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Pierce Conran

After a high-octane end to 2025, the K-drama industry kicks off the new year with a diverse slate of largely fantasy and romance fare, seemingly saving some of its bigger series for February’s Lunar New Year festivities.
Here are the highlights to watch over the next month.
1. The Judge Returns
Lead cast: Ji Sung, Park Hee-soon, Won Jin-ah


Four years after The Devil Judge, Ji Sung is donning judicial robes once more in the legal thriller The Judge Returns.
He plays Lee Han-young, a struggling judge who became corrupt after marrying the daughter of a manipulative law firm CEO. After meeting an unjust fate one day, Han-young wakes up 10 years in the past with a second chance at life.
He comes up against the powerful judge Kang Shin-jin (Park Hee-soon, No Other Choice) and joins forces with prosecutor Kim Jin-ah (Won Jin-ah, She Would Never Know). (MBC, January 2)
2. To My Beloved Thief
Lead cast: Nam Ji-hyun, Moon Sang-min


Nam Ji-hyun (Good Partner) stars in the period fantasy romcom To My Beloved Thief as Hong Eun-zo, a female Robin Hood figure. By day, she is a doctor; by night, she adopts the persona of the thief Hong Gil-dong, raiding treasury coffers to aid the poor.
She becomes entangled with Prince Yi Yeol (Moon Sang-min, Wedding Impossible), the King’s young stepbrother, who is tasked with capturing her. As he closes in, the pair suddenly switch bodies. (KBS2, January 3)
3. Spring Fever
Lead cast: Lee Joo-bin, Ahn Bo-hyun


Based on a web novel, Spring Fever stars Lee Joo-bin (Twelve) as Yoon Bom, a teacher who moves back to the countryside after a bad experience in Seoul. There, she meets hunky tough guy Seon Jae-kyu (Ahn Bo-hyun, Flex X Cop), the uncle of one of her students.
Bom always has her guard up, which makes her seem cold on the outside, while Jae-kyu’s muscles and tattoos mask a warm heart that eventually melts her icy exterior. (tvN/Prime Video, January 5)
4. Can This Love Be Translated?
Lead cast: Kim Seon-ho, Go Youn-jung


Go Youn-jung (Moving) and Kim Seon-ho (Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha) play a global superstar and a multilingual interpreter in Can This Love Be Translated?, a transnational romance penned by the Hong Sisters (Alchemy of Souls).
Go is the bright and confident star Cha Moo-hee, who starts working with the interpreter Joo Ho-jin (Kim) while filming overseas. Despite their linguistic fluency, the pair frequently get lost in emotional translation.
This long-awaited project, delayed by the pandemic, was filmed in several international locations, including Canada and Italy. (Netflix, January 16)
5. No Tail to Tell
Lead cast: Kim Hye-yoon, Lomon


In the fantasy series No Tail to Tell, Kim Hye-yoon (Lovely Runner) plays Eun-ho, a mythical “gumiho” – the nine-tailed fox of Korean folklore. While most gumihos strive to become human, Eun-ho has no such desire, as she enjoys her eternal youth.
To continue her life of pleasure, she actively avoids good deeds – until her hedonistic existence is upended by an encounter with international football superstar Kang Shi-yeol (Lomon, All of Us Are Dead), known for his skill on the pitch and his narcissism off it. (SBS, January 16)
6. Undercover Miss Hong
Lead cast: Park Shin-hye, Go Kyung-pyo


Last seen in The Judge from Hell, Park Shin-hye returns as Hong Geum-bo, the titular heroine of Undercover Miss Hong.
Geum-bo is a top agent at the Financial Supervisory Service in the late 1990s, and she goes undercover as a recent high school graduate at an entry-level post at a securities company suspected of corruption.
There, she meets Sin Jeong-woo (Go Kyung-pyo, Love in Contract), the numbers-obsessed CEO of Hanmin Securities, who remembers her from their shared past. (tvN, January 17)
7. Positively Yours
Lead cast: Choi Jin-hyuk, Oh Yeon-seo


