8 Highly-Anticipated K-Drama Set to Premiere This Last Quarter 2023

If you are a Korean drama fan waiting for new releases this last quarter of 2023, here are the highly-anticipated K-dramas to watch out.

1. Castaway Diva

Main Cast: Park Eun-Bin, Kim Hyo-Jin, Chae Jong-Hyeopm and Cha Hak-Yeon. Premiere date:  October 28, 2023. Also known as Diva on a Deserted Island. Network: Netflix, TVING, tvN

The story follows Seo Mok-ha (Park Eun-bin), a girl who dreams of becoming a diva. She wins a UCC competition and goes to Seoul to take an audition. However, she gets stranded on an uninhabited island due to an unfortunate accident for 15 years.

2. The Matchmakers 

Main cast: RoWoon and Cho Yi-hyun. Premiere date: October 30, 2023. Network: KBS 2 (South Korean television network), also available for streaming on Viu and Viki in selected regions.

The Match Makers is set in the Joseon period and follows a widower, Shim Jung-woo (Rowoon), and a young widow named Jung Soon-deok (Cho Yi-hyun). They become involved with each other and try to become matchmakers for older single men and women to marry.

3. Daily Dose of Sunshine

Main Cast: Park Bo-young, Yeon Woo-jin, Jang Dong-yoon, and Lee Jung-eun. Premiere date: November 3, 2023. Network: Netflix

Daily Dose of Sunshine follows Jung Da-Eun (Park Bo-Young) who works as a nurse. When she was transferred to the neuropsychiatry section she found everything difficult and awkward, nonetheless, she tried her best to deal with the patients. Then she encountered Dong Go-Yoon (Yeon Woo-Jin), a doctor who specializes in proctology. 

4. Sweet Home Season 2

Main Cast: Song Kang, Lee Jin-wook, and Lee Si-young. Premiere date: November or December 2023. Network: Netflix

Synopsis: After an unexpected family tragedy, Cha Hyun-soo (Song Kang) leaves his home and moves into an apartment. Soon after, monsters begin appearing. 

People inside the apartment are trapped inside the building, realizing that monsters are lurking everywhere outside. Hyun-soo and other residents shield themselves inside the building in the hope of surviving.

5. A War For Thought

Main Cast: Choi Soo-jong, Kim Dong-jun, and Ji Seung-hyun. Also known as Goryeo-Khitan War. Premiere date: November 11, 2023. Network: KBS 2

This epic costume drama tells the story of King Hyeonjong of Goryeo (Kim Dong-jun) uniting Goryeo under his tolerant leadership by leading the war against the Khitans to victory, together with Gang Gam-chan (Choi Soo-jong), the King's political mentor and the commander-in-chief of the Goryeo army. 

In history, the Goryeo-Khitan War was a conflict in the 11th century between the Goryeo dynasty of Korea and the Khitan-led Liao dynasty of China near the present-day border between China and North Korea.

6. The Story of Parks Marriage 

Main Cast: Lee Se-young and Bae In-hyuk. Premiere date: November 2023. Network: MBC TV

It follows Park Yeon-woo (played by Lee Se-young) who, after being thrown down a well by an unknown assailant, a young woman from Confucian Joseon, finds herself transported 200 years into the future to the present day. Stranded in a foreign time, she struggles to find her way home. Along the way, she meets Kang Tae-ha (played by Bae In-hyuk), a man who resembles her recently deceased husband.

7. Goodbye Earth

Main Cast: Yoo Ah-in, Ahn Eun-jin, Jeon Sung-woo, and Kim Yoon-hye. Premiere date: November 24, 2023. Network: Netflix

It depicts the planet in chaos. With just 200 days left before an asteroid destroys it, and the stories of those living their remaining days on Earth. Ahn Eun-jin plays Jin Se-kyeong, a home economics teacher who volunteered at the juvenile department of the Woongcheon municipal office after the news about the asteroid breaks, struggling in silence to protect the children.

8. Gyeongseong Creature

Main Cast: Park Seo-joon and Han So-hee. Premiere date: December 22, 2023. Network: Netflix

Set in the spring of 1945, when Gyeongseong (the old name for Seoul) was in its darkest era, during Japanese rule over Korea. 

Two young adults confront a strange creature born of greed and battle against it for survival. Park Seo-joon plays Jang Tae-sang, a wealthy man and the best informant in Gyeongseong. He will cross paths with Yoon Chae-ok (Han So-hee), a specialist in finding missing people