Korean dramas, Q3 2024: the quarter in review

This SBS Friday–Saturday drama aired 16 episodes from July 12 to September 20. In this legal office drama, star divorce lawyer Cha Eun-kyung (Jang Na-ra) and rookie lawyer Han Yu-ri (Nam Ji-hyun) clash as they take on divorce cases together. It was written by Choi Yu-na, a practicing divorce lawyer, and directed by Kim Ga-ram, with Kim Jun-han (Jung Woo-jin) and Pyo Ji-hoon (Jeon Eun-ho) co-starring.

It opened at 7.8% with episode 1 and peaked at 17.7% with episode 7. The 16th and final episode drew 15.2%. Jang Na-ra won the Grand Prize at the 2024 SBS Drama Awards.

This tvN weekend drama aired 12 episodes from July 6 to August 11. In this office drama, cool-headed audit team leader Shin Cha-il (Shin Ha-kyun) and rookie auditor Koo Han-soo (Lee Jung-ha) dig into internal corruption at a construction company. It is an original series directed by Kwon Young-il and Joo Sang-gyu and written by Choi Min-ho, with Jin Goo (Hwang Dae-woong) and Jo A-ram (Yoon Seo-jin) co-starring.

It opened at 3.5% with episode 1 and peaked at 9.5% with its 12th and final episode, averaging 6.6%.

This tvN weekend drama aired 16 episodes from August 17 to October 6. In this neighborhood romance, Bae Seok-ryu (Jung So-min), who has come back to Korea to reboot her life, gets entangled once more with Choi Seung-hyo (Jung Hae-in), her “mom's friend's son.” It is an original series directed by Yoo Je-won and written by Shin Ha-eun, with Kim Ji-eun (Jung Mo-eum) and Yun Ji-on (Kang Dan-ho) co-starring.

It opened at 4.9% with episode 1 and peaked at 8.5% with its 16th and final episode, averaging 5.9%. It was also released on Netflix, where it peaked at No. 2 in non-English TV and spent 11 weeks in the Top 10, with weekly views totaling 28 million. Its best week, September 2–8, drew 4 million views.

This SBS Friday–Saturday drama aired 14 episodes from September 21 to November 2. In this fantasy legal drama, a demon inhabiting the body of judge Kang Bit-na (Park Shin-hye) sends sinners to hell. It is an original series directed by Park Jin-pyo and written by Jo Yi-soo, with Kim Jae-young (Han Da-on), Kim In-kwon (Koo Man-do) and Kim A-young (Lee A-rong) co-starring.

It opened at 6.8% with episode 1 and peaked at 13.6% with episode 8. The finale drew 11.9%, and the series averaged 10.8%. In some regions it was released on Disney+.

This KBS2 weekend drama premiered on September 28 and aired 36 episodes through January 26, 2025. A black-comedy family drama about a family running a dry-cleaning business who get caught up in an unexpected fortune, it is an original series directed by Sung Joon-hae and Seo Yong-soo and written by Seo Sook-hyang. The cast includes Kim Jung-hyun (Seo Kang-joo), Geum Sae-rok (Lee Da-rim), Choi Tae-joon (Cha Tae-woong) and Yang Hye-ji (Lee Cha-rim).

It opened at 14.1% with episode 1 and peaked at 19.7% with its 36th and final episode, which aired on January 26, 2025. It averaged 16.4%.

This JTBC weekend drama aired 12 episodes from August 10 to September 15. In this family romance, things get tangled again when Byun Mu-jin (Ji Jin-hee), the husband who was thrown out 11 years earlier, returns as the owner of the family's building. It is an original series directed by Kim Da-ye and written by Kim Young-yoon, with Kim Ji-soo (Geum Ae-yeon), Son Na-eun (Byun Mi-rae) and Choi Min-ho (Nam Tae-pyeong) co-starring.

It opened at 4.8% with episode 1 and peaked at 5.3% with episode 4. The finale drew 4.2%, and the series averaged 4.1%. On Netflix it reached No. 1 on the global chart for non-English TV in the week of August 12–18 with 2.6 million views, and spent seven weeks in the Top 10 for a total of 10.5 million views.

