Like the beginning of a well-composed K-drama, the month of January 2026 comes with anticipation and untold promise. As the winter season continues to deepen, Korean dramas will continue to play out stories that intertwine the themes of love and defiance and fantasy versus reality. The K-Dramas releasing in January 2026 will not only entertain the people but also will be a deep emotional experience.
January K-Dramas are sure to deliver the best of the jump with both ensemble and singular stories. Whether the audience is in the mood for courtroom vengeance, historical romance, or village healing, K-Dramas of January are sure to deliver the chaotic energy that rom-coms bring.
Upcoming K-Dramas 2026: The Judge Returns
14 Episodes | Jan 2 | Fri–Sat | MBC
Mystery, Law, Fantasy
Cast: Ji Sung, Park Hee Soon, Won Jin A
Justice is sometimes silent. Judge Lee Han Yeong believed the courtroom was a sacred space. When he defied orders and sentenced a powerful CEO to life imprisonment, he paid with his life. Lee Han Yeong returns with his memories and a burdensome truth from his past. This rebirth is a call and not a blessing. With every sentence he issues, he defies the system, and the same goes for prosecutor Kim Jin A, who is driven by grief and vengeance over the destruction of her family. They address a challenging question: what is the true cost of justice in a system designed to protect the powerful?
New K-Dramas 2026: To My Beloved Thief
16 Episodes | Jan 3 | Sat–Sun | KBS2
Historical, Comedy, Romance
Cast: Nam Ji Hyun, Moon Sang Min, Hong Min Ki, Han So Eun
Legends are born in whispers. Hong Eun Jo lives a story of whispers and secrets. Having a noble father and a slave mother, she hides her true self and becomes Hong Gil Dong, the legendary thief who steals from the rich and corrupt to help the starving poor. Things get crazy for her when she comes across Prince Yi Yeol, a smart royal investigator who is fixated on finding out who Hong Gil Dong really is.
When a surprise soul-switch happens, her fate intertwines with Prince Yi Yeol’s in chaos, comedy, and yearning. She and Prince Yi Yeol come across imminent danger. Set with the rigid rules of Joseon Law, the two of them gain a soul switch and, with it, more human justice. Soul-switching sure is crazy.
January 2026 Korean Dramas: Spring Fever
12 Episodes | Jan 5 | Mon–Tue | tvN
Comedy, Romance
Cast: Ahn Bo Hyun, Lee Joo Bin, Cha Seo Won
Healing can start with distance and not with answers. Yun Bom escapes the busy streets of Seoul with invisible scars and finds the slow pace of Sinsu village and teaching as a means of refuge. She is closed off and keeps the world at a distance. That is, until Seon Jae Gyu bursts into her world, shattering her silence. Jae Gyu is loud and unpredictable.
Despite the roughness he shows the world, he is quiet and warm and empathetic toward the people in the village. Yun Bom’s frost begins to thaw as the seasons shift, and she starts to show fleeting moments of peace, warm looks, and smiles. This is a story of unexpected places and starting over. Although love arrives at the right time, it is never gentle. It shows, time and time again, that it arrives at the right time.
Can This Love Be Translated?
12 Episodes | Jan 16 | Friday | Netflix
Comedy, Romance
Cast: Kim Seon Ho, Go Youn Jung
Words are Joo Ho Jin’s specialty. Fluent in multiple languages, he bridges worlds for a living, translating thoughts that others struggle to express. Yet when he becomes the personal interpreter for global star Cha Mu Hee, language suddenly feels inadequate. Mu Hee is radiant and confident and surrounded by noise, but loneliness lingers beneath her spotlight.
As Ho Jin translates her public words, he begins to understand the unspoken ones, the emotions hiding between syllables and silences. What begins as professional proximity slowly transforms into something softer, more dangerous. Set against glamorous schedules and intimate late-night conversations, this upcoming K-dramas 2026 explores whether emotions need translation at all or if hearts already speak a language of their own.
K-Dramas releasing in January 2026: No Tail To Tell
12 Episodes | Jan 16 | Fri–Sat | SBS
Fantasy, Comedy, Romance
Cast: Kim Hye Yoon, Lomon
Eun Ho is a gumiho, but unlike other gumiho, she would rather not be human because she doesn’t see the point in giving up eternal youth for a short human life. She is perfectly content to be a gumiho. She has a perfectly balanced existence until she meets Kang Si Yeol, a world-famous (and self-absorbed) soccer player whose life is perfect and untouchable. Eun Ho is unlike anyone he has ever met and sparks a unique and wonderful chaos in his life. Eun Ho now has to think about her existence more and what it means to be fated to Si Yeol. This unique gumiho romance makes you think about whether love is something gumiho’s can’t run from.
Upcoming K-Dramas 2026: Positively Yours
12 Episodes | Jan 17 | Sat–Sun | Channel A
Romance, Comedy
Cast: Choi Jin Hyuk, Oh Yeon Seo, Hong Jong Hyun
Two people who have sworn off marriage wake up to a reality they never planned for. Kang du Jun is a polished chaebol heir who lives responsibly, not for himself, but for others. Jang hui Won is independent, works hard and emotionally distanced from a traumatic past. One night, she meets Kang Du Jun and they become eternally tied together by a bond neither of them believes in love.
Starting with denial and resistance, everything slowly changes and becomes warm and unsettling. They both have to face the fear they have run away from for so long. Positively Yours, one of the January 2026 korean dramas, intertwines humor and vulnerability in a shotgun romance. It shows that people’s greatest surprises come when they appreciate the calm moments of life and want nothing to do with chaos.
New K-dramas 2026: Undercover Miss Hong
16 Episodes | Jan 17 | Sat–Sun | tvN
Comedy, Crime
Cast: Park Shin Hye, Go Kyung Pyo, Ha Yoon Kyung
Set in the late 1990s, Hong Geum Bo is an elite Financial Supervisory Service officer known for her icy precision and relentless focus. When suspicious financial flows emerge, she goes undercover as Hong Jang Mi, a fresh-faced twenty-something entering a securities firm from the bottom.
There, she meets Sin Jeong U, a ruthless corporate raider who trusts numbers more than people. Their past connection complicates an already dangerous mission, blurring professional lines and buried emotions. As fraud unravels and power games intensify, identities begin to fracture. Sharp, witty, and layered with tension, Undercover Miss Hong captures ambition, deception, and unresolved love in an era where truth was always hiding behind spreadsheets.
Conclusion
With January 2026 come new K-dramas and new worlds to explore. Each tale is a promise for laughter, heartbreak, fantasy, and hope, explaining the phenomenon of K-dramas. From bringing justice and romance to healing, this collection is sure to be a staple.
Which K-dramas releasing in January 2026 are you most looking forward to? Please let us know in the comments, and be sure to save the episodes for your next bingeable collection.
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