K-DRAMA NEWS - September 2026
By Sharon Stern
The theme running through many of this month’s K-drama debuts seems to me to be an exploration of true emotions that we all face throughout our lives. Whether they are dealt with in comedy or seriously in drama, we all have to examine our place in the world, our place inside of our relationships, our relationships with lovers, family and co-workers. We often think we are in much more control of our emotions and our relationships with others than we really are. When we think we’ve achieved the perfect job or a place in society that gives us privilege, we often find out that the scenarios we imagined don’t quite line up with reality. There are lots of different emotional adventures to explore this month. Dive in and enjoy!
The Affair Was Just the Beginning– 지금 불륜이 문제가 아닙니다
Starring: Kim Hye-soo, Cho Yeo-jung, Kim Ji-hoon, Kim Jae-chul
Genre: Black comedy, thriller, crime, drama, family
Park Kyung Hee (Kim Hye-soo) is a successful interior designer and influencer. Everyone loves the image of her perfect family. She is trying to make friends with Su Jeong (Cho Yeo-jung), who owns the skin-care clinic next door, because she thinks Su Jeong can help her by investing in her business and bump it up to another level.
Kung Hee hears rumors that her husband is having an affair, so she decides to follow him. She finds him with a dead body and when she asks what’s going on, their daughter, Ye Ji (Jeon Si-hyun), has killed the person, to which Kung Hee replied, “So, the affair isn’t the only problem?” The couple end up burying the body in the garden of their mansion. But later that night, they get a message saying, “I recorded everything you did yesterday.
Kung Hee has to navigate the mess of lies, blackmail and deceit and try to hold her life together.
OK! Let’s Get Divorced – 그래, 이혼하자
Kocowa
Starring: Lee Min-jung, Kim Ji-suk
Genre: Rom-com
Baek Mi Yeong (Lee Min-jung) and Won Ho (Kim Ji-suk) fell in love and married quickly. They started a wedding dress company called J&White where they are co-CEOs and designers. Buried scars from their past pull them away from each other. After seven years of marriage, Mi Yeoung serves Won Ho with divorce papers. Won Ho feels blindsided and strikes back. Mi Yeong thought it would be a clean and simple split, but it quickly turns into complete chaos. As they keep throwing curveballs at each other that interrupt their fights, buried feelings resurface. Can they sew back together their relationship?
New Recruit Season 4: Sabotage – 신병 시즌4
Viki
Starring: Kim Min-ho, Kim Dong-Jun, Oh Dae-Hwan, Lee Hyun-Kyun, Lee Won-Jung, Nam Tae-Woo
Genre: Military, black comedy
This franchise is based on the web animation created by YouTuber Jangbbijju. The franchise in K-dramas began in 2021. This drama franchise is a black comedy drama that explores the lives of young adults in their 20s, delving into the culture, secrets, and absurdities of South Korea’s military.
This season follows the dynamic second half of Private-turned-Corporal Park Min Seok's military life as he struggles with endless concerns after being promoted to corporal.
Season 4 shows the second half of Park Min Seok’s (Kim Min-ho) dynamic military life as he is promoted to corporal and finds himself facing endless new dilemmas. Just when he thought things would settle after his promotion, the arrival of a mysterious and hard-to-read new recruit and a new battalion commander signals the start of a turbulent new chapter. A massive sabotage begins, making Park Min Seok’s life impossible.
Made in Korea 2 – 메이드 인 코리아 시즌2
Disney+, Hulu
Starring: Hyun Bin, Jung Woo-sung, Woo Do-hwan
Genre: Period, political, action, crime
Season 1 is also available on Disney+
This is the second season of Disney’s gripping political action series and it begins nine years after the first series ended. Baek Ki-tae (Hyun Bin) now sits in the director’s chair of the KCIA and he’s going to find out what he owes for being allowed to get there. He pursued power at any cost and the costs are rea. Prosecutor Jang Geon-young (Jung Woo-sung) returns from his disgraceful exit and is set for deep revenge, reaching into Ki-tae’s family. The battle between corruption and justice plays out in the very tense political environment of the 1970s and 1980s.
The Ordinary Jackpot – 로또1등도 출근합니다
Viki, HBO Max, Disney+, Prime
Starring: Lee Jun-hyuk, Seo Hyun-woo, Oh Dae-hwan
Genre: Workplace, fantasy, drama
This drama was adapted from the web novel “Lotto Winner Also Goes to Work” by Seo In Ha.
