New K-dramas to look forward to in October 2023

As we work our way through October 2023 and the spooky season, these are the best new K-dramas you should be keeping an eye out for this month.

Fans have been over the moon with recent K-dramas from the time-travel romance A Time Called You, to the chilling thrill of Escape of 7 People. September also had fans hooked on the destined fate romance in Rowoon’s Netflix drama Destined With You.

The Halloween season quickly approaches and there are plenty more K-dramas to add to the must-watch list. Some K-dramas were announced months ago like Cha Eun-woo’s A Good Day to Be a Dog. Others have been on Netflix’s radar since the start of the year.

Fans will also get a K-drama first as Bargain became the first Korean series to be invited to the Cannes International Series Festival. Here’s a list of all October 2023 K-dramas and what they’re all about.

Evilive has an 18+ age restriction for its violent storyline

One of October 2023’s K-dramas includes actors Shin Ha-kyun and Kim Young-kwang in Evilive, a chilling mystery thriller.

Hang Dong-soon (Shin) is a lawyer who picks a random case when visiting a prison. He’s usually rational, but there’s no denying that he harbors a dark side. Suddenly, he changes and falls into the deep end of darkness. Dong-soon has a younger brother, Han Beom-jae (Shin Jae-ha) who works at a computer repair shop. Beom-jae also brings his brother cases and realizes a recent case has him acting differently.

The case? It involves the second member of an elite criminal organization. Seo Do-young (Young) doesn’t appear as a typical gangster and was a former baseball player. But behind his devilishly good looks is a monster.

Evilive will premiere from October 14 until November 12, 2023, and air every Saturday and Sunday. Its 10-episode run will be available on ENA and Genie TV.

Two men get caught up in a kidnapping case in The Deal K-drama

A once-promising soccer player tries to change his life, but. finds himself caught up in his friend’s kidnapping scheme of a former rich classmate.

One of the October 2023 K-dramas that many fans are eager to see is The Deal. Lee Joon-sung (Yoo Seung-ho) had a future as a baseball player, but it went down the gutter. Wanting a change, Joon-sung looks to start a new life. But things don’t go as planned when his friend Song Jae-hyo (Kim Dong-hwi) kidnaps someone.

Jae-hyo is a medical student and former classmate of Joon-sung. Needing to fix his personal problems and collect one billion won, he kidnaps Park Min-woo (Yoo Su-bin). He happens to come from a rich family.

The Deal will have a short 8-episode run and air on Wavve. Its premiere date is October 6, 2023.

Doona! stars Bae Suzy as an idol falling in love

A famous K-pop idol has enough of the spotlight and suddenly quits, she finds herself living near a college and finding unexpected love in Doona!

One of Netflix’s upcoming October 2023 K-dramas is Bae Suzy’s Doona! The storyline has fans excited as Bae Suzy is, in real life, a famed K-Pop idol before she became an actor. Lee Doo-na (Bae Suzy) was at the height of her career as the most loved member of a girl group. Overnight, she announces her retirement and tries to escape her fame.

Needing a change of pace, she stays at a shared house near a university. While rarely going out, she meets Lee Won-joon (Yang Se-jong). By all accounts, there’s nothing particularly special about him. He’s a student and begins to live in the same house with Doo-na. The two begin to develop feelings for each other.

Doona! will air on Netflix on October 20, 2023, and have a short 8-episode run.

Castaway Diva has Park Eun-bin stranded on an island

After 15 years, a young woman returns to modern civilization in the hopes of pursuing her dream of singing in Castaway Diva.

Coming from Extraordinarily Attorney Woo for Netflix, actor Park Eun-bin will dazzle in a new leading role as Seo Mok-ha. In middle school, Mok-ha disappeared and landed on a deserted island. With no one by her side, she learns to survive off the island.

Fifteen years later, she is rescued. While life on the island wasn’t glamorous, Mok-ha now has to navigate modern society. In her new life, she ventures to chase her dream of becoming a singer.

Castaway Diva will premiere on Netflix and TvN from October 28, 2023, through December 3, 2023. The K-drama will have 12 episodes.

Moon in The Day is one of October 2023’s most anticipated K-dramas

A story of reincarnation, anger, and star-crossed love is at the center of Moon in The Day as an idol is possessed by an old spirit.

Han Joon-o (Kim Young-dae) is Korea’s top celebrity who has the looks, charisma, and outstanding career. One day, he agrees to do an advertisement with firefighter, Kang Young-hwa (Pyo Ye-jin). During filming, an accident occurs and Young-hwa saves Joon-o’s life. She soon becomes his bodyguard.

