Looking Forward: 10 Most Anticipated K-Dramas

Akin to 2022, 2023 is poised to deliver a plethora of K-dramas with excellent stories and stellar casts, whether they be original dramas, webtoon-based dramas, or sequels. I’m looking forward to these stories, which span diverse genres this year, for a multitude of engaging experiences. The 10 long-awaited dramas that I am most looking forward to are listed below.

The Worst of Evil

Scheduled to premiere in the second half of 2023 this gripping potboiler set in the 1990s follows Park Joon-mo (Ji Chan-wook), an undercover police officer on a mission to infiltrate a gigantic crime ring trafficking drugs into South Korea, China, and Japan. Interestingly Yoo Eui-jung (Im Se-mi), Park’s wife, is also a narcotics officer involved in the case. Wi Ha-joon would portray Jung Gi-cheol, the kingpin of the crime syndicate. The headliner of the story, for me, is Ji’s resurgence as the sensational action hero, plot considerations apart. We haven’t seen him in that avatar recently.

Ask the Stars

For fans of the Korean dreamboat Lee Min-ho, such as myself, the wait to see him on screen again post-Pachinko has been long. That came about as a result of Ask the Stars, helmed by Park Shin-woo and starring Lee and Gong Hyo-jin. A space tourist and astronaut’s fateful encounter is the subject of the sci-fi rom-com TV series. As Gong Ryong, a conscientious obstetrician-gynecologist, Lee will cross paths with Eve Kim (Gong), a Korean-American astronaut, when he enters the space station as a visitor.

Queen of Tears

A fascinating love story ensues when young couple Baek Hyun-woo (Kim Soo-hyun) and Hong Hae-in (Kim Ji-won) overcome a crisis. Baek is the proudest member of his hamlet and the most successful person to have ever hailed from there in his role as legal director for the colossal Queens Group. Hong belongs to the family that owns and runs Queens Group and is referred to as the “Arrogant Queen.”

Kim Soo-hyun has been raising the bar for ingenuity with his creative approach to a variety of genres for years. In the same vein, Kim Ji-won has widened her range by taking on more challenging roles and relentlessly bringing a variety of personalities to life. I can’t wait to watch the two connect romantically on screen!

Squid Game Season 2

In a series of classic Korean children’s games with a dark twist, the competitors on the show, who are in debt, compete for survival and a whopping sum of money in modern-day Seoul. Since its release, Squid Game has gained massive traction, becoming Netflix‘s most-watched series in 2021.

Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) changed his mind and skipped the flight to the United States as Season one came to a close. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, filmmaker Hwang Dong-hyuk said that this was his way of implying that instead of getting dragged along, you should start considering who established the system and whether there is a chance of fighting it. That essentially summarizes what season two has in store for us, but it’s difficult to comprehend the enormity of the plot twists and the level of anxiety we might anticipate. The series may be released either during the final stretch of this year or early next year.

Sweet Home Season 2

In Sweet Home when the residents of the Green Home residential complex begin to morph into monsters who want to annihilate humans, the rest of the occupants become fully cognizant that the demons are lurking outside and band together to thwart them. Sweet Home‘s incredible success has unarguably opened the door for a renewal, not only for another season but also for a third.

With a plethora of unanswered questions, the next two series could be filled with more barbarity. Regardless of how grotesque and macabre the visuals may be, we are anxiously awaiting what will occur next inside the Green Home complex. Song Kang, Lee Jin-wook, Lee Si-young, and Park Gyu-young comprise the central protagonists.

All of Us Are Dead Season 2

A failed research experiment threatens students’ lives in the first season of All of Us Are Dead, which accompanies them as they are confined in their school and eventually face a gruesome zombie apocalypse. More puzzles and lingering questions are left at the end of the season. The Korea Herald reports that director Lee Jae-kyoo stated in a previous online interview that although the first season focused on humanity’s survival, the second season would be more about zombie survival. It shouldn’t be long before the truth comes out in the second season, in which Park Ji-hoo, Yoon Chan-young, Cho Yi-hyun, and Lomon will reprise their roles.

A Time Called You

In the remake of the hugely popular Taiwanese drama Someday or One Day, Ahn Hyo-seop and Jeon Yeo-been will romance through the riddles of time and space, with the characters shrouded in a layer of intricately interwoven plot.

In Someday or One Day, a young woman named Huang Yu Xuan (Alice Ko) struggles to come to terms with the terrible death of her partner Wang Quan Sheng (Greg Hsu) and longs to somehow remain connected to him. After opening a mysterious parcel with a player and a cassette, she is transported to the year 1998 as a result of what she hears on the recording. Even stranger, she discovers herself inhabiting the body of high school student Chen Yun Ru (also Alice Ko). When Huang, who is stuck in Chen’s body, awakens in a hospital, she is shocked to see Lee Zhi Wei (also Greg Hsu), a boy who remarkably resembles her late boyfriend, standing next to her. Though she initially thinks her wish to be reunited with her lover has been fulfilled, she later discovers there is more to reality. Huang eventually resolves the paradox by attempting to change the past and future. In the Korean adaptation, A Time Called You, Ahn will portray the dual roles of Greg Hsu’s characters, with Jeon as the female lead.

Gyeongseong Creature

The most reliable informant from Gyeongseong (formerly known as Seoul) in 1945 is the rich Jang Tae-sang (Park Seo-joon). On the other hand, Yoon Chae-ok (Han So-hee) is recognized for her ability to find missing people. She is also a proficient knife handler, machine operator, and sharpshooter. Yoon, who has lost her mother, travels to Gyeongseong to look for her and runs into Jang. As the story unfolds, the two fight a strange creature built of avarice while also falling in love with each other along the way.

Park’s charisma, masculinity, style, and bravado make him one of the most swashbuckling Korean heroes. But he also has true empathy, which shows through when he romances on screen, in addition to being cute and humorous. Han is incredibly adaptable. She is capable of being adorable, forceful, seductive, or evil. In actuality, Han is a total entertainer, and her scenes with Park in Gyeongseong Creature will undoubtedly add to the caliber of her acting. These two formidable forces will combine to produce killer chemistry, I’m sure!

A Good Day to be a Dog

In an effort to break the unbreakable family curse that Han Hae-na (Park Gyu-young) would transform into a dog after her first kiss, Han leaves no stone unturned. Unfortunately, she must kiss again to break the curse, and ironically, her first kiss is with Jin Seo-won (ASTRO’s Cha Eun-woo), a dog-phobic man. That is the central conflict of A Good Day to be a Dog, a fantasy romance drama based on Lee Hey’s webtoon of the same name.

The Girl Downstairs

This webtoon-based love story is about Lee Won-jun (Yang Se-jong), an average college student with a warm and pure heart. He moves into a new home only to run into the stunning and glamorous Lee Doo-na (Bae Suzy), a former K-pop idol. Won-jun initially tries to elude her, but he finds himself becoming more and more captivated by her enigmatic life, and the two end up moving in together.