K-DRAMA NEWS - July 2026
By Sharon Stern
Several dramas this month will have already begun when this newsletter is published. Disney and Netflix are dominating new drama streaming this month, but Viki is making a bunch of mostly recent movies available that we feature in another article, so if it’s too hot to play outside, there is plenty of viewing you can do late into these longer summer days and the nights that follow. Enjoy!.
Goblin 10th Anniversary Special
Viki – Featuring: Gong Yoo, Kim Go-eun, Lee Dong-wook, Yoo In-na
This isn’t a K-drama, but a celebration of one! Believe it or not, ten years have passed since Guardian: The Lonely and Great God was released. If you haven’t seen this drama, you truly can’t call yourself a drama fan. The entire drama is available for viewing on Viki. If you are a new Korean learner or even if you are just keeping up with subtitles, be prepared to pause and return in several places because the very fast banter between the Goblin and the Reaper leave you reeling a bit, but it is so much fun!!
The stars have come back together to reminisce and tell tales from when they were together filming the drama. They revisit memorable locations and talk about what it was like to shoot one of the most popular dramas ever.
Love in Sync – 공감세포
Disney+ – Starring: Kim Myung-soo (L), Kang Min-ah, Kwon So-hyun, Shin Woo-gyum
Genre: Rom-com, sci-fi, fantasy
The story here is about a former girl group idol turned actress, Yoo Ji-an (Kang Min-ah), who seeks counseling because of the criticism she incurs. The public says she shows no empathy in her acting nor in her life.
Her psychologist, Cha Eun-hwan (Kim Myung-soo), is overly empathetic, but has gained notoriety for his unique techniques. His life and emotions are sent into a tailspin and he re-encounters someone from his past, throwing his life into more changes.
The descriptions of the series say that Yoo Ji-an experiences emotional transference. I wonder if this is an accurate description, though. Emotional transference was described by Freud and can sometimes be used carefully in counseling. It happens when a patient’s emotions from their past, sometimes buried, emerge in counseling and are directed at the psychologist. From the descriptions, it sounds like this might happen to Yoo Ji-an, but that Cha Eun-hwan experiences something similar, which would make for a psychologist without any control – a really dangerous situation. But since this is dramaland and sci-fi fantasy is one of the genres, it is more probable that the two just switch emotional profiles.
The Husband – 결혼의 완성
Disney+ – Starring: Namkoong Min, Lee Seol, Kim Dae-myung, Lee Sang-hee
Genre: Romantic, thriller
A neurosurgeon who is now a hospital director, Kang Tae-ju (Namkoong Min), discusses divorce with his estranged wife, Go Se-yoon (Lee Seol), chairwoman of the board of the hospital. The next day, Go Se-yoon is kidnapped, creating a tense crisis for Kang Tae-ju. Kang Tae-ju wants to save his wife, who is now in the hands of a dangerous criminal, Noh Man-hee (Kim Dae-myung). In the process of trying to free her, he finds himself in a volatile criminal web, revealing secrets about his marriage, and he ends up fleeing from the law while simultaneously pursuing his wife’s captors. He also encounters Kim Kyung-ae (Lee Sang-hee) who appears before Go Se-yoon and is kind, but mysterious and has an unsettling presence. The trailer ends by giving you the distinct impression that kang Tae-ju might have something to do with the kidnapping.
Family Relationship Certificate– 가족관계증명서
Kocowa – Starring: Park Se-young, Han Go-eun, Im Ji-eun, Sung Ie-on, Park So-la, Yoon Hee-seok
Genre: Melodrama, family
Na Ji-ni (Park Se-young), is a woman who grew up being told she was the destroyer of her family. She is a K-animator who wants to make content with international appeal. Her family was wealthy, but she grew up under this dark cloud of judgement, which, of course, shapes how she sees everything. Na Se-ri (Han go-eun) is Na Jin-I’s mother and was the first seat cellist of the National Symphony. She is comes off as proud and confident. She has spent a lot of energy maintaining her perfect image, but is also plagued by secrets from her past and the fears those secrets give her. Both women are forced to confront the scars from their past and while wrestling with that process, they meet No Yeong-ju (Im Ji-eun), a singing instructor who dreamed of being a musical actress, but who has endured many difficulties in her life as well. The three women are tied together by painful experiences and broken families, all with a strong will to start over. As they fight against prejudices and their own fate, they figure out what the definition of family really is.
The trailer for this drama, along with the official descriptions, look like it could be pretty dark at the beginning, definitely melodramatic, but potentially really interesting.
The Apartment Job – 아파트
Netflix – Starring: Ji Sung, Ha Yoon-kyung, Park Byung-eun, Moon So-ri
Genre: Comedy, drama, crime, mystery
Premieres July 10 | Former gangster, Park Hae-gang (Ji Sung), is the president of an apartment residents’ association so that he can get a hold of the association fees. But he discovers corruption in the apartment complex and accidentally becomes a local hero.
Kang Ha-ri (Ha Yoon-kyung) is a lawyer with the goal of becoming a partner at a large law firm, but who actually works part-time at the law firm’s free consultation desk. He meets Park Hae-gang there,
Lee Chung-won (Park Byung-eun) lives in the complex’s penthouse and works for a construction company that builds apartment complexes.
