K-DRAMA NEWS - July 2025
By Sharon Stern
There are several dramas beginning this month that haven’t announced a US streaming service yet. We will update you as soon as information is available.
Well, so much for a kick back, relaxing summer. This month seems to be a lot about intense action/thrillers. There are a couple of novel ideas – con men looking for sunken treasure, rugby, the idea of a crime kind of chaebol family and guns gone amok in South Korea. It’s definitely a unique mix!
Bitch X Rich 2 – 청담국제고등학교
Netflix, Viki (Season 1 available on Viki) – Starring: Lee Eun-saem, Yeri, Yoo Jung-hoo, Lee Jong-hyuk, Kim Min-kyu, Won Kyu-bin
Genre: Youth, thriller, mystery, revenge
This is the second season of a really intense thriller drama and the story is supposed to get a great deal more intense in season two. The story is centered on Kim Hye In (Lee Eun-saem) who is from a poor background and is the only witness in the murder of a fellow student. In exchange for silence, she is given the opportunity to go to Cheongdam International High School, one of the most prestigious in South Korea. There she meets up with Baek Je Na (Kim Ye-rim) who is a very influential student and the prime suspect of the murder. The head games, jockeying for position in the school’s hierarchy and psychological power struggle between them is at the center of the drama. Hye In ends up witnessing a second murder in the first season. New students in season two shake up all of the relationships and gives the main characters moral decisions to deal with.
Law and the City – 서초동
Disney+/Hulu, Viki – Starring: Mun Ka-young, Lee Jong-suk, Ryoo Hye-young, Kang You-seok, Im Sung-jae
Genre: Rom-dram, legal, workplace
This drama features five young lawyers working in Seoul’s legal core, Seocho-dong. The episodes mix work pressures, courtroom drama and personal chaos. This is a drama, but there are lighter moments of comedy too. Questions of legal and personal ethics, self-worth and even romance come into play. The mix could make for some unique angles for a legal drama.
Low Life – 파인: 촌뜨기들
Disney+/Hulu – Starring: Ryu Seung-ryong, Yang Se-jong, Im Soo-jung
Genre: Crime, drama, noir
July 16 | This is a little different setting for a K-drama. It is set in the 1970s and focuses on con man Oh Gwan-seok (Ryu Seung-ryong) searching for a Joseon-era shipwreck off the coast of Shinan, because it is supposedly loaded with treasures, after a fisherman accidentally pulls up a piece of treasure. He brings with him a diver (Yang Se-jong) who is eager to find treasure and an art curator who has been disgraced and wants to redeem herself (Im Soo-jung). They are faced with other greedy treasure hunters, including Gwan-seok’s crime-family uncle, who descend on the island to try to get their cut of the booty.
This drama is based on the webtoon Pain, which was based on a real story of a 14th century Chinese shipwreck found in 1975 off the coast of Shinan.
The Nice Guy (also known as The Good Man) - 착한 사나이
Disney+/Hulu (only one source said this – it could be incorrect) – Starring: Lee Dong-wook, Lee Sung-kyung, Ryu Hye-young
Genre: Action, thriller, rom-com
July 18 | Intellectual by day, gangster by night. That is the story of the central character, Park Seok-cheol (Lee Dong-wook) in this drama. He is the grandson (so 3rd generation) of not a chaebol family, but a gangster dynasty. His ex-girlfriend, Kang Mi-young (Lee Sung-kyung) comes back to her hometown, where Seok-cheol lives, and that sparks some sparks. Seok-cheol is caught between who he wants to be and his family legacy, between having a peaceful life and being forced into his family’s affairs. The drama mixes comedy with action/thriller moments – something that Lee Dong-wook does so well.
The Winning Try (also known as Try: We Become Miracles) - 트라이: 우리는 기적이 된다
Netflix – Starring: Yoon Kye-Sang, Im Se-Mi, Kim Yo-Han
Genre: Sports, youth, rom-dram, rom-com
July 25 | South Korean rugby is not the most watched sport in the country, but it’s popularity is rising. This drama makes it a star. It features a former star player, Joo Ga-ram (Yoon Kye-sang) who ended up in a drug scandal and steps away from the sport. Three years down the road, he comes back to coach a high school team – the one he used to play for. As he steps in, it is the worst team in the league. Coming back to the school, he reconnects with his ex, Bae I-ji (Im Se-mi), who is a shooting coach at the school and always believed in him.
Trigger – 트리거
Netflix – Starring: Kim Nam-gil, Kim Young-kwang, Woo Ji-hyun, Kim Won-hae
Genre: Action, thriller, mystery, crime
July 25 | Unlike the US, South Korea has really strict gun laws and, as a result, there are almost no gun crimes in the country. What would happen if guns suddenly started being shipped to everyone in the country? That’s the premise of this drama. The answer looks like South Korea becomes a whole lot more like the US. The general feeling of trust starts to disappear. No one knows where the guns are suddenly coming from. At the center of the crisis are Yi-do (Kim Nam-gil), a detective and former military sniper, trying to stop the sudden flow of guns and Moon-baek (Kim Young-kwang), an underground arms dealer. The two are caught in a deadly chess game of moves and counter moves, ideologies and counter-ideologies.
