Every K-drama coming to Netflix 2024

Mr. Plankton and Squid Game Season 2 are only part of the long list of K-dramas coming to Netflix in 2024 – here’s everything to know.

Every K-drama fan sits on the edge of their seats for the lineup from Netflix every year. The streaming platform has become a powerhouse in Korean entertainment and has no plans to let up anytime soon. K-dramas like Chicken Nugget and Parasyte: The Grey have already proven their worth.

Also included in the list this year is the return of Squid Game and the final season of Song Kang’s Sweet Home Season 3. The year will be full of new K-dramas for fans to keep tabs on. It might be a good idea to keep a detailed list.

With so many K-dramas releasing in different quarters of the year, here’s a list of every K-drama and their release time frame.

Chicken Nugget

Release Date: March 15, 2024

The title of this Netflix K-drama is self-explanatory. Chicken Nugget is based on a Naver Webtoon of the same name. It was originally announced in 2022 with Kim Yoo-jung appearing as a cameo – and here’s why.

The K-drama focuses on Choi Min-ah, the daughter of a company president. She visits her father at work one day and finds a machine she has never seen before. Mistaking it to help her with her fatigue, she enters the machine and turns it on. In a bizarre and out-of-this-world scenario, the machine turns her into a chicken nugget.

Min-ah’s father, Choi Seon-man (Ryu Seung-ryong), and intern Go Baek-joong (Ahn Jae-hong) find a cluster of delicious-looking chicken nuggets and realize what has happened. They begin to panic and try to find a way to bring Min-ah back as a human. What’s the worst that could happen? On their quest, they also uncover a few secrets.

Queen of Tears

Release Date: March 9, 2024

TvN and Netflix have partnered to bring to fans Queen of Tears in 2024. The K-drama stars Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-won as a married couple that goes through a crisis and defies all the odds. Baek Hyun-woo (Kim) and Hong Hae-in (Kim) are married. Hyun-woo is a legal director at Queen’s Group, a lawyer, and graduated from a prestigious university.

Meanwhile, Hae-in is the director of Queens Department Store and a chaebol heir. She’s well aware that many see her as being cold.

Per Netflix on X/Twitter, the storyline reads: “Marriage or war of the century? Hong Hae-in, the third-generation heiress to Queens Group and the queen of department stores, has been married for three years to Baek Hyeon-u, Yongdu-ri village chief’s son and the prince of supermarkets. As this couple weathers a marital crisis, they discover a miraculous new beginning that rewrites their love story.”

Parasyte: The Grey

Release Date: April 5, 2024

Parasyte: The Grey was originally announced by Netflix in 2022. It’s based on Hitoshi Iwaaki’s original manga series Parasyte and will be directed by Train to Busan’s Yeon Sang-ho. The K-drama focuses on the arrival of a mysterious parasite on Earth that takes over human hosts – but the parasite forces humans to kill each other.

Humanity must try and fight to survive. Jung Soo-in (Jeon So-nee) was infected by a parasite, but it failed to take control. She and the parasite now live cohesively. Seol Gang-woo (Koo Gyo-wan) hunts down the parasites in the hopes of finding his younger sister. Meanwhile, Choi Joon-hyung (Lee Jung-hyun) is the leader of the task force who lost her husband due to a parasite and vows to destroy them all.

The 8 Show

Release Date: May 17, 2024

Per Netflix on X/Twitter, The 8 Show storyline focuses on “eight individuals trapped in a mysterious eight-story building [who] participate in a tempting but dangerous game show where they earn money as time passes.”

A group of individuals are in need of money and are invited to partake in a reality series called Money Game. The eight contestants will live in a studio with nothing but concrete walls and must survive the 100 days. If they do, they can split the 44.8 billion won prize. But there’s a catch.

To buy food, necessities, and more, the price is deducted from the prize money. To make matters worse, the prices for the items are 1,000 times more expensive. Can the contestants survive without necessities in order to keep as much of the prize money as possible? The 8 Show is based on Bae Jin-soo’s webcomic Money Game.

Resident Playbook

Release Date: 2025

Netflix

Netflix’s 2024 K-drama, Resident Playbook, is a working title as it’s also known as Wise Resident Life. Fans of Hospital Playlist are eager for the K-drama to release, as it is a spin-off of the medical series created by Shin Won-ho.

Yulje Medical Center becomes the focal point once again, but this time in a new medical department. Set in the Jongno branch of the hospital, the series will be a Slice-of-Life K-drama. It will explore the hospital lives and friendships of young obstetrics and gynecology residents. Resident Playbook ties into Korea’s current low birth rate as the residents enter a less-than-desired field with glee.

Alchemy of Souls and Sweet Home actor Go Young-jung will star as the lead as a first-year obstetrics and gynecology resident.

According to Soompi, the K-drama was scheduled to be released in May but has been postponed and release in 2025. The initial reasoning was due to the K-drama’s storyline concerning a current influx of “resignations among medical residents” in South Korea.

Sweet Home Season 3

Release Date: July 19, 2024

The apocalypse continues as Netflix isn’t waiting long to release the final installment of Sweet Home. Sweet Home Season 3 will end the K-drama’s run and take off where the second season ended. The monster apocalypse will get even more intense as Hyun-soo has given in to his monster side and presumably dead characters are reborn.

Per Netflix on X/Twitter, “In a world where monsterization has ended and a new humanity has begun, people desperately struggling to survive face difficult choices as the world teeters on the boundary between monsters and humans.”

