With a new year comes a whole new slate of K-dramas to dig into, from tragic historical fantasies, comedic police dramas to good old melodrama. Here’s all the upcoming K-dramas premiering in January 2024.
On New Year’s Day, the highly anticipated Love Song for Illusion and Marry My Husband, both based on popular webtoons, will premiere. The former follows the star-crossed between a tortured young prince and the woman sent to assassinate him. Meanwhile, Marry My Husband sees an unlucky and mistreated young woman going back in time to change her fate.
Historical drama fans are in for a treat this coming January, with the upcoming Flower That Blooms at Night and Sejak: Charmed Deceit. Both are set in the Joseon Dynasty and follow the secret lives of royals and nobles.
Back in the present, Flex x Cop is a comedic police drama revolving around an intelligent but immature third-generation chaebol-turned-detective, who is paired up with a department veteran who despises him. Queen of Divorce revolves around another talented but comedic duo, this time in the realm of divorce law.
Here’s all the upcoming K-dramas premiering in January 2024
Love Song for Illusion
Based on the Naver webtoon of the same name, historical-fantasy drama Love Song for Illusion follows Yeon Wol (Hong Ye-ji), a young woman on a quest for revenge after witnessing the massacre of her family by the royal government as a child. Years later, she infiltrates the palace as part of a plan to assassinate the king. However, Yeon Wol winds up falling into a trap, waking up the next day with amnesia.
She is later appointed to become a concubine of the crown prince Hyun (Park Ji-hoon), who hides a secret alternate personality, Ak-hee, who is cursed to experience extreme pain whenever someone touches him. As the pair begin to fall passionately in love, Yeon Wol’s painful past returns to haunt them.
Episodes: 16
Cast: Park Ji-hoon, Hong Ye-ji, Hwang Hee and Ji Woo
Director and Screenwriter: Lee Jung-seop, Yoon Kyung-ah
How to watch: Love Song for Illusion will premiere on KBS2 on January 1, airing on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Marry My Husband
This fantasy melodrama revolves around Kang Ji-won (Park Min-young), an overworked young woman whose marriage is suffering because of her husband Park Min-hwan (Lee Yi-kyung) and his mother’s selfish demands. One day, Ji-won discovers that she has terminal cancer, and witnesses her husband and her friend Jung Soo-min (Song Ha-yoon) having an affair shortly after. Getting into a physical altercation with the pair, she is accidentally killed by her husband.
However, Ji-won opens her eyes to find herself ten years in the past, before she had married Min-hwan. Hoping to change her fate, she decides to bring the adulterous couple together instead. As Ji-won takes her future into her own hands, she starts to notice that one of her co-workers, the earnest Yoo Ji-hyeok (Na In-woo) has a secret crush on her.
Episodes: 16
Cast: Park Min-young, Na In-woo, Lee Yi-kyung and Song Ha-yoon
Director and Screenwriter: Park Won-guk, Shin Yoo-dam
How to watch: Marry My Husband will premiere on tvN on January 1 at 8:50pm KST, with new episodes airing on Mondays and Tuesdays. It will also be available on Prime Video.
Flower That Blooms at Night
Also adapted from a webtoon, upcoming historical drama Flower That Blooms at Night sees Honey Lee in the role of Jo Yeo-hwa, a widow of a noble family during the Joseon Dynasty. While she spends her days at home playing the dutiful daughter-in-law to her late husband’s family, Yeo-hwa secretly sneaks out at night to take care of those who need help.
On one of these nights, Yeo-hwa encounters Park Soo-ho (Lee Jong-won), an intelligent and handsome military officer whose life changes after their chance encounter. As the two begin to cross paths more frequently, Yeo-hwa begins to dream about a future with Soo-ho.
Episodes: 12
Cast: Honey Lee, Lee Jong-won, Kim Song-joong and Lee Ki-woo
Director and Screenwriter: Jang Tae-yoo, Lee Sam
How to watch: Flower That Blooms at Night will premiere on MBC January 12 at 9:50pm KST, with new episodes airing on Fridays and Saturdays
LTNS
Upcoming comedy drama LTNS follows Woo-jin (Esom) and Samuel (Ahn Jae-hong), a childless couple who have been married for five years. Woo-jin is highly driven, but works as a receptionist at a three-star hotel with a modest salary. Meanwhile, Samuel graduated from a prestigious university and used to work for a major company, but eventually had a mental breakdown and quit to become a taxi driver.
Financially burdened and stressed out from work, their marriage has lost all excitement and become “sexless”. When their financial situation takes a turn for the worst, Woo-jin and Samuel decide to blackmail couples having extramarital affairs to earn some extra cash. At the same time, they begin to reflect on their own relationship.
