Netflix unveils romance, sci-fi and true crime in huge Korean slate

Bloodhounds

Netflix has unveiled a huge Korean content slate for the coming year, with 34 new and returning titles across scripted and unscripted series and films.

“Over the last year, Korean series and films have regularly featured in our Global Top 10 list in more than 90 countries, and three of Netflix’s most-watched shows ever are from Korea. This year, we’re pushing the envelope even further,” revealed Don Kang, VP of content (Korea).

Among the new scripted shows heading to the streamer in 2023 is Love To Hate You, produced by Binge Works, and written by Choi Soo-young. Launching on 10 February, the romantic comedy stars Kim Ok-vin as a rookie lawyer at an entertainment law firm, who detests losing to men, while Yoo Teo plays a Korean A-list actor who deeply mistrusts women. Sparks soon fly.

Bloodhounds, meanwhile, is written and directed by Kim Joo-hwan  and based on the webtoon of the same by Jeong Chan. Produced by Studio N, alongside Seed Film and Seven O Six, the series tells the story of two young people who step into the world of loan sharks in pursuit of money and get caught up in a web of much darker forces. It will debut in Q2 and stars Woo Do-hwan, Lee Sang-yi and Park Sung-woong.

Song of the Bandits

Studio Dragon’s Celebrity, co-produced with KimJongHak Productions and How Pictures, will also launch in Q2, exploring the reality of the glamorous and competitive life of celebrities encountered by a young influencer (Park Gyu-young) who becomes an overnight sensation.

Other new scripted originals unveiled by Netflix include Insight Films drama Queenmaker; Project318 sci-fi Black Knight; Npio Entertainment, Lian Contents and Studio Flow’s romance A Time Called You; Studio Dragon’s action-adventure Song Of The Bandits; House of Impression and Bon Factory’s Mask Girl; Story & Pictures Media’s thriller Gyeongseong Creature; Studio Dragon, Showrunners and Studio N’s romance Doona!; Filmmonster and KimJongHak Productions’ A Daily Dose Of Sunshine; IMTV’s sci-fi Goodbye Earth; SLL and Studio Phoenix’s Behind Your Touch (working title); Studio Dragon’s Crash Course In Romance; DramaHouse, SLL and FilmMonster’s The Good Bad Mother; Npio Entertainment and SLL’s King The Land; C-JeS Entertainment and SLL’s Destined With You and Studio Dragon, Studio N and Finecut’s See You In My 19th Life.

Netflix is also returning Hwa&Dam Pictures and Studio Dragon’s revenge drama The Glory, Climax Studios’ military drama DP and Studio Dragon and Studio N’s horror Sweet Home, all for second seasons.

Yellow Door: Looking for Director Bong’s Unreleased Short Film (working title)

Unscripted & film expansion

On the unscripted side, Netflix is launching In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal, an eight-episode true-crime documentary that explores the self-proclaimed ‘messiahs’ in modern Korean history and the shocking events behind them. Produced by MBC and directed by Jo Seong-Hyeon, the series will launch on 3 March.

Yellow Door: Looking for Director Bong’s Unreleased Short Film (working title), will meanwhile trace the quest for the Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-ho’s unreleased short film, Looking for Paradise. Directed by Lee Hyuk-rae and produced by Broccoli Pictures, it will debut in Q4 2023.

The streamer is also expanding its Korean film offering with six movies, including sci-fi thriller Jung-E, crime thrillers Unlocked, Kill Boksoon and Believer 2, drama The Match and revenge thriller Ballerina.