August 2025 is blazing hot, not just with the weather but with a wave of the newest Korean series that promise everything from thrilling medical ethics to reincarnated animal spirits. Whether you’re craving romantic escapism, spine-tingling courtroom drama, or a palace kitchen showdown, this month’s lineup of new upcoming K-dramas is one of the richest we’ve seen all year. Buckle up, K-drama lovers, here are the top 9 Korean dramas of August 2025 that will make your heart race, break, and soar.
Newest Korean Series: Mary Kills People
MBC | August 1 | 12 Episodes
Genres: Crime, Drama, Medical
Cast: Lee Bo Young, Lee Min Ki, Kang Ki Young
A doctor’s oath meets mercy and mortality in this heart-wrenching tale. Woo So-Jeong (Lee Bo-Young) is not just a skilled physician; she’s also an underground angel of death, assisting terminal patients in ending their pain. Teaming up with Dr. Choi Dae-Hyun (Kang Ki-Young), she walks a razor-thin moral line, hidden behind sterile hospital walls.
But as fate would have it, detective Jo Hyun-Woo (Lee Min-Ki), tasked with catching these “killers,” is himself dying, his brain tumor ticking away like a cruel metronome. When hunter meets healer, the story spins into a chilling yet soulful confrontation. Mary Kills People doesn’t just question what it means to live; it demands you to answer what it means to die.
My Lovely Journey
Netflix | August 2 | 16 Episodes
Genres: Adventure, Romance, Drama
Cast: Gong Seung Yeon, Yoo Jun Sang
My Lovely Journey is not just a travelogue; it’s a soul map. Kang Yeo-Reum’s life looks picture-perfect on screen: travel reporter, wanderlust dreamer, but behind the camera lies fear, doubt, and a broken dream of stardom. Once an idol, now a forgotten name, she finds new purpose as she journeys across Korea’s forgotten trails. This allows her to meet and fall in love with Lee Yeon-Seok (Kim Jae-Young), a corp dev dropout pursuing filmmaking. Their journey through the mountains and coastlines is enhanced by an emerging gentle love story. This one is one of those new K dramas that reminds you: sometimes the destination isn’t a place, it’s a person.
Newest Korean Series: Beyond the Bar
Netflix | August 2 | 12 Episodes
Genres: Law, Life
Cast: Lee Jin Wook, Jung Chae Yeon
A battleground of bruised egos, ideals, and concealed scars: the courtroom. The lawyer Yoon Seok-Hun (Lee Jin Wook) is the very definition of cool, detached brilliance. He is a perfect lawyer, but under his polished skin is a wound time refuses to heal. Enter Kang Hyo-Min (Jung Chae Yeon), a rookie bursting with zeal. She is so idealistic and so stubborn that it is at once endearing and maddening. As they clash over cases, values, and personal secrets, a grudging respect begins to simmer. In Beyond the Bar, every case is more than a verdict; it’s a mirror. This is one new Netflix Kdrama that proves sometimes the hardest battle is not against the law, but against yourself.
Love Take Two
Netflix | August 4 | 12 Episodes
Genres: Comedy, Romance, Life
Cast: Yeom Jung Ah, Park Hae Joon, Choi Yun Ji, Kim Min Kyu
Lee Ji An is the queen of grit. A single mom and construction site manager, she rules her world with a hard hat and a no-nonsense attitude. But when her once-perfect daughter starts rebelling and her old flame Ryu Jeong Seok walks back into her life, with his broody flower-farming son in tow, her well-structured world begins to crumble. Meanwhile, sparks fly between their children in the most unexpected camping-van romance. Love Take Two is about messiness, rom-com, second chances, and the nature of love. It is about romance that doesn’t end, but rather, shifts happen and bloom later in life.
