Teaming up Shin Ha-kyun and Yeo Jin-goo as a pair of detectives, Beyond Evil might take a little time to get going but is the most cinematic K-drama we’ve seen so far this year.

Kim Seo-yeon and the rest of the cast of the Korean drama return for more fast-paced scenes of intrigue, one-upmanship and death among the back-stabbing residents of Hera Palace.

The stars of this Korean drama series are Cho Seung-woo, playing a Korean Tony Stark, and Park Shin-hye, playing a warrior from the future. It is frenetic, not at all believable, and highly entertaining.

River Where The Moon Rises’ Kim So-hyun returns alongside Song Kang in season two of Love Alarm, and Song plays a young dancer teaching a retiree ballet in Navillera. Lee Seung-gi plays a detective tracking a serial killer in Mouse. And there’s much more.

While full of thrills and pyrotechnics, L.U.C.A.: The Beginning has a simplistic and repetitive plot, and there has not been much character development. What can we expect from the final episodes?

The streaming giant is going big on Korean content in 2021, spending nearly as much this year as in the five previous years put together. Included are its first original Korean films and a raft of star-studded Korean drama series.

There’s plenty going on in this period drama based on a classic Korean folktale, and a refreshingly strong woman character, but the series is hampered with clunky scripting and uneven casting.

With its questionable views on poverty and the disturbing stalker-like tendencies of its male lead, only a dramatic improvement can save this show from going down in the annals of forgettable K-dramas.

The period body-swap comedy fearlessly looked at gender issues, social customs and homosexuality in South Korea. The final episode successfully wrapped the series and drew one of the biggest audiences in its channel tvN’s history.

K-dramas Sweet Home, The Uncanny Counter and The School Nurse Files are more than thrilling horror stories, they also mirror social issues and our repressed desires and fears.

Korean drama continues to go from strength to strength, with new projects starring Song Ji-hyo and Kang Ha-neul to go into production later this year.

In this science-fiction-tinged action thriller, a man with mysterious electrical powers goes on the run when a group of genetically enhanced mercenaries find out about his abilities.

After 16 emotional and energetic episodes, Korean drama True Beauty played it safe and gave its audience exactly what they were expecting in the season finale.

Netflix K-drama series Run On didn’t have a strong start but has improved over time. Genuine emotional reactions, a break-up and making up, and a coming out all add to its happy endings.

Kang’s agency said he is positively considering the role in Our Police Class, which would mark both his debut as an actor and Disney’s production debut in South Korea.

Fans of Korean drama The Uncanny Counter can celebrate as everyone’s favourite demon hunters are set to return for a second season.

Song Joong-ki plays an Italian mob lawyer in Vincenzo, there’s a second season of over-the-top drama The Penthouse, Park Shin-hye plays an elite warrior in Sisyphus: The Myth – and there’s plenty more for Korean drama fans.

This Korean drama stars K-pop star Rowoon as rich man who falls in love with a marketer who is already having a secret affair. His controlling and possessive behaviour towards his love and his sister further spoil this already limp office romance.

Korean comedy drama Mr. Queen continues to mix subtle queer themes and exciting set pieces to great effect as it builds up to its big season finale.

Popular Korean drama Run On continues to dish out plenty of romantic entanglements as the supporting couple begin to outshine the leads.

Demon-hunting Korean drama seemed to lose its way for a while – the comedy less funny, the banter between characters dry, and with throwaway interludes creating a distraction – but it came to a satisfying, if predictable ending.

Hyun Bin won the grand prize at the APAN Star Awards for his role as a North Korean army captain in hit romantic drama Crash Landing on You.

Known for the MBC series Make Your Wish, Song Yoo-jung died on January 23 and is another bright young light from the South Korean entertainment scene extinguished before her time.

Netflix shows Kingdom and Sweet Home have raised the bar for Korean drama productions. Which services will flourish in the streaming wars to come?

In Korean drama True Beauty, romantic entanglements and rivalries take centre stage, and there’s even time for a delightful bromance.

The highly rated K-drama about a group of demon-hunters who pose as noodle shop restaurateurs by day has been rocked by the departure of its scriptwriter, who disagreed with the narrative direction of its final episodes.

A Korean Inside Out adapted from a popular webtoon, Song Hye-kyo cast in revenge drama The Glory, and Apink star Son Na-eun joins the cast of Disqualification from Being Human – K-drama lovers have much to look forward to later this year.

From Netflix’s The Silent Sea to a mafia-based romance, from supernatural stories and demons to a VIP hospital, here is our pick of the 12 best K-dramas for 2021.

Moon Ga-young shines in True Beauty, a new Korean teen romance series that delves into Korean culture’s fascination with beauty and how people look.

Set in a luxurious high-rise in Seoul, The Penthouse is a glossy Korean TV drama series about power-obsessed people who will stop at nothing to get what they want.