10 of the best new K-dramas to watch in October 2023: Bae Suzy in Netflix romance Doona!, Rowoon in The Matchmakers, Park Eun-bin in Castaway Diva, and more
Following Chuseok – South Korea’s mid-autumn festival – Korean drama schedules in October will be packed with a variety of new shows, including fantasy dramas, thrillers and several period romances.
We preview 10 of the best series debuting during the month.
1. The Perfect Deal
Lead cast: Yoo Seung-ho, Kim Dong-hwi, Yoo Su-bin, Lee Joo-young
Yoo Seung-ho (Moonshine) and Kim Dong-hwi (Missing: The Other Side) play two desperate youths, one a formerly promising football player, the other a medical student dealing with a personal crisis.
Together they decide to kidnap their former classmate, the son of rich parents, played by Yoo Su-bin (D.P.). Lee Joo-young (Itaewon Class) also features in the cast
The Perfect Deal is the drama debut of indie director Lee Jung-gon (Not Out). (wavve, October 6)
2. Strong Girl Nam-soon
Lead cast: Lee Yoo-mi, Kim Jung-eun, Kim Hae-sook
Lee Yoo-mi (Squid Game) plays the titular character in Strong Girl Nam-soon, a new show from Strong Girl Bong-soon writer Baek Mi-kyeong.
She plays a woman with superhuman strength who went missing as a child but is reunited as an adult in Gangnam, Seoul, with her rich mother (Kim Jung-eun) and grandmother (Kim Hae-sook), who are also superpowered.
Together they seek to take down a drug gang in their glitzy neighbourhood. (JTBC, October 7)
3. A Good Day to Be a Dog
Lead cast: Park Gyu-young, Cha Eun-woo, Lee Hyun-woo
Park Gyu-young (Celebrity) plays a single high-school teacher in a family suffering from an unusual curse.
If she kisses anyone she is doomed to turn into a dog at midnight for six hours.
The transformation repeats itself every night until the sharer of the kiss kisses them again in their dog form.
Her romantic nightmare begins when she accidentally kisses her colleague, played by Cha Eun-woo of the K-pop group Astro. (MBC, October 11)
4. My Dearest Part 2
Lead cast: Namkoong Min, Ahn Eun-jin
After concluding its first set of episodes in early September, the sweeping period romance My Dearest will return for Part 2 in mid-October.
A promotional poster for “My Dearest” Part 2.
Namkoong Min (One Dollar Lawyer) and Ahn Eun-jin (Hospital Playlist) play star-crossed lovers in this tale set in the 17th century during the invasion by forces of China’s Qing dynasty of the Joseon kingdom on the Korean peninsula. (MBC, October 13)
5. Evillive
Lead cast: Shin Ha-kyun, Kim Young-kwang
Shin Ha-kyun (Beyond Evil) plays Han Dong-soo, a bookish lawyer with a secret dark side which is awakened when he takes on a new client in prison – the dashing Seo Do-young (Kim Young-kwang of Somebody), who is the number two in a gang.
At Do-young’s side, Dong-soo embarks on a new life of crime. (ENA, October 14)
6. Doona!
Lead cast: Bae Suzy, Yang Se-jong
In this new Netflix series, Bae Suzy (Anna) plays an idol group singer who suddenly announces her retirement and begins living a cloistered life in a shared house near a university.
In his first role since completing military service in South Korea, Yang Se-jong (Dr. Romantic) plays a student at that university who comes to live in the same house. The pair become attracted to one another. (Netflix, October 20)
7. Castaway Diva
Lead cast: Park Eun-bin, Chae Jong-hyeop, Kim Hyo-jin
Extraordinary Attorney Woo star Park Eun-bin makes a hotly anticipated return to the screen in Castaway Diva.
She plays Seo Mok-ha, a lively young girl who dreams of being a singer but finds herself stranded on a deserted island on her way to an audition.
After spending 15 years there she is finally rescued and, while readjusting to an unfamiliar world, she once again pursues her dream. (tvN, October 21)
8. High Cookie
Lead cast: Nam Ji-hyun, Choi Hyun-wook, Kim Moo-yeol
Nam Ji-hyun (Little Women) is a part-time factory worker who gave up school to take care of her younger sibling, while Choi Hyun-wook (Twenty-Five Twenty-One) plays an academically excellent student from a poor background.
Kim Moo-yeol (Juvenile Justice) is a star university admissions exam instructor who resorts to illegal means to get things done.
All three characters’ lives are turned upside down by magical cookies that grant wishes with just one bite. (KBS2, October 23)
9. Moon in the Day
Lead cast: Kim Young-dae, Pyo Ye-jin
Kim Young-dae (Sh**ting Stars) plays top star Han Joon-o, who takes part in a public service ad with firefighter Kang Young-hwa, played by Pyo Ye-jin (Taxi Driver).
She winds up saving him during an accident on set and starts working as his bodyguard. But when Joon-o wakes up, his body has been taken over by the spirit of a Joseon kingdom nobleman seeking revenge against the wife who killed him, who looks just like Young-hwa. (ENA, October 25)
10. The Matchmakers
Lead cast: Rowoon, Cho Yi-hyun
Returning to screens straight after Destined with You, Rowoon is Sim Jung-woo, a brilliant scholar in Joseon dynasty Korea who is picked to become the husband of a princess.
However, she dies during their wedding and thus he is doomed to no longer hold a government post or remarry.
Jung-woo later becomes involved with widow Jung Soon-seok (Cho Yi-hyun, All of Us Are Dead), who secretly leads another life as a matchmaker. (KBS2, October 30)