A seven-episode Netflix series released on September 27, following season 1, which was released in December 2023. A creature mystery that picks up in 2024 Seoul after the tragedy of 1945 Gyeongseong, it was directed by Jung Dong-yoon and Jo Young-min and written by Kang Eun-kyung. The cast includes Park Seo-joon (Jang Ho-jae), Han So-hee (Yoon Chae-ok), Lee Moo-saeng (Commander Kuroko) and Bae Hyun-sung (Seung-jo).

Season 2 peaked at No. 2 on the global chart for non-English TV and spent four weeks in the Top 10, with weekly views totaling 9.1 million. Its best week, September 30–October 6, drew 3.7 million views.

An eight-episode Netflix thriller released on August 23. When a suspicious guest arrives at a remote guesthouse in midsummer, the everyday lives of ordinary people begin to crumble. It is an original series directed by Mo Wan-il and written by Son Ho-young, and the cast includes Kim Yoon-seok (Jeon Young-ha), Yoon Kye-sang (Koo Sang-jun), Go Min-si (Yoo Seong-a) and Lee Jung-eun (Yoon Bo-min).

It peaked at No. 4 on the global chart for non-English TV and spent three weeks in the Top 10, with weekly views totaling 7.3 million. Its best week, August 26–September 1, drew 3.8 million views.

This MBC Friday–Saturday drama aired 14 episodes from August 16 to October 4. In this crime thriller, Goh Jeong-woo (Byun Yo-han), who served 10 years in prison for a murder case from a night he cannot remember, returns to his hometown village to pursue the truth about that night. It is based on Nele Neuhaus's German novel Snow White Must Die. It is the first drama directed by Byun Young-joo (the film Helpless), and it was written by Suh Joo-yeon. Ko Jun (Noh Sang-cheol), Go Bo-gyeol (Choi Na-gyeom), Kim Bo-ra (Ha-seol) and Kwon Hae-hyo (Hyun Gu-tak) co-star. Before its broadcast, it premiered at Canneseries 2024.

It opened at 2.8% with episode 1 and peaked at 8.8% with its 14th and final episode, averaging 5.9%. At the 2024 MBC Drama Awards, Byun Yo-han won the Best Actor Award, Lee Ga-sub won Best New Actor, and Kwon Hae-hyo won the Best Character Award for this series together with Bitter Sweet Hell.

An eight-episode series released weekly on Apple TV+ from August 23 to October 11, it is the second season of the American drama that began with season 1 in 2022. It tells the story of four generations of Sunja's family, who moved from Yeongdo in Busan to Osaka, Japan, during the Japanese colonial period, and is based on Min Jin Lee's novel of the same name. Season 2 moves between Osaka, from the final days of the war in 1945 through the 1950s, and Tokyo in 1989. Soo Hugh served as creator, and the directors included Lee Sang-il (the film Villain). The cast includes Kim Min-ha and Youn Yuh-jung (Kim Sunja in her youth and old age), Lee Min-ho (Koh Hansu), Jin Ha (Baek Solomon), Jung Eun-chae (Kyunghee) and Kim Sung-kyu (Kim Chang-ho).

Apple TV+ does not release viewership figures. Season 2 won Best Miniseries in the international competition at the Seoul International Drama Awards 2025, and Kim Min-ha won Best Actress at the same ceremony. It was also nominated for cinematography and production design at the 2025 Primetime Emmy Awards. In Korea, tvN aired seasons 1 and 2 in 2026.

An eight-episode Netflix series released on July 19, it is the final season, following season 1 in December 2020 and season 2 in December 2023. Survivors of the outbreak that turned people into monsters fight one last battle in a world where the line between human and monster has collapsed. It is based on Kim Carnby and Hwang Young-chan's Naver Webtoon. Lee Eung-bok and Park So-hyun directed and Hong So-ri and Park So-jung wrote the script, and the cast includes Song Kang (Cha Hyun-su), Lee Jin-wook (Pyeon Sang-wook), Lee Si-young (Seo Yi-kyung), Lee Do-hyun (Lee Eun-hyeok) and Go Min-si (Lee Eun-yu).

It peaked at No. 2 on the global chart for non-English TV and spent three weeks in the Top 10, with weekly views totaling 6.5 million. Its best week, July 22–28, drew 2.8 million views.