Best 25 Korean Films That Are Popular in 2023

South Korea is an entertainment mecca that is currently loved by the public. Starting with K-pop, K-drama, the film industry of the ginseng country has become the center of attention, especially when many of the films it produces have won prestigious international awards. Therefore, now South Korean directors, screenwriters and actors are working rapidly.

Every month there is always a new Korean film released that has managed to enter the international market. Some of these films do not offer fresh and unique stories that are ready to entertain the audience. So, we have collected the latest Korean movies that you can watch. Here is the list:

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List of Best Korean Movies Of 2023

2023 is a great year for K-drama fans! With so many amazing Movies coming out, it’s hard to know which one is worth watching. Featuring new released Korean Movies in 2023, this list the Best Korean Movies Of 2023.

Believer 2

Detective Won Ho (Cho Jin Woong) continues his quest to uncover the identity and arrest Tuan Lee, Asia’s biggest drug kingpin. Now he is searching for Rak (Oh Seung Hoon), a former drug dealer and member of Mr. Lee’s organization. Actually, Rak does not know who Mr. Lee really is.

Rak himself is attempting to uncover Mr Li’s identity by following the activities of China’s drug lord Big Knife. They believe that Big Knife (Han Hyo Joo) can lead them to Mr. Lee. How will this chase end? Will Won Ho and Rak succeed in uncovering Mr. Lee’s true identity?

Of course, watching this film won’t be complete until you’ve seen the first story of the film Believer. In addition to having a faithful formula, the 114-minute film features the same actors and actresses as the first season.

Soulmate (2023)

The film Soulmate is a Korean film that was officially released on March 18. It is a film with a coming of age genre and a remake of a similar Chinese movie. The movie SOULMATE features a young actress called Kim Da Mi (Ahn Mi So) and Jeon So Nee (Go Ha Eun), , the film Soulmate tells the story of two women named Mi So and Ha Eun who have been friends since elementary school.

The two spent their youth together going through many new events in their lives, such as a certain incident where their friendship became strained when Ha Eun experienced love for the first time.

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The Childe

The Childe tells the story of Marco (Kang Tae-joo) is portrayed as a boxer who lives in Philippines, struggles to raise money by engaging in underworld matches in order to earn medical insurance for his mother.

To raise funds for paying the bills of her mother’s operation, he goes to Korea to meet the father he has never seen before. Nevertheless, mysterious man called Kim Seon-ho appeared. Suddenly, he sees an man who is after him. Besides the enigmatic character that portrays self as Marco’s friend and some other individuals like Director Han, there are more people who are after Marco.

Yoon-ju, another mystery lady, tracks down Marco in South Korea after his time in the Philippines. However, having this condition makes Marco’s life even more chaotic and stressful due to the fact that he believes that everybody is chasing after him.

The truth that takes Marco by surprise is revealed amid the chaos and unfathomable madness. It is the beginning of the pursuit of his sole target and he discovers that he has landed in a crazy situation.

The Roundup: No Way Out

The Roundup: No Way Out Ma Suk-do (Ma Dong Seok) is still at it, and this time he has become a member of the Metropolitan Investigation team. Jang Tae-soo (Lee Beom-soo) leads the unit.

The soldiers are sent off to beat up Joo Seong-cheol, the son of a wealthy businessman tied with yakuza criminals. Seong-cheol is constantly loud because he is a criminal with a Korean background.

The Roundup: No Way Out The crime city trilogy ends, which is the follow-up to The Outlaws (2017). However, this new piece is a continuation of last year’s popular movie series, The Roundup (2022).

Dream (2023)

DREAM is a South Korean film that aired officially through television channel, TVN dating back to April 26. A comedy movie directed by Lee Byeong Hun. It is about Yoon Hong-dae (Park Seo-Joon), a soccer player, who involves himself seriously with some people and ends up punished for it. It became a punishment when Yoon Hong Dae was made the coach of the special national football team.”

These turn out to be street dwellers and amateurs in the game field. In order to participate in Homeless World Cup, Yoon Hong Dae and his associates have been trained.

Nevertheless, Yoon Hong-Dae met a woman called Lee So-Min (IU) and created a film about this soccer squad one morning. After some online hype, DREAM had been widely anticipated before its official release as a movie. This comes in at the backdrop of this movie attracted some of these popular Korean actors/actresses like Park Seo Joon, IU, Lee HyunWoo, and Ha Neul Kang.

Unlocked (2023)

February 17, 2023, Netflix’s first original Korean film titled UNLOCKED. It was an adaptation of a Japanese novel titled Stolen Identity (Sumaho o Otoshita dake nanoni) written by Akira Shiga.