Where will humanity head next as new forms of monsters begin to emerge, with Yi-kyeong’s daughter being a special breed born from monstrosity? The third season will see the return of Song Kang as he begins his mandatory military service, as well as Lee Do-hyun who’s currently serving.

Hierarchy

Release Date: Jun 7, 2024

Part of Netflix’s 2024 K-drama slate is Hierarchy. The K-drama focuses on an elite and prestigious school in South Korea. Only those chosen from birth from rich families are allowed to attend, as it was founded by the conglomerate Jooshin Group.

Included in the group is the first daughter of the family that runs Jaeyool Group, a successor of Jooshin Group, and the youngest daughter of a trading company. The school is set in their ways of elite power until the arrival of a new student. Jang Ha (Lee Chae-min) has a kind smile and appears harmless. But his transfer into Jooshin High School begins to crash its foundation.

Gyeongseong Creature Season 2

Release Date: Q3

Netflix

Han So-hee and Park Seo-joon return for Gyeongseong Creature Season 2. The Netflix K-drama is set to continue its storyline in 2024 but set in modern times. Chae-ok and Tae-sang found themselves uncovering the monstrous truth of what was happening within the hospital and how it changed their lives.

The K-drama ended on a cliffhanger as Chae-ok is reborn with the najin and a post-credit scene reveals Tae-sang is alive in modern Korea but under a different name. The teaser for Season 2 revealed animosity between them as a new foe seems to come into play.

Per Netflix on X/Twitter, the story reads, “Set in 2024 Seoul, uncover the never-ending ties — the good and the bad — that fate weaves in Gyeongseong via Ho-jae, a man deceptively similar in looks and demeanor to Tae-sang, and Chae-ok, a survivor of the Gyeongseong spring.”

The Whirlwind

Release Date: Q3

Netflix

A political K-drama involving corruption is set to hit Netflix in the third quarter of 2024. Park Dong-ho (Sol Kyung-gu) is the Prime Minister of South Korea and wants to punish the corrupt president. As the story goes, the president barters deals with the elite, wealthy companies, and chaebol heirs. It’s changed the fabric of politics and Dong-ho wants to put an end to it.

He clashes with Jung Soo-jin (Kim Hee-Ae), the deputy prime minister for economic affairs. A fierce political battle ensues between them.

The Frog

Release Date: Q3

Netflix

The 2024 mystery thriller from Netflix will surely entice as it’s from The World of the Married director. Per Netflix on X/Twitter, “One man’s life begins to crumble when a mysterious woman shows up at his motel one summer, leaving him to cling dearly to his former ways of life in this mystery thriller series.”

Sweet Home actor Go Min-so will star as Yoo Seong-ha, the mysterious woman who suddenly appears. Kim Yoon-seok will make his Netflix debut as Jeon Young-ha, a man running a pension alone in the forest in 2001. Yoo Kye-sang will also star as Sang-joon, the owner of the motel.

Hellbound Season 2

Release Date: Q4

Netflix

Hellbound Season 2 has been on fans’ lists for some time after its initial release in 2021. It arrived after the grand success of Squid Game and told a unique story based on a webtoon. Hellbound Season 1 ended on a cliffhanger that left the door open for a new season.

In this K-drama, emissaries rise to Earth to fulfill a prophecy of someone’s death. It soon creates a new world order of cults and beliefs. But the belief system is shattered when a newborn child is given the prophecy, and the K-drama ends with many dead being reborn. Hellbound Season 2 brings back main characters, with Kim Sung-cheol in the leading role of Jin-soo.

Per Netflix on X/Twitter, “In a chaotic world exacerbated by the continuous hellbound decrees, lawyer Min Hyejin of Sodo, The New Truth Society, and the Arrowheads get entangled anew amidst the sudden resurrections of The New Truth’s Chairman Jung Jinsu and Park Jungja.”

The Trunk

Release Date: Q4

Netflix

Announced in July 2023, The Trunk will star Squid Game actor Gong Yoo alongside Seo Hyun-jin. In-ji (Seo) works as a contract marriage provider for a company called NM. She’s a bride for hire and is going into her fifth marriage with Jung-won (Gong Yoo). Jung-won is a music producer who still misses his ex-wife. He joins NM because it was arranged by her.

In-ji and Jung-won get to know each other as time passes, until one day, a trunk appears from a lake. The trunk leads to a whirlwind of drama and secrets behind NM.

Mr. Plankton

Release Date: Q4

Netflix

Woo Do-hwan returns to Netflix K-dramas from his success in Bloodhounds with a new series for 2024. Mr. Plankton has been on fans’ radar since its announcement. The K-drama focuses on Hae-jo (Woo), a man who’s unloved and feels he has no business being born. He’s looked down upon due to his real birth father.

After learning a new truth, he sets out to find him and meets Jo Jae-mi (Lee Yoo-mi). She’s unhappy, but has always dreamed of having a family. She’s set to marry the successor of a food company. While her mother-in-law doesn’t like her, she puts up with her because Jae-mi is pregnant. On the day of her wedding, Jae-mi meets Hae-jo and decides to leave with him.

Squid Game Season 2

Release Date: Q4

Netflix

The long-awaited return of Squid Game is finally coming to Netflix. Squid Game Season 2 is set to release in late 2024. It takes place right after the events of the first season as Gi-hun goes after the creators of the Games with hopes of dismantling the entire system.

Netflix released a first-look and official photos of the K-drama. Returning are the Front Man, the Salesman, new characters, and the return of Wi Ha-joon. Squid Game Season 2 will end the year with a bang as the original season broke into Hollywood.

You can keep on eye on what K-dramas to watch this year, and why Wedding Impossible is a must-watch.