Over a Third of Korea's Netflix Top 10 Charts Nowhere Else. Only Japan Keeps More to Itself.
K-dramas travel, but Korea's own Netflix chart is full of shows that don't. Over the past year 37.5% of its TV Top 10 places went to titles in no other country's Top 10, second of 93 countries. The middle country: 0.8%.
Korean series are some of Netflix’s most exported shows. This month “Take Charge of My Heart” reached the Top 10 in 64 countries and “Doctor X: Mafia in White” in 48.
Korea’s own Netflix chart tells a different story. In the week ending 18 October, half of its ten most-watched series appeared in no other country’s Top 10 at all.
A year of Korea’s chart
Netflix publishes a weekly Top 10 for each of 93 countries. Over the past 52 weeks Korea’s TV chart had 520 places. 195 of them, 37.5%, were held by a title that charted in no other country that week.
Among the 93 countries, only Japan keeps more of its chart to itself.
| Country | Share of TV Top 10 places that charted nowhere else |
|---|---|
| Japan | 49.4% |
| South Korea | 37.5% |
| Thailand | 25.6% |
| Turkey | 20.6% |
| Indonesia | 20.2% |
| Taiwan | 15.0% |
| United States | 7.7% |
| United Kingdom | 1.5% |
| France | 1.0% |
| Median of 93 countries | 0.8% |
In most countries almost every show in the Top 10 is also in someone else’s. In Korea more than a third are not.
What only Korea watches
The title that spent the most weeks in Korea’s chart and nowhere else is “I am Solo,” a long-running dating show: 14 weeks. Its spin-off “I’m SOLO, Love goes on” had 8, and “Match to Marry: With Parents” 9. Scripted series appear too, among them “The Dream Life of Mr. Kim” (8 weeks) and “Taxi Driver” (7).
The week ending 18 October shows both sides of Korean television on one chart:
| Rank in Korea | Title | Countries’ Top 10s that week |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Doctor X: Mafia in White | 48 |
| 2 | 100 Days of Deception | 22 |
| 3 | I am Solo | 1 |
| 4 | Take Charge of My Heart | 64 |
| 5 | The Ballad of Us | 1 |
| 6 | Marriage of Convenience | 1 |
| 7 | The Wonder Coach | 1 |
| 8 | Below | 92 |
| 9 | Kian’s Bizarre B&B | 1 |
| 10 | The Apothecary Diaries | 8 |
What this does and does not say
The count is about what each country watched, not where a show was made. Netflix’s file does not say where a title comes from, so a Korea-only entry is simply one that no other country put in its Top 10 that week.
Read that way, the pattern is clear. The Korean shows that travel are a small, visible part of what Korea itself watches. Most countries’ Netflix charts are shared with the rest of the world. Japan’s and Korea’s are, to a large extent, their own.
Netflix Tudum Top 10 official per-country file, TV, 52 weeks ending 18 October 2026, 93 countries, downloaded 23 October 2026.
Where these numbers come from
Sources
- Netflix Tudum Top 10 — Official per-country weekly Top 10 file, TV category, 52 weeks from the week ending 26 Oct 2025 to the week ending 18 Oct 2026, 93 countries. Downloaded 23 October 2026. · https://www.netflix.com/tudum/top10
What we checked
- South Korea, 52 weeks: 520 TV Top 10 places, 195 held by a title that appeared in no other country's TV Top 10 that same week — 37.5%.
- Highest shares among 93 countries: Japan 49.4%, South Korea 37.5%, Thailand 25.6%, Turkey 20.6%, Indonesia 20.2%, Taiwan 15.0%. The median country: 0.8%. United Kingdom 1.5%, France 1.0%, Germany 1.7%, United States 7.7%, Mexico 4.2%.
- Korea-only titles with the most weeks: I am Solo 14, My Secretary 9, Match to Marry: With Parents 9, I'm SOLO, Love goes on 8, We Are All Trying Here 8, The Dream Life of Mr. Kim 8, Taxi Driver 7.
- Week ending 18 Oct 2026, Korea's TV Top 10: five of ten titles charted in Korea only (I am Solo, The Ballad of Us, Marriage of Convenience, The Wonder Coach, Kian's Bizarre B&B). Doctor X: Mafia in White was in 48 countries, Take Charge of My Heart 64, Below 92.
What we left out, and why
- Where each title was made. Netflix's file has no country-of-production field, so this counts what each country watched, not what it produced.
- Hours or views — the per-country file gives ranks only.
- Why some markets keep more to themselves. Language, local broadcast partnerships and how many local titles Netflix licenses all plausibly matter; none were tested.
Written from the same data
If you work in this business
Everything on this page is measured from the same weekly Netflix lists, per market and per title. We publish the pages free; what we sell is the same measurement cut to one company's catalogue.
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