tvN announces its 2026 drama lineup
by solstices
The yearly overview has arrived for cable channel tvN, granting us a bird’s-eye view of the dramas to come for 2026. With a diverse range of genres from adrenaline-fuelled pursuits to heartwarming human connection, it seems there might just be something right up everyone’s alley.
Our narrator guides us through the list of dramas, kicking off the preview with the first category. Filled to the brim with dopamine, these heart-pumping dramas guarantee deep immersion throughout their magnetic mysteries and suspenseful schemes.
Drama: Mad Concrete Dreams
Genres: Suspense, crime, black comedy
Premiere date: March 14
First up is the question — how can one become a building owner in Korea? Ha Jung-woo (Narco-Saints) returns to the television screen (after a whopping 19 years since H.I.T!) to answer that question. As the debt-ridden family head Ki Soo-jong, he partakes in a fake kidnapping scheme in order to protect both the family and building he holds dear. “I didn’t have any bad intentions,” Soo-jong says almost petulantly, as if clinging to whatever sliver of defense he has left. “Despite kidnapping?” retorts his wife Im Soo-jung (Low Life), unimpressed. Ha, she has a point.
Drama: Siren’s Kiss
Genres: Thriller, noir, melo
Premiere date: March 2
The next drama on the list has similarly high stakes, raised to their peak by the irresistible lure of a siren’s call. Starring Wie Ha-joon (Squid Game 3) and Park Min-young (Confidence Queen), this is a captivating romance thriller between the man who unearths an insurance fraud scheme and the woman at the center of suspicion. “If you fall in love with that woman, you’ll die.”
Drama: Chilling Romance: Find Me
Genres: Rom-com, fantasy, mystery
Premiere date: July 2026
In the same vein, we have a spine-chilling courtship between a chaebol heiress who can see ghosts and a hot-blooded ace prosecutor. Adapted from the 2011 movie Spellbound with several tweaks made to the basic premise, this drama features a “horrible romance” between Park Eun-bin (Hyper Knife) as a specter-seeing hotel CEO and Yang Se-jong (Low Life) as the righteous hero who catches feelings.
Drama: Our Universe
Genres: Rom-com, family
Status: Currently airing
Next up is the second category, covering dramas that extend empathy and healing. Kicking off this batch is the currently-airing cohabitation romance between a pair of unlikely foster parents. When the uptight paternal uncle Bae In-hyuk (Check-In Hanyang) and the job-seeking maternal aunt Noh Jung-eui (Crushology 101) find themselves saddled with the 20-month-old baby of their late siblings, shenanigans ensue.
Drama: Secret Audit
Genres: Office, rom-com, melo
Premiere date: April 25
There’s more romance on the way, and it’ll be served with a side of investigation. Shin Hye-sun (The Art of Sarah) harbors an elusive secret as the strict director of an audit firm, who mercilessly demotes the former ace auditor Gong Myung (Mercy For None) to infidelity cases. Having fallen from grace, he must now dedicate his time to sniffing out office affairs. Also, he’s not in the teaser, but Kim Jae-wook (Dear Hongrang)?! You know I’m tuning in.
Drama: Yumi’s Cells 3
Genres: Rom-com, slice-of-life
Premiere date: April 13
In the next instalment of this well-loved series, a new suitor arrives on the scene to reawaken our heroine’s love cell. Kim Go-eun (The Price of Confession) reprises her role as the titular Yumi, who has since become a famous romance author. That’s when her new editor Kim Jae-won (The Art of Sarah) sparks her dormant cells back to life, promising a grounded and realistic romance with a heart-fluttering younger man.
Drama: Four Hands
Genres: Music, youth, romance
Premiere date: August 2026
The prelude to our next drama opens with the eye candy combination of Song Kang (Sweet Home 3) and Lee Jun-young (Pump Up the Healthy Love). Centering around the growth of two genius pianists from high school to the times beyond, this tale will unravel the melody of their shared musical ambition, competition, and friendship. Will their talent inspire each other to soar towards greater heights, or will insecurity and inferiority weigh them down?
