10 Korean Dramas You Need to Be Watching in January 2024

2024 has arrived! And it looks like there are plenty of new kdramas to ring in the new year! Let’s see what we have to look forward to in this January 2024 edition of “Korean Dramas You Need to Be Watching.” This monthly series is meant to keep you updated on what’s happening in that amazing world of Korean dramas so that you don’t miss out on anything! Here are the kdramas you should keep an eye out for in January 2024:

My Pick:

1. Marry My Husband

Marry My Husband Korean Drama - Na In Woo, Park Min Young, Lee Yi Kyung, Song Ha Yoon Marry My Husband is about a woman (Park Min Young) who is terminally ill that catches her husband (Lee Yi Kyung) having an affair with her best friend (Song Ha Yoon) and is then killed by her husband. She then travels back in time 10 years to get revenge on him with the help of a department head (Na In Woo) from her company. Marry My Husband is scheduled to premiere January 1 on tvN.

PREMIERING IN JANUARY:

2. Doctor Slump

Doctor Slump Korean Drama - Park Hyung Sik and Park Shin Hye Doctor Slump is a romantic comedy about two rival doctors (Park Shin Hye and Park Hyung Sik) who are in a slump so they quit their jobs and live in a rooftop house where they experience life’s sorrows and joys together. Doctor Slump is scheduled to premiere January 27 on JTBC.

3. Captivating the King

Captivating the King Korean Drama - Jo Jung Suk and Shin Se Kyung Captivating the King is a historical romance that follows the cruel love story between a king (Jo Jung Suk) who is in danger and a woman (Shin Se Kyung) trying to seduce him for revenge but instead falls in love with him. Captivating the King is scheduled to premiere January 21 on tvN.

4. Love Song for Illusion

Love Song for Illusion Korean Drama - Park Ji Hoon Love Song for Illusion is a historical fantasy romance about a crown prince (Park Ji Hoon) with two identities, one as a prince who works as a fashion designer and the other a charming man who feels pain when in physical contact with others, that gets involved with a woman (Hong Ye Ji) who goes from an assassin to a concubine and loses her memory of the past. Love Song for Illusion is scheduled to premiere January 2 on KBS.

5. Knight Flower

Knight Flower Korean Drama - Honey Lee Knight Flower is a historical comedy investigation drama about a widow (Honey Lee) who lives a double life as the virtuous daughter-in-law of a noble family by day and a woman secretly taking care of others at night. Knight Flower is scheduled to premiere January 12 on MBC.

6. A Shop for Killers

A Shop for Killers Korean Drama - Lee Dong Wook and Kim Hye Joon A Shop for Killers is an action drama about a young woman (Kim Hye Joon) who lives with her uncle (Lee Dong Wook) that runs a shopping mall. After he suddenly dies, she gets an unexpected inheritance and becomes the target of killers. A Shop for Killers is scheduled to premiere January 17 on Disney+.

7. Flex X Cop

Flex X Cop Korean Drama - Ahn Bo Hyun and Park Ji Hyun Flex X Cop is about an immature chaebol heir (Ahn Bo Hyun) who suddenly becomes a detective on the violent crimes teams with plans of using his wealth and connections to help. Flex X Cop is scheduled to premiere January 26 on SBS.

8. GyeongSeong Creature Part 2

Gyeongseong Creature Korean Drama - Park Seo Joon and Han So Hee Gyeongseong Creature Part 2 is a thriller set during the Japanese occupation about people having to put their lives on the line for simple happiness during a time when their rights are being taken away. One man (Park Seo Joon) isn’t interested in justice, but all of that changes when his life is altered after an encounter with a woman (Han So Hee) who searches for missing people. Gyeongseong Creature Part 2 is scheduled to January 5 on Netflix.

CURRENTLY AIRING IN JANUARY:

9. My Happy Ending

My Happy End Korean Drama - Jang Na Ra My Happy Ending is about a furniture brand representative (Jang Na Ra) who had a difficult childhood and is obsessed with seeking success as she tries to change her unhealthy desires. My Happy Ending airs Saturday and Sunday on TV Chosun.

