The 11 most anticipated new K-drama series of 2023, from Queen of Tears and 7 Escape to When the Stars Gossip

Big-budget sci-fi, fantasy, horror, superheroes and a new twisted survival game drama are all due to hit the Korean drama world this year, along with a host of other mouth-watering series. Here’s what we’re most looking forward to. 1. Black Knight Following Our Blues, Kim Woo-bin returns in the Netflix series Black Knight, reuniting him with Master director Cho Ui-seok. Based on a webtoon, the show depicts a dystopian future where delivery drivers play important roles in a world blighted by air pollution. Kim plays the legendary delivery man “5-8”, while Kang Yoo-seok (Payback) plays a refugee dreaming of being a delivery driver, and Esom (Taxi Driver) plays an officer from the Defence Intelligence Command. 2. Mask Girl Go Hyun-jung (Reflection of You) plays Kim Mo-mi in Netflix’s Mask Girl. She is an ordinary worker who develops a complex about her looks as she grows older and now spends her evenings broadcasting online as “Mask Girl”. Mo-mi becomes embroiled in an incident that involves her colleague Joo Oh-nam (Ahn Jae-hong, Time to Hunt) and his mother Kim Kyung-ji (The Uncanny Counter’s Yum Hye-ran). Nana (Glitch) plays the young Mo-mi in this series from Beasts Clawing at Straws director Kim Young-hoon. 3. When the Stars Gossip Lee Min-ho (Pachinko) and Gong Hyo-jin (When the Camellia Blooms) are teaming up for the big-budget sci-fi romance When the Stars Gossip. From It’s Okay to Not Be Okay director Park Shin-woo and Jealousy Incarnate writer Seo Sook-hyang, the show follows Lee’s OB-GYN who meets Gong’s Korean-American astronaut when he visits a space station. The show also stars Han Ji-eun (Bad and Crazy) as a corporate CEO and Oh Jung-se (Jirisan) as a space expert. 4. Moving Ryu Seung-ryong (Kingdom), Han Hyo-joo (Happiness) and Zo In-sung (Escape from Mogadishu) lead Moving, an adaptation of a popular superhero webtoon written by Kang Full. The show follows what happens to three parents and their high school children when they discover that they have super powers. Other actors involved in this highly anticipated event series include Cha Tae-hyun (My Sassy Girl) and Ryoo Seung-bum (The Berlin File). 5. Demon Kingdom writer Kim Eun-hee is returning with another supernatural horror drama, Demon. Twenty-Five Twenty-One star Kim Tae-ri leads the occult mystery thriller, which tells the story of a woman attempting to take the civil service exam who becomes possessed by an evil spirit, and a man who can see the evil spirits. Together, they begin investigating mysterious deaths surrounding five objects. Park Eun-bin considers romantic comedy role – K-drama casting latest Oh Jung-se and Hong Kyung (Lovers of the Red Sky) co-star in this SBS drama. 6. Uncle Samshik Uncle Samshik is drawing great attention for being the first ever TV drama role of celebrated Parasite star Song Kang-ho. It follows the friendship between Song’s character Sam-shik and Kim San, played by Byun Yo-han (Mr. Sunshine), who goes to study abroad and returns in the early 1960s with a dream of turning Korea into a modern industrialised nation. Uncle Samshik is being directed by filmmaker Shin Yeon-shick, whose upcoming volleyball film One Win also stars Song. 7. Gyeongseong Creature Later this year, Han So-hee and Park Seo-joon will headline the Netflix period action drama Gyeongseong Creature. Set in the spring of 1945, near the end of the Japanese colonial era in Korea, the show will follow two characters who battle for survival when they go up against a creature born of greed. The show is directed by Jung Dong-yoon (Hot Stove League) and written by Kang Eun-kyung (Dr. Romantic). 8. Queen of Tears Superstar Kim Soo-hyun (It’s Okay to Not Be Okay) returns to screens alongside My Liberation Notes actress Kim Ji-won in the new series Queen of Tears. Little Women star to play factory girl in Hi Cookie: K-drama casting latest Kim Soo-hyun plays Baek Hyun-woo, the head of the legal department of a major corporation whose success has made him the pride of his village. He is married to Kim Ji-won’s Hong Hae-in, the arrogant daughter of the family that owns the company he works for. 9. Bandit: The Sound of the Knife Kim Nam-gil headlines the Netflix series Bandit: The Sound of the Knife, another period drama set during the Japanese colonial era. Kim plays Lee Yoon, a man who serves in the Japanese military but abandons his post and travels to Jiandao in China, where he becomes a bandit to protect a settlement of Korean refugees. Seohyun of Girls’ Generation, Yoo Jae-myung (Itaewon Class), Lee Hyun-wook (Mine) and Lee Ho-jung (Nevertheless) round out the cast. 10. 7 Escape The Penthouse fans should be on the lookout for 7 Escape, the new show from the director of the hit Korean soap opera, Joo Dong-min. 7 Escape also reunites Penthouse cast members Uhm Ki-joon, Yoon Jong-hoon and Shin Eun-kyung. The story concerns seven high-powered characters who become involved in the case of a missing girl. Hwang Jung-eum (Men Are Men) and Lee Joon (Bloody Heart) also appear in the series. Kim Tae-ri, Kim Soo-hyun in talks for new shows: K-drama casting latest 11. Money Game Emergency Declaration director Han Jae-rim makes his drama debut with Money Game, the story of eight people who enter a competition for a 44.8 billion won (US$36 million) prize. The game involves staying in a simple studio for 100 days, but all the necessities they must purchase to survive cost 1,000 times their normal price. Leading the cast are Ryu Jun-yeol (Reply 1988), Park Jung-min (Hellbound) and Chun Woo-hee (The Wailing).