From “Squid Game” season 1 to “Crash Course in Romance,” we bring you the best titles that made it to the list of ten most-watched K-dramas of all time on Netflix. If a Forbes update from October 2023 is to be believed, Netflix had almost 247,2 million paid subscribers worldwide as of the end of September 2023 and that’s thanks to the global reach of some of the most-watched K-dramas, like “The Glory” and “Queen of Tears,” this streaming service has seen an influx of subscribers lately.
With over 1,65 billion hours watched in the first 28 days of broadcast, Squid Game season 1 topped the list of most-watched K-dramas on Netflix. Additionally, she won six Primetime Emmy Awards in 2022, including Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series for Hwang Dong-hyuk and Most Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Lee Jung-jae.
Ahn Gil-ho’s 2022 psychological thriller “The Glory” is also another title that made the list of most-watched K-dramas on Netflix. With its mind games and spectacular performances from leads Son Hye-kyo and Lim Ji-yeon, the series remained in the top 10 most-watched non-English TV series on Netflix, totaling over 436,90 million hours of viewing in the first 28 days of its broadcast.
Meanwhile, Netflix’s 2024 romantic K-drama “Queen of Tears,” which is a fantastic nod to tvN’s cult hits like Goblin, garnered approximately 373,2 million streaming hours during its time broadcast, from March 9 to April 28, 2024. Part of the most popular K-dramas of 2024 and starring Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-won, the two young K-drama lovers while focusing on the A couple’s tumultuous relationship after marriage, “Queen Of Tears” has consistently dominated Netflix Global’s Top 10 Non-English TV Series category.
There’s no doubt that these 10 most-watched K-drama series on Netflix will keep you hooked
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The Hunt in Blood (2023)
Directed by Jason Kim and starring Woo Do-Hwan Woo Do-Hwan, Park Sung-Woong, Heo Jun-Ho and Lee Sang-Yi, “The Hunt in Blood” has 146,700,000 hours of viewing. With 8 episodes, the approximate duration per episode is 1 hour 14 minutes.
It is the story of boxers Gun-Woo (Woo) and Woo-Jin (Lee) who team up with the loan shark Choi (Heo) to bring down the evil Myung-Gil (Park) but the hunt for this The latter leads the boxers into the corrupt world of private loans and the duo ends up caught in a web of lies.
Formerly titled Hunting Dogs, this dark action K-drama is based on the webtoon of the same name by Jeong Chan.
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The Good Bad Mother (2023)
Directed by Sim Na-yeon and starring Lee Do-hyun, Ra Mi-ran Lee Do-hyun, Ra Mi-ran, Ahn Eun-jin, Yoo In-soo and Seo Yi-sook, “The Good Bad Mother” has accumulated 148,600,000 hours of viewing and has 14 episodes, the approximate duration of each of which is 1 hour 12 minutes.
Jin Young-soon (Ra), a single mother, fights to give her son Choi Kang-ho (Lee) a better life and later becomes a renowned prosecutor only to lose his ties to his mother. However, a fatal accident forces Kang-ho to return to Young-soon. Will this reunion help ease their strained relationship?
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Mr. Queen (2020)
Directed by Yoon Sung-shik and starring Choi Jin-hyuk, Shin Hye-sun and Seol In-ah, “Mr. Queen” has accumulated 151,500,000 watch hours.
With 20 episodes with the approximate duration of each episode being 1 hour 10 minutes, the series focuses on chef Jang Bong-Hwan (Choi) who works at the President’s Blue House. The latter faces mysterious circumstances that transport him to the Joseon era where his spirit finds himself trapped in the body of Queen Kim So-yong (Shin). To return home, Jang must then first deal with politics involving the royal family.
This period Korean drama is an adaptation of the 2015 Chinese online series Go Princess Go.
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Alchemy of Souls (2022)
Directed by Park Joon-hwa and starring Lee Jae-wook, Jung So-min, Minhyun and Yu Jun-sang, “Alchemy of Souls” has 20 episodes with the approximate duration of each episode being 1 hour 10 minutes.
It is about the young master of the Jang family, Jang Uk (Lee), who holds a dark secret about his birth. While searching for a fearsome assassin in Daeho to help him on a mysterious mission, he learns of the witch-assassin Naksu (Go). The latter’s soul, however, finds itself trapped in the fragile body of Mu Deok (Jung), Jang’s servant, which does not go without consequences.
