Can This Love Be Translated? (Korean: 이 사랑 통역 되나요?, I Sarang Tongyeok Doenayo?) is a South Korean romantic comedy that premiered on Netflix on January 16, 2026. It runs 12 episodes and streams worldwide with subtitles and dubs in multiple languages. The script comes from the Hong Sisters (홍정은 Hong Jung-eun and 홍미란 Hong Mi-ran), the writing duo behind My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho and Hotel del Luna, with Yoo Young-eun (유영은) directing.
The Premise (No Big Spoilers)
Joo Ho-jin (주호진) is an interpreter who moves between English, Japanese and Italian without breaking a sweat, and the one rule he lives by is to disappear — to be the clear pane of glass that other people’s words pass through untouched. Then he draws an assignment that breaks the rule for him: Cha Mu-hee (차무희), a global top actress whose blunt, occasionally explosive remarks could set fire to her own public image at any moment. So he starts shaving the edges off her words as he translates, quietly editing what the rest of the world gets to hear.
That small professional betrayal is the whole show in miniature. If you spend your life rendering everyone else’s feelings into words, can you ever do the same for your own? The Hong Sisters play the irony for warmth and screwball comedy rather than melodrama, which is exactly where they’re strongest.
The Cast
Kim Seon-ho (김선호) plays Ho-jin as a man fluent in every language except the one his own heart is speaking — a controlled, low-key comic performance that runs deliberately counter to the warmth fans remember from Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha. Go Youn-jung (고윤정) is Cha Mu-hee, a superstar whose honesty is both her appeal and the thing constantly threatening to sink her. The human filter and the unfiltered star: that’s the engine.
Sota Fukushi (후쿠시 소타) makes his Korean-drama debut as Hiro Kurosawa, a Japanese figure who wanders into Mu-hee’s orbit. Choi Woo-sung (최우성) and Lee E-dam (이이담) fill out a supporting cast built around the entertainment-industry setting. Because the premise is multilingual, the actors keep sliding between Korean, Japanese, English and Italian, and a lot of the comedy lives in those switches.
Why It Matters
A fresh Hong Sisters script is reason enough for K-drama watchers to pay attention, and trading their usual fantasy gloss for a grounded, language-driven hook is a genuine swerve. Early reviews ran positive, mostly crediting the leads’ chemistry and the central metaphor; the show pulled strong opening Netflix numbers and trended across Asia. The caveat, if you want one: this is a gentle rom-com, not a plot-heavy thriller, so calibrate accordingly. For viewers outside Korea, the interpreter angle lands close to home — anyone who has ever softened a message before passing it along knows exactly what’s at stake.
Real Filming Locations to Visit
The drama’s Seoul is refreshingly walkable. Gamgodang-gil (감고당길) — the leafy lane stitching together Insadong, Bukchon and Samcheong-dong — turns up in several scenes and makes for an easy, photogenic stroll. The story also touches down at Haebangchon’s Sinheung Market (해방촌 신흥시장), a hillside pocket of indie cafes, and around Anguk Station (안국역), which backs a few of the early romance beats. The trend-forward streets of Seongsu-dong (성수동) show up as well. Couples have been making the trip out to Hwiwoo Coffee (휘우커피), a two-story cafe in Deokyang-gu, Goyang, that doubles as the pair’s late-night hideout. For a day trip, the series’ wider, quieter moments were filmed at the Buyeo National Museum (부여국립박물관) in Chungcheongnam-do, a low-key home for Baekje-era heritage.
What’s on the Table
Fittingly for a show this obsessed with crossing borders, its signature food moment isn’t Korean at all — it’s a steaming bowl of ramen (라멘) at a neighborhood shop, a recurring backdrop that suits the drama’s Korea-meets-Japan register. Recreating the mood at home is simple enough: a late-night noodle run is squarely in the spirit of Ho-jin and Mu-hee’s quieter scenes.
Bottom Line
For a smart, good-looking, emotionally generous rom-com with a clever hook and two very charming leads, Can This Love Be Translated? is an easy yes. Start it on Netflix, then sketch out a Bukchon-to-Haebangchon walk and translate the story into your own Seoul afternoon.
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