiable coercion. But I love more how it’s also an endearing love story, giving a suitable counterpoint to its seriousness.

In how the romance grows between Haeng-seon and Chi-yeol across bittersweet and comic moments in their lives, Jeon Do-Yeon and Jung Kyung-Ho are amazing, affording legitimacy to Crash Course in Romance. It is purely an immersive and cohesive K-drama worth your time.

See You in My 19th Life

Moon Seo-ha (Ahn Bo-hyun) is an illustrious family scion victim of trauma over a car crash. He is “the man” for Shin Hye-sun’s Ban Ji-eum and the executive director of the strategic planning team of the MI Hotel. Joining them, Ji-eum carries with her memory of her past lives and a millennium of reincarnations. In its fantasy arc, as the story unfolds, she must rekindle her romance with Seo-ha through the present—her 19th life.

It’s an enlightening and pleasant one, as the drama makes an absence from the norm. It oozes poignancy, laced with periods of anguish. The way Shin Hye-sun navigates sentiments and emotes on screen is just like she always is—a consummate actor.

Elaborating on his interpretive fluidities, Ahn Bo-hyun deftly carries the burden of Seo-ha’s losses, despair, and misfortunes. His innate eloquence conveys to us his frailties and anxieties, together with the disability he experienced in the tragedy.

The drama combines fantasy with relatable events in our lives. That builds the ethos of the story, making it one of the finest this year offers.

The Worst of Evil

In the 1990s, Gangnam, The Worst of Evil, lays out a clandestine mission whereby cop detective Park Jun-mo (Ji Chang-wook) infiltrates crime syndicate kingpin Jung Gi-chul’s (Wi Ha-joon) gang, running an illicit narcotics trade between Korea, China, and Japan.

Brisk action, sudden shocks, and a tie between the two men at the center form a wild-tense scenario, for the bond is unfounded and friendship is doomed if truth be told.

The Worst of Evil is a unique take on the crime-action genre and shows off Ji Chang-wook’s ability to play a more twisted part in his first-ever R-rated series. He paints Jun-mo vividly, given how well he nails his inner plight, anxiety, and desperation.

Wi Ha-joon holds a sway over dominance. He is gorgeous and oozes immorality—a ravenous foe who bursts onto the screen. However, in certain respects, his genuineness in love and trust in company expose his frailties.

The hectic pace manifests an unfamiliar, grisly crime drama dense with danger and savagery. The opus is of complexity and complex feelings—love, brotherhood, deceit, sacrifice, sorrow, and all the in-between seamlessly interwoven into a mind-bender.

Love to Hate You

In a patriarchal society, attorney Yeo Mi-ran (Kim Ok-vin), who hates losing to men, uses her martial arts background to impose retribution in her fight for fairness. Conversely, Teo Yoo’s Nam Kang-ho, a mega-star actor, has a harsh opinion about women. Well, up until they’re made to go on dates.

Love to Hate You matures into a remarkably perceptive piece. It unveils the core reality of Korean glam culture, where artists often maintain a grin despite personal misery. It does a great job of examining the idea that it’s okay to be a badass and not care what others think of you because you’re a woman.

One of the best exchanges is between Mi-ran and Kang-ho, in which the latter complains to her about being a rescuer and having to pay the price. The dialogue is an excellent reminder of how society generally views women and their roles. That Mi-ran’s history and her sexual life trigger a debate also bears witness to that, upholding cultural norms in a variety of domains, most notably its treatment of women. Still, there’s no denying that Kang-ho is a gentleman who cherishes Mi-ran. That sets a precedent.

Revenant

Gu San-yeong (Kim Tae-ri), a lawyer, gets taken over by a demonic entity and gets stuck in unexplainable killings upon receiving her late father’s belongings. There’s also a folklore professor here, Yeom Hae-sang (Oh Jung-se), who sees ghosts, and they pair up to unearth the truth underlying the mystery.

That describes it as a mystery horror thriller. Indeed, it is, but it’s truly original with its labyrinths of unknowns that grab you while keeping you from finding the answers too soon.

The acting is top-notch, and the portrayal of the proceedings is spotless. Though not very “scary,” its image of a society burdened by constraints, challenges, and hardships daunts.

The Good Bad Mother

Jin Young-soon (Ra Mi-ran) and her prosecutor son Choi Kang-ho (Lee Do-hyun) stand out in The Good Bad Mother, a significant victory in the family comedy-drama category. They begin reviving their relationship after an awful accident, leaving Kang-ho memoryless and childlike.

