10 Best K-Dramas of 2024

It’s time to take stock and jot down some of the best K-drama releases this year. I enjoyed most of them, to be honest, in that while some stories and narrative styles were second to none, some characters and surprises kept me hooked through to the end. Listed below are the 10 best K-dramas of 2024 (in order of release) that stood out in my opinion, and although deciding wasn’t easy, I guess the mentioned include some of your favorites.

Marry My Husband

Rife in deceit, revenge, and romance, Marry My husband has Kang Ji-won (Park Min-young) trapped in a wrong marriage and family chores. Worse, cancer is weighing on her alongside a cheating husband in an affair with her best friend.

One fatal night, Ji-won catches them in her bedroom and is killed. With a hint of another shot at life, the picture switches to Ji-won awakened in the past yet remembering the present. She pledges vengeance and counts on a colleague—Yoo Ji-hyeok (Na In-woo)—her strongest ally.

A vivid portrayal helps flesh out the story, and Ji-won is just on fire, ready to go above and beyond what one may have imagined of her.

A Shop for Killers

With Lee Dong-wook and Kim Hye-jun leading this madcap roller coaster of guns, wildfires, panic, and intrigue, A Shop for Killers is surely one of the best K-drama titles of the year—a gritty action series with no dull moment.

It follows Jeong Ji-an (Kim), who becomes the target of vicious assassins. She’s appalled to learn that she’s on the hit list and has no inkling of what more is to come or what her late uncle Jeong Jin-man (Lee) was up to while running his online store. When she returns to his home seeking out the truth, a dangerous past is waiting to be revealed.

A Shop for Killers wins for its distinctive narrative style—the plot elements, the shot divisions, the explosive pacing, and the camerawork—are every bit spot on, with Lee Dong-wook’s impassive, stony enigma drawing attention into the bargain. 

Doctor Slump

Park Hyung-sik, co-starring with Park Shin-hye, builds an engaging love story in this medical romance drama. It’s another enemies-to-lovers narrative, but a more mature one seen through the lives of two old competitors, now excellent doctors but stuck in a sudden quagmire. Nonetheless, as fate has it, Yeo Jeong-woo (Park Hyung-sik) rents a piece of Nam Ha-neul’s (Park Shin-hye) house, bringing them face-to-face years later.

An epiphany—a moment of clarity—is marked by this event. In time, they grow closer and inevitably feel that unspeakable “love” that helps them break out of their “slump” and heal.

Doctor Slump is a love story of complex human emotions, humor, and heartache. The narrative is infused with the essence of K-drama romance, with characters who navigate their relationships with sincerity. From tender, fleeting glances to passionate confrontations, the story offers memorable scenes that may resonate with anyone who’s been through ups and downs in love.

A Killer Paradox

This multi-layered, mind-bending murder mystery challenges morals, fear, and judgment and is unique in its dark humor with psychologically tense episodes. 

After Lee Tang (Choi Woo-shik), a convenience store worker, accidentally kills a guy who turns out to be a killer on the loose, he realizes he can identify criminals and begins killing them, overcoming his early concerns. As he turns into an evil device, expert detective Jang Nan-gam (Son Suk-ku) enters the picture, while Song Chon (Lee Hee-joon), an ex-detective, is also chasing after him.

Wonderful World

Acclaimed psychology professor Eun Soo-hyeon (Kim Nam-joo) loses her only child and vows vengeance when the culprit is freed and justice denied. As she works to solve the case, an elusive Gwon Seon-yul (Cha Eun-woo) keeps running into her, adding to the intrigue.

The plot twists, nuances, and disclosures make Wonderful World a winning revenge drama. It’s also deeply poignant and full of life lessons—to take things in stride, fight for fairness, and never let go. Cha Eun-woo impresses as Gwon Seon-yul, a role we’re not used to seeing him in.

Queen of Tears

Queen of Tears swings and slides through emotions of joy and sorrow, enhanced by poignant overarching music. The perceptive portrayals of Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-won, featuring husband and wife Baek Hyun-woo and Hong Hae-in, add realism to their characters’ journeys of falling in and out of love, rediscovering love, and sticking by each other through challenging seasons. 