Drama: Kitchen Soldier
Genres: Cooking, fantasy, military
Premiere date: May 11
Dishing up the next category of trendy and entertaining fare, a humble kitchen in an army outpost is about to ignite its stoves. “I can boil ramyun!” confidently proclaims Park Ji-hoon (Weak Hero Class 2) as the new sergeant Sung-jae. Yet somehow that’s enough for his commander Lee Sang-yi (Good Boy), who snaps his fingers in satisfaction. “Let’s make him a military cook.” Looks like Sung-jae’s about to make the “M” in “military” stand for “Michelin.”
Drama: Back to Work
Genres: Office, rom-com
Premiere date: June 22
Pivoting back to love in the air, our next rom-com (so many rom-coms!) features Park Ji-hyun (You and Everything Else) as an ordinary office worker. Alas, after 7 years at the same electronics company, she’s fallen into a slump. Enter her prickly supervisor Seo In-guk (Twelve), who sets off an unpredictable spark that reignites the butterflies in their stomachs with a budding office romance.
Drama: My Favorite Employee
Genres: Office, growth, rom-com
Premiere date: August 2026
Oh, our next drama looks adorable, but admittedly I’m biased because I love Kim Hye-joon (Cashero)! Stepping into the shoes of the dedicated fan Nam Da-reum, she wishes for nothing more than to meet her favorite idol Cha Woo-min (Spirit Fingers). Da-reum’s dream comes true when she coincentally gets hired at the company that her idol-turned-CEO manages, and she vows to become the best employee. Except she accidentally runs headfirst into Kang Hoon (Hunter With a Scalpel), the successful startup founder who also happens to be her beloved idol’s best friend. Cute!
Drama: My Guilty Human
Genres: Office, rom-com, investigative suspense
Premiere date: October 2026
Declaring it’ll turn a cliche on its head, our next drama offers the trope reversal of a man who receives protection, and the woman who becomes his loyal protector. Im Shi-wan (Squid Game 3) plays an egocentric third-generation chaebol who finds himself accused as a murder suspect, while Seol In-ah (Oh My Ghost Clients) rocks a handsome short cut as the former special forces cadet and current police officer who goes undercover as his personal secretary. Can she protect me too? I’m swooning for her already.
Drama: Retired Agent Management Team
Genres: Spy, comedy, bromance
Premiere date: 2026
Extending the investigative thread, this drama promises a rivals-to-bromance between Cha Seung-won (The Tyrant), a former NIS black agent and “lion in sheep’s clothing” who now runs a humble car wash, and Kim Do-hoon (Love Scout), a current “super ace” agent whose perfectionistic tendencies belie a desperate desire to prove his worth. Hey, they do say opposites attract, don’t they?
Drama: 100 Days of Lies
Genres: Period drama, spy, romance
Premiere date: October 2026
The last drama gets a category all to itself, touted as a “six-dimensional drama” set in Gyeongseong under Japanese occupation. The shrewd pickpocket Kim Yoo-jung (Dear X) winds up accepting a perilous mission from the Korean independence army, transforming into a fake emissary. That’s how she meets the interpreter Jinyoung (Our Unwritten Seoul), where they develop an undercover romance. With Kim Hyun-joo (Hellbound 2), Jin Seon-gyu (The Price of Confession), and Lee Moo-saeng (As You Stood By) rounding out the cast, no wonder anticipation is high.
That wraps up the tvN and TVING original lineup for 2026, with Signal 2 conspicuously absent in the wake of Jo Jin-woong’s controversy and retirement. (*deep sigh of disappointment*) I suppose that’ll be stuck in limbo for the foreseeable future, but for now, we have a diverse array of dramas to keep us sated this year.
Via bnt
RELATED POSTS