An example of this is in the movie UNLOCKED where Lee Na Mi (Chun Woo-Hee), a lady, misplaced her phone in a bus. An unidentified man known as Woo Jun Young (Im Si-Wan) allegedly took away Na Mi’s phone.

After manipulating Na Mi, Jun Young carried out his crime by tapping Na Mi’s cell phone. Following that, Jun Young tortures Na Mi. This movie was exceptionally successful largely due to the type of storyline presented.

The film UNLOCKED managed to occupy the top 10 in various countries and received a high rating of 6.4/10 according to IMDB.

My Worst Neighbor (2023)

The movie My Worst Neighbor, which revolves around the life of Lee Seung Jin (Lee Ji Hoon) and Hong Ra-ni (Han Seung Yeon). The story emerged from an unexpected situation.

Lee Seung Jin and Hong Ra-ni reside in two distinct apartments. A thin wall however connected their home. So, they can even hear sounds emanating from the neighbouring building.

At first the noise they exchanged came from regular life acts. Nevertheless, as time went by, there were instances when these two began disturbing each other and intentionally raised some racket to keep away the neighbor’s peace.

It is a remake of a French film titled “Un peu, beaucoup, passionnément…” released in 2015 blindly entitled Blind Date.

Past Lives

The film tells the story of two friends Hae Sung (Im Min Seung) and Na Young (Moon Seung Ahn) who are separated at the age of 12 because Na Young moved to Canada with her family. They have been friends since elementary school and already like each other. However, when distance separated them, both continued their lives.

Na Young, who now uses the name Nora Moon (Greta Lee) after moving to Canada, has become an adult woman. Nora continues her studies in New York, while Hae Sung has just completed his mandatory military service.

To cut a long story short, Nora and Hae Sung eventually reconnected through their Facebook social media accounts. Their childhood feelings were rekindled and they continued to communicate through messages and video calls. Unfortunately, they still couldn’t meet as they are still chasing their respective dreams. As a result, they agreed not to communicate any more.

Eventually, 20 years after their last meeting, Hae Sung comes to New York to meet Nora with her new life. This meeting brought back memories of 20 years ago. So will this meeting continue their relationship?

Hopeless

The film tells the story of Yeon Gyu’s (Hong Za Bin) life journey which is always full of various serious problems, especially for teenagers who have just turned 18 years old.

Yeon Gyu lives with his biological mother, stepfather, and half-sister. he did not receive support from her mother at home when his stepfather physically abused him. Only his sister Ha Yan (aunt) cares about him and takes his side. Yeon Gyu dreams of running away with her mother and stepsister, but to achieve this she must work hard and save money.

Amidst his efforts, Yeon Gyu joins a criminal gang and meets its leader, Chi Geon (Song Joong Ki). Chi Geon trusted Yeon Gyu and gave him various ‘jobs’, but all this made it even more difficult for Yeon Gyu to achieve his dreams. He joins a group of thugs.

In Hong Soo’s debut film, can Chi Geon escape from the clutches of this group of thugs and run away with his mother and half-sister?

Persona: Sulli (2023)

The film Persona: Sulli consists of two parts, the first part is a short film titled 4: Clean Island and the second part is the documentary Dear Jinri which premiered at the 2023 Busan International Film Festival. Earlier in October 2019, this film was canceled due to Sulli’s departure.

Dear Jinri is a documentary about the life journey of late K-pop star Sulli, who began her career in the South Korean entertainment industry as a child. Choi Jinri or commonly known by her stage name Sulli, is part of the girl group f(x) under SM Entertainment. Apart from being talented in music, Sulli is also skilled in acting.

Dear Jinri is presented in an interview format and features Sulli’s last video in which she conducted an interview before ending her life. The film narrates the emotional journey experienced by Sully. Behind her luxurious life on TV screen, it has come to light that Sulli has mental health problems.

In this film, the audience is introduced to Sulli’s personality through her perspective as a person, not just a K-pop star. The film shows another side of Sulli, helping audiences better understand his personal life in the world of entertainment.

Brave Citizen (2023)

The theme of this Korean drama is interesting because it is closely related to everyday life that happens often, especially in a school environment. So tells the story of Sin Min (Shin Hye Sun), who was a boxing athlete in her youth, is now a high school teacher.

So Sin Min is a contract teacher who is working hard to become a permanent teacher at the school. She left behind a lot to achieve her dream and turned a blind eye to the injustices at school. She did everything to get a permanent teacher job.

