Undercover Miss Hong

The review

Undercover Miss Hong is one of the more enjoyable Korean dramas of 2026 because it understands how to make a serious investigation entertaining. Set in late-1990s Seoul, it follows Hong Keum-bo, an elite financial supervisor who goes undercover as a much younger junior employee at a securities company where suspicious money is moving around. Her mission becomes more difficult when the company’s new CEO turns out to be someone from her past.

The retro office setting is more than surface decoration. It gives the series its colour, awkward workplace hierarchies and a strong comic rhythm, while the financial-corruption plot gives each episode a reason to keep moving. Park Shin-hye is very good as Keum-bo: controlled, observant and capable, but never so perfect that the undercover identity becomes boring. The comedy comes from watching a highly skilled adult navigate a role that requires her to appear inexperienced.

Ko Kyung-pyo makes a good match for the show’s lighter side, and the relationship between the two leads adds tension without taking over the central story. The supporting office characters are also useful rather than merely decorative. They create the kind of messy workplace energy that makes the investigation feel lived in. Most importantly, the drama does not forget that Keum-bo is pursuing wrongdoing with real consequences, so the mystery still carries weight.

Undercover Miss Hong is a 4 out of 5 recommendation from Raaga. It is not trying to reinvent undercover dramas, but it delivers a polished version of them with enough warmth, humour and suspense to make the episodes fly by. Viewers who want a grim financial thriller may find it too playful, but anyone looking for a clever K-drama with an excellent female lead should put it near the top of their list. Yes, Raaga would rewatch it.