THE MARQUEE
Disney+ has officially commenced production on The Koreans, a high-stakes reimagining of the award-winning FX series The Americans. The new spy thriller stars Squid Game standout Lee Byung-hun and Han Ji-min as elite North Korean operatives living undercover in South Korea. According to a press statement from Disney+, the series is slated for a 2027 release internationally and will stream on Hulu in the United States.
Set against the backdrop of South Korea’s rapid democratization and cultural shift in the early 1990s, the drama follows a seemingly ordinary middle-class couple, Myung-joon (Lee) and Hwa-kyung (Han). While they appear to be unremarkable parents to their neighbors and children, they are secretly working to destabilize the South from within. The series is being produced by IMAGINUS and Studio AA, the production houses behind the upcoming series Tempest.
The project features a powerhouse creative team, with director Ahn Gil-ho (The Glory) at the helm and a script adapted by screenwriter Park Eun-kyo (The Silent Sea). Actor Lee Hee-joon has also joined the cast as production officially goes on floors this week. Disney executive Carol Choi highlighted the project's potential, noting that the unique history of the divided Korean peninsula provides a culturally relevant lens for the espionage premise originally created by Joe Weisberg.
