Top 20 Most Popular Korean Dramas of All Time on MyDramaList: The Ultimate Watchlist
Top 20 Most Popular Korean Dramas of All Time are here! We pulled the latest MyDramaList popularity data (March 2026 update) to rank the most watched, most discussed, and highest-rated K-dramas ever. No opinions — just pure viewer numbers and scores from millions of fans worldwide.
Whether you’re new to K-dramas or a longtime fan, this list shows exactly which shows shaped the Hallyu wave. Perfect for fans searching top 20 most popular korean dramas of all time on mydramalist, best k-dramas all time, or must-watch classics.
The Official Top 20 Most Popular Korean Dramas of All Time (MyDramaList 2026)
| Rank | Title | Popularity | Rating | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (Goblin) | #1 All-Time | 8.8 | 16 |
| 2 | Strong Girl Bong Soon | #2 | 8.7 | 16 |
| 3 | It’s Okay to Not Be Okay | #3 | 8.8 | 16 |
| 4 | What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim | #4 | 8.5 | 16 |
| 5 | Crash Landing on You | #5 | 9.0 | 16 |
| 6 | Descendants of the Sun | #6 | 8.6 | 16 |
| 7 | Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo | #7 | 8.7 | 16 |
| 8 | Business Proposal | #8 | 8.7 | 12 |
| 9 | W (Two Worlds) | #9 | 8.4 | 16 |
| 10 | True Beauty | #10 | 8.3 | 16 |
| 11 | Hotel del Luna | #11 | 8.5 | 16 |
| 12 | Vincenzo | #12 | 8.9 | 20 |
| 13 | Squid Game | #13 | 8.4 | 9 |
| 14 | While You Were Sleeping | #14 | 8.7 | 32 |
| 15 | Alchemy of Souls | #15 | 9.1 | 20 |
| 16 | Flower of Evil | #16 | 9.0 | 16 |
| 17 | Weak Hero Class 1 | #17 | 9.1 | 8 |
| 18 | Boys Over Flowers | #18 | 7.5 | 25 |
| 19 | The Heirs | #19 | 7.6 | 20 |
| 20 | Twinkling Watermelon | #20 | 9.2 | 16 |
1. Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (Goblin) – #1 Most Popular
Release Year: 2016 | Episodes: 16 | Rating: 8.8
Kim Sin is a tragic Goryeo general cursed with immortality. For 900 years, he has wandered the earth searching for the “Goblin’s Bride”—the only human who can pull an invisible sword from his chest and end his life.
Main Cast: Gong Yoo, Kim Go Eun, Lee Dong Wook
2. Strong Girl Bong Soon – #2 Most Popular
Release Year: 2017 | Episodes: 16 | Rating: 8.7
Do Bong Soon looks like a sweet, petite woman, but she possesses superhuman strength passed down through the women in her family. She lands a job as a bodyguard for a quirky gaming CEO while secretly fighting crime in her neighborhood.
Main Cast: Park Bo-young, Park Hyung-sik, Ji Soo
3. It’s Okay to Not Be Okay – #3 Most Popular
Release Year: 2020 | Episodes: 16 | Rating: 8.8
Moon Gang Tae is an exhausted psychiatric ward caretaker whose life revolves around his autistic older brother. He crosses paths with Ko Moon-young, a successful but antisocial children’s book author, sparking a chaotic but deeply healing romance.
Main Cast: Kim Soo-hyun, Seo Yea-ji, Oh Jung-se
4. What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim – #4 Most Popular
Release Year: 2018 | Episodes: 16 | Rating: 8.5
Lee Young Joon is a brilliant but unbearably narcissistic company vice president. When his highly capable secretary of nine years, Kim Mi-so, suddenly announces she is quitting to get married, he panics and tries everything to make her stay.
Main Cast: Park Seo-joon, Park Min-young
5. Crash Landing on You – #5 Most Popular
Release Year: 2019 | Episodes: 16 | Rating: 9.0
A sudden tornado causes South Korean billionaire heiress Yoon Se Ri to paraglide directly into the North Korean DMZ. An elite North Korean army officer finds her and risks his life to hide her and smuggle her back home.
Main Cast: Hyun Bin, Son Ye-jin
6. Descendants of the Sun – #6 Most Popular
Release Year: 2016 | Episodes: 16 | Rating: 8.6
A high-stakes romance blossoms between Yoo Si-jin, the captain of a South Korean Special Forces unit, and Kang Mo-yeon, a talented cardiothoracic surgeon. Their differing views on human life clash as they are deployed together to a war-torn country.
Main Cast: Song Joong-ki, Song Hye-kyo
7. Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo – #7 Most Popular
Release Year: 2016 | Episodes: 16 | Rating: 8.7
Kim Bok Joo is a collegiate weightlifter fiercely pursuing a gold medal. Her life gets complicated when she experiences her first crush and reconnects with a childhood friend who is now a collegiate swimmer struggling with trauma.
Main Cast: Lee Sung-kyung, Nam Joo-hyuk
8. Business Proposal – #8 Most Popular
Release Year: 2022 | Episodes: 12 | Rating: 8.7
Shin Ha Ri goes on a blind date disguised as her wealthy best friend to scare away a prospective suitor. The plan backfires completely when the suitor turns out to be her company’s new CEO, and he immediately proposes marriage.
Main Cast: Kim Se-jeong, Ahn Hyo-seop
9. W (Two Worlds) – #9 Most Popular
Release Year: 2016 | Episodes: 16 | Rating: 8.4
When a famous webtoon author goes missing, his surgeon daughter searches his office and is physically pulled into the digital world of his comic. She ends up saving the life of the comic’s main character, blurring the lines between fiction and reality.
