2023 is proving to be an incredible year for Korean entertainment, especially K-Dramas. With more and more streaming platforms - both domestic and international, focusing on creating original content in Korean, the medium is achieving increasing accessibility and as such, more popularity. Viewers from all over the world can now watch their favorite K-Dramas, which in turn is leading to more demand and more production. In other words, the K-Drama industry is more prolific now than ever before. Given this extraordinary growth, here are our K-Drama predictions for the second half of 2023.
Note: This article consists solely of speculations which are not meant to be taken as statements.
Awards & Accolades
The 2nd Blue Dragon Series Awards is happening tomorrow, July 19, where K-Dramas produced by streaming platforms will be celebrated. We're predicting "The Glory" as the winner of "Best Drama", Choi MinSik in "Casino" as "Best Actor", Song HyeKyo in "The Glory" as "Best Actress", Jo WooJin in "Narco-Saints" as "Best Supporting Actor", Lim JiYeon in "The Glory" as "Best Supporting Actress", Park JiHoon in "Weak Hero Class 1" as "Best Rookie Actor" and Han JiHyun in "Cheer Up" as "Best Rookie Actress". In addition, "Siren: Survive The Island" will probably take home the award for "Best Variety Program".
Among already aired K-Dramas, "My Perfect Stranger", "Taxi Driver 2", "Payback", "Revenant", "Under The Queen's Umbrella", "The First Responders", "Summer Strike", "Reborn Rich", "Alchemy of Souls: Light and Shadow", "Island", "Crash Course In Romance", "Poong, the Joseon Psychiatrist - Season 2", "Our Blooming Youth", "Pale Moon", "Doctor Cha", "The Good Bad Mother", "Miraculous Brothers", "See You In My 19th Life", "King The Land" and "Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938" may receive nominations and nods at the 2023 Korea Drama Awards.
Lee SunKyun from "Payback", Lee JeHoon from "Taxi Driver 2", Park HyungSik from "Our Blooming Youth", Lee DoHyun from "The Good Bad Mother", Lee DongWook from "Tale of the Nine Tailed" or Lee JaeWook from "Alchemy of Souls: Light and Shadow" may win the "Top Excellence Award, Actor" and Kim TaeRi from "Revenant", Kim HyeSoo from "Under The Queen's Umbrella", Go YounJung from "Alchemy of Souls: Light and Shadow", Jeon DoYeon from "Crash Course In Romance", Kim TaeHee from "Lies Hidden In My Garden" or Lee SungKyoung from "Dr. Romantic 3" may win the "Top Excellence Award, Actress". RyeoUn, Yoo InSoo, Shin JaeHa, Lee ChaeMin or Bae HyeonSeong may win the "Best New Actor" award and Won JiAn, Woo HyunJin, Oh YeJu or Jo ARam may win the "Best New Actress" award. We're expecting Uhm JungHwa and Ra MiRan to win the "Grand Prize (Daesang)".
Ratings & Charts
As for ratings in the 2nd half of 2023, we're predicting "The Uncanny Counter Season 2: Counter Punch", "Cold Blooded Intern", "Queen of Tears", "Welcome to Samdal-ri", "My Demon", "Fantasy Sonata" and "The Wedding Battle" to achieve the highest ratings.
"Sparkling Watermelon", "Destined With You", "Strong Woman Gang NamSoon", "Aramun's Sword: Arthdal Chronicles", "A Good Day To Be A Dog", "My Lovely Liar" and "Jun And Jun" will be highly successful overseas too.
Among OTT K-Dramas, "Gyeongseong Creature", "Vigilante", "Castaway Diva", "D.P. - Season 2", "Doona!", "Sweet Home - Season 2" and "Moving" will most definitely rank #1 worldwide on their respective platforms. In particular, "Vigilante" and "Doona!" are likely to attain viral popularity. "Moving" has the potential to achieve international accolades like an Emmy!
Buzzworthy Actors/Actresses
The second half of 2023 has an extraordinary roster of K-Dramas coming up. Here are some actors that we think will generate the most buzz with their upcoming dramas:
Among idol actors, Girls' Generation's Choi SooYoung will draw attention with her unconventional role in "Strangers". SF9's RoWoon, who is very well-known and beloved for his romance dramas, will once again steal hearts as Jang ShinYu in "Destined With You" with Cho BoAh and as Shim JungWoo in "The Wedding Battle" with Cho YiHyun. Similarly, ASTRO's Cha EunWoo, who will play the fan-favorite character of Jin SeoWon in the webtoon-based K-Drama "A Good Day To Be A Dog" with Park GyuYoung, is also expected to garner remarkable buzz worldwide.