Gong Eun-tae (Lee Jun-hyuk) buys a lottery ticket and wins. Pretty big. 1.3 billion won – about $1 million. It’s enough to relax a bit, but not enough to live out the rest of his life in luxury. He decides to continue working in his sales job, taking the win as “mental insurance,” knowing that it doesn’t immediately matter if he loses his job. His bosses used to intimidate him by threatening to fire him, but all of a sudden, they see that their threats are no longer working. He decides to shake things up a bit and challenges authority at every level, making waves throughout the entire company.
A Love Other Than Yours – 너 말고 다른 연애
Starring: Seo Kang-joon, Ahn Eun-jin, Lee Joo-ahn, Jo A-ram
Genre: Rom-dram, melodrama
Namgung Ho (Seo Kang-joon), an office worker, and Lee Mi-do (Ahn Eun-jin), an actress, have been together ten years and wonder if they should go ahead and get married, though it seems like just a formality. Their relationship begins evolving, as all do. They are not looking to end the relationship, nor for new relationships, but new people enter both of their lives, confusing both of them.
This is a realistic story line and the cast is very strong. I’ve got my fingers crossed for this one.
The Scandal – 스캔들
Starring: Son Ye-jin, Ji Chang-wook, Nana
Genre: Historical, romance
This drama looks to be pretty much a Joseon version of Dangerous Liasons.
Premieres September 18 | Lady Cho (Son Ye-jin) is frustrated that upper-class women in Joseon have no say in any part of their lives and decides to play a very dangerous game of seduction. She proposes that Cho-won (Ji Chang-wook), a wealthy aristocrat who is well known to be a libertine, seduce a widow, Hui-yeon (Nana). In the strict social structure of Joseon, widows could not re-marry and Hui-yeon is devoted to remaining chaste. But Lady Cho wants to prove that no one is beyond manipulation. Cho-won assumes this will be just another conquest and accepts the challenge. Hui-yeon holds out stoically, but as emotions are manipulated and genuine feelings also get involved, all three are entangled in dangerous liasons, leaving all three of them scarred.
Salon De Nabi – 날아올라라, 나비
Starring: Kim Hyang-gi, Oh Yoon-ah, Choi Daniel,
Genre: Workplace, comedy, drama, slice-of-life
This drama was scheduled to release in 2022, was released in Taiwan, but was postponed for release on Prime until now.
Premieres September 19 | The drama is set in the Fly High, Butterfly hair salon where customers are transformed into butterflies and follows the workers and interns there. Everyone is working hard and trying their best to manage all kinds of different customers.Lady Cho (Son Ye-jin) is frustrated that upper-class women in Joseon have no say in any part of their lives and decides to play a very dangerous game of seduction. She proposes that Cho-won (Ji Chang-wook), a wealthy aristocrat who is well known to be a libertine, seduce a widow, Hui-yeon (Nana). In the strict social structure of Joseon, widows could not re-marry and Hui-yeon is devoted to remaining chaste. But Lady Cho wants to prove that no one is beyond manipulation. Cho-won assumes this will be just another conquest and accepts the challenge. Hui-yeon holds out stoically, but as emotions are manipulated and genuine feelings also get involved, all three are entangled in dangerous liasons, leaving all three of them scarred.
Dive Into You – 너에게 다이브
Starring: Bona, Park Seo-ham, Jang Se-hyuk, Moon Seung-you
Genre: Rom-com, fantasy
Premieres September 26 | Yun Ha Na (Bona) is a top actress who is popular all across Asia. She’s at the top of her career and is living the glamorous life. She is involved in an accident and does a body swap with her twin brother, but also travels to the past. She realizes she is facing a second change at changing her future and wants to save her first love, Jung U Jae (Park Seo-ham), who lost his life saving her. Her brother, Yun Ha Ru (Jang Se-hyuk), has to figure out how to cope in his sister’s body. Ha Na and Ha Ru slip back and forth into the past and present. The CEO of Ha Na’s agency, Son Ye Rang (Moon Seung-you), who is Ha Ru’s lover, is also intertwined in this body and time swap confusion. Questions of love, sacrifice and an attempt to re-write one’s past are woven throughout.
