Upcoming K-Dramas & Korean Variety Shows To Watch In January 2023
As we approach the upcoming new year, fans of Korean dramas have a lot to look forward to as various South Korean and Global networks have announced their lineup for tv shows in the month to come, January is loaded with content for fans of all genres.
From Romance to Comedy to Crime and Mystery, January 2023 has all bases covered with its lineup of Korean Dramas. Not only that but we also have four new variety/survival shows coming up. Here is our list of the Upcoming K-dramas and TV Shows to watch in January of 2023.
Physical 100
Network: Netflix
Premier Date: January 1, 2023
Episodes: TBA
To start 2023 with a bang, Netflix will be releasing its first-ever fitness-based survival show titled, Physical: 100. The show is set to feature 100 of the fittest Korean contestants including martial artist Choo Seong-hoon as well as a Skeleton national team player Yun Seong-bin. The show will also feature K-pop idol Sunmi’s backup dancer and Single’s Inferno contestant, Cha Hyun-seung, and baseball player Dustin Nippert among many more.
Master in the House: 2
Network: SBS
Premier Date: January 1, 2023
Episodes: 50
This variety show features regular as well as guest cast members who spend two days and one night together with reputable figures of various fields or professions. These reputable figures, also known as Masters, narrate their life stories with the other cast members with the hope of sharing their knowledge and wisdom.
One of the newest entrants to the main cast as a regular member is K-pop boy band, GOT7’s member, Bambam. The show will also feature 1-day Masters who will spend as less as only one day with the cast members trying to share their experiences.
Brain Co-operation
Network: KBS2
Premier Date: January 2, 2023
Episodes: 16
In the upcoming K-drama titled Brain Co-operation aka Brain Works, Shin Ha-ru works as a neuroscientist. He comes from a family that has had doctors for 3 generations and he is wealthy from their inherited property. Shin Ha-ru is a confident person who acts and speaks according to his convictions, but he has no mercy for people he views as scum.
Geum Myung-se is a detective is a kind and righteous detective. Despite that, he speaks and acts in a way that makes one assume he might be a corrupt cop. Myung-se was also once married to Kim Mo-ran who has a particularly strong libido. Shin Ha-ru and Geum Myung-se pair up to solve criminal cases together with help of Hypnotic Investigator Seol So-jung.
Girls Re:verse
Network: KakaoTV
Premier Date: January 2, 2023
Episodes: TBA
Another survival show releasing in January of 2023 is RE:VERSE aka Girls Re:verse. The survival show is a reality competition where K-pop idols will compete on stage. The virtual characters are actually famous idol group members and K-pop singers in real life. The show gives these idols the opportunity to have a debut in the virtual world just as they did in the real world.
Re:verse will feature 30 idols who will compete as a virtual characters made through virtual reality and motion capture technology. The identity of these idols will only be revealed once the show determines a winner in order to build more curiosity among viewers.
Fill in the Blank
Network: Watcha
Premier Date: January 3, 2023
Episodes: TBA
The upcoming Watch Original documentary Fill In The Blank is a show starring four real-life idols who will narrate their experiences through the medium of the show. The documentary delves into the lives of these K-pop idols and follows their lives off the stage and outside of their glamorous lives.
The reality show will be delivering a new, more personal perspective on K-pop stars as regular people, rather than their well-known identity as public figures. Fill in the Blank will feature Ateez’s Wooyoung who will feature in the first episode of the show. The show will also feature Oh My Girl’s Hyojung, The Boyz’s Q, as well as Le Sserafim’s Chaewon.
Run Into You
Network: KBS2
Premier Date: January 4, 2023
Episodes: 16
The show narrates the story of Yoon Hae-joon who started his career at a broadcasting station as a local news reporter. He now works as an anchor for the weekend news program and is the youngest anchor to ever work at the broadcasting station. Baek Yoon-young dreamed of becoming a writer but works at a publishing company to support her life. She is under a lot of stress because of her job and she sometimes takes it out on her mother.