10. My Demon

My Demon Korean Drama - Song Kang and Kim Yoo Jung My Demon is a fantasy romance about a demon (Song Kang) who loses his powers and enters a contract marriage with a chaebol heiress (Kim Yoo Jung) who is the enemy of everyone. My Demon airs Friday and Saturday on SBS.


Other Premieres & Ongoing Dramas (These dramas will be highlighted in the coming months)

Goryeo-Khitan War Him and Her LTNS


AND SO YOU’RE UP TO DATE, OTHER DRAMAS THAT WILL BE ENDING IN JANUARY:

Welcome to Samdalri

Welcome to Samdalri Korean Drama - Ji Chang Wook and Shin Hye Sun Welcome to Samdalri is about a woman (Shin Hye Sun) who returns to her hometown after the life she worked so hard to build comes crashing down that gets involved with a childhood friend (Ji Chang Wook) who is a troublemaker at the Meteorological Association. Welcome to Samdalri airs Saturday and Sunday on JTBC.

The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract

The Story of Park's Contract Marriage Korean Drama - Bae In Hyuk and Lee Se Young The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract is about a woman (Lee Se Young) from the Joseon era who loses her husband on the first night of her marriage and is then is transported to the modern day where she gets involved in a contract marriage with a celibate man (Bae In Hyuk). The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract airs Friday and Saturday on MBC.

Maestra

Maestra Korean Drama - Lee Young Ae Maestra follows the story of an orchestra conductor (Lee Young Ae) with a secret as she investigates mysteries involving her orchestra. Maestra airs Saturday and Sunday on tvN.

Death’s Game

Death's Game Korean Drama - Seo In Guk and Park So Dam Death’s Game is based on a webtoon about a man (Seo In Guk) who begins a new life with death as he gets the chance to live different lives after attempting suicide. Death’s Game airs Friday on TVING.

Tell Me That You Love Me

Tell Me That You Love Me Korean Drama - Jung Woo Sung Tell Me That You Love Me is a remake of a Japanese drama of the same name that follows the romance between a deaf artist (Jung Woo Sung) and an aspiring actress (Shin Hyun Bin). Tell Me That You Love Me airs Monday and Tuesday on ENA.

A Good Day to Be a Dog

A Good Day to Be a Dog Korean Drama - Cha Eun Woo and Park Gyu Young A Good Day to Be a Dog is a romance that tells the story of a woman (Park Gyu Young) who is cursed and transforms into a dog whenever she kisses a man that gets involved with a man (Cha Eun Woo) who is afraid of dogs due to a past trauma. A Good Day to Be a Dog airs Wednesday on MBC.


What dramas are you looking forward to or enjoying in January? Make sure to get caught up because there are more dramas coming your way in February!


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40 responses to “10 Korean Dramas You Need to Be Watching in January 2024”

  1. Timescout Avatar

    Read through the list thrice to see if anything would beacon… but nope, none did. 😄 Guess I’ll just wait for the next batch, maybe something will pop up. Though at this point I doubt it, me and kdramas don’t seem to match anymore.

    1. Kay Avatar

      Haha, there’s always next month. Hopefully, you find some cdramas or jdramas to get you through 🙂

  2. Snow Flower Avatar
    Snow Flower

    I am hooked on Like Flowers In Sand, so will continue to watch it.

    1. Kay Avatar

      Oooh, I haven’t heard too much about that one. I’ll have to keep an eye on it.

      1. Snow Flower Avatar
        Snow Flower

        Luke Flowers In Sand is about a wrestler (Jang Dong Yoon) who has not had much success despite being a child prodigy. He is ready to quit when his childhood friend comes back to town and convinces him not to. But does she have another agenda on her mind? JDY is simply adorable in this. There are also many quirky small town characters, played to perfection by veteran actors.

        1. Kay Avatar

          Aww, that does sound fun! And I do really like Jang Dong Yoon, so him being adorable sounds great too. Also love lots of quirky characters. I’ll have to look into that one more 🙂

          1. Snow Flower Avatar
            Snow Flower

            He was born to play this character!

          2. Kay Avatar

            I love it when an actor is the perfect fit for a character, and you just know it was made for them 🙂

  3. Kate Avatar

    Just Doctor Slump and Captivating the King look interesting enough for me to give a look. I’m currently watching Good day to be a dog, Story of Park’s Contract Marriage, My Demon, and Samdalri. I tried a few episodes of Death’s Game and couldn’t stick with it. Too dark for me.

