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K-drama fans are in for a treat this January, with new series including revenge drama “Marry My Husband”, starring Park Min-young (above), The Bequeathed on Netflix from Hellbound director Yeon Sang-ho, and period drama Knight Flower with Lee Hanee and Lee Jong-won.

K-Pop K-drama

12 of the best new K-dramas to watch in January 2024: The Bequeathed on Netflix, A Shop for Killers on Disney+, Marry My Husband on Amazon Prime Video

The new year brings a raft of new K-dramas, from time-travelling marital revenge story Marry My Husband, starring Park Min-young, to a police-themed comedy
Then there’s Death’s Game Part 2 and Gyeongseong Creature Part 2, Hellbound director’s new Netflix series and black comedy LTNS with Esom and Ahn Jae-hong

K-drama news

Pierce Conran

Published: 4:15am, 30 Dec 2023

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The year 2024 is set to kick off with a K-drama bang, with a bounty of new shows scheduled.

We preview 12 of the best series debuting in January.

1. Marry My Husband

Lead cast: Park Min-young, Na In-woo

Park Min-young (What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim?) begins the new year playing Kang Ji-won, an office worker who marries a colleague, only to meet an untimely end when she is killed by her husband, Min-hwan (Lee Yi-kyung), after she discovers him in an affair with her best friend.

However, Ji-won wakes up again – as herself, but 10 years in the past – and tries to get her revenge on Min-hwan. Meanwhile, her colleague Yoo Ji-hyeok (Na In-woo of River Where the Moon Rises) now also has eyes for her. (Amazon Prime Video, tvN, January 1)

2. Love Song for Illusion

Lead cast: Park Ji-hoon, Hong Ye-ji

Adapted from the webtoon of the same name, this drama features former Wanna One K-pop boy band member Park Ji-hoon in a dual role. He plays Crown Prince Sajo Hyun in the era of Joseon dynastic rule of Korea, who conceals his royal identity as a fashion designer, as well as Ak-hee, a man who finds it easy to make people fall in love with him, but is cursed to feel pain whenever he touches someone.

Hong Ye-ji (A Normal Family) plays Yeon Wol, a woman who decides to take revenge for the execution of her father. (KBS2, January 2)

3. Death’s Game Part 2

Lead cast: Seo In-guk, Park So-dam

After killing himself and incurring the wrath of Death (Park So-dam), Choi Yee-jae (Seo In-guk) continues to live through the final moments of people meeting untimely deaths in part two of the webtoon adaptation Death’s Game. (TVING, January 5)

4. Gyeongseong Creature Part 2

Lead cast: Park Seo-joon, Han So-hee

Pawn broker Jang Tae-sang (Park Seo-joon) and seeker Yoon Chae-ok (Han So-hee) continue to do battle with a mysterious creature created by the Japanese Imperial Army in the remaining three episodes of Netflix’s big-budget colonial action-horror series. (Netflix, January 5)

5. Knight Flower

Lead cast: Lee Hanee, Lee Jong-won

Killing Romance actress Lee Hanee transports us back to the Joseon era in Korea as Jo Yeon-hwa, a woman who has lived as a widow for 15 years. Her in-laws are a prestigious local family, but at night she sneaks out to become a vigilante helping those in need.

During her outings she becomes involved with senior officer Park Soo-ho (Lee Jong-won, The Golden Spoon) and begins to dream of a new future. (MBC, January 12)

6. A Shop for Killers

Lead cast: Lee Dong-wook, Kim Hye-jun

Disney+ launches its 2024 K-drama slate with A Shop for Killers, the drama debut of Doorlock director Lee Kwon.

Lee Dong-wook (Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938) stars as Jung Jin-man, a man who runs a mysterious shopping centre that trades in weapons. He takes in his niece Jung Ji-an (Kim Hye-jun, Kingdom) following the murder of her parents, but will she continue the family business? (Disney+, January 17)

7. The Bequeathed

Lead cast: Kim Hyun-joo, Park Hee-soon

Train to Busan and Hellbound director Yeon Sang-ho teams up once more with Netflix as the writer and creator of the horror-thriller series The Bequeathed.

Hellbound actress Kim Hyun-joo plays Yoon Seo-ha, who inherits a rural cemetery following her uncle’s death. When dark events begin taking place there, detective Choi Sung-soon (Park Hee-soon, My Name) starts to investigate. (Netflix, January 19)

8. LTNS

Lead cast: Esom, Ahn Jae-hong

Indie film darlings Jeon Go-woon (Microhabitat) and Lim Dae-hyung (Moonlit Winter) team up to write and direct this inventive black comedy, which premiered at the Busan International Film Festival.

Esom (Taxi Driver) and Ahn Jae-hong (Mask Girl) play a couple who have been married for years but have a barren sex life – the title is an acronym for Long Time No Sex. Struggling to make ends meet, they team up to blackmail people having affairs. (TVING, January 19)

9. Captivating the King

Lead cast: Jo Jong-suk, Shin Se-kyung

Jo Jong-suk (Hospital Playlist) plays Joseon prince Lee In. He is loyal to his brother, the king, but after he is taken hostage by China’s Qing dynasty, his brother believes he has betrayed him.

Lee meets and falls in love with the unknown baduk (go, the Chinese board game) player Kang Hee-soo (Shin Se-kyung, Run On). But a twist of fate sees him return to the palace, where he is installed as the new king, only for Hee-soo to become a spy to get revenge on him. (tvN, January 21)

10. FlexxCop

Lead cast: Ahn Bo-hyun, Park Ji-hyun

Military Prosecutor Doberman star Ahn Bo-hyun once again enforces the law with a twist in the cop-themed action-comedy drama FlexxCop.

He plays Jin Yi-soo, a successor in a Korean chaebol (family-run corporation) who, despite his childish personality, becomes a detective in a violent crimes unit.

He takes down bad guys with his vast wealth and personal connections, while working with Lee Gang-hyun (Park Ji-hyun, Reborn Rich), a veteran detective committed to catching criminals. (SBS, January 26)

11. Doctor Slump

Lead cast: Park Shin-hye, Park Hyung-sik

Park Shin-hye (Sisyphus: The Myth) and Park Hyung-sik (Happiness) team up in Doctor Slump as rival medical students whose paths cross once more after they become professionals.

Park Hyung-sik plays Yeo Jung-woo, a top student who became a successful plastic surgeon until becoming involved in an unexpected incident. Park Shin-hye is anaesthesiologist Nam Ha-neul, who is known for her smarts but has nothing in her life aside from work and study.

The two meet again at the low points in their lives. (JTBC, January 27)

12. Queen of Divorce

Lead cast: Lee Ji-ah, Kang Ki-young

Lee Ji-ah in a still from “Queen of Divorce”.

The Penthouse star Lee Ji-ah is Kim Sa-ra, the “Queen of Divorce”, who married into the biggest law firm in Korea, only to be betrayed by her husband and lose everything. She now works as a divorce lawyer doggedly hounding bad spouses.

Sa-ra works alongside Dong Ki-joon (Kang Ki-young, Extraordinary Attorney Woo), a brilliant prosecutor who mysteriously left his career behind to join a divorce law practice. (JTBC, January 31)

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