Main Cast: Lee Jong-suk, Han Hyo-joo
10. True Beauty – #10 Most Popular
Release Year: 2020 | Episodes: 16 | Rating: 8.3
After being severely bullied for her looks, high schooler Lim Ju Gyeong masters makeup via YouTube tutorials. She transfers to a new school and instantly becomes the most popular girl, but lives in constant terror of her bare face being discovered.
Main Cast: Moon Ga-young, Cha Eun-woo, Hwang In-youp
11. Hotel del Luna – #11 Most Popular
Release Year: 2019 | Episodes: 16 | Rating: 8.5
Hidden in downtown Seoul is a luxury hotel that caters exclusively to ghosts who need to fulfill their final wishes before moving on to the afterlife. It is run by Jang Man Wol, a beautifully moody woman cursed to manage the establishment for over a thousand years.
Main Cast: IU, Yeo Jin-goo
12. Vincenzo – #12 Most Popular
Release Year: 2021 | Episodes: 20 | Rating: 8.9
Vincenzo Cassano is a Korean-born, Italian-raised Mafia consigliere. Fleeing a mob war, he returns to Seoul to recover hidden gold but ends up using his brutal Mafia tactics to take down a corrupt corporate conglomerate.
Main Cast: Song Joong-ki, Jeon Yeo-been
13. Squid Game – #13 Most Popular
Release Year: 2021 | Episodes: 9 | Rating: 8.4
Hundreds of desperate, deeply indebted citizens accept a mysterious invitation to compete in children’s games for a massive cash prize. They quickly realize the penalty for losing a game is instant death.
Main Cast: Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo
14. While You Were Sleeping – #14 Most Popular
Release Year: 2017 | Episodes: 32 (30-min eps) | Rating: 8.7
Nam Hong Ju has prophetic dreams about terrible accidents before they happen. She teams up with a rookie prosecutor and a police officer—who also develop the same ability—to stop these tragedies from occurring in reality.
Main Cast: Suzy, Lee Jong-suk, Jung Hae-in
15. Alchemy of Souls – #15 Most Popular
Release Year: 2022 | Episodes: 20 | Rating: 9.1
In the magical nation of Daeho, a legendary assassin named Naksu is fatally wounded. She uses a forbidden spell to transfer her soul into the body of a weak, blind servant girl, who then gets entangled with a powerful but magically blocked young nobleman.
Main Cast: Lee Jae-wook, Jung So-min
16. Flower of Evil – #16 Most Popular
Release Year: 2020 | Episodes: 16 | Rating: 9.0
Baek Hee Seong appears to be a devoted husband and father. However, his wife is a sharp homicide detective who begins investigating a string of serial murders, slowly realizing her perfect husband is living under a stolen identity and might be the killer.
Main Cast: Lee Joon-gi, Moon Chae-won
17. Weak Hero Class 1 – #17 Most Popular
Release Year: 2022 | Episodes: 8 | Rating: 9.1
Yeon Shi Eun is a quiet, physically frail student who only cares about his grades. When bullies target him, he uses his sharp intellect, knowledge of physics, and pure psychological warfare to brutally dismantle his tormentors.
Main Cast: Park Ji-hoon, Choi Hyun-wook, Hong Kyung
18. Boys Over Flowers – #18 Most Popular
Release Year: 2009 | Episodes: 25 | Rating: 7.5
Geum Jan Di, a tough girl from a working-class family, receives a scholarship to an ultra-elite high school. She immediately clashes with the “F4″—a group of four outrageously wealthy and arrogant boys who rule the school through intimidation.
Main Cast: Lee Min-ho, Ku Hye-sun
19. The Heirs – #19 Most Popular
Release Year: 2013 | Episodes: 20 | Rating: 7.6
Kim Tan is the illegitimate heir to a massive Korean conglomerate, exiled to the US by his older brother. He accidentally meets Cha Eun-sang, the daughter of his family’s housekeeper, setting off a massive chain of wealthy teenage melodrama.
Main Cast: Lee Min-ho, Park Shin-hye
20. Twinkling Watermelon – #20 Most Popular
Release Year: 2023 | Episodes: 16 | Rating: 9.2
Eun Gyeol is a child of deaf adults (CODA) who hides his incredible musical talent from his strict father. After an argument, he visits a mysterious music shop and is transported back to 1995, where he meets the teenage version of his father—who can hear and speak.
Main Cast: Ryeoun, Choi Hyun-wook
Where to Watch These All-Time Popular Korean Dramas
Most are streaming on Netflix, Viki (Rakuten Viki), or Disney+. Use a VPN for full access in Bangladesh or India. Many have English subtitles and even Hindi dubs now.
How to Choose Your Next All-Time Popular K-Drama
- For Romance & Laughs: Start with What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim or Business Proposal.
- For Thrills & Action: Try Squid Game or Vincenzo.
- For Fantasy Epics: Goblin or Alchemy of Souls are unbeatable.
- For Emotional Depth: It’s Okay to Not Be Okay or Flower of Evil.
Want more recent rankings? Check our Top 25 Best Korean Dramas 2025 on MyDramaList and Top 10 Best Korean Dramas 2026. If you also love C-dramas, don’t miss the Top 10 Best Chinese Dramas 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Top 20 Most Popular Korean Dramas of All Time
What is the #1 most popular Korean drama of all time on MyDramaList?
Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (Goblin) still holds the #1 spot in 2026.
Which K-drama is the most watched globally?
Crash Landing on You and Squid Game brought millions of new international fans.
Are these the highest rated or most popular?
These are ranked purely by MyDramaList popularity (views + saves + discussions), not just score.
Ready to start your ultimate K-drama journey? Begin with Goblin — the undisputed #1 most popular Korean drama of all time. Drop your favorite in the comments below!