Even with a failing marriage and inevitable divorce on the horizon, love blooms afresh as crisis strikes Hae-in’s family, culminating in her diagnosis of a life-threatening sickness.

The drama is a heart-stopping romance, awash in crushing emotions and meaningful observations about the road ahead in the fleeting moments of Hyun-woo and Hae-in’s relationship.

Lovely Runner

Lovely Runner is romance, emotions, and fantasy thrown in good measure with Im Sol (Kim Hye-yoon), a die-hard fan of superstar Ryu Sun-jae (Byeon Woo-seok). She suffers a severe injury and turns to his music for comfort. However, Sun-Jae dies suddenly, leaving Sol wrecked. Inexplicably, fifteen years in the past, she awakens in a classroom and realizes this is her only chance to change fate and save the guy.

His and Sol’s love transcends past and present, and while he continues to risk his life for Sol, she manipulates events by slipping back and forth in time. 

Byeon Woo-seok grabs the spotlight. His gorgeousness, arresting on-screen presence, and the tender scenes he builds with Kim Hye-yoon cement his allure as a romantic hero.

The Atypical Family

Jang Ki-yong has Bok Gwi-ju, who can return to happier times in the past. He hails from a lineage of superhuman beings who’ve lost their powers almost in reaction to the stress of their immediate surroundings. But things turn around when a mysterious woman, Do Da-hae (Chun Woo-hee), enters their lives.

It revolves around Gwi-ju and Da-hae’s courtship. Despite her initial plan to marry him for fortune, they end up falling in love while time travel, emergencies, and familial tensions complicate things.

With a superb story and execution, The Atypical Family is an anomaly fantasy K-drama with its characters blossoming, evolving, and finally finding the fulfillment they’ve been looking for. 

Mr. Plankton

Mr. Plankton is the narrative of any common person who nonetheless makes a big difference—much like planktons, nearly invisible but vital for life. It spotlights Hae-jo (Woo Do-hwan), born out of a wrong artificial insemination procedure, and Jae-mi (Lee Yoo-mi), a woman of misfortune that seems to permeate every aspect of her life.

Jae-mi is just too unlucky, and just when it appears that things can’t get any worse, she learns of her devastating medical condition. Hae-jo, on the other side, is diagnosed as terminally ill, a revelation that sets him on a quest to find his real father—the purpose and closure in the limited time he has left. And to accompany him, he forces Jae-mi (his ex), out of her wedding.

Feelings gradually return as the two characters work through the challenges and unforeseen turns that come up along the road, turning the story into one of love, the human condition, and how resilient one can be.

One of Woo Do-hwan’s best, he makes it difficult to take your eyes off him. That physicality and sculpted frame never fail to add to his magnetism while he seamlessly pulls off some steamy romance scenes with Lee Yoo-mi. 

The series balances humor and seriousness in a beautiful romance and dark comedy while exploring the human condition through characters who find solace and purpose in each other’s company. 

When the Phone Rings

When the Phone Rings is “the” binge-worthy K-drama, with each weekly episode leaving you craving more. The romance thriller starring Yoo Yeon-seok and Chae Soo-bin is packed with chemistry, suspense, familial machinations, and loads of drama. 

The plot is centered on the unlikely pairing of Baek Sa-eon (Yoo), the youngest presidential spokesperson, and Hong Hee-joo (Chae), a sign language interpreter. While others aren’t aware except for their families, they live together, yet they remain silent (Hee-joo we see has a past of selective mutism due to a tragic incident), seemingly indifferent to each other. This detachment is shattered when Sa-eon receives a phone call that makes him realize that Hee-joo is in danger, setting in motion a series of events that gradually unravel the complexities of their marriage.

The subtleties of their communication—or lack thereof—as they live in a state of anxiety—each sensing something way deeper for the other—are a major draw. Their journey, emotional and otherwise, is very engaging, as the story adeptly marries tension and intrigue with genuine care, concern, and love.