This is a single reference table for the question we get asked most: which K-dramas on Netflix are actually rated highest, and how long does each one take to finish? Below are 24 Korean series streaming on Netflix in the US, ranked by their current IMDb rating. The runtime column is the part worth having. Netflix publishes a length for every episode, so we opened all 24 title pages, read those numbers off, and averaged them. Several shows came out hours away from the figures usually quoted.
📌 Key Takeaways
- 24 K-dramas on Netflix US, ranked by IMDb rating as of July 21, 2026, from IMDb’s official daily dataset.
- Three shows share the top spot at 9.0: My Mister, Reply 1988, and When Life Gives You Tangerines.
- Every runtime here was read off Netflix’s own title pages on August 2, 2026, not estimated from a typical episode length.
This article is for: anyone choosing their next K-drama by the numbers, or checking how big a time commitment a show really is.
How to Read This Table
IMDb ratings come from IMDb’s official ratings dataset, retrieved July 21, 2026. Vote counts matter because a 9.0 from 40,000 voters means more than a 9.0 from 400.
Avg episode is measured. Netflix publishes a runtime for every episode on its title pages, so we read them directly on August 2, 2026 and averaged. The number in parentheses is the sample size. Netflix’s public pages render ten episodes at a time, which is why most samples stop at ten, and for a show with more than one season the sample covers season 1. Binge is that average multiplied by the full episode count, rounded to the hour. For the longer shows it stays an estimate, but the number it multiplies is one Netflix published.
The Origin column marks whether a show is a Netflix original or a Korean network drama licensed to Netflix. Availability reflects Netflix US, and licensing changes: one show that used to sit in this table no longer resolves on Netflix US at all (see below).
The Table: 24 K-Dramas Ranked
| # | Title | Origin | Episodes | Avg episode | Binge | IMDb (votes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | My Mister (2018) | tvN · licensed | 16 | 78m (10 eps) | ~21 h | 9.0 (16k) |
| 2 | Reply 1988 (2015–16) | tvN · licensed | 20 | 88m (10 eps) | ~29 h | 9.0 (20k) |
| 3 | When Life Gives You Tangerines (2025) | Netflix original | 16 | 58m (10 eps) | ~15 h | 9.0 (41k) |
| 4 | Alchemy of Souls (2022–23) | tvN · licensed | 30 | 74m (10 eps) | ~37 h | 8.7 (30k) |
| 5 | Crash Landing on You (2019–20) | tvN · licensed | 16 | 80m (10 eps) | ~21 h | 8.7 (60k) |
| 6 | Mr. Sunshine (2018) | tvN · licensed | 24 | 70m (10 eps) | ~28 h | 8.7 (14k) |
| 7 | Twenty-Five Twenty-One (2022) | tvN · licensed | 16 | 74m (10 eps) | ~20 h | 8.6 (23k) |
| 8 | Culinary Class Wars (2024–25) | Netflix original | 25 | 66m (10 eps) | ~28 h | 8.5 (5.3k) |
| 9 | Extraordinary Attorney Woo (2022) | ENA · licensed | 16 | 70m (10 eps) | ~19 h | 8.5 (39k) |
| 10 | Mr. Queen (2020–21) | tvN · licensed | 20 | 74m (10 eps) | ~25 h | 8.5 (16k) |
| 11 | Vincenzo (2021) | tvN · licensed | 20 | 82m (10 eps) | ~27 h | 8.4 (41k) |
| 12 | Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha (2021) | tvN · licensed | 16 | 77m (10 eps) | ~21 h | 8.3 (30k) |
| 13 | Kingdom (2019–21) | Netflix original | 12 | 51m (6 eps) | ~10 h | 8.3 (64k) |
| 14 | D.P. (2021–23) | Netflix original | 12 | 50m (6 eps) | ~10 h | 8.2 (13k) |
| 15 | Queen of Tears (2024) | tvN · licensed | 16 | 86m (10 eps) | ~23 h | 8.2 (28k) |
| 16 | The Glory (2022–23) | Netflix original | 16 | 50m (10 eps) | ~13 h | 8.2 (45k) |
| 17 | Business Proposal (2022) | SBS · licensed | 12 | 61m (10 eps) | ~12 h | 8.1 (43k) |
| 18 | Itaewon Class (2020) | JTBC · licensed | 16 | 68m (10 eps) | ~18 h | 8.1 (26k) |