Splendid Days (Our Golden Days)
KBS2 | August 9 | 50 Episodes
Genres: Romance, Melodrama, Comedy
Cast: Jung Il Woo, Jung In Sun, Yoon Hyun Min
Glamour meets rock bottom in Splendid Days, a sprawling generational romance where heartbreak wears a designer suit. Lee Ji Hyeok had it all, until he didn’t. Burned by success and the very people who praised him, he must now learn the value of imperfection. By his side is Ji Eun O, the ever-optimistic cafe owner who once loved him in silence. And watching from the shadows is Park Seong Jae, Ji Hyeok’s friend-turned-rival, whose charm masks an aching loneliness. With 50 episodes of poetic drama, this one is for lovers of melodramas that hurt so good. In these golden days, happiness is anything but simple.
Newest Korean Series: Twelve
Disney+ | August 23 | 8 Episodes
Genres: Action, Fantasy, Supernatural
Cast: Park Hyung Sik, Seo In Guk, Ma Dong Seok
Twelve celestial warriors descend into a world teetering on the brink of doom. Disguised as humans, these beings, once animals blessed by heaven, carry ancient powers and sacred duties. Leading them is the tiger angel Tae San, a fierce guardian with a haunted past. Their enemy? Asura, the demon king, was banished and burned for vengeance. What follows is a cosmic war stitched into the fabric of the human world. Twelve is a stunning story of loyalty, redemption, and destiny. It is a Kdrama that is epic in scope and filled with intense action, high emotional stakes, and fantasy.
Newest Korean Series: Bon Appétit, Your Majesty
TvN & Netflix | August 23 | 12 Episodes
Genres: Historical, Fantasy, Comedy, Romance
Cast: Lim Yoon-A, Lee Chae Min
Time-travel has never tasted this good. Chef Yeon Ji Yeong (Lim Yoon-A), queen of the modern kitchen, is flung into a royal palace where her Michelin-star skills are now survival tools. Her new boss? King Yi Heon (Lee Chae Min), a man whose cruelty matches his culinary standards. As she dodges political intrigue and daily poison tests, something far more dangerous begins to simmer between them: love. Bon Appétit, Your Majesty is a delectable mix of fantasy, sass, and romance. With royal tension that’ll leave you breathless, this newest Korean series serves a historical rom-com on a silver platter.
You and Everything Else
Netflix | August TBA | 15 Episodes
Genres: Romance, Life, Melodrama
Cast: Kim Go Eun, Park Ji Hyun, Kim Gun Woo
Friendship, conflicts, and remorse swirl across decades in this profoundly moving story called “You and Everything Else”. Ryu Eun Jung and Cheon Sang Yeon have always been mirrors; similar yet painfully opposite. From schoolmates to adult frenemies, their lives have been intertwined with love, jealousy, and unarticulated fondness.
Now in their forties, Sang Yeon has a devastating request: for Eun Jung to accompany her to a euthanasia appointment disguised as a vacation. As the two revisit the ruins and wonders of their shared past, You and Everything Else becomes a love letter to time, loss, and the quiet bond between women. Make sure to bring tissues. Then bring more.
Newest Korean Series: Aema
Netflix | August TBA | 6 Episodes
Genres: Drama, Comedy
Cast: Lee Ha Nee, Bang Hyo Rin, Jin Seon Kyu
Lights, camera, chaos. In 1980s Chungmuro, top actress Jung Hui Ran rules the silver screen with an iron fist. She’s bold, brilliant, and utterly uncontrollable; so much so that she’s fired from her own film. Aema takes you behind the glitz of Korea’s golden film era into a frenzy of betrayal, ambition, and reinvention. As nightclub dancer Sin Ju Ae takes the coveted role and an idealistic new director tries to keep the ship afloat, the battle of divas and egos unfolds. Based on the legendary Madame Aema film series, this limited drama is biting, stylish, and unexpectedly moving.
Conclusion
August 2025 is delivering new K dramas that don’t just entertain; they move, challenge, and transport us. Whether you fancy passionate romance, dark secrets, outlandish battles, or sassy royal kitchens, every kind of drama lover is catered to in this list. Get your snacks ready, your schedules cleared, and get ready to binge. Which newest Korean series will be your obsession this August?
Tell us in the comments, and don’t forget to share this with your fellow K-drama addicts!
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