Top 10 Romantic and Comedy Korean Drama Picks for Your 2026 Watchlist

I’ve sat through enough dead-on-arrival love lines to last three lifetimes, so trust me on this one: 2026 has been a genuinely good year for romantic and comedy Korean drama. Not “a few decent ones scattered around.” An actual, stacked lineup, and I’ve been keeping receipts on all of it since January. I went back through every premiere, every Monday-Tuesday and Saturday-Sunday slot, every group chat meltdown, to build the list I’d actually hand a friend who says “give me something funny and swoony, no crying required.” These are my must-watch rom-coms for the year — the completed ones ready for a weekend marathon, the one airing literally right now, and the one dropping in less than two weeks.

Why Romantic and Comedy Korean Drama Had Its Best Year Yet

Every year someone declares rom-coms “back,” and most years that’s wishful thinking. 2026 actually delivered: gumiho comedies, a reincarnated Joseon villainess, an office audit team that turns into a slow burn, a pregnancy-first reverse romance. If you’re building your own best rom-com kdrama list for the year, here’s mine, ranked.

The quick list, if you’re skimming:

1. Can This Love Be Translated? (Netflix) — the global smash, and it earns every bit of the hype
2. Spring Fever (tvN, Prime Video) — the slow burn everyone keeps telling everyone else to watch instead
3. My Royal Nemesis (SBS, Netflix) — a dead Joseon villainess wakes up in a struggling actress’s body
4. Filing for Love (tvN, Viki) — office audits by day, enemies-to-lovers by night
5. See You at Work Tomorrow! (tvN, Prime Video) — airing right now, finale drops July 28
6. Sold Out on You (SBS, Netflix) — a farmer with a secret vs. an insomniac shopping-channel queen
7. Our Universe (tvN, Viki) — two people who can’t stand each other, one baby, one tiny apartment
8. No Tail to Tell (SBS, Netflix) — a gumiho who refuses to become human meets a narcissistic soccer star
9. Positively Yours (Channel A, Netflix) — pregnancy before the first real date, genuinely
10. My Bias, My Boss (tvN, Viki) — premieres August 3, and the comment sections are already loud

Quick note before we get into it: yes, I know Perfect Crown is the drama everyone’s been screaming about since April, and no, it’s not here. IU and Byeon Woo-seok’s contract-marriage palace drama posted the second-highest opening ratings in Korean TV history, according to Good Data Corporation, trailing only The Penthouse. That’s a real number. It’s also not what this particular list is about. Perfect Crown is a political romance wearing rom-com marketing, and multiple reviewers — not just me — have pointed out that the comedy is its weakest link. This is a list of actual romantic and comedy Korean drama, funny Korean dramas where the jokes are the point and not garnish on a melodrama. Different show, different ranking.

1. Can This Love Be Translated? (Netflix)

Start here if you only watch one romantic and comedy Korean drama this year. Kim Seon-ho plays Ju Ho-jin, an interpreter fluent in eight languages who treats romance with the same precision he brings to grammar. Go Youn-jung is Cha Mu-hee, a global star hiding a past she’s spent years running from. The Hong sisters wrote it — the same pair behind Hotel Del Luna, Alchemy of Souls, and My Girlfriend is a Gumiho — and it shows in how the misunderstandings never feel manufactured. They shot across Korea, Japan, Canada, and Italy, and every location earns its spot instead of padding runtime.

It opened at No. 3 globally on Netflix and No. 1 in Korea, charting in 76 countries. By July, Netflix’s own H1 2026 engagement report had it at 28.6 million views and 377.7 million hours watched, and Good Data Corporation had it ranked first in TV-OTT buzz for three straight weeks in January. Even the presidential office got in on it — President Lee Jae-myung’s own channel spoofed the show’s poster style for an official video back in January, punning on the title in the caption. When your rom-com becomes government meme material, you’ve made it. Watch on Netflix

2. Spring Fever (tvN, Prime Video)

Ahn Bo-hyun and Lee Joo-bin, 12 episodes, and if you’ve seen a single clip you already understand the appeal. Yoon Bom is a teacher run out of Seoul by an affair scandal that wasn’t even her fault. She lands in the small town of Shinsu-eup, meets gruff local Seon Jae-gyu, and thaws out slowly across a season that never once reaches for amnesia, a fake breakup, or a last-minute twist to manufacture tension. It just lets two people fall for each other at a believable pace, and that restraint is rarer than it should be.

Fans have made a running joke out of recommending this one to anyone complaining about a different 2026 drama’s pacing — “just watch Spring Fever instead” showed up constantly in comment sections this spring. I’m not picking a side in that particular fight (see #7), but I understand where it’s coming from.

3. My Royal Nemesis (SBS, Netflix)

Here’s the unhinged pick. Lim Ji-yeon plays Kang Dan-sim, a Joseon-era “national seductress” executed for treason, whose soul lands in the body of a struggling modern actress mid-eclipse. She wakes up in 2026 Seoul with no idea what a smartphone is and every survival instinct the royal court ever taught her — and immediately turns them on ruthless chaebol heir Cha Se-gye, played by Heo Nam-jun. Centuries-old palace scheming pointed at a modern entertainment company is funnier than it has any right to be.

The internet fully lost it over Heo Nam-jun’s slide into what fans are calling “down bad” energy somewhere around episode six. One commenter on AsianWiki pointed out something I can’t unsee: Perfect Crown got dragged all year for plot holes, and this show’s reincarnation logic makes noticeably less sense, yet nobody’s coming for it the same way. Fair point, honestly.

