The BEST Korean Dramas of the last TEN Years 

Good list. CLOY was my first back at the start of 2020 and now I'm 95 dramas in :)

Love this topic since there are so many great series - I agree with The Glory and hope there is a second season. I really enjoyed ‘It’s Okay to be Not Okay’, ‘What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?’, and ‘Itaewon Class’. ‘Alchemy of Souls’ is on my list to watch soon - and plus ‘My Mister’ too.

Crash Landing On You is one of my favs also. Besides the romance, what makes it stick out for me was the friendships between her and the soldiers. I laughed so much watching this drama. When they got to SK and experienced our ‘normals’ made me laugh so much. Def watch Our Blues, especially when you need a good cry. I think I was sobbing by the end of every episode 😂

I Love Love Love Korean dramas. Watched about 30 so far and can’t get enough. Thank you for sharing your list, there is so many on your list that I haven’t seen as yet and am hoping I live long enough to see them all 😂 So happy you did this. Thank you so much. 🙏

OmMG your list right on, so much alike to what I would pick even the ones that didn’t make too 10 and the list that you haven’t watched, loved the vid! 🎈

Some underrated gems. 1. Through the darkness 2. Nobody knows 3. Designated survivor 60 days 4. Agency 5. Birthcare center 6. Call it love 7. When the waether is fine 8. Gaus Electronics 9. The guest 10. Tunnel

This list is soo good! I really like most of the ones you named, there is some I have not watched yet but definitely agree with you about The Glory, I have watched most of Song Hye Kyo’s dramas and this definitely shows her off as a great actress, the other actors, every episode was breathtaking 😂.I also think that My name was really good and Thirty Nine it’s a very touchy one. You should definitely watch TWOM, I think I watched that in 2 days 😅

I was waiting for you to mention Sky Castle! I agree that it’s dark and a little hard to get in that mindset to watch it. Glad it’s on the list to watch!

I also love My Mister, Descendants of the Sun, and Squid Game too!!! Here are my top 10 for the last ten years: My Mister, Descendants of the Sun, 25 21, Signal, Squid Game, Mother, Radiant, Age of Youth, Healer, and When the Weather is Fine. Honorable mentions: Vincenzo, She was Pretty, Start Up, Dr. Romantic, Search, Dear My Friends, Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo, Queen for 7 days, and Circle.

I love this. I didn’t even know you had a RU-vid channel 😅 . I am bilingual Spanish-English kdrama fan! I am going back and forth to Netflix to see if i have watched the shows or not😂 thank you!!

Thanks for the list. My list is very similar and my to watch list keeps growing. You need to see 'Itaewon Class' and 'Our Blues'. Loved both. Some of my other favorites that you didn't mention...Prison Playbook (have loved everything I've seen that writer Lee Woo-jeong has done), Something in the Rain (Sorry, a sucker for anything Jung Hae-in is in), Rain or Shine, Our Beloved Summer, Vincenzo (love ensemble casts), It's Okay to Not Be Okay, and The Wind Blows (hit me hard personally). Love dramas that are romantic, but also like the dramas with a social commentary. I don't even watch American TV anymore.😉

Wow! I guess we have similar taste in kdrama ! Especially My Mister I like rewatching certain scenes because of the amazing dialogues!

What about “it's okay not to be okay”?! Agree with some but not all

I’ve seen so many k-dramas now and the majority are amazing, right up my street. The first I watched and still my favourite is it’s okay not to be okay, then 25/21 and mr sunshine. Watching my mister atm and it’s pretty good so far. I’ll add some of your list to my ‘to watch’ list too

Ok I TOTALLY agree with your choices so I’ll be watching some of your recs!

Thanks for the list! I'm excited to check out some new watches and you did a great job helping me know what to expect

My Mister, my fav❤❤❤❤❤

a very good list!! my personal list is based on rewatchability (which is rare cause I'm not a TV person lol), so my some of my tops are It's Okay to Not Be Okay, Goblin, Suspicious Partner, Vincenzo, Pinocchio, and While You Were Sleeping.