According to Nielsen Korea, Alchemy of Souls, which is one of Lee Jae-wook’s best series, achieved a 9,2% viewership rating for the finale nationwide.
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Doctor Cha (2023)
Directed by Kim Dae-jin and Kim Jung-wook and starring Uhm Jung-hwa, Myung Se-bin, Kim Byung-chul, Song Ji-ho and Min Woo-hyuk, “Doctor Cha” has 194,700,000 watch hours. With a total of 16 episodes, the approximate duration per episode is 1 hour and 5 minutes.
When Cha Jung-sook (Uhm) decides to return to medical school after 20 years of living at home, her husband, who is also a doctor, hides his double life from her. Will she walk away from her husband while she is in the process of making her dreams come true?
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Crash Course in Romance (2023)
Directed by Yoo Jae-won and starring Jeon Do-yeon, Jung Kyung-ho and Lee Bong-ryun, “Crash Course in Romance” has accumulated 234,000,000 hours of views.
With a total of 16 episodes with an approximate duration per episode of 1 hour 10 minutes, it is the story of retired athlete Nam Haeng-sun (Jeon) who decides to pursue career private education sector to help her daughter. It was there that she met Choi Chi-yeol (Jung), a very popular private instructor, nicknamed the 1 billion won man, and she was immediately seduced. While spending time together, the duo discover their shared love of teaching and eventually fall for each other.
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Queen of Tears (2024)
Directed by Kim Hee-won and Jang Young-woo and starring Kim Soo-hyun, Kim Ji-won, Park Sung-hoon and Kwak Dong-yeon, “Queen of Tears” has accumulated 617,800,000 hours of views. The series has 16 episodes with an approximate duration per episode of 1 hour 28 minutes.
It’s the story of a married couple, Hong Hae-in (Ji-won), the heiress of Queens Group, and Baek Hyun-woo (Soo-hyun), its legal director, who are on the verge of divorce. However, a crisis at work disrupts their family, and the duo is forced to face the situation together. Will this opportunity bring Hyun-woo and Hae-in closer together?
It is worth noting that Kim Soo-hyun also lent his voice to the OST of Queen of Tears’ K-drama “Way Home.”
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The Glory (2022)
Directed by Ahn Gil-ho and starring Song Hye-kyo, Lee Do-hyun, Lim Ji-yeon, “The Glory” managed to accumulate a total of 622,800,000 hours of viewing time. The series has 16 episodes with an approximate duration per episode of 1 hour 11 minutes.
It is the story of Moon Dong-eun (Song) who, after being physically and mentally abused in high school, hatches a deadly plan to take revenge on her tormentors. Her ultimate target is the leader of the bullying group, Park Yeon-jin (Lim), and her friend and right-hand man Joo Yeo-jeong (Lee) helps her in her plan.
This revenge K-drama won the Best Drama award at the 59th Baeksang Arts Awards in 2023, beating out other nominated films like Extraordinary Attorney Woo and Our Blues.
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All of Us Are Dead season 1 (2022)
Directed by Lee JQ, Chun Sung-il and Kim Nam-su and starring Park Ji-hu, Yoon Chan-young, Cho Yi-hyun and Lomon, season 1 of “All of Us Are Dead” has accumulated 679,300,000 hours viewings. With a total of 12 episodes with an approximate duration per episode of 1 hour 11 minutes, the series focuses on the lives of students at Hyosan High School who find themselves turned upside down when one of their classmates returns from the science laboratory with a strange infection. That’s when the teens find themselves trapped in a deadly zombie outbreak.
Based on the webtoon Now At Our School by Joo Dong-geun, this horror K-drama was watched for over 474,26 million hours in the first 30 days of its release.
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Squid Game season 1 (2021)
Directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk and starring Lee Jung-jae Lee Jung-jae, Gong Yoo, Jung Ho-yeon, Wi Ha-joon and Oh Yeong-su, “Squid Game” has managed to accumulate a total of 2,205,200,000 hours viewings. The series has 10 with an approximate duration per episode of 1 hour 8 minutes.
It is in a mysterious place in Korea that people in debt are recruited to participate in a series of games. A total of 456 players then risk their lives to play several levels of children’s games which end with a fatal twist and the one who comes out alive wins a reward of around 38 million dollars or around 312 billion Indian rupees.
By the way, Squid Game season two is expected to premiere on Netflix in the second half of 2024.
Which of these most-watched k-dramas on Netflix is your favorite?