Upcoming K-dramas on Netflix 2023: from Black Knight to Squid Game, season 2
From the dystopian thriller Black Knight to a potential Squid Game return, here are the upcoming K-dramas on Netflix that we can't wait to see
Go Hyun-jung in Mask Girl, Netflix (Photo: Netflix)
Black
Knight
UK Netflix release date: Friday 12 May
Like a confluence of Apple TV+ series Silo and the Hideo Kojima video game Death Stranding, the dystopian K-drama Black Knight follows a deliveryman operating in a polluted future. Earth’s oxygen has largely been depleted, and only 1% of the human race has survived. By 2071, Seoul has turned into a bleak desert wasteland with the citizens divided by a strict social hierarchy.
For their resources, they’re dependent on deliverymen – one of whom is the legendary 5-8 (Kim Woo-bin), who transports precious oxygen to those in need. By night, he plots to overthrow the oppressive Chun-myung Group, which capitalises on the widespread desperation for oxygen. Also stars Kang You-seok (Start-Up) and Roh Yeon-soo (Crash Couse in Romance).
Celebrity
UK Netflix release date: summer 2023
Photo: Netflix
If you’re a K-drama fan, you’ll probably recognise Park Gyu-young as the awkward and lovelorn Ju-ri in It’s Okay to Not Be Okay. It's very different to Park's new leading role in the forthcoming Celebrity, in which she plays a woman entering the garish and glamorous realm of influencer culture.
Becoming a social media sensation overnight, Seo A-ri (Park) posts ‘bold’ content that sets her apart from other influencers. Now, she has to navigate a strange competitive battlefield, with likes and followers serving as her soldiers.
Mask Girl
UK Netflix release date: summer 2023
Photo: Netflix
Recalling Édith Scob’s performance in Eyes Without a Face, the above image from Mask Girl is rather disturbing. Behind that fixed countenance is Kim Mo-mi (Go Hyun-jung), an insecure office worker who’s uncomfortable about how she looks. When night rolls around, she puts on the mask and live-streams to an audience – keeping her face and identity anonymous. Little does she know that her office colleague Ju Oh-nam (Ahn Jae-hong) has a crush on her.
But as Mo-mi continues being a broadcasting jockey, she becomes entangled in an incident that sets her (and Oh-nam) onto a road of weird twists, black comedy, and fierce messages about lookism.
Song of the Bandits
UK Netflix release date: summer 2023
Photo: Netflix
The international curiosity for Korean culture (via Hallyu) has also intensified the fascination in the country itself. Last year’s phenomenal Soo Hugh series Pachinko showed the complicated history between Korea and Japan, painting a detailed picture of what the country has suffered through. Much like the United States with Westerns and, by extension, Japan with samurai movies, Song of the Bandits dives into Korea’s past with an action/adventure twang – complete with guns, hats and horses.
Set in the 1920s, the series follows a group of people who end up in a lawless land and unite. But this place is a breeding ground for all sorts of dangerous factions, including bandits, assassins, Japanese troops, and the Korean Independence Army.
Doona!
UK Netflix release date: autumn 2023
Photo: Netflix
Another key part of the Korean New Wave is K-pop, which many romantic K-dramas like to embrace. Think of NJ (No Jeong-ee) in Our Beloved Summer or the group DOS in Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha. But Doona! – the latest series from the Crash Landing On You director Lee Jung-hyo – centralises K-pop in its premise.
Taking place in a shared house, the series follows the former music idol Doona (real-life K-pop star Bae Suzy) crossing paths with the ordinary uni student Woo-joon (Yang Se-jong). Becoming a housemates-to-lovers romance, Doona! explores love in your early 20s.
Squid Game, season 2?
UK Netflix release date: TBC
Truth be told, we don’t know that Squid Game is definitely coming this year. But writer/creator Hwang Dong-hyuk did suggest a late 2023/early 2024 release, so fingers crossed. For much of the world, this surreal and bloody allegory against capitalism is the definitive K-drama – ascending to Netflix’s most-watched series globally, beating Stranger Things and Bridgerton.
