With increasing popularity of Korean shows, the conventional means of watching popular Korean dramas, variety shows or movies on Television are no longer available to fans outside of Korea. The original Korean shows , on the other hand, are difficult to follow without subtitles.
In the current day and age the various online streaming sites have made it possible for viewers outside of Korea to enjoy content in the comfort of their house.
As a result, selecting a good platform with a range of content that is critical for international audiences has become just a game of betting on streaming sites providing curated collections of shows and programs that you would like to watch.
With Netflix and Viki being the most popular paid options available for many. Those who wouldn't agree on paying a huge sum of money on several paid sites but would like to give free sites a try in order to save money and have access to innumerable content.
To meet your needs, we've compiled a list of the Top 10 sites to watch Korean drama online, each with its own set of features. Listed from the sites which are free and following those which require subscription.
In the end of the article I've also provided a pro-tip on how to get rid of ads and redirects while surfing the free websites on your desktop or other devices.
Top 10 Websites to Watch Korean Drama - TOPIK GUIDE
Table of Contents
1. Dramacool
2. Kissasian
3. Soap2day
4. Solar Movies
5. Yes Movies
6. NewAsianTV
7. Hulu
8. Viki
9. Netflix
10. YouTube
1. Dramacool
Dramacool is the best website to go to if you want to watch and download Korean dramas for free. It has the catalogue of all the content from over the years.
You can find drama content in minutes thanks to the great genre distribution and simple "Filter" option that makes the selection easier. Meanwhile, all of the contents are of high quality, providing 240p ~ 1080p resolution.
The only drawback is the not so flattering interface with little advertising.
2. Kissasian
Kissasian is an excellent resource for Asian dramas with English subtitles and dubbing. It comes with a collection of Korean dramas in high-definition formats. Furthermore, you can download the episodes to watch later on your devices.
Kissasian is a fantastic website where you can watch a variety of Korean dramas.
The user interface is good enough with advertisem*nt being the only drawback. Those looking for Korean movies will be disapointed as the website only cater to Korean dramas and variety shows.
3. Soap2day
Soap2day is the ultimate hub for watching not just Asian dramas and movies but content from other countries as well. The site is updated frequently with content description and provides free content which you might not access on Netflix.
The concurrent season can be found at one place making it convenient for viewers to find everything at one place.
Soap2day being a free website has the drawback of redirects but less advertisem*nts.
4. Solar Movies
Solar movies is another alternative to Soap2day website with a flattering and easy to use interface. You can use the "Filter" option to choose from the country and genre of your choice.
Like Soap2day it also provides the convenience of starting from where you left the show last time.
The only drawback, like all the free sites there could be many redirects to other promotional sites.
5. Yes Movies
Interface of Yes Movies is similar to Soap2day and Solar movies, the collection has been made easier to search with the Keyword search option as the first thing in the homepage.
You can choose from different genres, countries or TV shows. There's a category totally dedicated to the Top IMDB ranked or trending shows.
While surfing the Yes movies website you'll experience less redirects and advertisem*nts unlike previously mentioned free websites.
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6. NewAsianTV
New Asian TV is another website for you to watch dramas online for free.
You can find your favorite drama to enjoy without much trouble. It covers mostly trending and high quality dramas which you can download on your devices as well.
With not many advertisem*nts or redirects this website is much more convenient to use and user friendly.
The outstanding feature of this platform is their comment feature under each show. You can share your experiences or make good connections with people.
7. Hulu
Hulu is a paid subscription based website. If you're looking for an ultimate hub for accessing all the high quality content Hulu would be the thing to go for. Both the audio and video quality is phenomenal for most content.
The best part of using this platform is the easy cancellation of the subscription plan after 30 days of free service to test the platform.
There could be some limitations as Hulu is not available in some countries and the content available in other paid streaming sites like Netflix and Amazon prime might not be available. Hulu mainly focuses on offering traditional TV streaming channels like Fox and CBS etc.
8. Viki
Viki is another amazing platform to go for if you are interested in Asian shows and programs. It offers a wide range of copyright Korean contents which could be free or paid viewing options.
What Viki does best for paid customers, is getting rid of advertisem*nts and inconvenient redirects which could be seen in free websites mentioned above. The website is available to access in various languages. The content is 100% secure with subtitles available in more than conventional English language.
Viki can also be used as a tool to learn the Korean language with its Languages learning feature.
The only drawback is that the content is not fully available for free and you have to pay for the content beyond the free listing shows.
9. Netflix
Netflix offers a high-quality service to consumers all over the world, including a large selection of Korean dramas with intelligible subtitles. Millions across the world utilize it as the most popular streaming website. Netflix, on the other hand, offers possibilities for offline viewing.
Netflix's disadvantage is that watching Korean content requires a monthly subscription price. The Korean content range is limited and highly depends on the country you are to be available to access. All the Korean shows and movies available in South Korea might not be available in the US.
The other way to access all the content is to use paid VPN service like Surfshark or Express VPN which might be too much of a hassle for many.
10. YouTube
YouTube, the world's largest video collection, is a safe place to view Korean dramas and other streaming entertainment from all over the world. You can watch Korean shows with English subtitles using YouTube's caption feature. Furthermore, it contains several Korean free streaming channels like KBS World TV etc.
Both free and premium copyright Korean drama series are available on this platform.
The only drawback is the hassle of YouTube ads here and there which might cause inconvenience to some.
See also :
10 Ways to improve your Korean speaking skills
Best tips for Korean language beginners
How to Set Realistic Language Learning Goals
Those were the list of 10 websites to watch Korean dramas and shows compiled in the list according to the free and paid services following from top to bottom.
Pro-tip :
Surfing in the free websites could give you a hard time because of its irritable ad pop ups and redirects to other promotional pages.
The way to get off it is to download an Ad blocker chrome extension on your device.
This will block all the unnecessary ads and redirects. The ad blocker will also block all the Ads in YouTube as well allowing you to surf the streaming site without losing much hair and brain cells.
That was it from my side. If you'd like to add streaming websites in the list please drop us a comment.
