01 A zombie outbreak spreads through a Joseon-era royal court in this genre-bending period horror.
10 Best Korean Historical Dramas (Sageuk)
By Vlad Zakh · August 26, 2026
Mr. Sunshine and Six Flying Dragons show the genre at its most sweeping and political, while Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo adds time travel to the same royal-court backbone. Jewel in the Palace is the one that first took sageuk to a global audience, following an orphan who rises from kitchen servant to the king’s first female physician. Kingdom adds a plague that turns the dead into monsters, and Arthdal Chronicles builds a fantasy epic. Hwarang, The Crowned Clown and Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung round out the list.
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02 A large-scale fantasy epic set in a fictional ancient civilisation.
03 The founding of the Joseon dynasty told through six intertwined lives.
04 An orphan rises from kitchen servant to the king's first female physician.
05 A commoner impersonates a paranoid king and finds himself drawn into real power.
06 The first female royal historian defies tradition to record the truth.
07 Young elite warriors navigate loyalty, rank and romance in ancient Silla.
08 A modern Korean detective and a parallel-world emperor cross between two timelines.
09 A modern woman is transported back to the Goryeo dynasty and tangled in royal politics.
10 A Korean-American soldier returns to a homeland on the edge of Japanese occupation.
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