4. Filing for Love (tvN, Viki)

Shin Hye-sun and Gong Myung anchor the sleeper hit of the year, 12 episodes deep. Noh Ki-jun is the audit department’s former ace, demoted to handling office scandals after one mistake too many. His new boss, Joo In-ah, is unreadable and ruthless, and he starts to suspect she’s hiding something bigger than an HR violation. What begins as him investigating her turns into an actual slow burn, and the writers earn every step of it instead of rushing.

The comment sections are still arguing over whether Kim Jae-wook’s character has better chemistry with In-ah than the actual male lead does, which is second lead syndrome doing exactly what it’s designed to do. If you want your office romance with real stakes attached instead of just cute banter, this belongs on any list of top Korean romantic comedies from this year, full stop.

5. See You at Work Tomorrow! (tvN, Prime Video)

This is the one to start today, because it’s still airing. Seo In-guk plays Kang Si-woo, a department manager so rigid about “no smiles, no small talk” that his own team is scared of him. Park Ji-hyun is Cha Ji-yoon, seven years into a job that’s completely burned her out, who deliberately transfers under his supervision because it beats her other option. The finale airs July 28, and the show’s currently sitting at 8.2 on MyDramaList — a genuinely high score for something that hasn’t even wrapped yet.

If you’re after a lighthearted kdrama you can catch live, reacting in real time with everyone else instead of finding it after the discourse has already settled, this is your window.

6. Sold Out on You (SBS, Netflix)

You already know Ahn Hyo-seop’s voice even if you’ve never seen his face — he’s Jinu from KPop Demon Hunters. Here he plays Matthew “Quail” Lee, a farmer working three jobs who’d honestly rather be left alone, opposite Chae Won-bin as Dam Ye-jin, a home shopping host running on pure sleep deprivation. Their schedules collide at every possible hour of the day and night, and across 12 episodes the show squeezes real comedy out of two exhausted people who keep running into exactly what they’re trying to avoid.

It’s a healing drama dressed up as a rom-com — there’s real burnout and real quiet grief underneath all the bickering — which gives it more weight than the average opposites-attract setup.

7. Our Universe (tvN, Viki)

Bae In-hyuk and Roh Jeong-eui play two in-laws who never got along, suddenly forced to co-parent their orphaned 20-month-old nephew, Woo-joo, after a family tragedy. That’s a heavier starting point than most rom-coms use, and the show gets its comedy from putting two mismatched adults through the actual chaos of raising a toddler together, 12 episodes of it.

Full honesty: reviews are split here. Some viewers can count the recycled tropes on one hand — the injury that needs a bandage, the shared umbrella, the suspiciously convenient bed-sharing scene. Baby Woo-joo, though, is a universal win; even viewers who bounced off the main couple admit the kid stole the whole show. A lot of fans also found the second male lead genuinely uncomfortable rather than charmingly persistent, showing up uninvited one too many times. Watch it for the found-family warmth. Don’t expect a flawless script.

8. No Tail to Tell (SBS, Netflix)

Kim Hye-yoon plays Eun-ho, a gumiho who’s spent centuries actively avoiding humanity, because eternal youth is frankly a great deal. An accident involving narcissistic soccer star Kang Si-yeol (Lomon) turns her human against her will, and neither of them saw it coming. It’s the fantasy pick on this list, running 12 episodes, and the central chemistry is doing a lot of the heavy lifting — it lands even in the stretches where the plot doesn’t quite.

Reception’s honestly mixed. Some viewers were hooked by episode three; others felt 12 episodes wasn’t enough room for everything the story wanted to do, and said so loudly in the comments. I’d still point you toward it, with the caveat that you’re here for Kim Hye-yoon and Lomon more than for airtight plotting.

9. Positively Yours (Channel A, Netflix)

Most rom-coms build toward a pregnancy reveal as a finale twist. This one opens with it. Choi Jin-hyuk plays Kang Du-jun, a chaebol heir who swore off marriage after his brother’s death, opposite Oh Yeon-seo as Jang Hui-won, a career-first woman with zero interest in romance until one night changes both their plans. The whole 12-episode run plays out backward from what you’d expect: baby first, relationship second, actual courtship happening after.

Choi Jin-hyuk has spent a lot of his career as the loyal second lead who doesn’t end up with the girl. This is the one where he finally gets the full arc, and watching him carry it is genuinely satisfying.

10. My Bias, My Boss (tvN, Viki) — premieres August 3

I’m ending on this one on purpose. Kim Hye-jun plays Nam Da-reum, an 11-year fan who takes a job at her bias’s company just to be near him, and instead finds herself constantly clashing with — and slowly falling for — the company’s actual CEO, played by Kang Hoon. ITZY’s Yuna rounds out the cast. The trailer dropped two days ago, and comment sections are already comparing it to Her Private Life, which is exactly the company you want to be in for an idol-fan rom-com.

Mark your calendar. This is the freshest pick on the entire list, and by the time you’ve finished everything else here, episode one will already be out. Set a reminder on Viki

Which One Are You Starting With?

That’s the ranking — ten shows that prove romantic and comedy Korean drama had a real, stacked year in 2026, not just a handful of scattered wins. If you only take one recommendation away, start with Can This Love Be Translated? and work down the list from there. Already caught up? My Bias, My Boss drops in less than two weeks, and I’ll be back with first-impression thoughts once it does.

So — which one are you starting with, and did I rank Spring Fever too high or exactly right? Let me know down in the comments.