    1. Kay Avatar

      Captivating the King definitely looks interesting. I would like to see Park Shin Hye in Doctor Slump, but it depends how much doctoring there ends up being as I’ll only watch if it’s a bare minimum 😅

  4. D Avatar
    D

    1,2,3, 7 and 8 are interesting to me. I would have been very excited about Park Min Young’s drama in the past and she used to be my favourite actress but last couple of dramas were not my cup of tea and so I’m a little weary about this one too. 🙂 Hoping it’s good though.

    1. Kay Avatar

      I know how disappointing is when an actor you’ve enjoyed in the past has had their recent dramas not work out for you. Park Min Young is a favorite of mine too. Luckily, I’ve still been doing well with her. I haven’t seen her two weather dramas yet, but I loved Love in Contract. And Marry My Husband looks right up my alley, so I’m hopeful. Hopefully, it’s a redeeming one for you 🙂

  5. seankfletcher Avatar

    Marry My Husband got off to a very strong start for me. Finally, it would seem PYM is back on track 😊

    1. Kay Avatar

      Ooh, that’s sounds promising! I’m really looking forward to it 🙂

  6. humbledaisy1 Avatar
    humbledaisy1

    I’ve been intrigued by Marry My Husband (will start it this week) and probably will look at Doctor Slump as I think PSH is a fine but underserved actress (I guess I think she’s so naturalistic that she points out the stagey format of most Korean directing) but I don’t have high hopes. Quite frankly, every doctor I know is still paying off their college loans and can’t afford to drop out of society!

    1. Kay Avatar

      Marry My Husband does look very interesting. I’ll definitely be checking it out. I might check out Doctor Slump if the actual doctoring isn’t too much since I don’t really like medical dramas.

  7. sovietredstar Avatar
    sovietredstar

    Presently watching:

    The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract. Excellent.

    Welcome to Samdalri. Good, not great.

    Finished watching the 2020 Chinese show “Skating Into Love”. Childhood friends who hate each other as adults then evolve into lovers. Good chemistry with the main couple. The characters are college athletes. He is an ice hockey player, she is a ice speed racer. The competition for her is a figure skater.

    The ice skating is an important part of the show, throughout the show. So if you like ice skating and it’s related sports you’ll love this show. The supporting cast romance is also good. The writer did a good job showing two completely different romances. The main romance had all the typical problems such as disapproving parents, jealousy, miscommunication, seperation, breakups, etc. While the supporting characters’ romance is simply, sweet and drama free.

    WARNING Possible disturbing content:

    An interesting thing to point out about this show. I have never seen this kind scene in an Asian show made for TV. The supporting cast romance couple are swimming at the beach when the girl gets stung on the leg by a jellyfish. She’s in a lot of pain. Her boyfriend, who is a medical student, tells her that urine put on the wound will reduce the pain and swelling. She gives him permission to pee on her leg, which he does. Though you can tell what is happening the appropriate area has some stone structure block it.

    1. Kay Avatar

      Too bad you didn’t enjoy Welcome to Samdalri. I’m planning to eventually check it out since I love both of the leads.

      Skating Into Love sounds like a fun drama, and I do like ice skating. Interesting little scene involving the swimming accident for sure, lol.

  8. sovietredstar Avatar
    sovietredstar

    I just finished watching “The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract”. Rating 9/10. It is now on my short list of the best Kdramas ever. Highly recommended.

    1. Kay Avatar

      The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract is on my short list of dramas to watch soon, so I’m excited to hear a good review for it from you. On the list of best kdramas ever is certainly high praise!

    2. justjenday Avatar
      justjenday

      Yes! I watched it as each episode came out on Viki and really enjoyed it! I thought I would be tired of marriage contract stories, but they did a great job with the rom-com and time travel aspect that kept me entertained!

  9. sovietredstar Avatar
    sovietredstar

    Started watching The Matchmakers. Very Good.

  10. Dragon Archive Avatar

    There are so many new things that I just can’t decide on which one to start first!