Great observation.. I watched extra ordinary woo, descendants of the sun,squid game, crash landing on you, the glory from your top ten list mam😇

I agree with a lot on your list except what about Vincenzo?!?!! It had a little bit of everything...romance, drama, blood, comedy... but wasn't over-the-top on any particular subject. I've watched if multiple times. And they were all awesome amazing actors/actresses - total team players. I also like Dr Romantic #2 and look forward to see #1 and #3 seasons which I know isn't correct order but we do what we have time to do. I agree with your pick on Crash Landing but also would add Something in the Rain. Those are 2 dramas I would list in my top 5 and rewatched as well. I also like If You Wish Upon Me and Why Her as my top 20 list....I could never narrow down to 10 so you did great! We appreciate all your recommendations so keep them coming. #sharingiscaring

Hometown ChaChaCha was my first K-Drama followed by Extraordinary Attorney Woo. Which then led me to another series with her The Kings Affection ❤ Love Under the Queens Umbrella. Beautiful portrayal of a mother’s love. You don’t have many that are on my list including. Rookie Historian, The Crowned Clown, 100 days my Price, Flower Crew, The Red Sleeve, Moon embracing the Sun ❤😢 Love historical dramas.

Never really was aware of Kdramas untill COVID hit... Secretary Kim was my entryway in the Kdrama world and it has been a wonderful ride... have watched all the dramas mentioned in the video and truly they are some the best!!

I loved Extraordinary Attorney Woo as someone on the spectrum I felt she was amazing!

Thanks I’ll check out some of these

What a fantastic list!!! My favorite Kdrama of all time is Crash Landing on You. What made it my favorite besides the great story line, great characters, etc is that I REALLY felt their chemistry while I was watching it. I never cried as much in a Kdrama as I did in certain scenes. It is great to know that they fell in love in real life, got married, and had a baby. Their chemistry was so intense that it translated through the screen. Brilliant Kdrama!

Thank you for posting this! Where do you access programs that aren’t available on Netflix?

Of your top ten, I’ve seen 8, 7, 3, and 2, and they’re in my top ten so far - so I’ll have to check out the others on your list! Goblin and Itaewon Class make my list too. Would love to hear your thoughts about those in the “close to” and why they aren’t in the top ten for you 😊.

Thanks to you , I take some recommendations, I already update my liste in Netflix, I add : replay 1988 , some of them are already in my list but still not watched them to my list 😍

I think we have very similar taste in kdramas. If you haven't yet seen Oh My Venus, I highly recommend it. It may be my favorite so far. The casting, acting and writing are superb.

Don’t worry, I’m still your fan even tho Goblin wasn’t #1. But you’re on thin ice missy! 😂😂

I've recently finished watching My Demon and Marry My Husband (my first two K-Dramas ever 🤯.) and they were incredible. The cinematography, story, acting from everyone in the cast were all top notch. Thank you for creating this video. It gives me a great guideline for what to watch next. I am SOOOOOOOOO impressed with these shows. It's an entire new world that has been opened up to me. 🥰

Our Blues is worth a watch. Good list too.

You might also like "It's OKay to not be Okay." I loved it!

Crash landing was SO GOOOOD, it’s literally my all time favorite kdrama❤❤❤

My Mister best drama ❤️ It’s Okay To Not Be Okay, My Liberation Notes, 2521, Vincenzo, Flower of Evil and Our Blues are Great Dramas as well

Your list is similar to mine. Have not watched #9, but will add to my watchlist. Can’t watch your #1. Too dark gave up after ep2. Pls do a update of list after you’re done with the dramas you have not watched yet. 😊

My liberation notes group 4. Great show, hopeful …….❤❤❤

You probably need to do a part 2 to this! Have you watched the red sleeve, king the land, chief kim (the good manager), doctor slump, wok of love and crash course in romance? if yes, what did you think?

Another gem that should go on your watch list is Hot Stove League. Among those dramas that you haven’t watched which I love are Our Blues, World of the Married and Sky Castle

When the weather is fine is one of my favorite Korean drama. I love the story

I've seen a lot on your list as well as your "to see" list. Sky Castle and Our Blues is a must watch for sure. Curious, have you seen Thirty Nine? If you like a political drama, Chief of Staff was a good one. More recent is Divorce attorney Shin.

45 y.o. ahjussi here 😂 You get a thumbs up from me for “my mister”. Amazing drama & IU really shined in this one; not gonna lie I bawled my eyes out 😭 Some of my favorites I really suggest watching: Mr Queen & Still 17 with Shin Hye-sun, Bring it on ghost! & school 2015 with Kim So-hyun, Missing: the other side (really underrated and one of the few shows that their 2nd season was as good as the first) & everything that Namkoong Min has starred in 😂 I love the guy; such a versatile actor.

