Disney+ has begun production on “The Koreans,” a reimagining of the acclaimed FX series “The Americans,” with Lee Byung-hun and Han Jimin set to star as North Korean spies living undercover in South Korea.
Set against the wave of democratization and cultural modernization that swept through South Korea in the early 1990s, the series centers on a middle-class family concealing a treasonous secret. Though appearing to be ordinary citizens to their friends, neighbors and even their own children, both parents are in fact elite North Korean operatives working to destabilize the South from within. The series will track the pair as they are pulled between allegiance to their homeland, their sense of self and their bonds as a family, while a relentless Korean counterintelligence agent edges closer to exposing them.
Lee Byung-hun, known for “Squid Game” and “No Other Choice,” and Han Jimin, of “Heavenly Ever After” and “Love Scout,” lead the cast. Ahn Gilho, whose credits include “The Glory” and “Memories of the Alhambra,” directs. The series is produced by Imaginus, behind “Tempest,” “Typhoon Family” and “Can This Love be Translated?,” alongside Studio AA, a co-producer on “Tempest.”
The screenplay is adapted by Park Eunkyo, known for “Made in Korea” and “Mother,” from the original FX series created by Joe Weisberg and showrun by Weisberg and Joel Fields, which starred Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys. The original series took home the Golden Globe for best drama in 2019 and earned AFI TV Program of the Year honors in each of its first five seasons, from 2014 to 2018.
“The Koreans” will release exclusively on Disney+ internationally and on Hulu in the U.S..
The announcement positions the series as the latest addition to Disney+’s expanding Korean content slate, which currently includes “Made in Korea,” “Tempest” and “The Tyrant.” The streamer also has several further Korean originals in the pipeline, among them “Perfect Crown” starring IU and Byeon Wooseok, “Portraits of Delusion” (working title) with Suzy and Kim Seonho, and “The Remarried Empress” starring Shin Mina, Ju Jihoon, Lee Jongsuk and Lee Seyoung, as well as second seasons of “A Shop for Killers” and “Made in Korea.”
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