The crux of the K-drama storyline is what happens when Joon-o wakes up. He becomes possessed by the vengeful spirit of Do Ha. Joon-o has become a completely different person than what people know him as. In Silla, Do Ha was a nobleman who was killed the woman he loved, his wife. By fate, Young-hwa is the reincarnation of Han Ri-ta, Do Ha’s wife.

Moon in The Day will air between October 25, 2023, through December 7, 2023. The 14-episode K-drama was announced to stream on Netflix and Viki.

A Good Day to Be A Dog has a teacher’s curse turn her into a dog

Based on a webtoon, Han Hae-na (Park Gyu-young) is a high school teacher who’s in a pickle when an accident triggers her family’s curse.

A Good Day to Be a Dog is an October 2023 K-drama fans are excited about as Cha Eun-woo will again star as the lead in a romance. Hae-na’s romantic life has been far from easy. Due to her ancestors, her family has been cursed to transform into a dog when kissed. Because of this, Hae-na often refuses kisses from potential partners.

The curse works in a way where after one kiss, they turn into a dog at midnight for six hours. The only way to break the curse is if the same person kisses them again. Hae-na accidentally kisses Jin Seo-won (Cha) while drunk and goes into panic mode. He’s also a teacher at her school. To break the curse, she tries to kiss him again. The problem is he’s afraid of dogs.

A Good Day to Be a Dog will air on October 11, 2023, and be available on Viki.

Strong Girl Nam-soon is a spin-off to the 2017 K-drama

The strength gene continues as Strong Girl Nam-soon will focus on the cousin of Do Bong-soon from the K-drama Strong Girl Bong-soon.

Park Bo-young and Park Hyung-sik enamored fans in 2017 with their superhero romance K-drama. Since then, fans have missed the duo and got their wish when a spin-off series was announced. Strong Girl Nam-soon is all about another member of the strong family, Gang Nam-soon (Lee Yoo-mi). Nam-soon was lost as a child in Mongolia. She too inherited the superstrength gene passed down to women in her family.

Now an adult, she ventures to Gangnam, South Korea to find her mother. Hwang Geum-joo (Kim Jung-eun) is a wealthy retired woman who never stopped looking for her daughter. Nam-soon’s grandmother Gil Joong-gan (Kim Hae-sook) is well respected in town.

The three soon get involved in a complex crime ring in Gangnam and venture to stop it. At the same time, Detective Kang Hee-sik (Ong Seong-wu) aids the women in the drug case.

Strong Girl Nam-soon will air on October 7, 2023, on Netflix.

Bargain will be one of October 2023’s must-watch K-dramas

Three characters find themselves in turmoil when an organ-buying deal gets complicated in the middle of an earthquake.

K-dramas have come a long way on the global scale, with Squid Game marking a break into Hollywood. The October 2023 K-drama Bargain is the first Korean series to take part in the Cannes International Series Festival. Its storyline is dark and thrilling.

No Hyung-soo (Jin Sun-kyu) meets Park Joo-young (Jun Jong-seo) at a motel. He’s happy to pay for her services after seeing her good looks. But Hyung-soo has no idea of why he’s really there. Sooner rather than later, he becomes the victim of organ buying. As people bid for him, an earthquake occurs. Amid the rubble, they try to survive.

Bargain will premiere on October 28, 2023, and have a 6-episode run. The K-drama will be available on TVing and Paramount+.

Rowoon returns in another historical K-drama The Matchmakers

Two ill-fated characters find themselves working together as matchmakers for older single men and women in The Matchmakers.

After Rowoon’s leading role in Netflix’s Destined With You, he’ll star in a new K-drama. In The Matchmakers, Sim Jung-woo (Rowoon) is handsome and smart and the youngest to place during the state exam. His life was thought out meticulously and meant to wed the princess. On his wedding day, she suddenly dies and his life changes forever.

Due to the laws of the time, he can’t hold a government office or remarry. A single and unwed man or woman is frowned upon and Jung-woo soon meets Jung Soon-deok (Cho Yi-hyun). She is a widow and works under the pseudonym Yeojoo-daek. Her real job? She’s a matchmaker helping unwed singles find the perfect partner.

The Matchmakers will premiere on October 30, 2023, and be available on Viki.

You can read more K-drama news in our hub here, details about Vigilante here, and The Uncanny Counter Season 3 here.