Top 10 K-Drama Performers Of 2025: Ju Ji-Hoon To Lee Jun-Ho; IU To Im Yoon-Ah - Who All Impressed?

Top 10 K-Drama Actors, Actresses Of 2025: The year 2025 was full of surprise performances in the K-drama land, some were shocking enough to leave a lasting impression on the audience even after the show

marked its finale. While several A-listers like Lee Min-Ho (When The Stars Gossip) and Lee Dong-Wook (The Divorce Insurance) failed to record a good viewership, it was the year of some breakout actors like Lee Chae Min (Bon Appétit, Your Majesty) too. Ensembles like The Trauma Code: Heroes On Call, Good Boy, and When Life Gives You Tangerines were lauded for great casting, solo leads like Hyper Knife and Dear X brought the female leads at the front.As we gear up to close 2025, here's looking back at the best performances of the year (male and female) to understand what the audience liked, and what they rejected.

Best K-Drama Actors Of 2025

(In no order of preference)

1. Ju Ji-Hoon (The Trauma Code: Heroes On Call)

As a doctor who has no qualms about calling out the entire hospital administration against internal politics and challenges inflicted upon his trauma team, Ji-Hoon has infused life into his role. His Baek Gang-Hyeok is not just an unapologetic and genius trauma surgeon, his background of being an ex-mercenary combat medic who gets the task of saving a Trauma Center at a hospital, is achieved only because of his one motto: save lives!

2. Park Hyung-Sik (Buried Hearts)

Hyung-Sik shed his boy next door image and turned revengful in this thriller. He's done everything that we haven't seen him do before. More than being powerful, he's intelligent and manipulative, and with that sly smile, Hyung-Sik defeats every challenge like no one else. Post this project, one will think twice before referring to Hyung-Sik as a charming actor. Forget Doctor Slump or Strong Girl Bong-Soon, he's conquered the dark genre.

3. Park Bo-Gum (Good Boy)

Bogum was part of When Life Gives You Tangerines, but it was Good Boy that left a lasting impact. As an Olympic boxing gold medallist, he is impulsive, funny, and a romantic. His second inning in the police department is both unexpected and emotional. Bogum has proved why he can bring different genres into a single project. And if nothing works, his smile is enough to bring ratings!

4. Lee Jun-Ho (Typhoon Family)

Junho's selection of projects post his military discharge seems to be well-crafted and well-thought-out. But as manicured as his character was in King The Land, he's a struggling CEO of a company his father left behind during the IMF crisis in South Korea. His flip from an impulsive, rich brat to a naive, inexperienced employee who knows no rules to save his Typhoon Trading and his family has ensured Junho wins hearts.

5. Ji Chang-Wook (The Manipulated)

Nobody does action like Chang-Wook. Here, he begins as a man who lived an ordinary life before getting falsely accused of committing a heinous crime, and sentenced to life, the agony he depicts proves his acting chops. From a simple man pleading for mercy to a man with a mission to catch and punish those who plotted to push him into imprisonment, we got action star Chang-Wook. Fans can sleep well!

Best K-Drama Actresses Of 2025

(In no order of preference)

1. IU (When Life Gives You Tangerines)

IU spoils her fans by picking the best acting projects, even if it means returning to the K-dramas after several years. After Hotel Del Luna (2019) and some movie projects in between (Broken, Dream) IU chose to play double roles of mother-daughter in When Life Gives You Tangerines, sweeping every possible acting award. When she cries, the world cries with her, when she smiles, the sun shines bright. That's the perfection of IU, who delivers the best, whenever she jumps on the screen from the stage. Next up is her highly anticipated show with Byeon Woo-Seok, Perfect Crown (Wife of a 21st Century Prince).

2. Kim You-Jung (Dear X)

Possibly the most shocking performance of the year, who would've thought the sweet, adorable You-Jung of My Demon would turn a psychopath who doesn't blink an eye before using men around her for her own good? She is solely responsible for holding the entire show on her shoulders, pushing it to the ranks of one of the best dramas of the year.

3. Im Yoon-Ah (Bon Appétit, Your Majesty)

Yoona is slowly turning into a versatile actress, and a perfect export from K-pop to K-drama. While she brings back her King The Land comic timing, Bon Appétit, Your Majesty has dollops of emotional turns to keep her acting talent highlighted. And her skills with the knife are more about brains than the hands. Yoona gave this show her best, and it is evident.

4. Park Bo-Young (Unwritten Seoul)

That Bo-Young is a trustworthy actress is known. And this one needed her in a double role or twin sisters who are as different as chalk and cheese. The actress needed no other route to prove why she's a strong contender for the best actress title this year. Bo-Young emotes through her eyes and ensures her chemistry with every co-star peaks. She plays two characters, both stuck in their job, dreams and expectations, and by individually living through their traumas and hardships. But she single-handedly lived the two characters, and how.ALSO READ: Top 10 K-Dramas Of 2025 Ranked! The Trauma Code, When Life Gives You Tangerines, Dear X, Bon Appetit Your Majesty - Who Won?

5. Park Eun-Bin (Hyper Knife)

Eun-Bin has barely smile in this show. She is full of pain, revenge and revenge. Her scalpel is her weapon of destruction. A shadow doctor who's a genius neurosurgeon, but when she kills, there's no remorse. Even if it meant avenging her once mentor who she worshipped.Which performance was your favourite? Let us know @TimesNow