However, when a student named Han Su Kang (Lee Jun Young) was always causing problems by bullying many students inside and outside the school, this angered So Sin Min. He avenged Su Kang’s crime in a unique way by wearing a cat mask.

This film, which is adapted from a webtoon with the same title, has high moral values, but is still filled with an interesting and light story. How does So Sin Min teach Han Su Kang‘s scoundrel a ‘lesson’? Will he succeed in changing his life from a boxer to a full-time teacher?

Ballerina (2023)

Jang Ok Ju (Jeon Jong Seo) is a former private guard who is very skilled in fighting and using sharp weapons. One day, she finds her best friend, Min Hee (Park Yoo Rim), dead at home. Min Hee also left a letter requesting Ok Joo to take revenge on a mysterious man named Choi Pro (Kim Ji Hoon).

Ok Joo sets out to avenge her best friend and gets entangled in a drug syndicate and women trafficking. After successfully finding out who Choi Pro is, she creates a trap for herself so that she can kill the person. However, her efforts fail and she becomes a target of the syndicate.

In general, the film tells the story of Ok Joo’s attempt to avenge the mysterious death of her friend, a ballerina. Ok Joo is determined to seek justice for her friend who died an unnatural death, but her search leads her into a more complex conflict.

The film is guaranteed to satisfy action movie fans with various impressive fight scenes. So will Ok Ju succeed in avenging her best friend’s death?

Love Reset

Initially, Noh Jung Yeol (Kang Ha Neul) and Hong Nara (Jung So Min) were not allowed to be close by their respective families due to different social ranks as Hong Nara belonged to an upper social class while Noh Jung Yeol was a normal citizen Nevertheless, the family of Hong Nara posed no hindrance in their road to marriage.

Their love, at first, was very deep and intense. However, in the second year of being married everything was not so smooth. They fought so much that developed hatred between them resulting into divorce.

In accordance with the Korean law, Jung Yeol and Nara had to be separated for at least 30 days before finally divorcing immediately after filing. However, strangely enough, they had two car accidents that caused amnesia. In this case, each family did their best to recall and refresh these past memories such that they would continue dating their new lovers as divorcees from Jung Yeol and Nara respectively.

The film is a romantic comedy and narrates a rather trivial issue of some serious nature, but in a comedic way. Hence their feelings towards each other will come back or not? Will Jung Yeol and Nara proceed with their divorce process?

Kill Boksoon

Gil Bok-soon (Jeon Do-yeon) is a single mother. She is also a deadly assassin, with a 100% success rate in contract killings. She is M.K. Works for. Ant, directed by Cha Min-kyu (Sol Kyung-gu). He trained Gil Bok-soon as an assassin and they respect each other. Furthermore, Gil Bok-soon knows that Cha Min-kyu is a dangerous person who can take away everything from her.

Cha Min-hee (Esom) is Cha Min-kyu’s younger sister and M.K. Serves as an executive. Ent. She doesn’t show her feelings to other people. MK. Han Hee-sung (Koo Gyo-hwan) as Ant Killer. He is very skilled at his work, but other people do not recognize him for his work.

Just before Gil Bok-soon has her contract renewed, she gets involved in a kill-or-be-killed confrontation.

Dr. Cheon and Lost Talisman

Dr. Cheon is an exorcist helped by Bae, his assistant (played by Lee Dong Hwi). Despite being a shaman who always conducts seances, Dr Cheon does not believe in spirits, ghosts and such like conditions.

He quotes Dr. Cheon saying that what he is going against is not spirits and other mysterious entities, but the instable mental condition of humans. Therefore, he always pretended to exorcise ghosts while doing his work.

Likewise, Dr. Cheon and In Bae upload a video of every ghost exorcism procession they conduct in his house on a regular basis onto their YouTube channel. This helped them to become popular and charge many customers high fees. That is until one day when he had an encounter with a client called Oh Yu Kyung (Esom) who could see ghosts and sought his services.

Oh Yu Kyung asked Dr. Cheon, to cure of her possessed sister. In addition, he paid a generous amount of money to ensure that Dr. Cheon would not reject this offer. For a first time, however, Dr Cheo has an actual scary case involving the act of possessions. So then, where does this fake shaman continue with his tale?

Cobweb (Korean Movie)

This film tells the story of Kim Ki Yeol (Song Kang Ho), the director who desires to alter the final scene in the movie about to be released. He wanted his team to understand that they should want to see the film over again. They would love to shoot and change the ending. Nevertheless, a number of scenes in the new script crossed the lines dictated by the censorious institute that time.

