Ju Ji Hoon’s The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call beats Squid Game 2 to become Netflix's 2nd most-watched show on Jan 29

The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call took advantage of the 2025 Lunar New Year holidays, emerging as the top K-drama on Netflix.

By Peuli Bakshi

Updated on Jan 30, 2025 | 02:35 PM IST | 149.7K

The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call's poster: courtesy of Netflix

The South Korean medical drama The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call achieved swift global success, entering the list of the Top 10 Netflix TV shows in 77 countries. Premiering on January 24, 2025, it secured the No. 2 spot on the list just five days later. On January 29, it became the highest-ranked K-drama on Netflix.

The record was previously held by Lee Jun Jae's Squid Game Season 2. Even on January 28, The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call was in the third spot on Netflix's worldwide TV show ranking list, following Squid Game Season 2, but the medical show surpassed it a day later. It started gaining attention right after its release, debuting in the top 5 of the most-watched Netflix TV show list just two days after its release.

It reached #1 in countries like South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Vietnam at that time and is still dominating the watchlist in South Korea. Following the massive success of The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call, it might be renewed for two more seasons. The writer of the web novel Severe Trauma Center, on which the drama is based, revealed on January 29 that Season 2 of the show might be released if the drama continues to perform well. Writer Lee Nak Jun also mentioned that the show was created to span three seasons.

Watch its trailer here:

The story follows a war-seasoned doctor, Ju Ji Hoon, as he transforms his hospital team into an elite group of trauma specialists and life-savers. His professionalism and dynamics with his fellow doctors make it a gripping watch. As reported on Netflix's Tudum website, The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call garnered an impressive 4.7 million viewing hours between January 20–26, 2025, securing third place in the global non-English TV shows category just three days post-release.

The show also cracked the Top 10 charts in 26 countries, including Chile, Peru, Romania, Singapore, the Philippines, and several others. Writer Lee Nak Jun assured fans that the actors will continue to deliver compelling content in the upcoming seasons of the show.