K-DRAMA NEWS - Jan 2026
By Sharon Stern
Most of the January dramas look to be on the lighter side, which is appropriate for this dark and chilly month. It’s a month for hopefully fun fluff or, as one of the KCCNYC team has said, a warm sweater. Fingers crossed that we have some quality story-telling along with our fluff or that our sweater is not unfuzzy, monotone gray!
Love Me – 러브 미
Netflix, Viki – Starring: Seo Hyun-jin, Chang Ryul, Lee Si-woo, Yoo Jae-myung, Yoon Se-ah, Dahyun
Genre: Family, melodrama, slice-of-life
This drama is based on the Swedish comedy/drama Älska mig from 2019 and is directed by Jo Young-min, who directed the very recent (and outstanding) drama You and Everything Else.
Seo Jun Gyeong’s (Seo Hyun-jin) life as an OB/GYN seems, from the outside, to be perfect, but she’s very lonely. She ran away from her family seven years ago because of an accident that caused the family to fall apart. She doesn’t want anyone to find out about this. When she meets her next-door neighbor, Ju Do Hyun (Chang Ryul), he immediately sees right through her.
Idol I – 아이돌아이
Viki, Kocowa – Starring: Choi Soo-young, Kim Jae-young
Genre: Mystery, rom-com, legal, suspense
Maeng Se-na (Choi Soo-young) is a lawyer who only takes on cases that no one else wants. She’s also a huge fan of the group Gold Boys and especially the lead singer Do Ra-ik (Kim Jae-young). Do Ra-ik is mixed up as a suspect in a weird murder case and Maeng Se-na hides her idolization, but takes on his case and, in the process, discovers a whole new side to him.
The Judge Returns – 판사 이한영
Viki – Starring: Ji Sung, Park Hee-soon, Won Jin-ah, Baek Jin-hee
Genre: Fantasy, legal, thriller
This series is based on a Naver Webtoon by the same name. Judge Lee Han-yeong (Ji Sung) truly believed that justice could be served in the courtroom. He sends a chaebol to prison for life, against the orders of his superiors, and he is killed as a result. But he comes alive again, returns to the past and punishes the people who did him wrong and in doing that, changes his fate.
To My Beloved Thief – 은애하는 도적님아
Viki – Starring: Nam Ji-hyun, Moon Sang-min, Hong Min-gi, Han So-eun
Genre: Historical, rom-com, fantasy
Hong Eun-jo (Nam Ji-hyun) was born to a noble father and a slave mother. She steals from corrupt official’s food stockpiles and distributes the food to the poor. She dresses as a man, has rumors swirling around her and the entire Joseon army chasing after her. Prince Yi Yeol (Moon Sang-min) is a dignified prince who loves a good detective riddle. Prince Yi is part of the pursuit team to find the grain thief. As the pursuit gets close, the two body swap (of course) and have to look at the world through each other’s eyes.
Spring Fever – 스프링 피버
Prime – Starring: Lee Joo-bin, Ahn Bo-hyun, Cha Seo-won, Cho Jun-young, Lee Jae-in, Bae Jung-nam, Jin Kyung
Genre: Rom-com
Yun Bom (Lee Joo-bin) leaves Seoul for Sinsu to be an exchange teacher and to escape after an emotional experience. Emotionally shut down, she keeps her distance from others at her new location. Seon Jae-gyu (Ahn Bo-hyun) is the CEO of JK Power Energy looks like a bad guy, stirs up trouble in the village, is misunderstood by the townspeople, but is a deeply caring, considerate, nice guy. Their meeting changes both of their lives. Adapted from the web novel Spring Fever, is set mostly outdoors with many sea-side scenes.
Can This Love Be Translated – 이 사랑 통역 되나요?
Netflix – Starring: Kim Seon-ho, Go Yoon-jung, Choi Woo-sung, Sota Fukushi, Lee Yi-dam
Genre: Rom-com
Premieres Jan 16 | Ju Ho-jin (Kim Seon-ho) is a multilingual translator who is the personal translator for an A-list actress, Cha Mu-hee (Go Yoon-jung). As they travel the world becayse Cha Mu-hee joins a travel show and Ju Ho-jin follows as her translator, their feelings get lost in translation, because they don’t view the world in the same way. This drama has received a lot of hype and is written by the Hong sisters (Alchemy of the Souls, Hotel del Luna, My Girlfriend is a Gumiho), who almost always produce winners.
No Tail to Tell – 오늘부터 인간입니다만
Netflix – Starring: Kim Hye-yoon, Lomon
Genre: Fantasy, rom-com
Premieres Jan 16 | Eun-ho (Kim Hye-yoon) is gumiho (if you don’t know about gumihos or haven’t seen a Gumiho drama, you can read the mythology here or check out the dramas My Girlfriend is a Gumiho [Viki, Kocowa], My Roommate is a Gumiho [Viki, Prime], Tale of the Nine-Tailed [Viki, Netflix, Roku, Prime]), but unlike most gumiho’s, she doesn’t want to become human and diligently does bad deeds to avoid a transformation. Kang Si-yeol (Lomon) is a world-class football (soccer) player who is known for being narcissistic. By an accident, caused, of course, by fate, Eun-ho is transformed into the human she doesn’t want to be and has to deal with responsibilities and human emotions for the first time.
I’m a sucker for gumiho stories, I really am. Fantasy in dramas can be fun. Fantasy mixed with mythology can be double the fun. The trailer looks to be on the silly side, but My Girlfriend is a Gumiho is one of the silliest dramas out there and it’s one of my favorites. We’ll have to see how this one plays out! It’s pretty throw-back hilarious that they have Kim Hye-yoon sporting pretty much the identical gumiho tails as Shin Min-ah did in My Girlfriend is a Gumiho..
Positively Yours – 아기가 생겼어요
Viki – Starring: Choi Jin-hyuk, Oh Yeon-seo, Hong Jong-hyun, Kim Da-som
Genre: Rom-com, dram-com
Premieres Jan 17 | This drama is based on a Naver Webtoon by the same name. The story follows Kang Doo-joon (choi Jin-hyuk) as a chaebol heir who promised himself to never marry, and Jang Hee-won (Oh Yeon-seo) who excels in her job but is closed off to relationships because of her parents’ ugly divorce. When Hee-won gets pregnant after a one-night stand with Doo-joon, both of their lives get flipped upside down.
Undercover Miss Hong – 언더커버 미쓰홍
Netflix – Starring: Park Shin-hye, Go Kyung-pyo, Ha Yoon-kyung, Cho Han-gyeol
Genre: Workplace comedy, mystery
Premieres Jan 17 |Hong Geum-bo (Park Shin-hye) is an undercover securities inspector in the late 1990s and is assigned with the role of a junior employee in a suspicious investment firm, trying to root out fraud. Her undercover investigation, when she has never actually been a junior employee in an investment firm before, takes her through workplace drama and comedy where she makes unexpected friendships and has to navigate complicated relationships.
