11 new K-dramas to watch in September 2022: Narco-Saints on Netflix, Little Women, The Law Café and more

Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel Little Women gets a contemporary Korean update, starring Kim Go-eun of Yumi’s Cells and Squid Game’s Wi Ha-joon
Meanwhile, Netflix crime drama Narco-Saints will be the most expensive Korean drama ever made per episode – but will it gain as much acclaim as Squid Game?

K-drama news

Pierce Conran

Published: 7:15pm, 30 Aug, 2022

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With autumn just around the corner and South Korea ready to celebrate Chuseok, the Korean version of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the drama industry has scheduled a dizzying number of major new show launches in September, including a quartet of legal dramas and Netflix Korea’s biggest show of the year.

1. X in Crisis

Film director Kim Jung-hoon transitions to the small screen with the Wavve original streaming series X in Crisis.

Reuniting his The Accidental Detective stars Kwon Sang-woo and Sung Dong-il, this comedy tells the story of Yoon (Kwon), a top university graduate who went on to work at a top company but is now a middle-aged man on the brink of bankruptcy.

Sung plays Heo Joon, a grouchy neighbourhood doctor with a heart of gold. (Wavve, starts September 2)

2. Little Women

Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel Little Women is getting a contemporary Korean update from celebrated writer Chung Seo-kyeong, the scriptwriter behind the drama Mother and many of Park Chan-wook’s films.

The show stars Kim Go-eun ( Yumi’s Cells), Nam Ji-hyun ( The Witch’s Diner) and Park Ji-hu ( All of Us Are Dead) as sisters from a family who struggled to get everything they have, and are now at odds with a powerful family. Squid Game’s Wi Ha-joon co-stars. (TvN, September 3)

3. The Law Café

Originally expected at the end of August, the latest Lee Seung-gi ( Mouse) show will now debut in the first week of September.

He plays Kim Jung-ho, a brilliant prosecutor who quits his job and lives off the rent from the building he owns. Jung-ho’s childhood friend Kim Yoo-ri (The Red Sleeve’s Lee Se-young), a top lawyer, also quits her job and sets up the Law Café in Jung-ho’s building. (KBS2, September 5)

4. Narco-Saints

Taking the Chuseok holiday slot that provided the launch pad for Squid Game last year will be the crime drama Narco-Saints.

The most expensive Korean drama ever made (per episode), the series stars Ha Jung-woo ( Along with the Gods), Hwang Jung-min ( Veteran) and Park Hae-soo and marks the drama debut of acclaimed filmmaker Yoon Jong-bin ( The Spy Gone North).

Ha plays a Korean businessman who sets up shop in Suriname in South America and unwittingly becomes involved in the local crime scene when he is forced to cooperate with the National Intelligence Service (NIS) to take down a drug king played by Hwang. (Netflix, September 9)

5. Mental Coach Jegal

Jung Woo ( A Model Family) is swiftly back on screens as Mental Coach Jegal. Joining him is Squid Game’s Lee Yoo-mi.

Jung plays Jegal Gil, a disgraced taekwondo athlete who becomes a mental coach for other athletes, among them Lee’s stoic short-track speed skater Cha Ga-eul. Kwon Yool (Dali and Cocky Prince) plays Jegal’s rival Ku Tae-man. (tvN, September 12)

6. Blind

Taecyeon ( Vincenzo) will star as top detective Ryu Sung-joon in the thriller Blind. Sung-joon becomes involved in a new case in which a series of jury members are murdered.

Also involved in the case are Sung-joon’s older brother Sung-hoon (Ha Seok-jin, When I Was the Most Beautiful), an idealistic judge, and social worker Jo Eun-ki (Apink’s Jung Eun-ji). (tvN, September 16)

7. Love in Contract

After leading the hit series Forecasting Love and Weather this year, Park Min-young is back as Choi Sang-eun, an attractive and talented young woman who works as a contracted spouse.

Her clients get to marry her but also get to keep their single lives. One of her clients is the mysterious Jung Ji-ho (Go Kyung-pyo, Private Lives). But when popular actor Kang Hae-jin (Kim Jae-young, Reflection of You) comes to her, Sang-eun soon finds herself in a love triangle. (tvN, September 21)

8. One Dollar Lawyer

Hot Stove League’s Namkoong Min plays Cheon Ji-hun, an unusual lawyer with dapper looks and brilliant skills who only charges 1,000 won (US$0.74) for his services.

Meanwhile, Baek Ma-ri (played by Kim Ji-eun) is a prosecutor’s assistant from a prestigious legal family, but her life is turned upside down when she meets Ji-hun. (SBS, September 23)

9. Gold Spoon

High school student Lee Seungcheon (boy band BtoB’s Yook Sung-jae) comes from a poor family. His fortunes change one day when he meets an old woman who offers him a magical golden spoon.

If he uses it to eat three times at a friend’s house, their parents will switch. Seung-cheon buys the spoon … and visits his rich friend. (MBC, September 23)

10. The Empire of Law

Veteran actress Kim Sun-a (Secret Boutique) returns to screens after a three-year hiatus as Han Hye-rul, a prosecutor from a well-known legal family. Despite her wealth and power, she aspires for higher office.

The Empire of Law, which also stars Ahn Jae-wook (Five Enough) and Lee Mi-sook (Money Flower), will reveal scandals among powerful and nepotistic families. (JTBC, September 24)

11. May It Please the Court

Jung Ryeo-won, not seen on screens since Diary of a Prosecutor three years ago, returns in May It Please the Court – a new legal drama on Disney+.

She plays No Chak-hee, a lawyer at a top firm on track to make partner. She finally gets promoted, but a problem with a new case gets her suspended. Chak-hee begins working as a public defender, where she collaborates with the idealistic Jaw Shi-baek (Lee Kyu-hyung). (Disney+, September)

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