Among rising stars, Choi HyunWook's character in "D.P. - Season 2" is highly anticipated, and it is easy to predict that it will create a buzz online. His role in "Hi Cookie" is also already raising anticipation, so it is expected to give the actor an even bigger boost in popularity soon.
As for "Moving", Lee JungHa, Go YounJung, and Kim DoHoon are expected to draw the audience's attention in addition to the main cast, including Han HyoJoo and Zo InSung. In particular, Go YounJung's impressive acting skills will blow us away once more, establishing her as a force to be reckoned with in the industry.
Lee JoonGi as EunSeom/Saya in "Aramun's Sword: Arthdal Chronicles" will certainly pique viewers' interest, not only due to his new look but also the popularity of the series. Park BoYoung's comeback with "Daily Dose Of Sunshine" is also expected to generate international interest, thanks to Netflix. Similarly, the Ji ChangWook and Wi HaJun duo will also be incredibly buzzworthy in the second half of the year as fans are already looking forward to their dynamic in "The Worst of Evil". Fans are also immensely excited about the aforementioned drama "Hi Cookie" with Nam JiHyun and Choi HyunWook, so safe to say these actors will be buzzworthy in the second half of the year. In addition, Park JiHoon playing a dual role in his upcoming K-Drama "Fantasy Sonata" will be an amazing step in his career, highlighting his impeccable acting chops and versatility.
The most popular and buzzworthy K-Drama couples in the 2nd half of 2023 are predicted to be Suzy and Yang SeJong ("Doona!"), Kim SooHyun and Kim JiWon ("Queen Of Tears"), Song Kang and Kim YouJung ("My Demon"), Ji ChangWook and Shin HaeSun ("Welcome to Samdal-ri"), Jeon YeoBeen and Ahn HyoSeop ("A Time Called You"), and Park SeoJun and Han SoHee ("Gyeongseong Creature").
Idol OSTs
OSTs are a crucial part of K-Dramas. When they're sung by K-Pop idols, they're even more exciting! Here are some idols/groups that we predict will release K-Drama OSTs in the second half of the year!
Among rookie groups, NewJeans may release an OST in this half of the year. In such a short time since their debut, NewJeans has already cemented their position in the K-Pop industry. Danielle from NewJeans voiced Ariel in the Korean dubbing of "The Little Mermaid". It wouldn't be far-fetched to expect a K-Drama OST from the group coming soon.
ASTRO's Cha EunWoo and SF9's RoWoon may sing the OSTs for their upcoming K-Dramas. Idols singing the OSTs for their dramas is rather commonplace. So, it wouldn't be surprising if Cha EunWoo and RoWoon did the same for their works.
We also predict that EXO's ChanYeol, who is known for delivering the most iconic OSTs, may have another OST coming out this year. Similarly, the MAMAMOO members may also be blessing us with OSTs. In addition, given the incredible recent success of ATEEZ, it would be amazing if we got an ATEEZ K-Drama OST in the second half of 2023.
Casting News
One of the best things about being a fan of K-Dramas is the constant casting news released every other day, if not every day. So, our K-Drama predictions would be incomplete without some casting predictions. In random order, here are some actors who we think may have casting news coming soon:
Red Velvet's YeRi, who has proven her outstanding mettle as an actor, may be cast in a major television drama for 2024.
Lee SooHyuk may be offered and/or cast in a leading role in a non-fantasy romantic comedy.
BLACKPINK's JiSoo may make her small screen comeback in 2024, the casting news for which will be revealed in the 2nd half of 2023.
EXO's D.O. may be cast for a new K-Drama coming in 2024.
Hwang InYoup may have more than one casting news to his name.
Seo KangJoon, who is receiving numerous offers, may finally reveal the project he has accepted.
Lee MinHo may be taking on an international project.
Kim SeJeong will grow even more in popularity and may have multiple casting offers.
That's it for our K-Drama predictions for the second half of the year. What are yours? Tell us in the comments section down below!