    1. Kay Avatar

      I know the feeling! 😅

  11. Jennifer Avatar

    I’m currently watching Welcome to Samdal-ri (episode 7), and it’s really good! The crying and drinking seems excessive in this show. Lol 😆 But I love the storyline, comedy, and romance. And the scenic island town seems like the perfect place to live! 😁💜

    1. Kay Avatar

      I’m glad to hear a good report on Welcome to Samdal-ri 🙂 I love both the leads, and the story and setting looks nice. I hope you enjoy it all the way through 🙂

  12. sovietredstar Avatar
    sovietredstar

    I just finished watching Welcome to Sandal-ri. I standby my my initial assessment given when I had seen about 4 episodes, good but not great. Enjoyed seeing Yang Kyung Won in a supporting role. I’ve been a fan of his since seeing him in Crash Landing on You. Another well known figure is Kim Mi-Kyung. She’s been in many shows, usually playing the mom or grandmas. In this show she has the biggest role I’ve seen her in. I’ll go into more detail once Kay posts her review. Rating: 7.5/10

    1. Kay Avatar

      Glad it turned out at least good, so a solid watch. And I love Kim Mi Kyung! Happy she has a bigger role in this. I’ll look forward to checking out the drama 🙂

  13. sovietredstar Avatar
    sovietredstar

    Started watching Radio Romance.

    1. Kay Avatar

      I thought Radio Romance was a simple but cute drama. Good luck with it 🙂

      1. sovietredstar Avatar
        sovietredstar

        I finished watching Radio Romance. Yoon Park was excellent in his supporting role as the program director.The radio booth setting for the radio broadcasts was great. Some of the broadcasts were very emotional. The main leads’ romance was very good but there were several times throughout the show where it seemed to me to lose its fire momentarily. I blame the writer and/or director for that. Rating 8/10

        1. Kay Avatar

          That’s pretty similar to my experience with the drama. Definitely has shortcomings but still a fun watch. Glad you liked it too 🙂

  14. justjenday Avatar
    justjenday

    I recently finished Gyeongseong Creature and loved it!! Got me craving for more thrillers! Also glad to come across binge-worthy shows after Twinkling Watermelon, which was one of my fave for 2023! Imo South Korea hitting off really well with storylines and cast since this fall!

    1. Kay Avatar

      It’s always great to find good binge-worthy shows. I’m watching Twinkling Watermelon right now and am loving it! There does look like a lot of good dramas to choose from right now 🙂

  15. sovietredstar Avatar
    sovietredstar

    Just finished the first episode of My Demon. Seems like a good one though it appears to be another retelling of the demon or angel falls for human and loses their powers story. I hope the cast came make it special.

    1. Kay Avatar

      My Demon has been pretty popular as of late, so I may end up giving it a look too. I hope they can give a little something special too.

  16. sovietredstar Avatar
    sovietredstar

    I was searching for something to watch and the story description for “Love Fiction” sounded interesting. Right from the start this show had a different look to it. The language used and topics the people talked about was very adult (compared to Kdrama shows). For example, in the bedroom love scene the male lead reacts to the the female lead’s hairy armpits (bet we won’t see that in a Kdrama). This was a movie made in 2012. The way the script was written and filmed made the story much more realistic. I love soapy Kdramas but Korean movies are usually a more realistic slice of life and can be really good

    1. Kay Avatar

      Haha, yeah, definitely not the kind of thing that would show up in a kdrama! Yes, kdramas and kmovies tend to have very different vibes. I definitely have some movies that I really enjoy, but since I gravitate towards the more soapy stuff, I’m a drama lover at heart, hehe 😊

  17. Kpop Singers Avatar

    I’ve already seen Marry My Husband, Love Song for Illusion, My Happy Ending, and My Demon! Looks like January is packed with exciting dramas, and I can’t wait to dive into Doctor Slump with Park Hyung Sik and Park Shin Hye. The rooftop house setting sounds like a unique twist for a romantic comedy, and I’m excited to see how their chemistry unfolds.

    1. Kay Avatar

      Looks like you’re getting in lots of good dramas! Definitely lots of potential in the new crop too. Marry My Husband and My Demon are my list. Maybe Doctor Slump and Love Song for Illusion. Plenty to choose from 🙂

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