If you have been missing watching the Frontman of Squid Game, there’s good news, as Disney+ has added Lee Byung Hun to the cast of their upcoming series The Koreans. Alongside him, viewers will also see Han Ji Min and Lee Hee Joon in the main cast.
The Koreans is a fresh take on The Americans, an FX series created by Joseph Weisberg. Also known as Koreans and Korieonjeu, the upcoming Disney+ series is being directed by Ahn Gil Ho, famous for Genie, Make A Wish, The Glory, and Record of Youth.
While the complete cast of The Koreans has yet to be announced, Variety has already confirmed the main cast of the Korean drama. Lee Byung Hun, famous for Squid Game, has also worked in many famous hit dramas like Mr. Sunshine and Our Blues. Joining the cast is Han Ji Min, who recently appeared in The Practical Guide to Love and worked with Lee Byung Hun on the drama Our Blues in the past. Viewers will also see Lee Hee Joon in the main cast. Joon also has two projects lined up for this year that include The Scarecrow and Dead-End Job.
Lee Byung Hun, Han Ji Min, and Lee Hee Joon join The Koreans
In The Koreans, Lee Byung Hun will appear in the role of Kim Myeong Jun, Han Ji Min will play the role of Yun Hwa Gyeong, and Lee Hee Joon will play the role of Cha Gi Seok. The drama follows the story of a normal-looking middle-class family living in South Korea in the early 1990s.
The family includes Kim Myeong Jun and Yun Hwa Gyeong, who appear to be a regular married couple, but their husband-and-wife life is just a cover, as they are actually North Korean spies living in the South. While they seem like regular people to everyone around them, they are secretly working to create disruption in the country. They are soon targeted by a detective, Cha Gi Seok, who wants to reveal the truth.
The synopsis of The Koreans, as reported by Variety, reads:
“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.”
Speaking of the series, Eric Schrier, president of Disney Television Studios, said in a reported statement by The Hollywood Reporter:
“The similarities of the two premises — North Koreans embedded in the South, instead of Russians spying in 1980s America — started to make sense to me. But it was really the passion of our Korean team that got me excited — and I could see that, because Korea is still divided, this could be a very culturally relevant story for the local audience, which is always the primary priority for our local original content.”
While the release date of the drama hasn’t been confirmed yet, it is speculated to be released sometime next year. Additionally, the production house has also not confirmed the total number of episodes in the drama. Based on the Korean drama format, it is expected to be somewhere between ten and sixteen.
Once released, it will be available on Disney+ and Hulu to stream.
Follow Soap Central to stay updated with more details.
Edited by Vatsala Chauhan