In this article, we have listed 12 Korean actors who took the no.1 spot in the weekly ranking of the Most Buzzworthy Drama Actors in 2023. The ranking is determined and provided by Good Data Corporation, a Korean research organization that specializes in the analysis on what is most buzzworthy Korean dramas and drama actors of the week.
Here are the Korean drama actors who were most talked-about from the first week of January 2023 to the last week of August 2023, excluding OTT:
1. Lee Junho, King The Land (2023)
Lee Junho topped the list of Most Buzzworthy Drama Actors in the third and fifth week of June 2023, followed by five (5) consecutive weeks from the first week of July to the first week of August 2023. He played Gu Won, an heir of a luxury hotel in JTBC’s King The Land (2023). He has it all—topnotch education, wealth, and good looks—rides a luxury car, wears designer brands, and lives at the penthouse suite of his father’s hotel. After studying in London, he returns to Korea to face his sister in an intense competition for the hotel inheritance. He cannot stand fake smiles and abhors hotel employees who smile a lot or greet him cheerily until he meets the “Best Talent” he calls “Phony Cheon”, turning his dark world bright.
2. Jung Kyung-ho, Crash Course In Romance (2023)
Jung Kyung-ho topped the list of Most Buzzworthy Drama Actors for six (6) consecutive weeks, from the second week of January to the third week of February 2023. He played Choi Chi Yeol, a celebrity and highly in-demand math instructor at a popular private education institute in tvN’s Crash Course In Romance (2023). Known as the “One Trillon Won Man”, he takes pride at the value of his time where he gets paid for one trillion won each year. Although he lives a productive career, he has an eating disorder until he gets a taste of Nation’s Best Banchan, a shop run by his student’s mother who becomes his personal chef in exchange for private tutorial sessions with her daughter. He slowly transforms from a man indifferent around people to a man who is warm and generous.
3. Lee Je-hoon, Taxi Driver 2 (2023)
Lee Je-hoon topped the list of Most Buzzworthy Drama Actors for six (6) consecutive weeks, from the second week of March to the second week of April 2023. He played Kim Do-gi, a special forces soldier turned taxi driver who helps victims of injustice through a secret organization that fronts as a taxi company in SBS’ Taxi Driver (2021-23). The crime-revenge drama achieved one of the highest ratings in Korean drama history and Lee Je-hoon also received praises for his incredible performance.
4. Uhm Jung-hwa, Doctor Cha (2023)
Uhm Jung-hwa topped the list of Most Buzzworthy Drama Actors for five (5) consecutive weeks, from the third week of April to the third week of May 2023. She was praised domestically and internationally for her portrayal as Doctor Cha Jeong-suk, a warm and fun-loving mother and doctor in JTBC’s Doctor Cha (2023). She gives up her medical career to focus on her family as a full time housewife, only to find herself getting back on medical residency after 20 years. However, when she begins doctorate training, she goes through a lot of troubles including her marriage life. She’s a bubbly character who gives you laughter, a warm mother whose love tugs at the heartstrings, a strong woman who makes you root for her, and a doctor who loves not just her profession but her patients as well.
5. Namgoong Min, My Dearest (2023)
So far, Namgoong Min has topped the list of Most Buzzworthy Drama Actors for four (4) consecutive weeks, from the second week to the fifth week of August 2023. He plays Lee Jang Hyun, a nobleman in the ongoing drama, My Dearest (2023), which is an epic historical romance story set in the period of Joseon dynasty about two star-crossed lovers who get swept up in the chaos of a terrifying war, fighting for their lives and loves.
6. Lee Jae-wook, Alchemy of Souls (2022-23)
Lee Jae-wook topped the list of Most Buzzworthy Drama Actors in the first week of January 2023. He played Jang Uk, a young mage in tvN’s Alchemy Of Souls (2022-2023), which is a two-part series about young mages in the fictional country of Daeho that encounters and deals with “alchemy of souls”, a forbidden magic spell that switches bodies. He is a troublemaking member from a noble family yet one who has been granted the power of the sky, known as the King’s star. Due to his past that is “as painful as a stab to the heart”, he becomes a ruthless hunter of soul shifters with the power of ice stone in his body.
7. Lee Bo-young, Agency (2023)
Lee Bo-young topped the list of Most Buzzworthy Drama Actors in the fourth week of February 2023. She played Go A In, a Creative Director at a leading advertising agency in JTBC’s Agency (2023), and was admired for her dynamic performance, representing women leadership. Despite growing up in poverty, she managed to attain career success with her intelligence and diligence. Although she gets bullied at the workplace for her non-popular school background and being a woman, she remains focused with her goals proving her antagonists that she has what it takes to become the most qualified employee. Amid strong oppositions, she becomes the first female executive member of a large advertising agency.
8. Roh Yoon-seo, Crash Course In Romance (2023)
Roh Yoon-seo topped the list of Most Buzzworthy Drama Actors in the first week of March 2023. She played Nam Hae Yi, an abandoned daughter who was raised by her aunt in tvN’s Crash Course In Romance (2023). She is the class president of Class 2-1 at Woorim High School who secretly receives private tutorial sessions from a highly in-demand math instructor that later becomes a school issue when it was exposed in public.
9. Ahn Hyo-seop, Dr. Romantic 3 (2023)
Ahn Hyo-seop topped the list of Most Buzzworthy Drama Actors in the fourth week of May 2023. He played Seo Woo Jin, a good-looking and skilled doctor in the medical drama, Dr. Romantic 3 (2023), which follows the lives of doctors at Doldam Hospital in the countryside. He is a passionate doctor who takes after his mentor, Kim Sabu, who taught him to save a patient, no matter what. He values time and people and loves his girlfriend, Dr. Cha Eun-jae so much.
10. Lee Dong-wook, Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938 (2023)
Lee Dong-wook topped the list of Most Buzzworthy Drama Actors in the first week of June 2023. He played Lee Yeon, a gumiho who struggles to return to the present time after getting dragged back to a chaotic era in 1938 in tvN’s Tale Of The Nine-Tailed 1938 (2023). Upon his arrival in Gyeongseong, he reunites with his brother Lee Rang and childhood friends Ryu Hong-Joo and Cheon Moo-young who are also former mountain gods, facing troubles.
11. Yoo Yeon-seok, Dr. Romantic 3 (2023)
Yoo Yeon-seok topped the list of Most Buzzworthy Drama Actors in the second week of June 2023. He played Kang Dong-joo, the first doctor that Master Kim mentored at Doldam Hospital in Dr. Romantic (2016-2023) and returned to the countryside from America when the Regional Trauma Center, a long-held dream of Kim Sa-bu was opened during the third season. He is often in conflict in terms of medical principles and practices with doctors Seo Woo Jin and Cha Eun Jae.
12. Lim Yoona, King The Land (2023)
Lim Yoona topped the list of Most Buzzworthy Drama Actors in the fourth week of June 2023. She played Cheon Sa Rang, the best talent at King Hotel who gets entangled with the chairman’s son in JTBC’s King The Land (2023). Despite workplace bullying, she continues to work with diligence and gives her best smile for customer service, landing a new job at the VIP section where she meets the chaebol heir. She faces new challenges with the chairman’s son who hates smiling faces but soon overcomes the tension between them with her genuineness. Not only she makes hotel guests satisfied and bosses proud, she also wins the chaebol’s heart with her irresistible charms.
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