K-dramas don't often branch into second seasons – their industry takes a mostly one-and-done philosophy – but that's impossible for Squid Game. Hwang has revealed scant details about the next chapter: teasing the return of season-one hero Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) and the villainous Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) for an intense tale of revenge.
Read more
UK Netflix release date: Friday 12 May
Like a confluence of Apple TV+ series Silo and the Hideo Kojima video game Death Stranding, the dystopian K-drama Black Knight follows a deliveryman operating in a polluted future. Earth’s oxygen has largely been depleted, and only 1% of the human race has survived. By 2071, Seoul has turned into a bleak desert wasteland with the citizens divided by a strict social hierarchy.
For their resources, they’re dependent on deliverymen – one of whom is the legendary 5-8 (Kim Woo-bin), who transports precious oxygen to those in need. By night, he plots to overthrow the oppressive Chun-myung Group, which capitalises on the widespread desperation for oxygen. Also stars Kang You-seok (Start-Up) and Roh Yeon-soo (Crash Couse in Romance).
Celebrity
UK Netflix release date: summer 2023
Photo: Netflix
If you’re a K-drama fan, you’ll probably recognise Park Gyu-young as the awkward and lovelorn Ju-ri in It’s Okay to Not Be Okay. It's very different to Park's new leading role in the forthcoming Celebrity, in which she plays a woman entering the garish and glamorous realm of influencer culture.
Becoming a social media sensation overnight, Seo A-ri (Park) posts ‘bold’ content that sets her apart from other influencers. Now, she has to navigate a strange competitive battlefield, with likes and followers serving as her soldiers.
Mask Girl
UK Netflix release date: summer 2023
Photo: Netflix
Recalling Édith Scob’s performance in Eyes Without a Face, the above image from Mask Girl is rather disturbing. Behind that fixed countenance is Kim Mo-mi (Go Hyun-jung), an insecure office worker who’s uncomfortable about how she looks. When night rolls around, she puts on the mask and live-streams to an audience – keeping her face and identity anonymous. Little does she know that her office colleague Ju Oh-nam (Ahn Jae-hong) has a crush on her.
But as Mo-mi continues being a broadcasting jockey, she becomes entangled in an incident that sets her (and Oh-nam) onto a road of weird twists, black comedy, and fierce messages about lookism.
Song of the Bandits
UK Netflix release date: summer 2023
Photo: Netflix
The international curiosity for Korean culture (via Hallyu) has also intensified the fascination in the country itself. Last year’s phenomenal Soo Hugh series Pachinko showed the complicated history between Korea and Japan, painting a detailed picture of what the country has suffered through. Much like the United States with Westerns and, by extension, Japan with samurai movies, Song of the Bandits dives into Korea’s past with an action/adventure twang – complete with guns, hats and horses.
Set in the 1920s, the series follows a group of people who end up in a lawless land and unite. But this place is a breeding ground for all sorts of dangerous factions, including bandits, assassins, Japanese troops, and the Korean Independence Army.
Doona!
UK Netflix release date: autumn 2023
Photo: Netflix
Another key part of the Korean New Wave is K-pop, which many romantic K-dramas like to embrace. Think of NJ (No Jeong-ee) in Our Beloved Summer or the group DOS in Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha. But Doona! – the latest series from the Crash Landing On You director Lee Jung-hyo – centralises K-pop in its premise.
Taking place in a shared house, the series follows the former music idol Doona (real-life K-pop star Bae Suzy) crossing paths with the ordinary uni student Woo-joon (Yang Se-jong). Becoming a housemates-to-lovers romance, Doona! explores love in your early 20s.
Squid Game, season 2?
UK Netflix release date: TBC
Truth be told, we don’t know that Squid Game is definitely coming this year. But writer/creator Hwang Dong-hyuk did suggest a late 2023/early 2024 release, so fingers crossed. For much of the world, this surreal and bloody allegory against capitalism is the definitive K-drama – ascending to Netflix’s most-watched series globally, beating Stranger Things and Bridgerton.
K-dramas don't often branch into second seasons – their industry takes a mostly one-and-done philosophy – but that's impossible for Squid Game. Hwang has revealed scant details about the next chapter: teasing the return of season-one hero Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) and the villainous Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) for an intense tale of revenge.
Read more
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