Upcoming K-Dramas to look out for in the next half of 2024

Sweet Home Season 3

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This series finale is going to take us through the final showdown between monsters and humans, with the characters facing even more problems with new threats emerging and their safehouse being compromised. The show will have you gripping onto your seats and take you on an emotional rollercoaster, with heart-pounding action and the return of Lee Do Hyun’s character, Eun Hyeok, whom we caught a glimpse of at the end of season 2.

Sweet Home (Season 3) is now on Netflix.

The long-awaited Squid Game Season 2 is set to premiere this December. While no official details about the plot have been released, the series is expected to dive back into the twisted world where new debt-ridden contestants are recruited to play deadly versions of children’s games to try and win a life-changing cash prize. It has been announced that new cast members would be joining the ensemble, including seasoned actors like Yim Si Wan, Kang Ha Neul, Park Sung Hoon and Park Gyu Young.

The director of the series, Hwang Dong Hyuk, has also said that the audience can expect to see Young Hee’s boyfriend, Cheol Su – in case you forgot, Young Hee is the creepy animatronic doll in the first game last season. With the disturbing set-up of the games, we can expect Cheol Su to be equally, or perhaps even more ruthless and barbaric than her.

Squid Game (Season 2) will premiere on Netflix in December.

Gyeongseong Creature (Season 2)

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While Season 1 was set in the colonial era in the year 1945, Season 2 will be taking us on a leap through time and will be set in the bustling streets of Seoul in 2024. At the end of Season 1, we see Chae Ok (played by Han So Hee) being infected with the Najin parasite and resurrected. With no knowledge of the full effect of the parasite, it’s difficult to predict what would happen to her in the second season.

We also catch a glimpse of Park Seo Joon playing Ho Jae, who is a carbon copy of Jang Tae Sang, in modern-day Seoul. With all these changes, though both Park Seo Jun and Han So Hee will be starring in Season 2, it’s hard to say whether or not they will be reprising their original roles.

Gyeongseong Creature is set to premiere on Netflix later this year.

The Trunk

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If you enjoy a mystery thriller with a tad of romance, you can look forward to this upcoming drama. Seo Hyun Jin plays In Ji, an employee of a contract marriage organisation, who finds herself in a marriage contract with Jeong Won, played by Gong Yoo, who is a solitary music producer.

One day, however, a mysterious trunk is found in the lake. This leads the pair down a twisted path, uncovering secrets behind the contract marriage organisation.

With director Kim Gyu Tae (best known for his works Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016) and Our Blues (2022), along with the pairing of the two veteran actors, the drama has already garnered much anticipation for its release.

The Trunk is set to premiere on Netflix later this year.

Mr Plankton

Credit: Netflix

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The second half of 2024 is expected to have its own share of K-Drama rom-coms as well.

Mr Plankton dives into the life of Hae Jo (played by Woo Do Hwan), who can’t seem to connect with anyone in life, much like the tiny, ever-floating plankton. He feels as if he doesn’t belong anywhere and has no one to care for. After receiving a shocking piece of news, he decides to search for his real father with an unlikely travel partner – Jo Jae Mi (played by Lee Yu Mi), an unhappy bride-to-be.

Mr Plankton is set to premiere on Netflix later this year.

Our beloved on-screen couple Kim Woo Bin and Suzy, who previously starred in Uncontrollably Fond (2016) together, are set to reunite in this new fantasy K-Drama. Kim Woo Bin stars as a lamp genie, who has been asleep for a thousand years, while Suzy plays Ga Yeong, an emotionally distant human, who awakens the genie and is offered three wishes in return. We can expect to keep our hopes high for this drama, especially with its amazing leads and its star scriptwriter – Kim Eun Sook, who wrote The Glory (2022-2023).

Everything Will Come True is set to premiere on Netflix later this year.

Love Next Door

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Jung Hae In is back, and this time he’s starring in a rom-com alongside established actress Jung So Min. He plays Choi Seung Hyo, a successful young architect in Korea, who has a complicated past with Bae Seok Ryu (played by Jung So Min). Their mothers’ friendship forced them together as children, leading to some embarrassing moments (like spending time together at a women’s bathhouse) that Choi Seung Hyo would rather forget. Bae Seok Ryu was a former high achiever with a successful academic career and a corporate job, but she recently quit and is currently unemployed. The two meet again, this time as adults. The drama is directed by Yoo Je Won and written by Shin Ha Eun (the duo behind the hit 2021 drama Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha), so perhaps we can look forward to a heart-warming K-Drama filled with love and laughter.

Love Next Door is set to premiere later this year.