Disney+ has begun production on “The Koreas,” a reimagining of the acclaimed FX series “The Americans,” which will star Lee Byung-hun and Han Ji-min as North Korean spies living secretly in South Korea.
Set during the wave of democracy and cultural modernization that swept through South Korea in the early 1990s, the series centers on a middle-class family hiding a rebellious secret. Although they appear to be ordinary citizens to their friends, neighbors, and even their own children, their parents are actually elite North Korean operatives working to destabilize South Korea from within. The series follows the pair as they are torn between loyalty to their homeland, sense of self, and family ties as a ruthless South Korean counterintelligence agent seeks to expose them.
Lee Byung-hun, known for “Squid Game” and “No Other Choice,” and Han Ji-min, known for “Heavenly Ever After” and “Love Scout,” will star. The director is Ahn Gil-ho, who is known for films such as “The Glory” and “Memories of the Alhambra.” The series is produced by Imaginus, which produced The Tempest, Typhoon Family, and Can This Love be Translate?, and Studio AA, co-producer of Tempest.
The screenplay is an adaptation by Park Eun-kyo of Made in Korea and Mother fame, from the original FX series created by Joe Weisberg, showrun by Weisberg and Joel Fields, and starring Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys. The original series won the Golden Globe Award 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 Koreas” will be distributed exclusively on Disney+ overseas and Hulu in the United States.
The announcement positions the series as the latest in a growing line of Korean content on Disney+, which currently includes “Made in Korea,” “The Tempest,” “Tyrant,” and more. The streamer also has several more Korean originals scheduled, including “The Perfect Crown” starring IU and Byun Woo-seok, “Portrait of a Delusion” (tentative title) starring Suzy and Kim Sun-ho, “The Empress” starring Shin Min-ah, Ju Ji-hoon, Lee Jong-seok, and Lee Se-young, as well as second seasons of “Story for Murderers” and “Made in Korea.”