Episodes: 6
Cast: Esom, Ahn Jae-hong
Director and Screenwriter: Lim Dae-hyung, Jeon Go-woon
How to watch: LTNS premieres on TVING on January 19
The Bequeathed
Based on a popular webtoon and co-written by Yeon Sang-ho (Hellbound, Train to Busan), The Bequeathed stars Kim Hyun-joo as Yoon Seo-ha, a woman who inherits a graveyard after the death of her uncle. However, her claim to the property proves to be more complicated than expected when a man claiming to be her half-brother arrives at the funeral.
To make matters worse, a series of mysterious murders occurring on and around the graveyard begins to catch the attention of police officers Seong-joon and Sang-min, played by My Name‘s Park Hee-soon and Moving‘s Park Byung-eun.
Episodes: 6
Cast: Kim Hyun-joo, Ryu Kyung-soo, Park Hee-soon and Park Byung-eun
Director and Screenwriter: Yeon Sang-ho, Hwang Eun-young and Min Hong-nam
How to watch: The Bequeathed premieres globally via Netflix on January 19
Sejak: Charmed Deceit
Hospital Playlist fan favourite Jo Jung-suk leads this upcoming historical romance as Prince Lee In, who finds himself torn between love and power. Swearing loyalty to his older brother, King Lee Sun, he allows himself to be taken hostage by the Qing Dynasty. However, Lee Sun continues to despise his brother, viewing him as weak.
Though Lee In suffers emotionally from this strained relationship, he finds solace in the game of baduk. Through it, he meets and becomes fascinated with rising player Kang Hee-soo (Shin Se-kyung), who falls passionately in love with him.
Years later, Lee In ends up becoming the king, but is unhappy in his position. During this time, rising baduk player Hee-soo becomes a spy and is sent to approach the king. However, she soon realises that the new king is the same man she fell in love with in the past.
Episodes: 16
Cast: Jo Jung-suk, Shin Se-kyung, Park Ye-young and Lee Shin-young
Director and Screenwriter: Cho Nam-guk, Kim Seon-deok
How to watch: Sejak: Charmed Deceit will premiere January 21 on tvN
Flex x Cop
A blend of crime, comedy and romance, Flex x Cop is about a third-generation chaebol Jin Yin-soo (Ahn Bo-hyun), who becomes a police detective in the violent crimes division despite his immature personality and his family’s wealth. At work, he attempts to wipe out criminals by using his money and personal connections.
Also part of the violent crimes division is veteran detective Lee Kang-hyun (Park Ji-hyun) who is extremely hardworking and dedicated to solving crimes. Initially, she sees Yin-soo and his methods as more trouble than they are worth. However, Kang-hyun starts to see him differently after they are assigned to become partners.
Episodes: 16
Cast: Ahn Bo-hyun, Park Ji-hyun, Kang Sang-jun and Kim Shin-bi
Director and Screenwriter: Kim Jae-hong, Kim Ba-da
How to watch: Flex x Cop will premiere January 26 on SBS, and air on Fridays and Saturdays. It will also stream on Disney+ in selected regions.
Doctor Slump
Romantic-comedy Doctor Slump follows a pair of doctors and former rivals who reunite as they find themselves at a crossroads in their lives and careers. Yeo Jung-woo (Park Hyung-sik) is a top-scoring medical student who later becomes a famed plastic surgeon. However, a mysterious medical accident pushes him to rock bottom.
It is around this time he meets former classmate Nam Ha-neul (Park Shin-hye) again, who now works as an anaesthesiologist. Despite being praised throughout her life for her extreme intelligence, she comes to realise that she is not happy, as her life only revolves around work and study. As the two doctors reconnect, they find comfort in each other, and a romance begins to blossom between them.
Episodes: 16
Cast: Park Hyung-sik, Park Shin-hye, Yoon Park and Kong Seong-ha
Director and Screenwriter: Oh Hyun-jong, Baek Sun-woo
How to watch: Doctor Slump will premiere January 27, airing on Saturday and Sunday nights on JTBC, and will also be streamed on Netflix
Queen of Divorce
Starring Penthouse‘s Lee Ji-ah and The Uncanny Counter‘s Kang Ki-young, Queen of Divorce follows a “problem-solver” and divorce lawyer duo who punish their clients’ bad spouses. Lee plays Sara Kim, the leader of divorce settlement company Solution. Formerly the daughter-in-law of a prominent law family, she loses everything and starts the company after being betrayed by her husband.
Meanwhile, Kang plays her business partner, lawyer Dong Ki-joon. A former prosecutor with one of the highest prosecution rates in his region, he mysteriously steps down from his post. Together, the duo seek to get the best settlement for their clients seeking to divorce their partners.
Episodes: 16
Cast: Lee Ji-ah, Kang Ki-young, Oh Min-seok, Kim Sun-young
Director and Screenwriter: Park Jin-seok, Jeong Hee-seon
How to watch: Queen of Divorce premieres on January 31 on JTBC, airing on Wednesdays and Thursdays