Can This Love Be Translated?, Undercover Miss Hong & Single’s Inferno S5: 2026 Q1 K‑dramas we can't wait to watch!

2025 treated K‑drama fans right: from the sweet, heartfelt When Life Gives You Tangerines to the high‑school hijinks of Study Group, and not forgetting the quirky charm of Spirit Fingers and the action-packed punch of Weak Hero: Class 2, there was something for everyone.

Now, 2026 is here, and it’s time to level up. The first quarter is already stacked with fresh vibes, swoon-worthy romances, and twists that’ll keep you glued to the screen. Here’s a look at five K‑dramas you won’t want to miss kicking off the year.





Kicking off the year with rom‑com flair, Can This Love Be Translated? stars Kim Seon Ho and Go Youn Jung in a love story that literally crosses languages and borders.

The setup is as irresistible as it sounds: Joo Ho Jin, a talented multilingual interpreter, is assigned to work with global superstar Cha Moo Hee. What starts as professional friction, debate over love and life philosophies, begins to blossom into something much deeper while they travel between South Korea, Japan, Italy, and Canada. Written by the famed Hong Sisters (Hotel del Luna, Alchemy of Souls), this series blends comedy, globe‑trotting visuals, and hearts‑in‑your‑throat moments.





Dropping on the same day as Can This Love Be Translated?, No Tail to Tell brings fantasy and romance in a folklore‑steeped twist.

Starring Kim Hye‑yoon and Lomon, it follows a gumiho (a mythical nine‑tailed fox) who enjoys eternal youth but lives a lonely life, until a chance run‑in with a world‑class soccer star changes everything. What follows is a mix of mythical escapades, emotional evolution, and enemies‑to‑lovers heat that promises a fresh take on a familiar fairytale archetype.





Retro‑themed, smartly funny, and star‑powered, Undercover Miss Hong delivers workplace comedy with a romantic punch. Park Shin Hye headlines as an elite securities inspector who goes undercover as a 20‑year‑old junior employee at a suspicious firm, and inevitably collides with her former crush, now the company’s CEO.





The dating reality hit Single’s Inferno is officially returning for its fifth season early in 2026, making it one of the first big Korean shows of the year. Netflix announced Season 5 will premiere on January 20, 2026, continuing its mix of island romance, strategic flirtation, and dramatic connections that turned the series into a global talking point.





Starring IU and Byeon Woo Seok, the stylish alternate history romance, Perfect Crown, follows a contract marriage that slowly blossoms into something real. Fans of period dramas with a modern sensibility will want to mark this one on their radar, though the exact release date is yet to be confirmed.

The first teaser of the highly anticipated drama was released at the recent MBC Drama Awards, and while an exact release date has yet to be announced, the fantasy romance is most likely to premiere in the first half of 2026.



And if the first five aren’t enough to get you excited, there’s plenty more coming in the first half of 2026. The Judge Returns is a fantasy-tinged legal drama starring Ji Sung and Park Hee Soon that promises courtroom twists with a supernatural edge.

Rom‑com fans can look forward to Efficient Dating for Singles, a JTBC series about navigating modern love, while thriller lovers will want to check out Climax, a political survival noir starring Ju Ji Hoon and Ha Ji Won. Netflix isn’t slowing down either, with new titles like Show Business, Boyfriend on Demand, and the highly anticipated All of Us Are Dead season 2 joining the lineup. Dates aren’t all locked in yet, but if 2026 starts like this, it’s going to be an exciting ride for K‑drama fans.