9 of the best new K-drama series to watch in August 2023: Mask Girl on Netflix, Moving on Disney+, T

The series follows the tribulations of three emergency workers, one each from the police force, fire department and paramedic squad, played by Kim Rae-won, Son Ho-jun and Gong Seung-yeon respectively, who team up to save people against the clock in death-defying situations. (SBS, August 4)

2. My Dearest

Lead cast: Namgoong Min, Ahn Eun-jin

This period drama set during the rule of the Joseon dynasty in Korea (1392–1897) follows a romance that blossoms between a mysterious aristocrat (One Dollar Lawyer’s Namgoong Min) and a confident noblewoman (Ahn Eun-jin of The Good Bad Mother).

The romance occurs in 1637 when the Chinese Qing dynasty invades Korea, a time when all hope seems lost. While they meet and get to know each other, the aristocrat holds on to a dangerous secret and the noblewoman begins to break out of her shell. (MBC, August 4)

3. Moving

Lead cast: Ryoo Seung-ryong, Han Hyo-joo, Zo In-sung

Moving is the most expensive Korean production of all time, with a budget of 65 billion won (US$51 million), and is a superhero action-drama adapted from the webtoon of the same name by Kang Full.

It follows three high-school students who develop superpowers inherited from their parents, such as flying, superfast healing and the ability to travel at lightning speed.

The trio try to keep their powers under wraps, while their parents struggle to keep them from being used by people with wicked intentions.

The starry cast includes Ryoo Seung-ryong, Han Hyo-joo, Zo In-sung, Cha Tae-hyun and Ryoo Seung-bum. (Disney+, August 9)

4. The Killing Vote

Lead cast: Park Hae-jin, Park Sung-woong, Lim Ji-yeon

In this dystopian K-drama based on a webtoon, vile criminals who escape the clutches of justice are subjected to a nationwide text-message poll. If over 50 per cent of people vote for them to be given the death penalty, a mysterious figure known only as “Dog Mask” will make their wish a reality.

In this world, the police chase after Dog Mask, among them a detective played by Park Hae-jin and Lim Ji-yeon’s cyber bureau police officer. The show also features Park Sung-woong as a legal scholar jailed for the murder of the rapist who attacked his daughter, and known to his fellow prisoners as the “Professor”. (SBS, August 10)

5. Cold-Blooded Intern

Lead cast: Ra Mi-ran, Uhm Ji-won

Ra Mi-ran plays a skilled saleswoman who puts her career on hold to have a child. After spending seven years raising that child, she wants to get back into the workforce.

She goes for an interview at the “Market House”, where one of her higher-ups is an old colleague played by Uhm Ji-won. She is offered an internship there by her acquaintance, but with a cruel caveat. (TVING, August 11)

6. Behind Your Touch

Lead cast: Han Ji-min, Lee Min-ki, Suho

Out in the crime-free village of Mujin, Bong Ye-boon (Han Ji-min) works as a veterinary surgeon with a special ability: she can see the past of any living creature whose behind she touches.

Her powers lead her to join forces with Moon Jang-yeol (Lee Min-ki), a hotshot detective who has been demoted from his Seoul job to the countryside. They first tackle small mysteries together, until a serial killing case shocks the village. (JTBC, August 12)

7. Mask Girl

Lead cast: Go Hyun-jung, Nana, Ahn Jae-hong

Beasts Clawing at Straws director Kim Young-hoon makes his small-screen debut for Netflix with the webtoon adaptation Mask Girl.

Go Hyun-jung plays an ordinary office worker who used to dream of performing on the stage. At the end of her work days, she now dons a mask and becomes “Mask Girl”, a live-streaming online personality.

A colleague and fan of Mask Girl, played by Ahn Jae-hong, learns of her real identity and together they become involved in an unexpected case. Soon, the man’s mother also becomes involved when he mysteriously disappears. (Netflix, August 18)

8. My Lovely Boxer

Lead cast: Lee Sang-yeob, Kim So-hye

Lee Sang-yeob of Bloodhounds passes his boxing gloves to Kim So-hye as he plays a sports agent to her prizefighter in My Lovely Boxer.

Lee’s character, Kim Tae-young, is a cold-blooded operator who milks talent from different sporting fields of money until they are all burned out.

To help a friend, he is tasked with bringing young female boxer Lee Kwon-sook (Kim) back to the ring after a three-year hiatus. (KBS2, August 21)

9. Destined with You

Lead cast: Rowoon, Jo Bo-ah

Jo Bo-ah plays Lee Hong-jo, a lowly civil servant who does her best at her job but struggles with petty complaints. She has a quiet personal life until she comes into possession of a mysterious chest that connects her to Jang Shin-yu (Rowoon of the K-pop outfit SF9), a successful lawyer suffering from an unfamiliar disease.

A curse has run through his family for generations all the way back to the time of the Joseon dynasty – and Hong-jo appears to have stumbled across the key to lifting it once and for all. (JTBC, August 23)

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