Here's a secret a lot of K-drama fans don't realise: a huge number of the dramas you've binged started life as webtoons. The bones of the story — the swoony romances, the slow-burn tension, the satisfying revenge arcs — were all drawn first, episode by episode, on someone's phone screen. So if you've ever finished a drama and wished there was more, the original webtoon is often waiting with extra story the show didn't have time for, subplots that got cut, and an ending the writers' room sometimes changed.
This is the leap I always recommend to drama fans, because it's the smallest possible jump. You already love the storytelling rhythms — the misunderstanding that drags on one episode too long, the second-lead you fall for against your will, the flashback that recontextualises everything. Webtoons run on the exact same rhythms. The only new skill is scrolling instead of pressing play. Honestly, the hardest part is remembering to look up from your phone.
These are the best webtoons to read if you love K-dramas — a mix of ones that became famous dramas you may have seen and ones that simply scratch the same itch. I've leaned toward titles that feel cinematic, because those are the ones that convert drama fans fastest. Start with whichever premise sounds most like a show you'd pick on a Friday night.
Totally up to you! Reading the webtoon first gives you the full story; watching the drama first means you already know the characters. Either way, you get to enjoy it twice. For the full list of adaptations, see Webtoons That Became Famous K-Dramas.
Why webtoons feel like K-dramas
It's not a coincidence that so many webtoons make such clean drama adaptations. The two forms basically grew up together. Webtoons are serialised — one chapter a week, each one ending on a small hook to bring you back — which is the exact engine that drives a 16-episode drama. The cliffhanger you feel at the end of a webtoon chapter is the same beat you feel before the credits roll on a Wednesday-night episode. When a studio options a popular webtoon, half the structural work is already done.
There's also a shared visual language. Webtoon artists frame moments the way a director would — a tight close-up on a trembling hand, a wide empty panel to let a silence breathe, a sudden colour shift when the mood turns. Reading a good one genuinely feels like watching, just at your own pace. So if you're a drama person, you're not learning a new hobby here so much as moving the same hobby to a different screen. The bonus is that webtoons can be weirder, darker, and longer than a TV budget allows — which is why the original is so often richer than the show.
The best webtoons for drama lovers
A girl who feels invisible masters the art of makeup and transforms into her school's "goddess" — while hiding her bare face from everyone, including the two boys falling for her. Funny, warm, and packed with the exact love-triangle tension K-drama fans live for. Became a hugely popular 2020 drama.
An ex-convict with an unbreakable moral code opens a little bar-restaurant in Seoul's Itaewon district, determined to take down the food empire that ruined his life. A gripping underdog revenge story about loyalty and ambition. The 2020 drama was a smash hit.
A hardworking university student gets entangled with a charming, wealthy senior who is not quite what he seems. A psychologically sharp campus romance with an undercurrent of unease — is he kind, or calculating? Adapted into a 2016 drama and film.
A narcissistic, impossibly handsome company heir panics when his perfect, long-suffering secretary finally announces she's quitting — and realises he can't function (or stop thinking about her) without her. The ultimate office rom-com. The 2018 drama was a phenomenon.
A young woman who was bullied for her looks gets plastic surgery before university — only to face a new kind of judgement. A thoughtful campus romance that takes on beauty standards and self-worth with real heart. Adapted into a 2018 drama.
A zombie outbreak traps a group of students inside their high school, where surviving means out-thinking both the infected and each other. Tense, brutal, and emotional. Became a global Netflix hit in 2022 — and the webtoon is the original source.
A withdrawn, grieving teenager is trapped in his apartment building as the world outside collapses — and the residents begin turning into monsters shaped by their deepest desires. Bleak, tense, and surprisingly humane underneath the horror. The Netflix adaptation was a global hit, but the webtoon is darker and goes places the show couldn't.
The everyday life and love of an ordinary office worker, narrated by the cartoon "cells" running her brain — the love cell, the anxiety cell, the hunger cell — all arguing over what she should do. It nails the comedy of overthinking every text and the quiet ache of adult relationships. Adapted into a charming live-action-and-animation drama.
Mysterious beings begin appearing to ordinary people to announce the exact time they'll be dragged to hell — and a fanatical religious movement rises to explain it. A chilling, intelligent story about fear, faith, and mob justice from the director of Train to Busan. The Netflix drama drew huge audiences; the webtoon is its sharp, unsettling source.
A boy enters a mysterious tower to chase the one person who ever mattered to him, facing a deadly test on every floor. One of the most famous Korean webtoons in the world — sprawling, inventive, and the title that arguably put webtoons on the global map. Adapted into a popular anime rather than a live-action drama, but it has that same epic, binge-it-for-weeks pull.
A woman goes on a blind date in her friend's place to scare the guy off — only to discover he's the CEO of the company she works for. A gleefully over-the-top office rom-com built on every contract-dating, secret-identity trope you love, played for maximum fun. The 2022 drama was a runaway Netflix favourite.
How to choose by mood
If you tell me what kind of drama you reach for, I can tell you where to start. Here's the cheat sheet.
- Love sweet, swoony rom-coms? → What's Wrong with Secretary Kim or Business Proposal.
- Live for slow-burn revenge and underdog stories? → Itaewon Class.
- Like a romance with a mystery or psychological edge? → Cheese in the Trap.
- Want romance that actually has something to say? → My ID is Gangnam Beauty.
- Into dark, high-stakes survival thrillers? → All of Us Are Dead, Sweet Home, or Hellbound.
- Want true-to-life, gently funny romance? → Yumi's Cells.
- Prefer big, epic fantasy worlds? → Tower of God.
Where to read these webtoons
The happy news for drama fans is that almost everything here is officially translated, because hit adaptations drive readers to the source. Most of these live on Webtoon (LINE Webtoon outside Korea) — free to start, and the obvious first app to download. Tapas carries a lot of the same catalogue. A few licensed or premium titles sit on Tappytoon, Lezhin, or KakaoPage, which lean toward paying per episode. KakaoPage in particular is where many series live first in Korea before an English release lands elsewhere.
As always, licensing shifts, so if something isn't where I said, search the title inside one or two of those apps before assuming it's gone. We break it all down in our guide to where to read webtoons in English.
Frequently asked questions
Will the webtoon spoil the drama for me, or vice versa? Usually it's less "spoiled" and more "experienced twice." Adaptations often change the ending, trim subplots, or add characters, so even if you know the broad shape, the details differ enough to stay interesting. If you're spoiler-sensitive, watch the drama first and read the webtoon for the extra story.
Are webtoon adaptations faithful to the original? It varies a lot. Some, like Itaewon Class, follow the webtoon closely. Others change major plot points or endings — sometimes because the writers wanted to, sometimes because a 16-episode show simply can't fit a 100-chapter comic. Half the fun for fans is arguing about which version did it better.
I've never read a comic in my life. Is this going to be confusing? No. Webtoons are about the easiest comics in the world to read — you just scroll down, top to bottom, and the art controls the pace for you. There are no pages to flip or panels to read in a tricky order. If you can scroll a social feed, you can read a webtoon.
Loved a specific drama? Try our Webtoon Finder AI tool — name the show and it'll point you to a webtoon you'll love. Or browse all our K-Drama guides.