‘Squid Game’ star Lee Byung-hun starts work on K-drama ‘The Koreans’ with Han Jimin

Production has commenced on The Koreans, a new K-drama inspired by the critically acclaimed FX series The Americans. The project brings together a high-profile cast and creative team, underscoring the continued global expansion of Korean-language storytelling.

The series stars Lee Byung-hun and Han Jimin as North Korean operatives living undercover in South Korea. The narrative follows a seemingly ordinary middle-class family concealing a dangerous secret, set against the backdrop of South Korea’s democratisation and rapid cultural transformation in the early 1990s.

Direction is helmed by Ahn Gil-ho, known for his work on The Glory. The screenplay has been adapted by Park Eun-kyo, based on the original concept created by Joe Weisberg and developed alongside Joel Fields.

The original series, starring Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys, earned widespread acclaim. It won the Golden Globe for Best Television Drama in 2019 and was named an AFI TV Program of the Year for five consecutive seasons.

Produced by Imaginus in collaboration with Studio AA, the series reinterprets the espionage narrative within a Korean socio-political context.

The Koreans will stream internationally on Disney+ and in the United States on Hulu. Release details are yet to be announced.