Finally, they could be reunited with the cast including Kang Ho Sae (Oh Jung Se), Lee Min Mi (Lim Soo Jung), Han Yu Rim (Krystal Jung), and Madam Oh (Park Jung Soo).

Ironically, some other problems emerged from the movie’s cast, among them being the Han Yu Rim scandal whereby it was established that Kang Ho Sae got his baby pregnant. Nonetheless, all the issues did not extinguish Kim Ki Yeol’s passion and urge to shoot his movie.

The film set in the 70’s shows how challenging film production can be because difficulties may also stem from internal sources such as individuals involved in acting. If you wish to see the director’s resolve and ambition, and are wondering how his movie will look like? Hence, ensure that your watch this movie OK!

Sleep

This film focuses on a married couple who experience a series of strange things while they are sleeping. In the beginning of the plot, Hyun Soo (Lee Sun Kyun) and Soo Jin (Jung Yu Mi) appear to be the typical blissful newlywed couple. They made their house beautiful when soo jin was pregnant and it felt very nice.

But it wasn’t long since Soo Jin started being bothered by Hyun Soo’s unusual behavior while he slept. From mumbling while asleep till he is awake. Hyun Soo’s wife will be more concerned because after waking, he cannot recall what happened.

Soo Jin fears sleeping with his husband out of concern that Hyun Soo’s violent behavior might hurt her. The mystery that lies within Hyun Soo’s sleepwalking behavior, however, is indeed very real. And what is it about this that makes it happen in such a way? # Is this a physiological sleep disorder with biological interpretation or it carries some mysterious side as well?

This is a film directed by Yoo Jae Son with little cast, but which hardly any directors touch upon the subject of “sleep” as a theme. The combination of comedy and horrific aspects makes the story entertaining but audience is confused about what happened to Hyun Soo.

Target (2023)

This movie chronicles the struggle of Soo Hyun (Shin Hye Sun), who purchases a second-hand washing machine using their credit card. Therefore, she opted for a used washing machine that was way cheaper compared to repairs for her old and broken washing machine.

Upon delivering the washing machine in her house, she realized that it was faulty completely. It certainly pissed off Soo Hyun who also got in touch with the seller. Unfortunately, it is very hard to get in touch with the seller. In conclusion, Soo Hyun informed police regarding suspected online fraud.

Detectives joo (kim sung kyun) and na (kang tae oh) got soo hyun’s report but they said that solving such matter does not occur overnight.

Unsatisfied with the police’s response, Soo Hyun determined to trace on her own the seller of the washing machine. She posted a lot of negative comments about the seller’s other accounts. Though she didn’t notice that the seller was just no ordinary man who had committed a murder. This in turn makes Soo Hyun the next victim of the killer.

Road to Boston

The movie narrates a true story about Seo Yoon Bbok, a 24 year old track athlete, who struggled to participate in the 51st Boston Marathon with the aim of creating a mark in their nation, South Korea. It took place in 1947, i.e., just two years before South Koreans gained their independence and liberated themselves from the Japanese colony.

Surprisingly, Yun Bok’s coach, son Kee-Chong, was also an Olympian and a gold medalist in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Nevertheless, while he lived under pressure of Japanese colonization, Kee Chung had to carry the Japanese flag during a run.

Because of this incident, now Ki Chung and his fellow coach Nam Seung Ryong have the ambition that Yoon Bbok can hoist the South Korean flag in front of the whole world by winning the Boston Marathon.

It was no easy battle for the three key figures in this movie. This means they will be encountering different hurdles such as logistical problems, bureaucratic challenges and powerful competition. Will the battles of Seo Yoon Bbok, son Kee Chung, and Nam Seung Yong be victorious?

Project Silence

Project Silence outlines people left stranded by poor visibility caused by bad weather on the Airport bridge. The same condition increases the possibility that this bridge may burst into pieces because of a number of collisions and blows that lead to its burst.

And then, amidst all that commotion, there’s echo, a mutated dog, one of the subjects of military experiment code-named as project silence, that escaped for life when he was being moved secretly.” He targets humans relentlessly.

For instance, there is the government’s official (Lee Sun-kyun) accompanied by his daughter (Kim Su-an), followed by the tow truck driver (Ju Ji-hoon).

Another old adult couple is included (Moon Sung-geun and Ye Soo-Jung) who just came back from abroad while there are siblings such as Park Hee-von and Park Ju-Hyun. Kim Soo-Ahn, a reporter, who could not catch the plane; and Yoo Byung-heon, “The Doctor”, who is supervising project silence.