I've not watched My mister yet but the female lead from that (IU I think her stage name is) was brilliant in Hotel Del luna. I suggest you watch it because it's a great story

Thoughts on your yet to watch list. Well you have definitely missed some big names Reborn Rich - Well it was good, business revenge story, but it also has this fantasy element which plays with your mind. The World of the Married - Ohh this was just pure rage. Cheating, Revenge everything combined. Drama was so good. But definitely not on my top 10 list. Sky Castle - This is a must watch. Its about school but its dark. It's so much student centered. It's not about injustice or anything except for a one character. But more about academic pressure and social standards. And its definitely a Dark Comedy category. Itaewon Class - This, this will make you feel about injustice and all that stuff. And this is also a kind of revenge story. Our Blues - This was a beautifully done drama. You feel a lot of emotions and there are so many main leads as well. So it feels like each episode is dedicated to a different main character at the beginning, but the storyline goes smoothly. This is giving pretty similar village vibes to hometown cha cha cha. Well you should definitely watch SKY castle and Our Blues. And Mr. Queen and Alchemy of Souls were good too.

Vincenzo!!! I love it!

Great picks…Reply 1988 is the best out of the Reply series…my mother and I have watched it quite a few times, and enjoy just as much as watching it the first time.

Have you seen Stranger/Secret Forest/Bimilui Soop? I loved that one!

whooo you need to make another list and include Marry My Husband in it :)

I've seen all of the top 10, they are all good however I only agree on 6 of the ten you mentioned. The rest I watched but they weren't ones that I would recommend.

That’s a great list! Except I, personally, don’t like and don’t watch on purpose any movies about zombies or vampires haha. But this was a great list. Just my personal opinion about dramas you’ve mentioned you haven’t watched… yet :) this drama about a rich boy (성준기) - a watched couple of episodes and it just didn’t hit me, like, at all. I already knew the ending then. So I stopped. THOUGH I’ve heard lots of praising comments… Sky castle - is very good though a bit exaggerated sometimes for the sake of the drama. And Itewon Class was also a drama where I knew what would it end with right from the beginning 🙈 THOUGH I really love the main soundtrack 😌 oh, and 슬기로운 의사생활 would def make up to the first places on my personal list, together with another movie of this creator :)

Thanks so much for the recommendations. I noticed that a few of our favorite dramas intersect! Here are my mine (from most to least favorite) :1) Kingdom 2) The Glory 3) Squid Game 4) The Uncanny Counter 5) The World of the Married 6) Hellbound 7) Sweet Home 8) Itaewon Class 9) Reply 1988 10) Crash Course in Romance . As a guy, I noticed I like mostly shows with dark tones or action, with not too much romance. However, I was surprised to like dramas like reply 1988 and crash course.

My MIster is so good that I stop it several times each time I watch it just because I can't believe how good it is. Probably one of the best things that has ever been made for TV. American culture has declined to the point that it simply can't produce anything that even comes close to the k-dramas I have seen. I agree with pretty much everything on your list. I started descendents of the sun, but it didn't hold my interest - maybe someday. Have you seen Hello Me or Backstreet Rookie? They were two of the earlier ones I watched and I loved them both - they really got me hooked to k-dramas 🙂

The D.P. Is sooo good

I recommend to watch The Red Sleeve. Based on true historical figures

Deserter pursuit deserve more recognition it’s such a good drama

Oh number 9 lol. Idk about that. But won’t hold it against you. We all have our taste. My Mister is AMAZING. My favorites you didn’t include were Because This Is My First Life, SIGNAL, & My Liberation Notes. Have you seen those?

The best K-Drama I've ever seen is "Thirty-nine". They advertised it as the Korean "Sex and the City" and it's soooo much more than that. I cried my eyes out. Highly recommend it to everyone.

