5 Best Ha Young K-Dramas You Shouldn’t Miss

Ha Young is having a moment. And honestly, it feels like it was a long time coming. For years, the South Korean actress built her career through supporting characters and smaller appearances. Then came The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call, where she suddenly had the kind of role that made viewers stop and ask, “Wait… who is she?”

Now, in 2026, things have moved another step forward. She has taken the lead in Our Sticky Love, appeared in the Netflix rom-com Boyfriend on Demand, and continued to build a filmography that is becoming much easier to recognize.

But here’s the thing: if you’re searching for the “best Ha Young Kdramas,” simply listing every title she’s appeared in doesn’t really work. Some of her credits are brief. Some are cameo-level appearances. And some dramas may be excellent in their own right, but Ha Young simply doesn’t have enough screen time to make them worthwhile recommendations for her fans.

So I’ve kept this list strict. No blink-and-miss-it appearances. No famous drama included just because her name happens to be in the credits. This is my final Top 5 Ha Young K-drama list, based on the importance of her character, her screen presence, the quality of the performance and, most importantly, whether the drama actually gives you a reason to watch Ha Young.

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1. The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call

If you’re watching only one Ha Young drama to understand why her career suddenly started getting serious attention, make it The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call. This is the drama that really put her on the map.

• IMDb: 8.4/10
• Where To Watch: Netflix ( Korean, Hindi, English Audio)

The Netflix medical drama follows Baek Kang-hyuk, an exceptionally talented trauma surgeon who arrives at a hospital determined to build a proper trauma centre despite hospital politics and a lack of support. Ha Young plays Cheon Jang-mi, a trauma nurse and member of Kang-hyuk’s medical team. Netflix specifically highlights her as one of the key members of the trauma unit.

And Jang-mi is exactly the kind of supporting character a fast-moving medical drama needs. She’s experienced and practical. She knows how to handle the pressure.

But she’s also funny enough to stop the show from becoming a constant parade of emergency-room shouting. That balance works. The Trauma Code moves at a ridiculous pace. Patients arrive, situations explode, Kang-hyuk makes another impossible medical decision and the team has seconds to react. In the middle of all that chaos, Jang-mi feels like someone who genuinely belongs in the trauma unit rather than a character placed there just to fill out the cast.

Ha Young won the 2025 APAN Star Award for Best New Actress. She was also nominated for Best New Actress at the Baeksang Arts Awards and Blue Dragon Series Awards.

Why you should watch it

If you want Ha Young in a role that’s energetic, funny, capable and emotionally grounded, this is the one. And you don’t have to be a medical-drama addict either. The show mixes action, comedy, hospital politics and emotional moments so well that it rarely feels like a conventional medical series.

2. Our Sticky Love

This is where Ha Young gets the spotlight. After building her career through supporting roles, she finally gets a rom-com lead role with Our Sticky Love. And the setup is exactly the kind of ridiculous-but-addictive premise that Korean dramas do so well.

• IMDb: 7.5/10
• Where To Watch: Netflix (Korean, English, Hindi Audio)

Ha Young plays Go Eun-sae, an ambitious prosecutor who loses her memory after an incident connected to her investigation. When she wakes up, she has no idea who she is or what happened to her.

Then a scruffy boxing coach named Jang Tae-ha, played by Jung Hae-in, walks into her life and casually tells her that he’s her boyfriend. Naturally, she doesn’t believe him. And why would she?

Eun-sae remembers herself as a sharp, successful prosecutor. Tae-ha doesn’t exactly look like the boyfriend she would have chosen for herself. Suddenly she’s living in a small countryside village, surrounded by strangers, trying to figure out whether the man claiming to love her is actually protecting her or hiding something much darker. Netflix describes the show as a romantic comedy with a noir-suspense element, with the central mystery tied closely to Eun-sae’s past.

Best for: Rom-com lovers, mystery-romance fans, Jung Hae-in fans and anyone who wants to see Ha Young in a lead role.

