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Squid Game—decidedly, not a romance—may be one of the most popular modern TV series of all time, but when it wraps in June 2025, its run will only consist of a few dozen episodes in total. Meanwhile, the Korean TV industry has been steadily churning out romance-centric series for domestic audiences and for a growing, dedicated global fandom for more than a decade.
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Korea has built a massively successful industry out of telling love stories, and Netflix executives have come to recognize their value. In the last five years, the streaming giant has dedicated billions of dollars into becoming a hub for Korean drama. The result? A notable catalogue of romantic K-dramas that includes older hits and new classics, across a variety of genres, from historical romance to epic fantasy to slice-of-life drama. In honor of Valentine’s Day, we’re highlighting 15 of the best love stories currently on the streamer. With the traditional K-drama constructed as a one-season story, most of these picks could be binged in a week or less.
Given romance’s prominence in the Korean TV industry, this is an incredibly competitive category. We’ve narrowed it down by keeping the focus on series that have romance as a central element. (While excellent series like My Mister or Reply 1988 include romantic subplots and are available on Netflix, their love stories are not the driving narrative force.) Without further ado, here are some of the best K-drama love stories on Netflix, in no particular order.
Something in the Rain (2018)
When Jun-hui (Love Next Door’s Jung Ha-ein) returns from a few years of working abroad, he doesn’t expect to reconnect with his big sister’s friend, Jin-ah (Crash Landing on You’s Son Ye-jin). When the two fall in love, they must navigate the ins and outs of their relationship while also facing modern prejudices: Jin-ah is six years older than Jun-hui, which is considered a notable gap for an older woman and younger man in a relationship. Also, Jun-hui’s mother died and father left when he was young. In Korea, family lineage is extremely important, and people without present parents are often considered less desirable for marriage. Something in the Rain is a more realistic love story than many of the entries on the list, helmed by two of Hallyu’s best lead actors. If you like Something in the Rain, you can follow up with One Spring Night, a 2019 series that reunites Something in the Rain’s director Ahn Pan-seok with writer Kim Eun and star Jung Hae-in.
Alchemy of Souls (2022-2023)
Iconic K-drama scribes the Hong sisters bring us a story of body-swapping, spells, and Game of Thrones-level power plays. In the fictional land of Daeho, sorceress assassin Nak-su (Jung So-min) is fatally wounded, and is forced to soul-shift into another body. Without her magical powers, she must use other skills to survive as Mu-deok, a servant to nobleman and aspiring sorcerer Jang Uk (Lee Jae-wook). When Jang Uk guesses Nak-su’s true identity, he convinces her to take him on as her apprentice. Alchemy of Souls is a xianxia-infused fantasy epic, but the love story between Nak-su and Jang Uk serves as its center, crossing bodies and defying death. The rare K-drama that runs for two seasons, telling its story across 30 episodes, Alchemy of Souls is a bigger time commitment than most of the series on this list—but it’s worth it.
Business Proposal (2022)
When Shin Ha-ri (Kim Se-jeong) agrees to go on her friend’s blind date for her, she isn’t expecting to see Kang Tae-moo (Ahn Hyo-seop), the new CEO of her company, across the dinner table. Ha-ri manages to keep her identity as Tae-moo’s employee a secret, but when he discovers she is impersonating his intended date, he offers a deal: he will pay her to pretend to be his fiancée. Ha-ri will have money to help her family’s financially precarious position, and Tae-moo will get his grandfather, who wants to see his grandson married, off of his back. Things get complicated when the two begin to develop real feelings for one another. A romantic comedy through and through, Business Proposal is a light-hearted watch in a sea of K-drama angst.
Cinderella and the Four Knights (2016)
In this reimagining of the classic fairy tale, Park So-dam (Death’s Game) stars as Eun Ha-won, our titular “Cinderella,” a high school senior who dreams of becoming a teacher but is thwarted at every step by her vindictive step-mother. When she inadvertently impresses the chairman of a powerful corporation, she is hired to move into a mansion to keep his three grandsons in line. This era of K-drama was ruled by the poor-girl-meets-chaebol-boy love story, and Cinderella and the Four Knights is one of the best.