| 19 | Squid Game (2021–25) | Netflix original | 22 | 55m (9 eps) | ~20 h | 7.9 (768k) |
| 20 | Physical: 100 (2023–25) | Netflix original | 18 | 65m (9 eps) | ~20 h | 7.7 (13k) |
| 21 | All of Us Are Dead (2022) | Netflix original | 12 | 62m (10 eps) | ~12 h | 7.6 (93k) |
| 22 | Gyeongseong Creature (2023–24) | Netflix original | 17 | 69m (10 eps) | ~20 h | 7.4 (17k) |
| 23 | Sweet Home (2020–24) | Netflix original | 26 | 51m (10 eps) | ~22 h | 7.2 (43k) |
| 24 | Hellbound (2021–24) | Netflix original | 12 | 52m (6 eps) | ~10 h | 6.6 (33k) |
*Avg episode comes from Netflix’s own per-episode runtimes, read off each title page on August 2, 2026. The figure in parentheses is how many episodes that average is drawn from — Netflix’s public pages list ten at a time, and for shows with more than one season the sample is season 1. Binge = episode count × that measured average, rounded to the hour.
What the Numbers Say
The 9.0 club is small and specific. Only three shows hit 9.0: My Mister, Reply 1988, and When Life Gives You Tangerines. All three are slow, emotional, slice-of-life dramas rather than thrillers, and the newest of them earned its score from 41,000 voters in barely a year.
Popularity and rating are different things. Squid Game has by far the most votes on this list, 768,000, more than the top three combined several times over, but ranks 20th by rating. Global reach brings in a broader, more divided audience.
Licensed dramas dominate the top. Ten of the top 12 are Korean network dramas licensed to Netflix rather than Netflix originals. If you sort by rating alone, the classic broadcast format, 16 long episodes, is still where the highest-rated storytelling lives.
Short doesn’t mean slight. Kingdom and D.P. deliver 8.2-plus ratings in about 10 hours each, the best rating-per-hour value here. At the other end, Alchemy of Souls asks for roughly 37 hours.
One caveat on new entries. Culinary Class Wars sits high at 8.5 but from only 5,252 votes, the smallest sample here. Scores with small vote counts move around more.
Measuring changed several rows. The old estimates in this table came from typical episode-length ranges, and reading the real runtimes moved a number of them. Queen of Tears is about three hours longer than the range suggested, at roughly 23 hours rather than 20. Gyeongseong Creature gained four. Culinary Class Wars lost five, coming in near 28 hours instead of 33. Three hours is a whole evening, so if you are planning a weekend around one of these, that gap decides whether it fits.
What’s Not on This List
Goblin (Guardian: The Lonely and Great God) was in an earlier version of this table and has been removed. Its Netflix title page returns a 404 from the US, and the only Goblin that still resolves is an unrelated 2010 title marked unavailable in this country, so we can no longer show it as streaming on Netflix US.
Moving, one of the best-reviewed Korean series of recent years, streams on Disney+/Hulu rather than Netflix, so it’s excluded. This table also skips shows that left Netflix US or never streamed there. If a title you expected is missing for another reason, tell us via the contact page and we’ll check it for the next update.
Update Schedule
IMDb ratings drift as votes accumulate, and Netflix licensing changes. We refresh this table monthly from IMDb’s official dataset, and the “as of” date above always tells you exactly when the numbers were pulled.
Sources
- Netflix — title pages for all 24 shows. Per-episode runtimes were read from each show’s own Netflix page on August 2, 2026.
- IMDb — official ratings dataset (title.ratings)
- IMDb — Non-Commercial Datasets documentation
- Netflix — Korean TV catalog
- Wikipedia — Korean dramas by network and year
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