Choi Jin-hyuk and Oh Yeon-seo team up for the romantic comedy Positively Yours, playing a couple whose relationship begins in earnest after a fateful one-night stand.
Choi plays Kang Du-jin, a dapper chaebol (Korean family-run corporation) heir committed to bachelorhood following his older brother’s death, while Oh is Jang Hee-won, a driven career woman who has similarly renounced romance and marriage.
Their life plans take a turn when Hee-won falls pregnant after their single encounter. (Channel A, January 17)
8. Recipe for Love
Lead cast: Jin Se-yeon, Park Ki-woong


In the daily drama Recipe for Love, Jin Se-yeon (Born Again) and Park Ki-woong (Pandora: Beneath the Paradise) play the heirs of families embroiled in a feud that has lasted for three decades.
Renouncing a career in medicine, Gong Joo-ah (Jin) becomes a clothing designer and goes to work for the Tehan Group. Following an incident, she is transferred to a different team, where she works under general director Yang Hyun-bin (Park).
Hyun-bin, recently back from abroad, is shocked to discover that this recruit is his childhood first love. (KBS2, January 31)


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8 of the best new K-dramas to watch in January 2026, such as Can This Love Be Translated?

Go Youn-jung in a still from Can This Love Be Translated?. Photo: Netflix

Kim Seon-ho (left) and Go Youn-jung in a still from Can This Love Be Translated?, one of eight new K-dramas we recommend this January. Photo: No Ju-han/Netflix

Who is Kim Woo-bin, the steely-eyed star of K-dramas Our Blues and Genie, Make a Wish?

Korean actor Kim Woo-bin has starred in hit films and TV series including The Heirs, Twenty, Uncontrollably Fond, Our Blues and Genie, Make a Wish. He will marry his fellow K-drama star Shin Min-a this month. Photo: Instagram/kimwoobin

Kim Woo-bin (left) and Bae Suzy in a still from Genie, Make A Wish. Photo: Netflix

Kim in a still from The Heirs (2013).

Kim in a still from Friend: The Great Legacy (2013).

Kim in a still from Our Blues (2022).

Kim in a still from Alienoid (2022).

8 of the best new K-dramas to watch in December 2025, including Made in Korea on Disney+

Hyun Bin in a still from Made in Korea. Photo: Disney+

Hyun Bin in a still from Made in Korea, one of a host of new Korean dramas that viewers can look forward to in December. Photo: Disney+

Yoo Ji-tae (left) and Lee Min-jung (centre) in a still from Villains

Kim Hye-jun (left) and Lee Jun-ho in a still from Cashero. Photo: Netflix

Who is Ahn Eun-jin, the late-blooming actress of Hospital Playlist and Dynamite Kiss?

Korean actress Ahn Eun-jin will next be seen in the K-drama series Dynamite Kiss (2025). Photo: Instagram/eunjin___a

Ahn Eun-jin in a still from the new K-drama series Dynamite Kiss (2025). Photo: Netflix

Ahn in a still from Genie, Make A Wish (2025). Photo: Jisun Park/Netflix

Ahn in a still from Hospital Playlist (2020).

Ahn in a still from The Good Bad Mother (2023).

Ahn in a still from My Dearest (2023).

Ahn in a still from The Night Owl (2022).

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Lee Jung-jae in a still from Nice to Not Meet You, one of a host of new K-dramas to watch in November.

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Ji Sung stars in The Judge Returns, Nam Ji-hyun and Moon Sang-min clash in To My Beloved Thief, and Park Shin-hye is Undercover Miss Hong


Ji Sung stars in The Judge Returns, Nam Ji-hyun and Moon Sang-min clash in To My Beloved Thief, and Park Shin-hye is Undercover Miss Hong.


8 of the best new K-dramas to watch in January 2026, such as Can This Love Be Translated?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Ji Sung stars in The Judge Returns, Nam Ji-hyun and Moon Sang-min clash in To My Beloved Thief, and Park Shin-hye is Undercover Miss Hong

1. The Judge Returns

2. To My Beloved Thief

Ji Sung stars in The Judge Returns, Nam Ji-hyun and Moon Sang-min clash in To My Beloved Thief, and Park Shin-hye is Undercover Miss Hong