Even with 2025 serving a delectable K-drama palette to the Hallyu Wave riders, 2026 was already on track to becoming even more epic than first believed. Bringing forth heart-touching romances to quintessential fantasy plots, January 16, 2026, has brought forth an explosive gift of three blockbusters.
Today is shaping to be a massive success, as we’ve got not one, but three, fresh K-drama releases lined up for the day. From K-pop icons switching their artistic paths to make the most of a new vocation to certain hard-hitting K-drama legends, these shows will witness everything and beyond.
Can’t wait to catch NCT members Jeno and Jaemin, and leading duos of Kim Seon Ho and Go Young Jung, and finally Kim Hye Yoon and Lomon? With the good news just hours away, here’s what K-drama lovers should watch today.
K-dramas releasing on January 16, 2026
1. NCT Jeno and Jaemin’s Wind Up
Where to watch: The coming-of-age drama will premiere on Friday at 6 pm KST (2:30 pm IST) on a brand-new short-form platform. Called ‘KITZ,’ the “global K-pop short-form platform” will, in turn, officially launch today as well, but at 10 am KST.
Some K-drama and K-pop enthusiasts may be fooled into believing that Wind Up marks the first time both Jaemin and Jeno are starring in a drama. However, that’s not the case. The show will definitely bring us Jeno’s first official, full-fledged acting project, whereas a major acting comeback for Jaemin, who helmed his first leading role in the romance drama Method to Hate You.
But more than that, the forthcoming show will mostly deliver a nostalgia bomb to NCT fans who’ve been waiting for their favourite duo to return to their K-drama screen since their sweet little cameo in the 2018 web drama A-Teen. Stepping up from their small roles to finally playing the leads in a K-dram, both Jeno and Jaemin will be at the centre of high school baseball dreams.
One plays a pitcher who can no longer throw a strike and the other is a mysterious transfer student who appoints himself as his manager. What happens when the two meet? Indeed, the start of a new friendship, directed by Kim Sung Ho, who is best known for Netflix’s Move to Heaven and KBS’ Bad Prosecutor.
2. No Tail To Tell
Where to watch: Weekly episodes will air on South Korean channel SBS TV, starting today, January 16, at 9:50 pm KST (6:20 pm IST). The Friday-Saturday broadcasts will also stream on Netflix.
What do you get when you put stalwart stars behind sensationally hit K-dramas like Lovely Runner and All of Us Are Dead? You get an impressive collaboration between Kim Hye Yoon and Lomon, with ‘gumihos,’ aka Korean folklore’s deceptive fox-like creatures and their magical nine tails.
As a gumiho, Kim Hye Yoon’s character who has completely given up on her once-coveted desire of becoming human. However, a sudden accident flips her choices and lifestyle upside down, as she ends up transforming into a person.
On the other side, Lomon’s character, who is a world-class football striker, leads his own definition of an orderly life. A chance connection forces both their lives to be altered whether they like it or not.
3. Can This Love Be Translated?
Where to watch: Binge-watch all episodes of the South Korean rom-com series on Netflix today.
True emotions often get lost in translation. Nothing could be truer for this public pair composed of a celebrity and her interpreter travelling the world to film a TV show. Although famed as a “linguistic genius,” Kim Seon Ho’s Joo Ho Jin isn’t as adept in translating the language of love.
Can This Love Be Translated? will not only chronicle Cha Mu Hee’s (Go Youn Jung) rise to stardom thanks to a breakout role, but also how fate keeps bringing her and Ho Jin to the same path time and again.
Despite being his rigid self, it doesn’t take much longer to see him getting profoundly invested in Cha. But, will that be enough?
The famous Hong Sisters, who are behind K-drama gems like Alchemy of Souls and Hotel Del Luna, have penned the story for what could potentially be Netflix’s next big thing.