I think D-day (2015) is my favourite, an underrated kmesical drama. But the plot is really cool, actors (Kim young Kwang and Jung So Min among others) are brilliant. I highly recommend to watch. Amazing

Of the many that you have seen and haven't, I like 10 of them and seen 7 of those. Many of then I can't see, since I only have Netflix. I got hooked on Kdramas back in 2016 with "My Sassy Girl" 2001 version. Extraordinary Attorney Woo, I can relate since I have family with Autism, another one since I was bullied, but I fought back, end of being bullied, The Glory.

please I still can not get over Scarlet Heart Ryeo.. I also loved you’re my destiny

I really liked it too

Fated to love you is my favorite ❤

I agree with you. Some K Dramas can be cheesy and don't wrap the story up well in the end. They leave you wanting more when the ending isn't done well. I do prefer K Dramas more than Chinese and Japanese Dramas.

please give an oportunity to " My liberation notes".

I really loved the world of the married!

I totally agree with you that some korean dramas begin with very good beginnings and get lost in their tracks till they reach the end . Disclaimer: no offence to any drama. It's just my opinion that I observed over the years as I have been one of the biggest fans of k drama since I was a teenager .

Have you watched scarlet heart?

Watch Reborn Rich! Hubby and I both thought it was really well done even though the very end was not as well wrapped up as we would have expected given how good the rest of the show was. I agree Business Proposal did cheesy really well. I guess I will give CLOY another chance … sigh … I couldn’t stand the first episode and quit it fast. Have you watched Taxi Driver?? Another one that Hubby and I loved. No romance, and revenge heavy, but also hilarious and most of the stories are very well done.

girl, girl where is TOMORROW??? you have to watch it!!!

My Liberation Notes for deep meanng and Yumi's Cells for FUN. "My Mister" and "Itaewon Class" for powerful.

I’m only a year into kdrama, but I’ve stopped watching anything else. My favorites 1. Reply 1988, 2. My Mister 3. Itaewon Class 4. Crash Landing 5 25/21 6. Oh my Venus 7. Vincenzo 8. Descendants of the Sun 9. One Spring Night 10. Move to Heaven 11. It’s okay to not be okay, 12. Misaeng: incomplete Life 13. Hometown cha cha cha 14. Business Proposal 15. What’s wrong with Secretary Kim 16. Mr Queen 17. Alchemy of Souls 18. Because this is my First Life 19. Flower of Evil 20. Welcome to Waikiki On my to watch list is Moon Lovers scarlet heart, goblin, Mr sunshine, Healer, the glory, kill me heal me, hospital playlist, and so many more. Currently watching W two worlds and loving it too.

This is a good list, but 10 years feels like maybe too long a time span? This feels more weighted towards the past 5 years. So much has changed (covid, BTS, Netflix, Korean politics, etc) that I really feel like the tone & topics of kdramas has changed. I feel like the recent past has more good kdramas because the market for them has evolved, so it's really hard to compare the quality of a 2013 and 2023 drama.

i liked "my sassy girl." it was funny!!

I have seen every drama that you listed in your top 10 and I completely agree with your list...

Ok

I love My Mister is so untrue in this world. It makes you think of so many things that seem unimportant in today's world

Because this is my first life.

