The Best
K-Dramas
on Netflix
Malaysia
2026

The K-drama event of 2025. Set across six decades on Jeju Island, this sweeping romance follows Ae-sun (IU) and Gwan-sik (Park Bo-gum) from their 1960s youth through old age — through hardship, joy, and an enduring love that becomes the spine of an entire family's story. Directed by Kim Won-seok (My Mister) with the same quiet devastation that made that show a masterpiece. IU's performance earned her a Baeksang nomination; Park Bo-gum won Gallup Korea's Television Actor of the Year. The "My Own Gwan-sik" challenge went viral across Southeast Asia. Nine weeks in Netflix's global Non-English Top 10.

Eight episodes, no romance subplot, zero filler. War-seasoned trauma surgeon Dr. Baek Kang-hyuk (Ju Ji-hoon, Kingdom) arrives at a hospital with a broken trauma unit and proceeds to save everyone — including his underdog team — through a combination of surgical genius and comedic swagger. Adapted from a webtoon, it became 2025's most-bingeable K-drama. Ju Ji-hoon won Best Actor at Baeksang. The drama's impact reached real life: the Mayor of Seoul publicly cited it when allocating additional funding to the city's trauma centres.

A presidential spokesperson (Yoo Yeon-seok) and his secretly non-mute wife (Chae Soo-bin) are trapped in a cold arranged marriage — until a kidnapper's phone call upends everything they thought they knew about each other. What begins as a gripping political thriller pivots into one of the steamiest slow-burn romances of the year. The chemistry between the leads is electric; the first ten episodes are near-perfect tension. Peaked at 6.6 million Netflix views in a single week.

A Michelin-star chef is time-warped to the Joseon era and ends up cooking for an icy king. What sounds like a tired premise is executed with irresistible charm: beautiful food, beautiful cinematography, and a romance that earns every beat. Spent the most time on regional top 10 lists of any 2025 K-drama globally, including weeks atop Netflix Malaysia's charts. Cozy, warmly comedic, and deeply satisfying — the perfect weekend binge.

The most-watched television season in Netflix history finally concluded. Season 3 brought Gi-hun's story to its divisive close, drawing 142.4 million completed views — fewer than Season 2's record-shattering numbers, but still monumental by any other measure. The controversy over the ending has been fierce and passionate, which is itself a testament to how deeply the series embedded itself in Malaysian pop culture since 2021. Watch all three seasons back-to-back for the full experience.

A morally grey Joseon prince returns after years missing — but his half-sister doesn't believe he's who he claims to be. One of 2025's most devastatingly written melodramas, Dear Hongrang channels the classic sageuk tragedy in the vein of Winter Sonata and I Love You, I'm Sorry. Lee Jae-wook is extraordinary: every scene radiates with the unknowable quality of a man who may be a ghost. Not for the faint-hearted, but deeply rewarding for fans of classical K-drama storytelling.

A deceptively simple premise — a food critic and a chef with a secret — unfolds into one of the year's most beautifully observed romances. Ranked in critics' year-end lists as one of the best K-dramas of 2025. The food photography is gorgeous, the performances are understated and warm, and the romance takes its time in all the right ways. A quieter choice than most on this list, but one that lingers long after the credits roll.

A polyglot interpreter (Kim Seon-ho) with a pathological aversion to emotional expression is hired onto a celebrity reality dating show — and falls for the superstar he's translating for. One of the first strong 2026 entries, and an early favourite for the year. Kim Seon-ho's comedic timing and Go Youn-jung's magnetic presence make this essential viewing for fans of both actors. Shot across stunning international locations.

A spiritual successor to the beloved Hospital Playlist, following Gen Z medical residents choosing the OB-GYN department during South Korea's birthrate crisis. More youthful and raw than its predecessor, with a cast entirely in their 20s and a social conscience that gives the drama real weight. Not as immediately cosy as Hospital Playlist, but uniquely earnest about what it means to be a young doctor in contemporary Korea.

The most-watched season of television Netflix has ever released — 1.445 billion viewing hours, 201.5 million completed views. Gi-hun returns to the games, this time with vengeance in mind. The second season is darker, more politically charged, and more willing to subvert expectations than the first. If you somehow haven't watched it yet, start now before tackling Season 3. The cultural conversation around it reached every corner of Malaysia's streaming scene.

One of the year's breakout weekly K-dramas, spending a remarkable 14 weeks on Netflix's global Top 10 list. A romance with genuine spark and an unconventional premise that keeps you guessing. Proof that weekly K-dramas — the bread-and-butter of Korean television — can compete with prestige streaming originals when the writing is sharp.

Park Shin-hye (Pinocchio, Memories of the Alhambra) returns as a financial auditor who goes undercover as a 20-year-old university student to investigate a money trail. One of 2026's early romantic comedies, leaning into the trend of adult-disguised-as-student setups that Korean audiences love. Brisk, cheerful, and a reliable good-time watch for fans of Park Shin-hye's warm screen presence.