The Trunk (2024)
One of 2024’s most intriguing dramas, The Trunk stars Seo Hyun-jin (Dr. Romantic) as Noh In-ji, a woman who works for an elite contract marriage company. She is hired to marry rich music producer Han Jeong-won (Squid Game’s Gong Yoo)—by his ex-wife, no less. Over the course of the one-year contract, the two begin to learn more about one another’s painful pasts, forming what seems like a genuine connection. But is In-ji caring for Jeong-won because she is falling for him, or because it is her job? And what will happen when the contract is up? The Trunk is a more complex slow-burn compared to the traditional K-drama, trading the surety of a confident love story for something quieter and more hard-won.
Crash Course in Romance (2023)
Another K-drama that has slightly older characters at its center, Crash Course in Romance centers celebrity math tutor Choi Chi-yeol (Hospital Playlist’s Jung Kyung-ho). While Chi-yeol may be the most sought-after teacher in Korea’s multi-billion-dollar hagwon industry, he has lost his appetite for life. Meanwhile, banchan shop owner Nam Haeng-seon (Kill Boksoon’s Jeon Do-yeon) gave up her career as a handball player a decade ago to raise her niece and care for her disabled brother. When Haeng-seon’s side dishes turn out to be the only food a miserable Chi-yeol craves, the two characters’ lives begin to collide in unexpected ways.
Because This is My First Life (2017)
From 2004’s Full House to 2017’s My Roommate is a Gumiho, contract roommate set-ups have become a staple trope of the Korean romantic drama. Two people agree to live together out of some combination of convenience and necessity, and eventually fall in love. In Because This is My First Life, what begins as a business arrangement between exacting IT worker Nam Se-hee (My Liberation Notes’ Lee Min-ki) and aspiring screenwriter Yoon Ji-ho (Love Next Door’s Jung So-min) evolves into attraction and then love. Because This is My First Life expands its focus to six characters of the disenfranchised “880 generation,” incorporating social issues such as workplace misogyny, familial expectation, and Seoul’s housing crisis into a “healing” drama format.
The Atypical Family (2024)
Though not equally adept in the way it handles each of its many storylines, The Atypical Family excels in its nonlinear romance. The show follows a family of super-powered individuals who have lost their respective abilities due to chronic conditions, such as alcohol dependence and insomnia. When con woman Do Da-hae (The 8 Show’s Chun Woo-hee) ingratiates herself with the family as part of a plan to get their money, she knows nothing of their unique situation. This slowly changes when her presence allows Bok Gwi-ju (My Roommate is a Gumiho’s Jang Ki-young), a depressed widow and father, to regain his ability to time travel. The central love story is a slow-burn, but once it gets going, The Atypical Family proves to be one of the most romantic K-dramas on Netflix.
When the Camellia Blooms (2019)
A 2019 thriller romance series about a small-town single mom, When the Camellia Blooms takes on the Korean taboo of divorce. It stars Kang Ha-neul (Squid Game) as neighborhood policeman Yong-sik, who sees divorcée, bar owner, and mother (to 8-year-old Oh Dong-baek, It’s Okay, That’s Love’s Gong Hyo-jin), and falls immediately in love. Dong-baek becomes determined to win the heart of the woman who is treated as an outsider by much of the community because of her marital status. The stakes are raised when a serial killer sets his sights on Dong-baek. Combining seaside romance with a murder mystery, When the Camellia Blooms is a genre mashup with heart.
Crash Landing on You (2019)
As many fans’ entry point into the world of Korean dramas, Crash Landing on You is iconic. The series stars Son Ye-jin (Something in the Rain) as Yoon Se-ri, a South Korean CEO and chaebol heiress who is blown into the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas while paragliding during a freak tornado. Crash Landing on You soon has you forgetting this bonkers set-up, sweeping viewers up in the whirlwind love story between Se-ri and stoic North Korean captain Ri Jeong-hyeok (Harbin’s Hyun Bin), neither of whom is looking to fall in inconvenient love across contentious national borders. Like many of the best K-dramas, Crash Landing on You thrives in part because of the chemistry between the two leads (in this case, the actors would go on to get married and have a baby in real life), but also the strength of the supporting cast and central theme of community.
