What’s next for your favourite K-drama male leads like Byeon Woo-seok, Song Kang and Park Hyung-sik?

Kim Seon-ho’s career-defining performance as “good boy” Han Ji-pyeong in Start-Up and charming turn as Hong Du-sik in the rom-com hit Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha made him one of the most bankable K-drama male leads. Last year, he returned to the small screen as Park Chung-seob in the critically acclaimed Netflix original series When Life Gives You Tangerines, which starred IU and Park Bo-gum. Even more recently, he won fans over playing the charismatic Joo Ho-jin, a multilingual interpreter who falls in love with Go Young-jung’s Cha Mu-hee in Can This Love Be Translated?

Having started his career as a stage actor, Kim Seon-ho occasionally goes back to his roots to star in theatre productions. In his current play, Secret Passage: Interval, which runs until May 3, 2026, he stars as Dong-jae, a mysterious man with no memory of his past.

A veteran of variety shows—most notably as a regular cast member of 2 Days & 1 Night—fans can catch their favourite K-drama male lead in Coupang Play’s healing variety show Bonjour Bakery alongside Kim Hee-ae, Cha Seung-won and Lee Ki-taek on May 8. Then, later this year, he reunites with his Start-Up co-star Bae Suzy in the Disney+ period fantasy K-drama Portraits of Delusion as Yun I-ho, a painter hired to do the portrait of Song Jeong-Hwa, the enigmatic owner of Nammun Hotel.

See more: From ‘Start-Up’ to ‘Can This Love Be Translated?’: 15 K-dramas and movies that made Kim Seon-ho a star

Fresh off his buzzy Oscars red-carpet appearance for KPop Demon Hunters, Ahn Hyo-seop—the beloved K-drama male lead of Business Proposal, Lovers of the Red Sky and Dr Romantic 2 and 3—is back in the brand-new SBS rom-com series Sold Out on You, now streaming on Netflix. In it, he plays a CEO and farmer who falls for the top host of a home shopping network.

But beyond his current K-drama, fans are wondering if he’s involved in the sequel to the streamer’s Oscar-winning animated hit, KPop Demon Hunters. Questions still remain as to whether Jinu, the character he voiced in the film, will—or even can—return. After all, (spoiler alert!) the Saja Boys lead singer ended up sacrificing himself in the first film.

What is certain is that he’s been cast as the K-drama male lead of Final Table, the upcoming JTBC series about Korean chefs battling it out in “The Table: K Chef 2026”, a high-stakes cooking competition. The K-drama also stars Hong Hwa-yeon (Tastefully Yours, Buried Hearts), Chang Ryul (Daily Dose of Sunshine, Love Me) and Jung Yoo-jin (Romance Is a Bonus Book, Remarriage & Desires).

See more: All the Ahn Hyo-seop movies and K-dramas to add to your watchlist, from ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ to ‘Business Proposal’

With his classic good looks and irresistible charisma, Park Hyung-sik has carved out a career playing romantic K-drama male leads. Whether it’s a rom-com like Strong Girl Bong-soon or Doctor Slump, a slow-burn romance like Soundtrack #1 or even a zombie horror K-drama like Happiness, his magnetic screen presence and undeniable chemistry with his female co-stars never fail to draw audiences in.

Last year, Park Hyung-sik took a quick detour into other genres, playing against type as the dark antihero in the corporate revenge thriller Buried Hearts and the main antagonist in the high-fantasy K-drama Twelve. In 2027, he returns to familiar territory, starring in the Netflix office romance Fall In Love, with Park Gyu-young (Sweet Home, Celebrity, Squid Game) as his love interest. He’s sure to make hearts flutter once again as Na Jeong-seok, a sharp CEO who is caught off guard when his former military superior shows up as his newest rookie employee. 

Choo Young-woo is one of Korea’s next big K-drama male leads. From award-winning turns in The Tale of Lady Ok and Netflix’s The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call, for which he won the Baeksang and Blue Dragon Best New Actor trophies respectively, to standout performances in crowd-pleasers like Head Over Heels and Even If This Love Disappears Tonight, the young actor has proven both his talent and star power.

Fans eager to see Choo Young-woo back on the small screen will be pleased to hear that he is currently working on a new Netflix K-drama. While the streaming platform has yet to confirm whether Trauma Code will return for a second season, it has cast him as the K-drama male lead in the rom-com fantasy Long Vacation, which is being directed by Crash Landing on You’s Lee Jung-hyo.

Choo Young-woo plays Demon 3375, who comes to a small coastal village and falls in love for the first time. The object of his affection? Hotel employee Lee Deul-pan, played by Lee Se-young (The Red Sleeve, The Story of Park’s Contract Marriage, What Comes After Love). The K-drama is set to drop next year.

Song Kang, the young K-drama male lead who stole the hearts of the next generation of fans, is best known for playing irresistible red-flag characters in Love Alarm and Nevertheless, and supernatural heroes in My Demon and Sweet Home.

This year, fans can watch Song Kang in tvN’s Four Hands, his big comeback K-drama after completing his mandatory military service. Last seen in 2024’s My Demon and Sweet Home 3, he returns to the small screen in the musical K-drama that deals with the relationships and rivalries that form in an elite school for the musically gifted.

He plays Kang Bi-oh, a talented pianist whose perfect world is shaken when a new student arrives and threatens to steal the top spot from him. Four Hands also stars Lee Jun-young and Jang Gyu-ri, and arrives in the second half of 2026.

Lee Jong-suk is one of the OG K-drama male leads, famous for starring in some of the biggest Korean television hits—Pinocchio with Park Shin-hye, W - The Two Worlds opposite Han Hyo-joo and While You Were Sleeping alongside Bae Suzy. 

Other notable titles in his filmography include Romance Is a Bonus Book, Big Mouth and last year’s Law and the City. This year, he stars in The Remarried Empress, one of the most anticipated K-dramas of the year. The high-fantasy romance, adapted from a popular web novel, also stars Shin Min-a, Ju Ji-hoon and Le Se-young. Lee Jong-suk plays the dashing Prince Heinrey, heir to the Western Kingdom, who falls in love with Shim Min-a’s Empress Navier.

Next year, he stars in Iseop’s Romance, a chaebol romance based on a web novel written by Kim Eon-hee. The K-drama will reportedly share the same universe as another Kim Eon-hee adaptation—A Casual Lie starring Lee Jun-hyuk.

Lee Chae-min first caught viewers’ attention in Crash Course in Romance and turned heads in Hierarchy, but it wasn’t until his star-making turn in last year’s Bon Appétit Your Majesty that the rising star sealed his status as a K-drama male lead. As Yi-heon, a role he took on after Park Sung-hoon withdrew from the project, he charmed viewers with his regal screen presence and chemistry with leading lady Lim Yoona.

After the success of Bon Appétit Your Majesty, Lee Chae-min is said to have received 30 scripts for consideration. While nothing has been officially confirmed, his agency has revealed he is in talks to take on the male lead role in the K-drama adaptation of the web novel My Reason to Die. Should he take on the role, it would mark another significant step in Lee Chae-min’s steady rise as one of K-drama’s most promising leading men.

Whether they're headlining high-fantasy epics, action-packed blockbusters or swoon-worthy romances, these K-drama male leads are gearing up to bring new characters to life. If you’re a fan, consider this your guide to the roles, returns and reinventions you won’t want to miss.

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