Top 10 K-dramas of 2025, ranked by IMDb scores

K-dramas of 2025 that have been released until May have given us numerous shows that have high IMDb scores, and we have just reached halfway through the year. From dramas that would make you cry in every episode and miss your mom, dramas that depict doctors saving patients in difficult situations, while some are just trying to learn the importance of their job, to thrillers that would engage you in the guessing game of finding a killer, K-dramas of 2025 had everything.

Whether fighting the bullies at school or solving the cases of unjust workplace issues faced by ghosts when they were alive, K-dramas of 2025 also introduced crazy cool narratives like they always do, which is also one of the reasons for K-dramas' popularity. Here’s a list of the top 10 K-dramas of 2025 that had the highest scores on IMDb.

Top 10 K-dramas of 2025, ranked by IMDb scores

10) Way Back Love

Gong Myung and Kim Min-ha in Way Back Love | Image via CJ ENM

The coming-of-age drama is among the top K-dramas of 2025 with a score of 8.1 on IMDb. It follows the story of Hee-wan, who lives a reclusive life and has no will to live, the phenomenon known as hikikomori. She is told by a grim reaper that she has just one week to live. The grim reaper is one of her childhood friends and her first love, Ram-woo, whose death has impacted Hee-wan a lot, making her withdraw from the social scene, which she used to love initially.

The series follows her life in the one week she has left, and only has 6 episodes. The humor that is incorporated in the episodes will make you forget the upcoming tragedy that is bound to happen at the end, providing a tale that depicts how it is important to learn to live with one’s grief and the uncertainty of life.

9) ONE: High School Heroes

The trope of fighting high school bullies was among the top genres in K-dramas of 2025. ONE: High School Heroes narrates the story of Ui-gyeom, who is oppressed by his father into strict discipline that would make him a doctor. However, with the influence of another student of his school, Yoon Gi, he discovers his natural talent for fighting and gets involved in violence by taking down the bullies of his school. The K-drama has a score of 8.1 on IMDb, making it one of the top K-dramas of 2025.

8) Resident Playbook

Cast of Resident Playbook | Image via Eggiscoming

Spinoff of the popular Korean series Hospital Playlist, Resident Playbook revolves around the lives of first-year OBGYN residents as they try to navigate their stressful professional lives while also trying to manage their personal lives. The show begins with the four first-year residents, who have different goals to achieve, and as the series progresses, they learn to love their jobs and understand their importance to them.

The show was an instant hit among viewers when it was released on Netflix, resulting in it becoming one of the best dramas of 2025 with an 8.1 IMDb score.

7) Nine Puzzles

Kim Da-mi Nine Puzzles | Image via Disney+

With the release of Nine Puzzles, Disney+ also joined the race of producing K-dramas that become superhits among viewers. This crime thriller show narrates the story of a woman named I-na, who is looking for her uncle’s murderer, whom she had suspected a decade ago. After becoming a criminal profiler, I-na begins solving a case of serial murder where the murderer leaves a puzzle piece just like she found near her uncle’s body years ago.

The series keeps you guessing until the last moment about who the killer might be and what the motive is. The story was so intriguing that it became one of the top K-dramas of 2025, which has a rating of 7.8 on IMDb.

6) Study Group

Hwang Min-hyun in Study Group | Image via TVING

Another drama around the trope of high school bullying is introduced in the Study Group. The story follows Ga-min, a student at Yusung Technical High School, who wants to study hard for college and tries to form a study group to help him with his studies. While he might not be good at studies, Ga-min is a good fighter and often finds himself in unintentional fights with the school bullies.

After forming his study group, he develops a rivalry with the leader of the bullies, and to protect his friends from the study group, he begins defending them by fighting the bullies. With a funny yet compelling tale and excellent action sequences, Study Group was popular among the viewers and is one of the superhit K-dramas of 2025, resulting in it earning a score of 8.3 on IMDb, and it will also be returning for a season 2.

5) Weak Hero Class 2

When we talk about high school bullying, we cannot skip the best drama in this genre: Weak Hero. The second season came out in April 2025 and picked up from where it left off in season 1, with Si-eun transferring to a new school, Eunjang High, and trying to stay away from fights and bullies. But he still ends up making friends and helping them in fighting the school bullies and also the Union.

Since the first season was a superhit, the anticipation for season 2 was high, and the Netflix show delivered with more action-packed sequences and moments of bromance, making it one of the top K-dramas of 2025 with a rating of 8.4 on IMDb.

4) Trauma Code: Heroes on Call

Ju Ji-hoon in Trauma Code: Heroes on Call | Image via Studio N

This Netflix show was one of the most talked about when it was released in January 2025. The Korean series focuses on a passionate trauma surgeon whose only aim is to save the lives of his patients, and he will go to any lengths to do that. The war-seasoned surgeon, Kang-hyeok, jumps off the helicopter or travels to war-torn countries to save his patients, showing his care for his job and the lives of people.

The series also has many lighthearted moments amid the risky job that Kang-hyeok tends to do on a daily basis, garnering the love of the viewers and making it one of the best K-dramas of 2025 with an IMDb score of 8.4.

3) Oh My Ghost Clients

Jung Kyung-ho in Oh My Ghost Clients | Image via Instagram: mbcdrama_now

This new show has a unique story, due to which it has become one of the most popular K-dramas of 2025 and has a rating of 8.5 on IMDb currently. It follows a labor attorney, Mu-jin, who, after being in a life-threatening accident, is visited by a mysterious person who makes him sign a contract that he will solve work-related issues that killed several ghosts in exchange for keeping him alive.

After that, every time he is in a deadly accident, he does not die, but a ghost client comes to him with their case that he has to solve. While highlighting work-related issues that employees have to endure, the show also highlights Mu-jin becoming a better human being who used to scam people to earn money.

2) Our Unwritten Seoul

Park Bo-young in Our Unwritten Seoul | Image via Monster Union

A Korean series that has Park Bo-young can never have a bad rating, as Our Unwritten Seoul is one of the highest-rated K-dramas of 2025 so far, with an 8.5 score on IMDb. Bo-young plays the characters of twin sisters, Mi-rae and Mi-ji, who have extremely different personalities, which Bo-young plays impeccably. They both end up swapping each other’s lives, which makes the sisters understand the struggles they have gone through in each of their lives and ignites the hope that they might become closer like they used to be when they were kids.

1) When Life Gives You Tangerines

This year’s biggest show happens to be a Korean series, which became a global hit. This show, with the highest rating of 9.2 on IMDb, is one of the best K-dramas of 2025 and perhaps one of the best overall as well. The series focuses on the life of Ae-sun, who has big dreams of becoming a poet but lives on Jeju Island and does not have enough money due to her mother being a diver, a haenyeo.

It revolves around Ae-sun’s life of finding love in her childhood friend, Gwan-sik, and raising a family with him. The show, inspired by a true story, highlights motherhood in different times, from the 1950s to the modern setting, and how it has changed many of its aspects but still remains one of the most important relationships in a mother and their child's life.