A brand new year has begun and Disney+ is helping us get our calendars in order for 2025, releasing a new video announcement to preview their upcoming K-drama lineup. Although the softie in me is a little wary of all the dark tales, the coming months will certainly be exciting, packing plenty of action and intrigue into our screens.
Title: Unmasked
Release date: January 15
Need to know: The office comedy and thriller has Kim Hye-soo (Under the Queen’s Umbrella) leading Jung Sung-il (The Glory) and Joo Jong-hyuk (Frankly Speaking) to form a ragtag team, sticking their cameras into every baddies’ business to broadcast on their investigative-documentary show. As they say in the biz, the show must go on and there are no hazards that our trio heroine won’t face in the name of exposing truth and delivering justice to the public.
Title: Hyper Knife
Release date: March 19
Need to know: Park Eun-bin (Castaway Diva) takes a creepy turn in this medical-suspense series, playing a doctor who was heralded in the past until a ~mysterious~ incident ruins her career. Also starring Yoon Chan-young (High School Return of a Gangster) and Park Byung-eun (The Bequeathed), the story then pits our heroine against her teacher and the man who caused her downfall, Sol Kyung-gu (The Whirlwind).
Title: Knock-Off
Release date: Q2
Need to know: Caught within the economic turmoil of South Korea’s IMF crisis in the late 1990s, the once ordinary office worker Kim Soo-hyun (Queen of Tears) is soon led to work in the growing market of designer fakes. The black comedy then follows his rise to become the new king of knock-off sales, alarming his ex-girlfriend and cop Jo Boa (Destined With You).
Title: Nine Puzzles
Release date: Q2
Need to know: The crime-mystery is centered around a series of recent murders, made trickier by the titular puzzle pieces that are intentionally left behind by the culprit. Although profiler Kim Da-mi (Our Beloved Summer) is determined to solve the puzzle clues, cop Sohn Seok-gu (A Killer Paradox) is suspicious, believing that Kim is responsible for an old serial killer case in the past.
Title: Low Life
Release date: Q3 or Q4
Need to know: Starring Ryu Seung-ryong (Chicken Nugget), Yang Se-jong (Doona), and Im Soo-jung (Melancholia) among other talents in the ensemble cast, the period crime series is based on a popular webtoon and draws inspiration from the real-life discovery of treasure ship along South Korea’s west coast in the 1970s.
Title: Tempest
Release date: Q3 or Q4
Need to know: Notably featuring Kang Dong-won’s (Uprising) return to dramaland after more than 20 (!) years, the spy romance makes him an unidentified special agent who somehow gets involved with diplomat Jeon Ji-hyun (Jirisan). The story will also be crossing international waters, where we meet American official John Cho (The Sympathizer).
Title: The Murky Stream
Release date: Q3 or Q4
Need to know: Marking a new milestone for Disney+ as their first sageuk, the series brings Kim Ro-woon (The Matchmakers), Shin Ye-eun (Jeongnyeon – The Star is Born), and Park Seo-ham (Semantic Error) to the dark, lawless streets of Joseon where our leads try to fight against fate to build a better future.
Title: The Manipulated
Release date: Q3 or Q4
Need to know:
In a remake of the 2017 film Fabricated City – also starring Ji Chang-wook (Gangnam B-Side) – Ji returns in the drama as our wrongfully convicted hero seeking justice and revenge, having been used like a pawn by our mastermind villain D.O. (Bad Prosecutor). The crime-thriller also stars Lee Kwang-soo (No Way Out – The Roulette) and Jo Yoon-soo (The Tyrant).
The full video can be seen below!