Also Read: 15 Best Enemies To Lovers K-Dramas on Netflix

3. Doona!

• IMDb: 7/10
• Where To Watch: Netflix (Korean, English, Hindi Audio)

If you’ve only watched Ha Young’s recent dramas, you should definitely go back to Doona!. This is where you get to see her quieter side. The Netflix romance follows college student Lee Won-jun, who moves into a shared house and unexpectedly finds himself living with Doona, a former K-pop idol played by Suzy.

Ha Young plays Kim Jin-joo, Won-jun’s high-school friend and first love. At first, Jin-joo might look like the typical second lead. But thankfully, Doona! doesn’t turn her into that annoying character who spends the entire drama creating unnecessary problems.

There’s history between Jin-joo and Won-jun. There are feelings that were never properly resolved, and when she comes back into his life, things become complicated. Ha Young handles those emotions in a much quieter way. That’s what I like about the performance.

Watch Doona! if you like emotional romances, complicated first love and characters who don’t need to shout to make you feel what they’re going through. And if you’re specifically watching for Ha Young, this is one of her performances where less really is more.

4. Boyfriend on Demand

• IMDb: 7.3/10
• Where To Watch: Netflix (Korean, English, Hindi Audio)

Now we move into something completely different. Boyfriend on Demand takes modern dating and throws it into a virtual world. Jisoo plays Seo Mi-rae, a successful webtoon producer who’s tired of the complications of real-life relationships. She gets access to a virtual dating service where users can experience romantic relationships without dealing with all the messy parts of real dating.

Sounds perfect, right? Well… K-drama logic says that’s exactly when things are going to get complicated. Ha Young plays Lee Ji-yeon, Mi-rae’s best friend. This isn’t a Ha Young-led drama, and I don’t want to pretend it is. Jisoo and Seo In-guk are at the centre of the story.

But Ji-yeon gives Ha Young another chance to show a different side of herself. She’s more open about romance and more curious about the virtual dating world than Mi-rae. She’s energetic, social and much more willing to enjoy the fantasy. That creates a nice contrast between the two friends.

If you like modern romance with a technology twist, virtual dating and plenty of friendship drama, this one is worth checking out.

Also Read: Top 10 Best Fantasy Romance K-Dramas on Netflix

5. Doctor Prisoner

• IMDb: 7.5/10
• Where To Watch: Netflix, Jiohotstar (Hindi dubbed), Viki Free

And now we’re going back to the beginning. Way before The Trauma Code. Before Doona!. Before Our Sticky Love. There was Doctor Prisoner. Ha Young made her acting debut in the 2019 KBS2 drama, playing Na Yi-hyun, the younger sister of protagonist Na Yi-je, played by Namkoong Min.

The drama itself is a dark medical revenge thriller.Na Yi-je is a talented doctor whose career is destroyed after a hospital incident. He eventually enters the prison medical system, where medicine, power and revenge become deeply connected. It’s much darker than Ha Young’s recent romantic dramas. And that’s precisely why it’s worth keeping on this list.

If you’re interested in Ha Young’s career rather than just her latest Netflix projects, Doctor Prisoner deserves a spot on your watchlist. And if you already enjoy dark medical thrillers and revenge stories, that’s another reason to give it a shot.

So, Which Ha Young KDrama Should You Watch First?

What I like most about Ha Young is that she doesn’t feel like an actress who’s already reached her peak. It feels like she’s still building toward it. Her recent roles have given audiences a glimpse of what she can do, but her move into bigger characters suggests that the most exciting chapter of her career could still be ahead.

If you’re starting with just one drama, go with The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call. It remains the strongest showcase of her ability to make a supporting character feel important. Want to see her carry a story herself? Pick Our Sticky Love. If you prefer emotional romance, Doona! deserves your time. The other two complete the picture: Boyfriend on Demand shows her in a lighter modern setting, while Doctor Prisoner takes you back to the beginning of her acting journey.

So, if you’ve watched Ha Young in one of these dramas, which performance is your favourite? Is Cheon Jang-mi still the winner, or has Go Eun-sae changed your mind?

Drop your pick in the comments—and if you’re discovering Ha Young for the first time, save this list and start your K-drama marathon with The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call. 🎬🔥