One day, Baek Yoon-young is covering a shocking case that changes her life and brings her across Yoon Hae-joon who have both somehow travelled back in time to the year 1987. There, Yoon Hae-joon tries to find the truth behind a serial murder case and Baek Yoon-young tries to prevent her parents from marrying. Their goals seem completely unrelated, but they soon realize that their objectives are connected.
Payback
Network: SBS
Premier Date: January 6, 2023
Episodes: 12
The upcoming crime thriller Payback aka Law Money follows the revenge story of a group of people—including Eun-yong, a money trader. Eun-yong is someone who refuses to remain silent in the face of unjust authorities. He is determined to fight against a cartel as he conspires with the law to achieve his goal.
Agency
Network: JTBC
Premier Date: January 7, 2023
Episodes: 16
The JTBC show is an office drama that depicts the journey of a woman Go Ah-in. Ah-in is someone who became the first female executive in her group who was able to change her position in the industry and get to the very top. The show is set in the background of an advertising agency and contains realistic stories of the daily lives of those employees who are always at war and behind the scenes in the industry.
Poong: The Joseon Psychiatrist 2
Network: tvN
Premier Date: January 11, 2023
Episodes: 10
Poong, the Joseon Psychiatrist is coming back for a second season in January after fans showered love over the first season that was released in 2022.
The historical K-drama follows the journey of Yoo Se-poong, a physician for the royal family. He becomes involved in a conspiracy of the royal family which leads him to be ousted from the royal palace.
Following that, he begins to work in the strange, but, beautiful, Gyesu Village where he meets Seo Eun-woo and Gye Ji-han. Yoo Se-poong becomes a doctor who treats patients’ physical ailments and also their mental pains.
Flower Scholars’ Love Story
Network: SBS
Premier Date: January 13, 2023
Episodes: 16
The SBS drama, Flower Scholarls’ Love Story talks about an incident that took place at a boarding house called ‘Guest Summer Palace’. The boarders all have their own secrets but are willed to find someone named Lee Seol, who disappeared 13 years ago.
Crash Course in Romance
Network: tvN
Premier Date: January 14, 2023
Episodes: 16
Throughout its 16 episodes, Crash Course in Romance will narrate the story of Nam Haeng-sun, a man who used to be a national athlete. She now runs a side dish store and has a super positive personality. She tries to turn her life around by entering the field of private education that helps students prepare for their university entrance exam.
Unexpectedly, Nam Haeng-sun gets involved with Choi Chi-yeol, an Ilta Instructor, who is one of the most popular instructors in the private education field. As an instructor, Chi-yeol speaks without reserve and implements showmanship in his lessons. He then meets a complete 180-degree opposite of his personality in Nam Haeng-sun as they develop a chaotic, romantic relationship.
Can We Be Strangers?
Network: ENA, Genie TV
Premier Date: January 18, 2023
Episodes: 12
Can We Be Strangers? follows the journey of an ex-married couple, Oh Ha-ra and Ku Eun-beom, who are both lawyers that specialize in divorce. After their split, Ha-ra and Eun-beom find themselves working together as colleagues dealing with cases related to divorce and relationships which forces them to maintain a new form of relationship as colleagues in the same profession.
Kokdu: Season of Deity
Network: MBC
Premier Date: January 27, 2023
Episodes: 16
The MBC original, Kokdu: Season of Deity is a love story between a grim reaper and a doctor with a special ability. Kok-du once incurred the wrath of God and was turned into a grim reaper as punishment for his mistakes. He is a cold and cruel grim reaper and his job is to lead dead spirits to the afterworld.
Every 99 years, Kok-Ddu comes down to this world and possesses a human body that looks just like him and kills scummy people who deserve to die. The show takes off from when the reaper possessed a common man named, Do Jin-woo’s body.
As Jin-woo, Kok-du gets involved with Han Gye-jeol, who is a lowly common general physician. Jin-Woo enters her life and changes it by becoming one of the only people to think in her favour.
There you have it, our list of K-dramas that we know are releasing in January of 2023. There could be some more additions to the list and we will be sure to update it as and when new titles are announced.
Be sure to let us know your thoughts about the upcoming shows in the comments and which you are looking forward to! You can also mention the titles of Korean dramas and shows we may have missed.