There are some but not many that are both free and unsubbed in English. Usually the new on-air dramas are all behind Vikipass. What you have to do is reach 3000 subs and become a QC (Qualified Contributor), after which Viki gives you a free Vikipass.
The best thing is to find older dramas which are free, and volunteer to do Korean captioning. You know, it’s useful for Learn Mode and of course for the viewers who are hard of hearing.
Many of the older dramas which are fully subbed in English are not yet captioned in Korean. Some of them also have, in the Team Notes, the link to the complete written scripts, which will make it easier for you, especially when the characters speak very softly, mumble or talk all together during an argument or with street/bar/noraebang noise. Of course the script and the actual dialogue being spoken are not always the same, as the actors or the director often change what’s written for various reasons, but still most of it is there.
So yes, I advise you to start with captioning, get to 3000 subs (the equivalent of three 1-hour episodes) and then you’ll be a free bird, ready to jump on every wagon.
If you don’t want to commit to captioning a long drama when your goal is just to reach the required sub number, then don’t go for dramas, go for films instead. Two films should be enough to do the trick. So go to “Explore”, filter by country: Korea and by type: movie, and see which ones are uncaptioned and free.
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