Son Hyun-joo's Your Honor Proves Its Second Life on Netflix With a #2 Chart Finish

Your Honor landed on Netflix on the 20th with its full episode run, and within a single day it had already cracked Korea's Top 10 series chart. By the 25th, just five days after its streaming debut, the show had climbed all the way to #2, a remarkable chart run for a drama that concluded its original broadcast nearly two years ago.

The legal thriller originally aired on ENA and Genie TV from August 12 to September 10, 2024, adapted from the 2017 Israeli series Kvodo. Son Hyun-joo plays Song Pan-ho, a respected judge who begins dismantling his own principles to protect his son Song Ho-young (Kim Do-hoon) after the young man causes a hit-and-run accident. Kim Myung-min plays the head of a crime organization whose own son was killed in the incident, and Heo Nam-joon takes on the role of his second son, a setup that puts two fathers on a collision course across the law's fault lines.

A show that couldn't quite reach everyone the first time

During its initial run, Your Honor built genuine word-of-mouth momentum. It launched with a 1.7% viewership rating in its first episode and climbed steadily, closing at over 6% by the finale, a substantial rise driven by strong performances and a tight narrative. But one persistent frustration for viewers was that the show was locked to Genie TV as an original, and Studio Genie made clear at the time that no other OTT distribution was planned. For a lot of people who wanted to watch, the access just wasn't there.

That changed when Netflix picked it up. The platform's reach appears to have unlocked the audience the show always had waiting for it. On the 25th, Your Honor sat at #2 on Netflix's daily Korea Top 10 series chart, behind only tvN's Ossakan Yeonae in first place.

Oossakan Yeonae finishes on top

Ossakan Yeonae, the tvN Saturday-Sunday drama starring Park Eun-bin and Yang Se-jong, ended its 12-episode run on the 23rd on its own high note. The finale recorded a 7.9% viewership rating by Nielsen Korea's paid platform national standard, the show's best figure across its entire run, which it had been building toward from a 3.0% premiere.

That climb came despite stiff competition from weekend dramas across all three major broadcasters. SBS's Kim Bujang, MBC's Yubunya Killer, and KBS 2TV's Gyeolhonui Wansong all occupied the same Saturday-Sunday slot, making the sustained upward trajectory a real statement about the show's hold on its audience.

The buzz charts reflected that momentum. For the week of August 17 to 23, GoodData Corporation's FUNdex ranked Ossakan Yeonae first in both the integrated TV-OTT drama popularity category and the TV drama category alone, the first time the show had reached that top spot since its premiere on July 18. Park Eun-bin, who had claimed the top individual performer ranking in week one before dipping to third in week two, came roaring back to finish first. Her co-lead Yang Se-jong jumped from fourth to second. Gong Hyo-jin (Yubunya Killer) rounded out the top three in the performer rankings.

The broader chart for integrated TV-OTT drama buzz placed Yubunya Killer at second, Killer's Shopping Mall Season 2 at third, SBS's Jaebeol X Hyungsa 2 at fourth, and Choeae-ui Sawon at fifth. Incoming shows Four Hands (tvN) and Neo Malgo Dareun Yeonae (KBS 2TV) had already entered the TV drama buzz chart at eighth and ninth respectively, signaling early anticipation ahead of their premieres.