There's no stopping our love affair with all things K-Drama. Curious to know the top-rated Korean series of all time on cable TV as of 2020? Here are the shows that proved to be a huge hit to viewers in Korea. If you're looking for new shows to watch, this list can also give you leads on the K-Dramas that you should get started on, stat.
This list is based on each show's average nationwide TV ratings as per Nielsen Korea, updated as of May 19, 2020 and is subject to change should a new drama rate higher in the future.
Also read:
10 Action-Packed Korean Shows to Stream If You Need a Break From Rom-Coms
After CLOY and Kingdom, Here's a Peek at Netflix's K-Drama Slate
Check the list to see if your favorite K-Drama made it to the top 20:
20. Familiar Wife (2018)
Rating: 6.8%
TV Channel: tvN
Starring: Ji Sung, Han Ji Min, Kang Ha Na
In this fantasy romance drama, a couple unsatisfied with their marriage struggle to stay afloat financially. When Cha Joo-hyuk (Ji Sung), a regular bank employee, accepts two coins from a strange man in the subway, he ends up traveling back in time where he wakes up married, instead, to his first college love.
19. Another Oh Hae-young (2016)
Rating: 6.9%
TV Channel: tvN
Starring: Eric Mun, Seo Hyun Jin, Jeon Hye Bin
Alternatively titled Another Miss Oh, this 16-episode fantasy rom-com involves a long game of mistaken identity. Two women both named Oh Hae Young (Seo Hyun Jin and Jeon Hye Bin) continually cause confusion in their respective jobs and relationships as they somehow always get entangled in each other's lives.
18. Reply 1994 (2013)
Rating: 7.4%
TV Channel: tvN
Starring: Go Ara, Jung Woo, Yoo Yeon Seok, Kim Sung Kyun
Alternating between 1994 and 2013, this series follows six university students all residing in one boarding house in Seoul, where they encounter the daughter of the house's owner, Sung Na-Jung (Go Ara). While experiencing various cultural Korean milestones together, including the emergence of the K-Pop group Seo Taiji and Boys, and the Sampoong Department Store collapse, these seven strangers soon learn to treat one other like family.
17. What's Wrong With Secretary Kim (2018)
Rating: 7.45%
TV Channel: tvN
Starring: Park Seo Joon, Park Min Young, Lee Tae Hwan
Misunderstandings ensue and new relationships take root when the loyal secretary of a company's narcissictic vice chairman unexpectedly decides to quit her job.
16. Prison Playbook (2017)
Rating: 7.6%
TV Channel: tvN
Starring: Park Hae Soo, Jung Kyung Ho, Krystal, Jung Hae In
A star baseball player's bright future hits a dire snag when he is sentenced to one year in prison after defending his sister from sexual assault. Forced to adapt to a life behind bars, he gets reacquainted with a former baseball player and childhood friend, now turned prison guard.
15. Strong Woman Do Bong Soon (2017)
Rating: 7.65%
TV Channel: JTBC
Starring: Park Bo Young, Park Hyung Sik, Ji Soo
With an unknown threat lurking behind him, the chief executive officer of a gaming company hires Bong Soon (Park Bo Young), a petite woman born with supernatural strength, to be his bodyguard. He falls in love with her at first sight but faces competition for her attention seeing as she has her eyes set on a childhood friend, who now works as a police officer.
14. The Crowned Clown (2019)
Rating: 8.41%
TV Channel: tvN
Starring: Yeo Jin Goo, Lee Se Young
To protect their king during a state of social unrest, the Joseon empire asks Ha Sun (Yeo Jin Goo), a clown and the king's lookalike, to take his place in the palace. Anxious about being found out, Ha Sun struggles with his new role, especially when finds himself falling for the beautiful Queen Yoo So Woon (Lee Se Young).
13. Memories of the Alhambra (2018)
Rating: 8.43%
TV Channel: tvN
Starring: Hyun Bin, Park Shin Hye
Yoo Jin Woo (Hyun Bin), a brilliant game developer, and the strong spirited chief executive officer of an investment company, has his competetive nature tested after his best friend betrays him. He subsequently travels to Granada, Spain after hearing about a groundbreaking AR game created by someone from the area. There he stays at a hostel and unwittingly entangles the owner, Jung Hee Joo (Park Shin Hye), into a series of strange events.
12. Encounter (2018)
Rating: 8.5%
TV Channel: tvN
Starring: Park Bo Gum, Song Hye Kyo, Jang Seung Jo
Opposites attract in Encounter when divorcee and hotel CEO Cha Soo Hyun (Song), and the innocent and ordinary Kim Jin Hyuk (Park), both searching for a fresh start, cross paths and fall in love during a trip to Cuba.
