'The Classroom' Joins Squid Game in Netflix's All-Time Top 10 Non-English Shows

The Classroom has done something only three other Korean titles have ever managed: cracked Netflix's all-time top 10 non-English shows. Eight weeks after its release, the series logged 60.2 million views, landing at No. 10 on the platform's all-time non-English rankings.

The leaderboard's top three spots belong entirely to Squid Game, seasons 1, 2, and 3, in that order. The Classroom is the first Korean title to break into the list since the Squid Game franchise locked down those positions, and only the fourth Korean entry ever.

The numbers held up well into the back half of its run. During the week of July 20–26, the show pulled 2.3 million views and charted in the top 10 across 37 countries, still sitting at No. 7 among non-English titles globally for that period.

Starring Kim Mu-yeol and Lee Sung-min, The Classroom is adapted from a webtoon of the same name. It centers on a fictional government agency called the Education Rights Protection Bureau, a unit created to confront a public school system in freefall: students, teachers, and parents all crossing lines, and an institution that can no longer hold them accountable. The bureau's approach is decidedly extralegal.

That setup turned out to be exactly what international audiences wanted. The show blends dark satire of real problems in South Korean public education with over-the-top action sequences and an ensemble cast that includes Jin Ki-joo and Pyo Ji-hoon alongside the two leads. It debuted at No. 1 globally in its first week and held the top spot for four consecutive weeks.

The Classroom wasn't alone in Korean content's strong showing this week. Four other Korean titles also charted in the global top 10 non-English shows for the July 20–26 period: Donggung at No. 2, Director Kim at No. 3, Creepy Romance at No. 5, and Apartment at No. 8. Five Korean titles in a single week's top 10 is the kind of number Netflix's content strategy team doesn't need to spin.