These Are The Top 10 Most-Watched Netflix K-Dramas In The World This Year
Korean TV shows are bigger than ever this year, converting even those who are new to the Hallyu wave. It helps that Netflix is constantly adding new dramas to its international library, giving viewers an easy way to get their fix. Wondering which watches were everyone’s top pick? Here are the top 10 most-watched K-Dramas and reality shows this year so far.
10. Heart Signal
Heart Signal is actually a reality show, not a drama, but it did make it into the top 10 most-watch Korean shows on Netflix this year. It’s also the 99th most-watched show overall.
In Heart Signal, four men and four women from completely different lifestyles share a house and form relationships with each other—all while celebrity panelists like Lee Sang Min and Block B’s P.O give commentary.
9. Extracurricular
2020 drama Extracurricular is the 9th most-watched Korean show on Netflix this year, and the 96th most-watched show overall.
In Extracurricular, when top high school student Ji Soo (played by Kim Dong Hee) needs to pay his tuition fees, he finds himself embroiled in crime with classmates Min Hee (Jung Da Bin) and Kyu Ri (Park Joo Hyun).
8. Goblin
2016 drama Goblin (also known as Guardian: The Lonely and Great God) is the 8th most-watched Korean show on Netflix this year, and the 83rd most-watched show overall. It’s also currently still in the Netflix top 10 in Thailand.
In Goblin, the oldest drama on this list, Gong Yoo plays Kim Shin, an ancient general who becomes a dokkaebi (goblin). In the present day, he must find a bride to end his suffering, and he soon becomes entangled with bubbly high-schooler Ji Eun Tak (Kim Go Eun).
7. Hi Bye, Mama
2020 drama Hi Bye, Mama is the 7th most-watched Korean show on Netflix this year, and the 71st most-watched show overall.
In Hi Bye, Mama, dearly departed mother Cha Yu Ri (Kim Tae Hee) must undergo a 49-day project to be reincarnated. However, after mourning her tragic death five years ago, her husband Jo Kang Hwa (Lee Kyu Hyung) has remarried.
6. Itaewon Class
2020 drama Itaewon is the 6th most-watched Korean show on Netflix this year, and the 55th most-watched show overall. It’s also currently still in the Netflix top 10 in Japan.
In Itaewon Class, Park Seo Joon plays Park Sae Ro Yi, an ex-con who was expelled from school in his youth. He sets out to follow in the footsteps of his deceased father by opening a restaurant, striving with his manager Jo Yi Seo (Kim Da Mi).
5. Crash Landing on You
2019 drama Crash Landing on You is the 5th most-watched Korean show on Netflix this year, and the 41st most-watched show overall. It’s also currently still in the Netflix top 10 in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Vietnam, and more.
In Crash Landing on You, Son Ye Jin plays a chaebol heiress (Yoon Se Ri) in South Korea, while Hyun Bin plays a captain in North Korea (Ri Jeong Hyeok). When a freak accident lands Se Ri in North Korea, she finds herself falling for the captain.
4. Mystic Pop-Up Bar
2020 drama Mystic Pop-Up Bar is the 4th most-watched Korean show on Netflix this year, and the 40th most-watched show overall. It’s also currently still in the Netflix top 10 in Taiwan.
In webtoon adaptation Mystic Pop-Up Bar, a mysterious outdoor rooftop bar serves both the living and the dead. Owner Wol Joo (Hwang Jung Eum), part-timer Kang Bae (Yook Sungjae) and former detective of the afterlife Chief Gwi (Choi Won Young) help troubled customers through their dreams.
3. Hospital Playlist
2020 drama Hospital Playlist is the 3rd most-watched Korean show on Netflix this year, and the 36th most-watched show overall. It’s also currently still in the Netflix top 10 in South Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
In Hospital Playlist, five doctors played by Jo Jung Suk, Yoo Yeon Seok, Jung Kyung Ho, Kim Dae Myung, and Jeon Mi Do navigate their lives together in the special environment of their hospital.
2. It’s Okay to Not Be Okay
2020 drama It’s Okay to Not Be Okay is the 2nd most-watched Korean show on Netflix this year, and the 31st most-watched show overall. It’s also currently still in the Netflix top 10 in Australia, Canada, Brazil, and more.
In It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, Moon Gang Tae (Kim Soo Hyun) is a psychiatric health ward worker. When he runs into Ko Moon Young (Seo Ye Ji), a troubled children’s book author with antisocial personality disorder, they begin to heal and love together.
1. The King: Eternal Monarch
And in the 1st place spot is 2020 drama The King: Eternal Monarch, which is the 10th most-watched Netflix show in the world overall this year. It’s also currently still in the Netflix top 10 in Malaysia, Singapore, Nigeria, and more.
In The King: Eternal Monarch, Lee Min Ho plays King Lee Gon, the leader of the Kingdom of Corea, who was saved by a mysterious detective with a gun. Meanwhile, in the Republic of Korea, Jeong Tae Eul (Kim Go Eun), the detective in question, is working undercover. When King Lee Gon falls into her world, everything changes.
