Two Korean shows topped Netflix rankings over the weekend — “Beef,” created by Korean-American Lee Jung-jin and led by Korean-American actor Steven Yeun, and “Queenmaker,” helmed by performances from actors Kim Hee-ae and Moon So-ri.

“Beef,” a Netflix original about two Asian-Americans who get into a series of fights and revenge schemes against each other, ranked number three globally on the streaming service, according to aggregator FlixPatrol. Steven Yeun, known for his roles in the hit zombie series “The Walking Dead” and Oscar-nominated film “Minari,” plays one of the two protagonists, opposite comedian Ali Wong.

Yeun’s character Danny Cho, a downtrodden contractor, gets into a “beef” — a dispute — with Wong’s character Amy Lau, an entrepreneur, and chaos unfolds.

Released on Netflix on April 6, “Beef” shot to the top of global rankings and garnered critical acclaim, with multiple outlets calling the show one of the best of the year.

“Queenmaker,” about a corporate fixer who becomes disillusioned by the ethics of her work and teams up with a human rights lawyer to take down her former employers, ranked number one in Korea on Netflix and also shot to 21st place globally upon its release on Friday.

Veteran actor Kim Hee-ae, known for roles in hit dramas such as “My Husband’s Woman” (2007) and most recently “The World of the Married” (2020), plays the former corporate fixer Hwang Do-hee, while fellow veteran Moon So-ri plays Oh Kyung-sook, the lawyer who Do-hee catapults into the political scene.

“Queenmaker” currently has a 8.1 rating out of 10 on IMDb and shot to the top of rankings in just two days after its release.

Netflix announced a record number of Korean content at the beginning of the year, with 34 titles including films and original series. Over 60 percent of Netflix users watched at least one piece of Korean content last year, according to data from Netflix.



BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]