Why 2025 will be the year of the K-drama

As ‘Squid Game’ returns to Netflix, K-dramas have never been hotter. And global streaming service Rakuten Viki is seeing huge growth.

Next month will see the return of Netflix’s Squid Game, the Korean class-war allegory that racked up 1.65 billion viewing hours within weeks of its 2021 debut—and drew the world’s attention toward the fast-growing field of Korean dramas, or “K-dramas.” And interest has only continued to grow. Netflix and Disney are both ramping up investment in K-dramas for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, the continued popularity of K-pop—Rosé and Bruno Mars’s “Apt” is currently No. 1 on Billboard’s Global charts—keeps fueling enthusiasm for all things Korean.