You typed “which kdrama is most watched?” into Google. The simple, short answer you’ll get is Squid Game. It’s not wrong. But if you stop there, you’re missing the whole story. That question is like asking “which city is the biggest?”—you need to know if we’re talking population, area, or economic output. Viewership works the same way. Is it TV ratings in Korea? Global streaming hours? Cultural impact? The “most watched” title changes depending on the ruler you use.

I’ve been deep in the K-drama world for over a decade, tracking ratings, analyzing trends, and watching the industry evolve from regional TV phenomena to a global streaming powerhouse. The mistake most articles make is picking one metric and declaring a winner, leaving you with a fact that’s technically true but practically useless for deciding what to actually watch next.

Let’s cut through the noise. Here’s what you really need to know.

How Do You Even Measure “Most Watched”?

This is the crucial first step everyone glosses over. There are two main worlds of data, and they almost never talk to each other.

The Old World: TV Ratings (Nielsen Korea)

This was the gold standard for decades. It measures the percentage of households with TVs turned on in South Korea that were tuned to a specific show at a specific time. A rating of 20% was considered a massive hit. These numbers are hyper-local and time-sensitive. Shows that ruled here were often long, family-oriented weekend dramas (Once Again, My Golden Life) that appealed to a broad domestic audience. They could pull in ratings over 30%, but you’ve probably never heard of them outside Korea.

The New World: Streaming Hours & Global Reach

This is the metric that made Squid Game a household name globally. Netflix, the dominant international platform, reports viewership in total hours viewed in the first 91 days after release. It’s a cumulative, global number. A viewer in Brazil bingeing 10 hours counts the same as a viewer in Japan.

The shift here is monumental. Success is no longer about capturing a time slot in one country; it’s about commanding attention worldwide, on-demand. This metric favors shows with high binge-potential: thrilling, fast-paced, and visually striking.

When you ask “which kdrama is most watched?” today, you’re almost certainly asking about this second world—global streaming impact.

The Undisputed Global Streaming Champion

By the streaming hours metric, there is one clear, record-shattering winner. It’s not close.

Squid Game (2021) is in a league of its own. According to Netflix’s own “What We Watched” report, it amassed a staggering 1.65 billion hours of viewing in its first 28 days. To put that in perspective, the second-place show on Netflix’s all-time non-English list (at the time of writing) has about half that.

But the numbers only tell half the story. Why did it work?

It wasn’t just the violent games. It was the perfect storm of universal themes (debt, inequality, desperation) wrapped in a simple, high-stakes competition format that needed no cultural translation. The visual design—those bright pink guards, the geometric shapes—was instantly iconic. It became a global conversation, spawning Halloween costumes, TikTok challenges, and memes. Its viewership wasn’t passive; it was participatory.

Here’s a non-consensus point, though: Squid Game’s success has slightly warped international expectations. Now every new K-drama is expected to be a global, genre-bending thriller. This puts immense pressure on creators and overlooks the fact that K-dramas built their core fanbase on romance, melodrama, and character-driven stories.

Other Top Contenders by Platform & Metric

If we look beyond the absolute pinnacle, a fascinating landscape emerges. Here are the shows that define “most watched” in their own categories.

Notice something? The global streaming giants (Squid Game, The Glory, All of Us Are Dead) lean heavily into genre—thriller, horror, revenge. They’re designed to grab you in the first five minutes. The shows that were massive on Korean TV, or that blended success (like Attorney Woo), often have more heart and character focus.

I made the mistake a few years back of only chasing the “most watched” thrillers. I burned out on the intensity. I discovered that some of the dramas I rewatch annually, like My Mister, never topped these charts because their beauty is quiet and slow-burning. Popularity isn’t always a proxy for personal enjoyment.

How to Use “Most Watched” Lists to Actually Find Your Next Show

So you have the data. Now what? Don’t just start at the top of a list and work down. Use this strategy instead.

Step 1: Diagnose Your Mood. Are you in it for an adrenaline rush or for emotional connection? If it’s the former, the global streaming top 5 is your playground. If it’s the latter, look at shows like Crash Landing on You or Hospital Playlist that had strong both critical and popular appeal.

Step 2: Check the “Why,” Not Just the “How Much.” Look at the rightmost column in the table above. The reason for a show’s high viewership tells you more than the number. “Cathartic revenge” (The Glory) is a different experience from “heartwarming legal cases” (Attorney Woo). Match the “why” to your current craving.

Step 3: Look Beyond the 28-Day Window. Netflix’s famous 28-day/91-day reports create a bias toward explosive, immediate hits. Some dramas are slow burns that grow an audience through word-of-mouth over months. Mr. Sunshine is a classic example—a historical epic that wasn’t the biggest initial hit but is now revered and consistently recommended.

Your K-Drama Viewership Questions, Honestly Answered

The next time you see a headline about the “most watched K-drama,” you’ll know exactly what question to ask back: “Watched by whom, and how are you counting?” That simple shift turns a vague search for a recommendation into a smart strategy for finding your next favorite show.