11. Signal (2016)
Rating: 8.8%
TV Channel: tvN
Starring: Lee Je Hoon, Kim Hye Soo, Cho Jin Woong
When police lieutenant and criminal profiler Park Hae-Yeong (Lee Je Hoon) gets hold of a special walkie-talkie that can communicate with people from the past, he joins forces with a detective in 1989 to solve three decades of related murders.
10. Hotel del Luna (2019)
Rating: 8.9%
TV Channel: tvN
Starring: IU, Yeo Jin Goo
Located in downtown Seoul, the peculiar Hotel del Luna has existed for several millennia catering to lost souls. It's chief executive officer, Jang Man Wol (IU), is cursed to run the establishment for all of eternity as punishment for a sin she can't remember. The only way to free herself from her penance is to find someone whose committed a crime far worse than hers.
9. 100 Days My Prince (2018)
Rating: 9.0%
TV Channel: tvN
Starring: Do Kyung Soo, Nam Ji Hyun, Kim Seon Ho
Lee Yul (Do Kyung Soo), a crown prince suffering from amnesia, ends up in the care of Yeon Hong-Shim (Nam Ji Hyun), an intelligent but unmarried woman, and her father. Thinking of himself to be a commoner, he weds Hong Shim to save her from being punished by a law that he himself established as a prince.
8. Hospital Playlist (2020)
Rating: 9.9%
TV Channel: tvN
Starring: Cho Jung Seok, Yoo Yeon Seok, Jeon Mi Do, Kim Dae Myung, Jung Kyoung Ho
Five doctors who've been friends since medical school go through the ups and downs of their job in Yulje Medical Center, all while sharing their love for music by forming a band.
7. Itaewon Class (2020)
Rating: 11.8%
TV Channel: JTBC
Starring: Park Seo Joon, Kim Da Mi, Kwon Nara, Ahn Bo Hyun
Ex-con Park Sae Roy (Park Seo Joon) and his misfit group of employees work to turn their modest bar into the number one pub in Itaewon. Reaching their goal turns out to be an uphill battle as they deal with the ruthless chief of Jangga Co., a.k.a. the man responsible for setting off a chain of events that landed Sae Roy in jail in the first place.
6. Crash Landing on You (2019)
Rating: 12.2%
TV Channel: tvN
Starring: Hyun Bin, Son Ye Jin, Seo Ji Hye, Kim Jung Hyun
Crash Landing on You has been such a big hit in the Philippines—and we really can't complain. But just in case you've been living under a rock, the show revolves around the lives of a South Korean heiress (Son) and a North Korean military officer (Hyun) collide when the former lands into North Korean territory after a paragliding accident.
5. Reply 1988 (2015)
Rating: 12.4%
TV Channel: tvN
Starring: Hyeri, Park Bo Gum, Ryoon Joon Yeol, Go Kyung Pyo, Lee Dong Hwi
Get your dose of nostalgia with this series. Five childhood friends who live in the same neighborhood of Ssangmun-dong in Northern Seoul rely on each other as they enter the peak of their turbulent teen years.
4. Sky Castle (2018)
Rating: 12.5%
TV Channel: JTBC
Starring: Yeom Jung Ah, Lee Tae Ran, Yoon Se Ah, Oh Na Ra, Kim Seo Hyung
This satirical drama revolves around four housewives residing in the exclusive residential area of Sky Castle. Ruthlessly ambitious, the women will stop at nothing to get their children into Seoul National University. It's a depiction of a ruthless school system that has overtaken the Land of the Morning Calm.
3. Goblin (2016)
Rating: 12.9%
TV Channel: tvN
Starring: Gong Yoo, Kim Go Eun, Lee Dong Wook
A romantic fantasy drama that follows the story of a 939-year-old Goblin (Gong Yoo), also known as the Protector of Souls, as he ends up falling for Ji Eun Tak (Kim Go Eun) destined to end his cursed immortal life.
2. Mr. Sunshine (2018)
Rating: 13.0%
TV Channel: tvN
Starring: Lee Byung Hun, Kim Tae Ri
A poor boy born into a house servant's family travels to the United States during the 1871 Shinmiyangyo incident. He soon grows up to become an American military officer who returns to his homeland and falls in love with an aristocrat's daughter, all while unveiling a sinister plot by foreign nationals to colonize Korea.
1. The World of the Married (2020)
Rating: 16.9%
TV Channel: JTBC
Starring: Kim Hee Ae, Park Hae Joon, Han So Hee
A revered medical doctor's seemingly perfect life is overturned when she discovers her husband's infidelity. In her pursuit to retaliate against his betrayal, a bitter back-and-forth ensues between the two as they both seek to exact revenge on the other. The World of the Married smashed TV ratings after its finale episode rated at 28.37%, breaking its own record of 24.44% which it had set just an episode prior.
Main images from Goblin IMDb and Crash Landing on You IMDb.