I also agree that The Glory is an incredibly good show, maybe one of the best shows I have ever seen, from anywhere. Just fantastic performances from the cast. Unlike many other people, I do hope they do NOT make a second season. The plot and theme of the show was wrapped nicely in one season, and any potential second season showing Joo Yeo-jeong'ss revenge could not possibly have the complexity of the original. I mean, there is basically only one person on whom to exact the revenge, and he is already a sitting duck, trapped in a literal prison, so how interesting could a it be? Crash Landing On You is a show I am a bit conflicted on. On the one hand, the chemistry between the two leads was good, and the interactions with and amongst the villagers and the group of soldiers was both funny and endearing. The histrionics of the female lead character was a bit over-the-top and annoying to me. Also, setting show in a place like North Korea without showing the absolute disgusting evil at the core of that nation doesn’t sit well with me. I doubt that a person like the father of the main lead could ever attain such a position without either directly or indirectly having his hands soaked in blood. He is one of the more powerful people in a regime that we know is one of the most sinister on the planet, yet the show never even eludes to the this, or even hints that very nature of this regime is anything but absolutely depraved. To me this is like a rom-com in which the main lead is the loving son of Joseph Goebbels or Adolf Eichmann. in other words, a bit distracting. Extraordinary Attorney Woo is also fantastic, with an incredibly immersive performance by Park Eun-bin. It is an also a bit different from most K-dramas I have seen in that, in addition to a season wide arc, each episode (sometimes two episodes) had its own discrete plot. Another great show with a fantastic performance by an actor portraying someone on the autism spectrum is It’s Okay To Not Be Okay. I also loved the artistry of the short animated portions in that show. Oh Jung-se, who played the autistic older brother, was also good as the (somewhat) creepy landlord in When The Camellia Blooms (in which Yeom Hye-ran portrayed his wife). Business Proposal is another favorite of mine, being delightfully cheesy. Kim Se-jeong manages to be both beautiful and campy at the same time, and the rest of the cast is not far behind. I found Descendants Of The Sun to be quite boring, and with some terrible acting by anyone and everyone non-Korean in the show. This seems to be a recurring theme in Korean drama. Can they not get working visas for REAL actors to play Americans and other non-Koreans? Are simply not offering enough money for actual actors from other countries to come over specifically to join the cast of K-dramas? Also, could they not have set a movie involving international intrigue in an actually real country? I kind of enjoyed Itawon Class, but did not fully buy into the business side of the plot, nor did I find any of the characters all that compelling. Squid Game Have enjoyed a lot, but somehow managed to get sidetracked twice while watching it, necessitating me to have start over from the beginning. Some day I’ll manage to see the whole thing? Goblin was great in some ways, though I found the lack of any actual (sexual) chemistry between the two leads a bit perplexing. I sensed a lot of affection between them, but no heat whatsoever. As a man, if I like a woman romantically, I WANT her, and I want her to want me (to paraphrase an old song by Cheap Trick), and it is somehow going to bleed through in our interactions, even more so if she has similar feelings for me. I never saw that in their relationship. All the main cast were very good, and Kim Go-un was just as compelling as she was in Cheese In The Trap. I have Covid to thank for my discovery of K-dramas, and have come to thoroughly enjoy them, though a few, especially some older ones, display some horrifying misogyny, as well as other backwards attitudes and behavior. I tried watching Boys Over Flowers once, but couldn’t do it, both because of the highly unlikeable characters and the ridiculous hairstyles and fashion. Secret Garden takes the cake for most misogynistic and classist asshole I have ever seen in a K-drama. The male lead was an abusive disgusting jerk, at one point basically locking the female lead in a bedroom and pinning her to the bed for the night. His mother was equally disgusting, That the female lead not only ended up with him, but had several children with him, and allowed her mother-in-law to have any kind of relationship with those kids was truly disturbing.

For me, My Mister is still no. 1 since it builds to a fantastic conclusion. Haven't seen Crash Landing. The Glory is good but the second half of it was disinteresting for me, it lost some momentum plus the chemistry between our main lead seems off. Taxi Driver, I think, is the better revenge themed Kdrama than the Glory. Itaewon Class is highly recommended.

I have only seen a few in your list and really liked My Mister, The Extraordinary Attorney Woo, Squid Game and The Glory. I would add to the list Dr Romantic and Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo. I also really liked Flower of Evil (thriller). Recently I saw Sky Castle and once you get through the first four episodes it gets better. I'm currently watching Vincenzo which so many people rave about and to be honest am finding it a drag because the episodes are so long and it's quite slow. I also really hate the female lead. I'll watch at least a couple more episodes but will drop it if it doesn't drastically improve. In general, I find that a lot of Kdramas have really annoying female leads as they are either really dumb, all the time crying, trying to be cute as if they are a 3 year old, or they are just obnoxious (the typical rich bully girl), which I find a turn off. But it seems like so many KDramas have these type of female roles. That's why I liked My Mister and The Glory so much, because the female leads weren't anything like that.

I’m with you with Arthdal Chronicles Season 1 , I do know why it’s not that popular.

No Goblin? No Nine Tailed? No “My Love From Another Star”!? No Alchemy of Souls? I got a lot of questions 😮🤔😂

Even I didn't liked the ending of reply 1988😅

How dare you have a different opinion than me???? Offended!

The Glory was just really really sooo good

I agree with Crash Landing on You, Extraordinary Attorney Woo, and Mr. Sunshine. I completely abhorred Hometown Cha Cha Cha. It was the slowest and most pointless kdrama I’ve ever seen. What a waste of my life. I am surprised these are not on your list: King’s Affection, Start Up, Twenty-Five Twenty-One.

I don't feel attorney woo is even remotely mentally disabled lol

I recommend to watch The Red Sleeve. Based on true historical figures