Korean dramas, Q1 2026: the quarter in review

This KBS 2TV weekend drama began on January 31 and follows two families, at odds for 30 years, who clear up old misunderstandings and come together as one family. It peaked at 18.0% with episode 11, the highest of any drama that premiered in the quarter, and ran until July.

Jin Se-yeon plays fashion designer Gong Ju-a, and Park Ki-woong plays Yang Hyun-bin, a childhood friend she meets again at work, now head of the company's fashion division. Kim Mi-sook, Kim Seung-soo and Yoo Ho-jeong play the elders of the Gong family. Park Ji-sook wrote the script; Han Joon-seo and Bae Eun-hye directed.

Airing on MBC's Friday–Saturday slot from January 2 to February 14, this legal drama follows Lee Han-young (Ji Sung), a judge who did the bidding of a giant law firm, as he wakes up ten years in the past and makes different choices to bring the powerful to justice. It peaked at 13.6%.

Park Hee-soon, Won Jin-ah and Tae Won-seok co-star. Kim Kwang-min wrote the script, and Lee Jae-jin, who directed The Banker, directed with Park Mi-yeon.

This tvN weekend drama aired from January 17 to March 8. In the late 1990s, Hong Geum-bo (Park Shin-hye), an elite securities inspector in her thirties, goes undercover as a 20-year-old junior employee at a brokerage where suspicious money is moving. The retro office comedy peaked at 13.1% with episode 15.

Go Kyung-pyo plays the brokerage's new CEO, Shin Jung-woo, and Ha Yoon-kyung plays his secretary, Go Bok-hee. Moon Hyun-kyung, who previously wrote KBS's Chulsapyo, wrote the script; Park Seon-ho and Na Ji-hyun directed.

This SBS Friday–Saturday drama ran from March 13 to May 2. Shin I-rang (Yoo Yeon-seok), a lawyer possessed by the spirits of the dead, teams up with Han Na-hyun (Esom), an elite lawyer who lives to win, to resolve the grievances the dead leave behind. It peaked at 10.0%.

Kim Kyung-nam plays Yang Do-kyung, head of a major law firm. It was directed by Shin Joong-hoon, a co-director of One Dollar Lawyer.

This KBS 2TV weekend drama aired from January 3 to February 22. Hong Eun-jo (Nam Ji-hyun), a woman who has somehow become the greatest thief in the land, and Yi Yeol (Moon Sang-min), the Joseon grand prince chasing her, swap souls and end up saving each other in this historical romance.

Hong Min-ki, Han So-eun, Choi Won-young and Ha Seok-jin co-star. Lee Seon wrote the script.

This tvN Monday–Tuesday drama aired from March 2 to April 7. Insurance investigator Cha Woo-seok (Wi Ha-joon) digs into auctioneer Han Seol-ah (Park Min-young), whom he suspects of fraud. The series remakes the 1999 Fuji TV drama Kōri no Sekai (World of Ice). Lee Young wrote the script and Kim Cheol-kyu directed.