This is a thoughtful, lighthearted, and emotionally charged tale. Though I still think Ra Mi-ran is incredible, Lee has my vote. He portrays the corrupt adult mind and the innocent kid mind, eliciting dynamism in each.

The story eloquently illustrates the intricate nature of life. It became one of the highest-rated shows in Korean cable television history, and I can see why—I thoroughly enjoyed it.

My Demon

The leads are a feast for the eyes as Song Kang and Kim Yoo-jung weave a breath of fresh-air romance in a scenario where their union seems predestined.

Jung Gu-won (Song), a formidable demon who has spent ages striking lethal bargains with humans, suddenly loses his powers to Do Do-hee (Kim) and signs a contract marriage with her, the entitled heiress of a conglomerate. The episode continues with fleeting moments of romance that soon trigger damnation.

Do-hee’s life is at stake, as is Gu-won’s, who puts himself on the line to keep her safe from a web of familial scheming aimed at usurping power. Dramatic disclosures exist, with some exposed and more to come, particularly with Do-hee’s connection to Gu-won’s history.

I’m keen on the true tale of Gu-won’s sleep visions and his future, which will, in the end, dictate the fate of his and Do-hee’s marriage.

Through its perfect blend of surrealism and intrigue, My Demon is a perfect complement to romantic and fantasy K-dramas.

Glory Part 2

Glory Part 2 is a gratifying wrap-up to an already engrossing potboiler as Moon Dong-eun (Song Hye-kyo) eventually gets her due.

Moon, an elementary school homeroom teacher, endured chronic physical assault and bullying from Park Yeon-jin (Im Ji-yeon) and her high school clique. Dropping out as a result, she resurfaced years later with a carefully crafted revenge plan. The first half of the story has Moon pushing things to the brink of justice; the sequel tells how she accomplishes so.

A class unto itself—the screenplay is well-knit, and the actors’ performances are on fire. I cherish its underpinnings of how a woman’s wrath can occasionally be worse than one may imagine and how love can make up for losses. It also evokes Moon and Joo Yeo-jeong’s (Lee Do-hyun) process from futility to healing via care and love. Best of all, beauty is skin deep. Moon’s admission of her scars—first to Joo and then in public—shows she is over her insecurity and that, even after being burned, she is beautiful in how she is.

Revenge K-drama at its finest; this take is far more profound and stimulating. The precisely timed tension, the build-up, and the painstaking execution yield adequate resolution. Song Hye-Kyo’s best thus far.

Twinkling Watermelon

Twinkling Watermelon is an ode to life and living that draws on the bizarre experiences of Ha Eun-gyeol (Ryeo Un), a high schooler whose parents are hard of hearing.

Inexplicably, he flies back in time to 1995 and finds his father, Ha Yi-chan (Choi Hyun-wook), aged eighteen and in mint condition. Yi-chan is baffled when Eun-gyeol identifies him as his father. A dazed Eun-gyeol seeks an answer. Along the way, he joins Yi-chan’s band, and so begins an epic tale of camaraderie, comedy, romance, and revelations.

Its unpredictability, riddled with subtleties and nuanced situations centered around the protagonists and their pasts, is what makes it so stunning—as creative as how music works as a unifying and cathartic ingredient. You are missing something if you haven’t watched this gem.

Moving

The groundbreaking web series version of Kang Full’s webtoon, Moving, has a succession of Korean superheroes starring some of the country’s best-known actors—Ryu Seung-ryong, Zo In-sung, and Han Hyo-joo—as superhero parents doing everything in their power to protect their teenage superhero kids from villains.

The staging is sublime, the cinematic details are unerring, the action is enticing while fraught with feelings, and the scope is huge. I say: Moving sets a precedent for stellar, exquisitely rendered Webtoon adaptations. It can be a gauge for the evolution of K-content throughout time.

Wait, that’s not it. The superheroes in Moving are the true thrill, amid its unparalleled computer graphics. I have to admit that I couldn’t keep my eyes off of Zo In-sung. He has Kim Doo-sik, codenamed Moon-san, a debonaire, free-swinging, flying black ops agent for the National Intelligence Service (NIS). He is also the husband of Lee Mi-hyun (Han Hyo-joo), an ex-NIS agent with extraordinary senses.

Their romance is arresting, the chemistry is terrific, and Zo wows with every inch of his personality.