Mount Chiak (2023)

The GO2MOUNTAIN cycling club has a reputation of being highly enthusiastic cyclists who love mountain obstacles. One day, this club including Min Joon (Yun Kyun Sang), Hyun Jin (Kim Ye Won), Yang Bae (Yeon Je Wook), Soo Ah (Bae Geu Rin) and Yi Sak (Lee Tae Hwan) cycling to Mount Chiak.

They are going to see his uncle Min Joon’s (Yun Kyun Sang) house where they have agreed to stay later. They, however, were still enjoying the beauty of mount Chiak and tried cycling along a downhill trail there. One thing is that they did not know that this place used to be where somebody was mutilated.

Suddenly, while they were enjoying the adventure of cycling, something unknown started to chase them. What they are seeking for fun has now turned into a horror moment. Cyclists were fighting for their lives between a mountain and a lake of unknown nature.

The local community deemed this film to be detrimental to Mount Chiak and thus, it was banned. Nevertheless, once the production crew reassured that there were no harmful scenes featured in this movie, Chiaksan Mountain ultimately could be seen. Do you want to know what the future holds for the GO2MOUNTAIN bicycle club at Mount Chiak? Do not forget to check on this movie Ok!

Taste of Horror

The omnibus film named ‘Taste of Horror’ comprises of a series of short stories that are interrelated in various ways. Among these short films, one is titled Tick, tick, Tick Tock, which depicts the pain of a child who is constantly tormented by her mother. It took place after they encountered ghost.

The next film is titled “Resident-Only Fitness Centre”. This film tells the story of a horror that occurs in a fitness center, there is an encounter with a ghost that haunts people who exercise in a gym.

This movie has yet another segment called “Ding Dong Challenge“. The narrative of this category is about teenagers dancing at high school. If they succeed in the challenge, their wishes may be granted by making them perform weird dances as challenges.

The five directors that were involved in the making of Taste of Horror are unique in their individual attributes. However, these ten short horror films feature lots of well-known actors and actresses. Therefore, what is the nail-biting plotline of the other short stories in this movie?

Live Stream

Live streaming is a controversial topic that has been discussed in this movie. Generally, it involves using social networks, and sometimes websites, dedicated to online streaming. It narrates the story of Park Sun-Ho, called Dong Joo, and a mysterious link sent at him through SMS. Without knowing it, Dong Joo clicked the link and came across a live broadcast of a camera viewing his girlfriend.

He then discovered that his girlfriend, Soo Jin (Kim Hee Jung), appeared as if she were unconscious. Thereafter Dong Joo, who aims to rescue his beloved girlfriend, goes against the shadowy figure who controls the broadcast.

The excitement of Dong Joo’s chase colors this film, as audience are held in suspension as well. The main problem here is that who actually wears the mask and why he did this by making a live stream broadcasting with Jung-joo’s lover? You will have to watch the whole film to discover the secret.

Concrete Utopia

A severe catastrophe happened in Seoul at one day as strong earthquake brought many places into destruction. However, out of all the constructions, only Hwang Goong apartments remains standing. Therefore, the apartment becomes the only refuge point for Seoul residents that survived the earthquake.

Kim Young Tak (Lee Byung Hun) is the oldest and most respected of the apartment residents who try their best to defend the building against urban scavengers. However, he also has Kim Min Sung (Park Seo Joon) as his friend who assists him in the process of coping with the crisis that emerges as a result of the earthquake.

Thereafter, they have to cater for Joo Myung Hwa (park bo young), ex-nurse and wife to Min Sung. These are vital skills that help him treat injured residents caused by debris. It got even worst as the Seoul residents who are supposed to live in other apartments kept trooping into this apartment thereby forcing their ways to get inside the building.

It got worse because people who lived outside Hwang Goong’s apartment tried to struggle against the severe coldness during that time. What will happen next after this earthquake in relation to Young Tak, all other members of Seoul city and its people?

The Moon (2023)

The Moon takes place in 2029 and revolves around South Korean endeavors towards exportation of the Moon. While the country failed to fly its spacecraft Woori-ho for some years, the idea was still up till then.

The launch will involve 3 astronauts, Hwang Seon Woo (DO from EXO) being the youngest. Nevertheless, something happened in outer space that caused the remaining two astronauts not to survive. However, Seon-Woo currently resides alone.

Seon Woo team in South Korea is busy doing everything possible to ensure that he returns to his home safe and sound. Nevertheless, they had an enormous difficulty as NASA initially refused to make available the footage requested by the Korean party.

In contrast, Seon Woo feels obliged to complete his mission on the lunar surface despite being lonely. Thus, how will Seon Woo’s condition be in the future? Will his mission be successful that he will make it back safely on earth?