K-DRAMA NEWS - DEC. 2024
By Sharon Stern
The list of K-dramas that drop this month is a little shorter than the last couple of months, giving us time to get caught up. I’m sure Netflix wants to leave room for Squid Game 2 to shine as much as possible.
After the list of new dramas, I present a list of dramas with memorable holiday moments.
If you are unfamiliar with KBS Drama Special short films, you should take the time to familiarize yourself with them. KBS puts out these series of dramas every year and a few of them are some of the best dramas I’ve seen. Most of these are one to two hour, single-episode dramas. Every season they cover a wide variety of topics. This month, three of the five of this year’s episodes have dropped in the month of December. They are available on Viki and Viki has the last several years available for viewing as well.
The History of Us - 사관은 논한다
Viki – Starring: Tang Jun Sang, Nam Da Reum
Genre: Historic, drama
The first of the 2024 KBS Drama Special, The History of Us follows the story of a young inspector who is determined to preserve history, and a crown prince who seeks to erase it to become king, as they clash over their beliefs.
Finding Handsome - 핸섬을 찾아라
Viki – Starring: Oh Seung Hoon, Han Eun Sung, Lee Woo Tae, Kim Joon Beom, Hong Jong Hyun
Genre: Road Movie
The second short drama of the 2024 KBS Drama Special, Finding Handsome, tells the story of a member of the now-disbanded idol group Five Princes, as he embarks on a quest to find the missing member Handsome, in hopes of making a comeback 13 years after the group disbanded.
The Two Women - 영복, 사치코
Viki – Starring: Kang Mina, Choi Ri, Ha Jun
Genre: Historic, drama
The third short drama of the 2024 KBS Drama Special, The Two Women is set a year before the Korean War and tells the story of Young Bok from Korea and Sachiko from Japan, who were originally fighting over their shared husband, but grow to develop an unexpected friendship.
Social Savvy Class 101 - 0교시는 인싸타임
Viki – Starring: Kim Woo Seok, Kang Na Eon, Choi Geon, Son Dong Pyo, Han Chae Rin
Genre: Teen rom-drama
Social Savvy Class 101 tells the story of a girl who desperately wants to be part of her school’s popular clique and gains administrative rights to “Inssa Time” – an anonymous app that contains all of the secrets of everyone at the school. Of course, there are secrets that the most popular kids don’t want known about them. As she learns everyone’s secrets and gets more involved with the popular kids, a romance blossoms.
The Tale of Lady Ok - 옥씨부인전
Genre: Historical rom-drama
This drama actually debuted last month, but was not available to be streamed in the US. It is now available on On Demand Korea, but without subtitles. I expect that another streaming service will also pick it up shortly. If you like sageuk dramas, this one, directed by Legend of the Blue Sea’s director Jin Hyuk, looks intriguing. The Tale of Lady Ok tells the intense, survival con game of Ok Tae Young, who is a runaway slave who fakes her name, status, and even her husband, and Cheon Seung Hwi, a traveling story-teller, who risks everything to protect her. She becomes a legal expert and focuses on helping others in difficult situations.
Light Shop – 조명가게
Hulu – Starring a very large, ensemble cast. You can visit the Wikipedia page for a list
Genre: Mystery, horror
Based on a Kakao webtoon, this drama follows a group of different strangers who all have a horrific past experience that they can’t get over. They are all drawn toward a light shop at the end of a scary looking alley. The light shop ties the world and the underworld together and holds the keys to people’s pasts, presents and futures.
Check-In Hangyang – 체크인 한양
Netflix – Starring Bae In Hyuk, Kim Ji Eun, Jung Gun Joo, Park Jae Chan
Genre: Historical, coming-of-age, comedy, drama
Check-in Hanyang is a coming-of-age romance historical drama that tells the story of Joseon's largest guesthouse (more like a 5-star hotel and situated across from the palace), Yongcheonru, which raised the arrogant motto, "The customer is king", and four young men of Joseon who join as apprentices there. One of these apprentices is a prince trying to find part of a secret key for the king to unlock a ledger that will help him get rid of his opponents. Another is a woman disguised as a man (of course) who has a part of the secret key. Everything is positioned for lots of secrets, antics and some silly fun, but also some intense drama.
Squid Game 2 – 오징어 게임 2
Netflix – Starring Lee Jung Jae, Wi Ha Joon, Lee Byung Hun, Im Si Wan, Kang Ha Neul, Lee Jin Wook, Park Sung Hoon, Yang Dong Geun, Jo Yu Ri
Genre: Thriller, horror, action, suspense
Ready or not, the game continues and the rules state that only one person survives. This game is set three years after Seong Gi-hun won Squid Game, who gave up going to the US and who comes back to the game with a new resolution in mind. He once again dives in, starting another life-or-death game with new participants gathered to win the prize of ₩45.6 billion.
