Entertainment, March 25: Production has officially started on The Koreans, a new Korean-language drama inspired by the acclaimed FX series The Americans, signalling the continued global expansion of Korean storytelling.
The series stars Lee Byung-hun and Han Jimin as North Korean operatives living undercover in South Korea, portraying a seemingly ordinary middle-class family hiding a dangerous secret. The storyline is set against the backdrop of South Korea’s democratisation and cultural transformation in the early 1990s, blending domestic drama with espionage tension.
Direction is led by Ahn Gil-ho, known for The Glory, while 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 FX series, featuring Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys, received widespread acclaim, winning the 2019 Golden Globe for Best Television Drama and earning recognition as an AFI TV Program of the Year for five consecutive seasons.
Produced by Imaginus in collaboration with Studio AA, The Koreans reinterprets the espionage narrative within a uniquely Korean socio-political context. The series is set to stream internationally on Disney+ and on Hulu in the United States, with release dates yet to be announced.
