Lee Byung-hun, Han Ji-min, and Lee Hee-joon Confirmed for Disney+ ‘Koreans’… Spy Thriller Set in 1990s Seoul

Actors Lee Byung-hun and Han Ji-min, along with Lee Hee-joon, team up in Disney+’s large-scale original series 'Koreans'.

The story of a “disguised couple” infiltrating a Seoul apartment complex in the 1990s

On the 25th, Disney+ officially announced that it will release its new original series 'Koreans', starring Lee Byung-hun, Han Ji-min, and Lee Hee-joon, exclusively sometime next year. The series is a remake that reinterprets the acclaimed U.S. drama 'The Americans', which won the Best Television Drama award at the 76th Golden Globe Awards, through a uniquely Korean lens.

While the original focused on a Soviet spy couple operating inside the United States in the 1980s, 'Koreans' shifts the setting to an ordinary middle-class apartment complex in Seoul in the 1990s. It will portray, with depth and intensity, the beliefs and love of spies who blend into Korean society while hiding their identities, as well as the manhunt-like pursuit that tracks them down.

Lee Byung-hun and Han Ji-min’s meticulous disguises, and Lee Hee-joon’s sharp pursuit

Lee Byung-hun takes on the role of Kim Myung-jun, an elite North Korean spy entering his 10th year after settling in Korea. He is expected to depict, in depth, the character’s double life—living while meticulously laundering his identity. Han Ji-min plays Yoon Hwa-kyung, a North Korean spy who moves in by forming a precisely disguised couple with Kim Myung-jun. All eyes are on the tense couple chemistry the two actors will bring to the screen.

Meanwhile, Lee Hee-joon joins the cast as Cha Ki-seok, a detective from the anti-espionage/counterintelligence unit who moves in next door to the spy couple. The psychological warfare and pursuit unfolding behind the mask of being friendly neighbors is expected to maximize the show’s tension.

A meeting between “a master of genre stories” director Ahn Gil-ho and writer Park Eun-kyo

The production team is just as impressive. Director Ahn Gil-ho, who has proven his stylish and meticulous directing skills through works such as 'Stranger', 'The Glory', and 'Crash Landing on You: Memories of the Alhambra', will take the helm. The script is written by Park Eun-kyo, who has penned films such as 'Mother' and 'A Normal Family', and dramas including 'The Sea of Quiet', showcasing outstanding storytelling capabilities.