The King’s Affection (2021)
Extraordinary Attorney Woo’s Park Eun-bin stars in this International Emmy Award-winning drama as Dam-yi, the secret twin to the Joseon dynasty Crown Prince Lee Hwi. When Lee Hwi meets an untimely death, Dam-yi is convinced to permanently assume her brother’s identity and political role. The duty requires Dam-yi to distance herself from her humble upbringing outside of the palace. When her first love, Jung Ji-woon (Extraordinary You’s Rowoon), assumes the job of royal tutor, her resolve is tested. If you like your love stories positively Shakespearean, then try The King’s Affection.
Boys Over Flowers (2009)
Before Crash Landing on You brought droves of pandemic-era viewers to the world of K-dramas, Boys Over Flowers caught the attention of late naughts-era global fangirls looking for something romantic. Koo Hye-sun stars as Geum Jan-di, the working-class daughter of a dry cleaner who gets pulled into the world of the uber elite when she stumbles into a scholarship for the prestigious Shinhwa High School. Lee Min-ho (Pachinko) stars as Gu Jun-pyo, the entitled son of one of Korea’s richest families, and the leader of the F4 (an unofficial social group short for “Flower Four”), Shinhwa’s most powerful boys. Outsider Jan-di doesn’t understand the unquestioned popularity of the F4, who regularly bully other students. Her disgust intrigues Jun-pyo, who eventually falls for Jan-di. The 2009 series’ outdated tropes may be too cringe for some modern viewers, but if you’re curious about K-drama history, don’t mind the tsundere archetype, and like a class-crossing love story, then check out Boys Over Flowers.
Queen of Tears (2024)
One of 2024’s hottest shows, Queen of Tears’ romance starts at the end of a marriage. Chaebol heiress Hong Hae-in (My Liberation Notes’ Kim Ji-won) and lawyer Baek Hyun-woo (Something in the Rain’s Kim Soo-hyun, widely believed to be Korea’s highest-paid drama actor) have been together for years, but have grown to despise one another. Things are so bad that, when Hae-in is diagnosed with brain cancer, Hyun-woo sees her imminent death as a way out of their contentious relationship and Hae-in’s powerful family. But as Hae-in’s condition deteriorates and her walls come down, the two connect again and begin to rediscover the love they once had for one another. Given the life-or-death themes of the romance, Queen of Tears is a roller coaster ride of emotions. If you’re looking to cry this Valentine’s Day, try this melodrama.
Lovestruck in the City (2020)
Most K-dramas follow a tried-and-true structure, but Lovestruck in the City mixes things up with a mockumentary format. The series features several romances, told via interviews from the show’s six main characters as they discuss their modern dating lives. With an all-star cast led by Ji Chang-wook (Welcome to Samdal-ri) and Kim Ji-won (Queen of Tears), the light rom-com is a rewarding, relatively low-stakes watch. While most traditional K-drama episodes run for 60 to 70 minutes, the Lovestruck in the City installments clock in between 30 and 40 minutes, making this a brisker watch than most of the entries on this list.
It’s Okay to Not Be Okay (2020)
In It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, K-drama king Kim Soo-hyun stars as Moon Gang-tae, a nurse in a mental health facility who is also the primary caregiver for his older brother, Moon Sang-tae (Oh Jung-se), who has autism. Gang-tae doesn’t have the time or interest in letting anyone else into his life, but when Ko Moon-young (Lawless Lawyer’s Seo Yae-ji), a children’s book author with antisocial personality disorder, develops an interest in Gang-tae, he begins to reconsider. It’s Okay to Not Be Okay depicts some heavy topics, including mental illness and childhood trauma, but centers the healing of emotional wounds in its love story and other relationships. With some of the most consistently striking visuals of any recent K-drama production, It’s Okay to Not Be Okay is a rewarding romantic watch.