Who Is She – 수상한 그녀
Viki – Starring: Kim Hae Sook, Jung Ji So, Jung Jin Young, Chae Won Bin
Genre: Romance, musical, coming-of-age
This series is a re-make of the 2014 movie Miss Granny. The story is about a 70-year-old grandma who suddenly takes on the body of a 20-year-old. Her 20-year-old self has all of her 70-year-old wisdom, but her young body allows her to pursue the old dream of becoming a singer. She becomes an idol trainee, which is also the dream of her granddaughter. Miss Granny was a very popular movie and remade in at least nine other countries. The original is available for viewing on Viki. The longer format of the series and added music will make this series different and the storyline more complex. The critics are praising the first episodes that have aired.
There is another drama that is available on On Demand Korea, but without subtitles, that premiered this month. It’s called Sorry, Not Sorry. It’s supposed to be picked up on another streaming service next month. I’ll keep watching and write about it when it is available with English subtitles.
The Starry Night (also called Namib) – 나미브
Genre: Workplace/family, drama, music
Viki - Starring: Go Hyun Jung, Ryeo Un, Yoon Sang Hyun
An entertainment CEO, Kang Soo Hyun, gets fired from her job after a false accusation, but is desperate to return because she is the primary breadwinner of her family. Her husband left his career to care for their disabled son. Soo Hyun recruits a former idol and prodigy with a lot of baggage and the dynamics between these three take lots of twists and turns.
K-Dramas with Christmas Moments
Christmas in the US is all about family, whoever you identify as such, and is one of the biggest holidays in this country, whether or not you celebrate the religious foundation of it. In South Korea, it isn’t celebrated as grandly as the Chuseok or Seollal holidays are and it is frequently celebrated as a couple’s holiday, making it a bit more like Valentine’s Day here. This makes it perfect material for rom-coms, dram-coms, rom-dram-coms and even melodramas. Add to that the romantic beauty of a winter setting and an emphasis on the first snow (첫눈) that mythology and tradition says cements an everlasting relationship and it’s an impossible setting for these genres to resist. Memorable Christmas scenes abound in dramas. They often place their Christmas scenes in popular shopping districts in Seoul where decorations and light displays are prevalent. Or in the woods while snowing. Or warm and cozy by a fire.
I’m sure you have your favorite Christmas drama scenes. Some of the most fun are with characters from another world that know little or nothing about the season. Here’s a list (it is incomplete – I only included those that are currently streaming and not even all of them) for you to remember and maybe take any time off that you have in the next couple of weeks and re-watch or newly binge watch one of these dramas.
Do you remember the Christmas scenes in any of these dramas?? Some of these have more than one! In my opinion, this list includes a lot of the best-of-the-best in romantic dramas, although there are some here that are definitely not as good. I think my favorite Christmas scene is the about-face that Se Ri does in Crash Landing On You - switching from where she begins by working her employees on Christmas (“Why do you want to celebrate someone else’s birthday?”) to making a Christmas tree with hand-made ornaments for Jeong Hyeok. What’s yours?
Goblin - 쓸쓸하고 찬란하神-도깨비 (2014 – Viki)
My Love From the Star - 별에서 온 그대 (2013 – Viki)
Legend of the Blue Sea - 푸른 바다의 전설 (2016 – Viki, Hulu)
Crash Landing on You - 사랑의 불시착 (2019 – Netflix)
My Girlfriend is a Gumiho - 내 여자친구는 구미호 (2010 – Viki)
Secret Garden - 시크릿 가든 (2010 – Viki)
Touch Your Heart - 진심이 닿다 (2019 – Viki)
Reply 1988 - 응답하라 1988 (2015 – Netflix, Viki)
Pinocchio – 피노키오 (2014 – Viki)
When the Weather is Fine - 날씨가 좋으면 찾아가겠어요 (2020 – Netflix, Viki)
While You Were Sleeping - 당신이 잠든 사이에 (2017 – Viki)
The Heirs - 상속자들 (2013 – Viki)
Welcome To Waikiki 2 - 으라차차 와이키키 2 (2019 – Viki)
Our Beloved Summer - 그 해 우리는 (2021 – Netflix)
That Winter, the Wind Blows – (2013 – Netflix, Viki)
Lovestruck in the City - 도시남녀의 사랑법 (2020 – Netflix)
Boys Over Flowers - 꽃보다 남자 (2009 – Viki)
Healer – 힐러 (2014 – Viki)
Will It Snow for Christmas - 크리스마스에 눈이 올까요? (2010 – Viki)
Winter Sonata – 겨울연가 (2002 – Viki)
Oh My Venus - 오 마이 비너스 (2015 – Viki)
A Korean Odyssey (also called Hwayugi – the Korean title) – 화유기 (2017 – Viki)
Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo - 역도요정 김복주 (2016 – Viki)
Come and Hug Me - 이리와 안아줘 (2018 – Viki)
I Miss You or Missing You - 보고싶다 (2012 – Viki)