Jang Suk-jin (Moon So-ri) is an all-day, all-night busy-body who manages to wheedle her way into absolutely everyone’s business.
The trailer for this drama doesn’t look wonderfully appealing to me, but the cast is a really strong comedic cast, so it has to have some charming and funny bits.
Dream to You – 그대에게 드림
Viki – Starring: Hwang In-youp, Lee Hye-ri, Baek Sung-chul, Lee Yeol-eum
Genre: Rom-com, dram-com
Premieres July 13 | Woo Soo-bin (Hwang In-youp) is a film director who has achieved his dream after breaking away from a life designed and controlled by his parents. Joo Yi-jae (Lee Hye-ri) is a reporter and is trying hard to make a living. She has given up on her dream and settled for mediocrity in order to survive. They grew up together, but have been off finding their own lives for the past 15 years. Woo Soo-bin returns to Korea after his films have debuted at international film festivals. When he returns to Korea, he and Yi-jae meet again.
Baek Sung-chui plays Shim Yoo-geon, an aspiring actor with stage fright and Lee Yeol-eum plays Oh Ha-na, an up-and-coming actress.
The East Palace – 동궁
Netflix – Starring: Nam Joo-hyuk, Roh Yoon-seo, Cho Seung-woo
Genre: Historic, Mystery, action, adventure, dark fantasy, some descriptions say horror, but I think that’s stretching it
Premieres July 17 | The series is set in a fictional time – not an historic king. There are myths that have survived for centuries about the palace Gyeonghuigung, which was built at the beginning of the 1600s, mostly lost to fire in the 1800s, further dismantled during Japanese occupation, but partially restored starting in 1980. It is called The Forgotten Palace. It is rumored to be haunted by dark souls and their secrets. This well-known history makes for a good background for this drama.
When strange things begin to happen in the palace, the king (Cho Seung-woo) calls for a ghost-slayer, Gu-cheon (Nam Joo-hyuk), who is able to become a ghost himself, allowing him to kill other ghosts. Additionally, a court lady, Saeng-gang (Roh Yoon-seo), is able to see ghosts and communicate with the dead. She believes this is her curse, but is willing to try to help. Together, these two investigate the hauntings of the East Palace while dealing with its special beings.
Spooky In Love – 오싹한 연애
Netflix – Starring: Park Eun-bin, Yang Se-jong, Ong Seong-wu
Genre: Rom-com, fantasy, horror
This drama is based on the 2011 hit movie Spellbound. It is about a hotel chaebol heiress, Cheon Yeo-r (Park Eun-bin), who sees ghosts and is visited every night by the spirits of people who died unjustly. Ma Gang-uk (Yang Se-jong) is a prosecutor who investigates unsolved murders, but is terrified of ghosts. The two join forces to try to solve cases involving paranormal phenomena and end up falling in love.
This drama is so identically like another two that have come out very recently. Why is dramaland suddenly digging up the plot of a hit 2011 movie? Each of the new dramas has different casts, writers, directors, so they are unique, but still...
A Shop for Killers, Season 2 – 킬러들의 쇼핑몰 시즌2
Disney+ – Starring: Lee Dong-wook, Kim Hye-jun, Jo Han-sun, Hyunri, Masaki Okada
Genre: Action, thriller
Premieres July 22 | This is a sequel season to the original, which aired in 2024.
Season 1 ended with Ji-an (Kim Hye-jun) surviving everything her uncle Jin-man (Lee Dong-wook) had kept hidden from her. Season 2 unwraps the secrets held tightly in Season 1. We will find out who Jin-man was before he was Jin-an’s uncle. We will find out what the organization Babylon is and why the organization keeps trying to take Jin-man down – across countries and across time.
Ji-an returns to university life as the new CEO of Murthehelp, but finds a mysterious app offering assassination and terrorist services — with a hit placed on Ji An herself. Threatened by a wave of elite killers she’s never faced before, she teams up with her uncle Jin-man to unravel who is behind the conspiracy and why she’s been targeted.
Babylon has sent an East Asian team. They are Q (Hyunri) and J (Masaki Okada), who are sister and brother. They have their own history with Jin-man and that complicates everything.
The series is picked up by the same director as Season 1 - Director Lee Kwon.
Love on the Menu – 사랑이 온다
Netflix – Starring: Hani, Ha Seok-jin
Genre: Family, drama
Premieres July 25 | A rich family loses its wealth and Han Gyu-rim (Hani) becomes the head of household, trying to scrape together enough to make ends meet by doing housework and other part-time jobs. She meets Kim Mu-jin (Ha Seok-jin). He was born rich and stayed rich. The two become involved over the course of a year, but Gyu-rim breaks off the relationship because she thinks her financial mess will burden him.
Eight years later, Gyu-rim owns a store that sells banchan (side dishes) and encounters Mu-jin again. Gyu-rim is a busy-body, involved in everyone’s business in the market where her shop is, but commiserates with neighbors who are down and celebrates with neighbors who are up. Mu-jin owns an Italian restaurant. He tries to hide his wealth by wearing cheaper clothes and riding the bus and subway. Even though they had their conflicts in the past and even though there are still family pressures, they get back together.
