MANILA -- Filipinos are known to be avid followers of Korean dramas since the early 2000s.

With Netflix now also housing a lot of Korean content, it is no surprise that Filipinos are among those who immediately got hooked into these shows.

One example is the smash hit series “Crash Landing on You,” which follows a South Korean billionaire heiress who falls in love with a North Korean soldier after she accidentally lands in his territory following a paragliding accident.

In 2019, it made the Top 10 list of Netflix across the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand.

Another example is the zombie series “Kingdom,” whose first season made the Top 10 in almost every Asian country. With the recent release of its second season, millions around the globe are binge-watching it already.

In an interview last Thursday, Minyoung Kim, the vice president of Korean content at Netflix, shared how they pick the projects which make it to the streaming platform.

“I wouldn’t say there’s a particular process. I think everything is different. It usually comes to us already formed. The scripts are ready, cast are attached. We are able to choose the right types of shows that our audiences would love. That’s one way of choosing our licensed originals,” she said.

As for Korean Netflix originals, she said the creative process is fully formed through communicating with creators.

“We want to make sure that we choose the shows that can actually fill the gap, and choose the shows that our audience has not yet seen before in the traditional system,” she explained.

Kim said she’s surprised that a lot of Korean content are very popular in English-speaking communities such as the Philippines.

“I’ve known that Korean content is popular but for a market where English is such a strong language, for a show that’s not an English language show to have a strong performance, for me that’s very interesting,” she said.

With the success of “Crash Landing on You,” Kim said she sort of sees a formula on the type of show that works really well.

“It’s a combination of a strong writer and a strong story. And also strong onscreen talent is a very important factor of a Korean wave show,” she said noting that the romantic drama series has both.

“What’s even more unique about the show is it has a very compelling story that people can empathize but it has a very unique setting about man and woman falling in love in this situation where two countries cannot meet. It’s a fantasy but it’s also in our daily lives,” she added.

In line with this, Netflix announced on Monday the following Korean content that will soon be available on Netflix this 2020:

1. RUGAL

Kang Gi-beom is a promising police detective in the violent crimes unit who is suspected of murdering his own wife. His eyes were slashed with a razor after he witnessed her murder at the hands of the terrorist group ARGOS. Just when he thinks he has lost everything, he is approached by Choi Geun-cheol, the chief executive director of Rugal, a special organization dedicated to the sole purpose of eradicating ARGOS. Choi requests that Gi-beom receives an artificial eye transplant and joins Rugal. After miraculously surviving the risky transplant operation, Gi-beom is born again as a human weapon. He begins to take revenge on ARGOS for everything they have done to him.

Premiere date:
- Korea/APAC/All English Speaking Countries/Latin America - March 28, 2020
- Japan/Rest of the World - May 24, 2020

Main cast: Choi Jin-hyuk, Park Sung-woong

2. TIME TO HUNT

In a hopeless dystopian city, Jun-seok is released from prison and plans his next step in life in order to start anew with his friends Jang-ho,Ki-hoon and Sang-soo. But their excitement for the plan is short-lived as an unknown man chases after them. Can these best friends get away from the hunt?

Premiere date: April 10, 2020

Main cast: Lee Je-hoon, Ahn Jae-hong, Choi Woo-shik, Park Jeong-min, Park Hae-soo

3. EXTRACURRICULAR

"Extracurricular" is a story of high school students who have chosen a life of crime to earn money. Oh Jisoo ends up committing a serious crime because of his determination to get college tuition money on his own, by any means. Seo Minhee gets caught up in Jisoo’s crime, while Jisoo’s schoolmate Bae Gyuri also becomes involved in the same crime. Their bad choices come with irreversible consequences. There is no more turning back. A life of crime and violence awaits them.

Premiere date: April 29, 2020

Main cast: Kim Dong-hee, Jung Da-bin, Park Joo-hyun

4. THE KING: ETERNAL MONARCH

"The King: Eternal Monarch" is a romantic fantasy drama that takes the genre to a whole new level. The series revolves around relationships of people from two parallel universes. King Lee Gon seeks to seal the gateway between dimensions, while Jung Tae-eul, a police inspector, simply wants to protect other’s lives and their loves. "The King: Eternal Monarch" is written by Kim Eun-suk ("Guardian: The Lonely and Great God," "Mr. Sunshine," "Descendants of the Sun"), and directed by Baek Sang-hoon ("Secret," "Who Are You: School 2015" and "Descendants of the Sun") and Jeong Jee-hyun ("Search: WWW").

Premiere date: April 2020

Main cast: Lee Min-ho, Kim Go-eun, Woo Do-hwan, Kim Kyung-nam, Jung Eun-chae

5. IT'S OKAY TO NOT BE OKAY

"It's Okay to Not Be Okay" is about an unusual romance between two people who end up healing each other’s emotional and psychological wounds. Moon Gang-tae, played by Kim Soo-hyun ("My Love from the Star," The Moon Embracing the Sun"), is a caretaker working at a psychiatric ward who does not even bother to believe in love. He seems to be carrying all the weight and pain in life, and devotes himself only to looking after his disabled older brother. Go Moon-young, played by Seo Ye-ji ("Save Me," "Lawless Lawyer"), is a children’s book writer who is clueless about love. She is popular among all age groups, yet very antisocial and indifferent to others.

Premiere date: June 2020

Main cast: Kim Soo-hyun, Seo Ye-ji