20 Little-Known Korean Dramas That Deserve More Buzz
Beyond the mega-hits that flood your social media feeds, there’s a treasure trove of underrated Korean dramas hiding in plain sight, waiting to steal your heart and mess with your sleep schedule.
These hidden gems pack powerful stories, unforgettable characters, and twists that’ll leave you gasping at 3 AM.
Are you interested in workplace comedies or spine-tingling mysteries, either way these twenty shows prove that sometimes the best entertainment flies under the radar.
Disclaimer: Selections reflect editorial opinion and viewing taste, not definitive fact or universal consensus about the most underrated Korean dramas.
1. Into the Ring (2020)
What happens when an unemployed woman with zero political experience decides to run for office? Pure chaos meets heartwarming comedy.
Goo Se-ra storms into local government with passion, zero filters, and a mission to fix everything wrong with her district.
Her hilarious clashes with by-the-book civil servant Seo Gong-myung create sparks that’ll make you laugh and swoon.
2. Avengers Social Club (2017)
Three women from completely different worlds form the most unexpected friendship club ever.
A fish market ajumma, a housewife, and a high school student team up with one shared goal: sweet revenge against those who wronged them.
Think superhero squad, but instead of capes, they’ve got wit, courage, and an unbreakable sisterhood.
3. Live Up to Your Name (2017)
Picture this: a legendary acupuncturist from the Joseon era suddenly wakes up in modern-day Seoul. Culture shock doesn’t even begin to cover it!
Heo Im must navigate smartphones, traffic lights, and Western medicine while trying to find his way home. His collision with a cynical modern doctor creates magic both medical and romantic.
Blending historical drama with time-travel fantasy, this show delivers laughs, tears, and some seriously cool traditional medicine knowledge.
4. Inspector Koo (2021)
Meet the world’s most unconventional detective: a reclusive, game-addicted insurance investigator who lives in pajamas and rarely leaves her apartment.
Sounds like an unlikely hero, right? Yet Koo Kyung-yi possesses a brilliant mind that can crack cases everyone else gave up on.
When she hunts a serial killer who’s also a cheerful college student by day, the cat-and-mouse game becomes deliciously twisted.
5. Missing: The Other Side (2020)
A secret village exists where murder victims who were never found live on, waiting for their bodies to be discovered. Sounds creepy, but it’s actually deeply moving!
Con artist Kim Wook stumbles into this supernatural community and discovers his gift for seeing the dead.
Alongside a ragtag team, he helps solve cold cases and bring closure to grieving families. Mixing mystery, fantasy, and genuine emotion, this show explores how we honor those we’ve lost.
6. Be Melodramatic (2019)
Friendship goals, anyone? Three thirty-something best friends navigate careers, heartbreak, and the messy reality of adulting in Seoul’s entertainment industry.
Documentary director Lim Jin-joo, drama writer Lee Eun-jung, and marketing exec Hwang Han-joo keep it brutally real about life’s ups and downs.
No sugar-coating here, just honest conversations about grief, ambition, and finding yourself when nothing goes according to plan.
7. Black Dog (2019)
Ever wonder what really happens in teachers’ lounges? Go Ha-neul lands her first teaching job as a temporary instructor, quickly learning that surviving high school politics as a teacher is tougher than being a student.
Permanent staff treat temps like furniture, parents are demanding, and job security is a fantasy.
Her determination to make a difference despite the brutal system is both inspiring and heartbreaking.
8. Diary of a Prosecutor (2019)
Prosecutors aren’t always chasing dramatic courtroom victories or hunting serial killers.
Sometimes they’re dealing with neighborhood disputes, petty theft, and mountains of paperwork while surviving on instant noodles.
Cha Myung-joo returns to his small hometown prosecution office, rediscovering what justice really means outside the big city spotlight.
Warm, funny, and refreshingly down-to-earth, this workplace comedy celebrates the everyday heroes keeping communities safe.
9. My Unfamiliar Family (2020)
Families are weird, complicated, and sometimes feel like living with strangers.
The Kim family looks perfect from outside, but inside their walls, everyone’s hiding secrets, nursing old wounds, and struggling to connect.
When cracks in the facade finally appear, they’re forced to actually talk to each other for once.
Honest and raw, this drama captures how families drift apart and the hard work of finding your way back.
10. The Package (2017)
Group tours can be awkward, especially when strangers are forced together for a week in France.
Tour guide Yoon So-so leads a motley crew of Korean tourists through Paris, each carrying their own baggage (emotional, not just luggage).
A honeymoon couple questioning their marriage, a woman escaping her life, and more collide in beautiful European settings.
Travel becomes therapy as connections form in unexpected places. This healing drama proves that sometimes you have to get lost to find yourself.
11. Children of Nobody (2018)
How far would you go to protect a child? Child counselor Cha Woo-kyung encounters a mysterious young boy who draws disturbing pictures predicting murders before they happen.
As she investigates, dark secrets about child abuse, neglect, and society’s failures emerge from the shadows.
Haunting and thought-provoking, this psychological thriller doesn’t shy away from uncomfortable truths.
12. Nobody Knows (2020)
Some cases haunt you forever. Detective Cha Young-jin witnessed a brutal crime as a child, and it shaped her entire life.
Years later, she’s obsessed with catching a serial killer who’s been operating in the shadows for decades, targeting vulnerable victims nobody notices or cares about.
Intense and emotionally charged, this crime thriller weaves past trauma with present danger.
13. Awl (2015)
Corporate greed meets worker solidarity in this hard-hitting drama about labor rights.
When a large retail company crushes employees under impossible conditions and poverty wages, former detective Lee Soo-in helps them organize South Korea’s first labor union.
Based on a webtoon inspired by real events, this show pulls no punches about workplace exploitation.
14. Solomon’s Perjury (2016)
When a student dies under suspicious circumstances and adults rush to call it suicide, his classmates refuse to accept the official story.
Led by determined Go Seo-yeon, students organize their own trial to uncover the truth. Bullying, secrets, and lies unravel as teenagers take justice into their own hands.
This gripping mystery showcases young actors delivering mature performances while exploring how institutions fail youth.
15. The Guest (2018)
Demons are real, and they’re possessing people. A priest, a detective, and a psychic form an unlikely paranormal investigation team to battle evil spirits wreaking havoc.
Father Choi Yoon, detective Kang Gil-young, and shaman Yoon Hwa-pyung share a traumatic past connected to a powerful demon.
Their quest for revenge and redemption leads them into terrifying exorcisms and dark mysteries.
16. The King of Pigs (2022)
Two childhood friends reunite as adults when a murder investigation forces them to confront the brutal violence they endured and witnessed in school.
Hwang Kyung-min became a detective, while Jung Jong-suk struggles with poverty and rage from their traumatic past.
Dark and unflinching, this psychological thriller explores how childhood trauma shapes who we become.
17. The Smile Has Left Your Eyes (2018)
Kim Moo-young is dangerously charming, mysterious, and possibly a sociopath.
When he becomes entangled with Jin Kang, a warm-hearted woman, and her detective brother who suspects him of murder, a twisted romance unfolds.
This melodrama doesn’t hold back on the angst, delivering a tragic romance that’ll wreck you emotionally.
18. The Light in Your Eyes (2019)
Time is precious, but what if you could control it? Kim Hye-ja possesses a magical watch that lets her manipulate time, but every use costs her something irreplaceable.
As she ages rapidly while helping others, she learns profound lessons about life’s fleeting nature and what truly matters.
This fantasy romance starts whimsical but transforms into something deeply philosophical and heartbreaking.
19. Search: WWW (2019)
Silicon Valley has nothing on Seoul’s cutthroat tech industry!
Three ambitious women navigate corporate warfare at competing web portal companies where search rankings equal power and algorithms shape reality.
Smart, stylish, and unapologetically feminist, this drama celebrates women supporting women while romancing younger men.
20. My Liberation Notes (2022)
Feeling trapped in life’s monotonous grind? The Yeom siblings commute hours daily from their rural home to Seoul, living for weekends and dreaming of liberation from their suffocating routines.
When mysterious stranger Mr. Gu appears in their village, his presence disrupts their stagnant lives in unexpected ways.
Slow-paced and contemplative, this slice-of-life masterpiece captures modern existential exhaustion beautifully.
