A Korean-language remake of the FX spy drama The Americans is in production at Disney+. The remake will be titled The Koreans and will relocate the story to Seoul in 1990. The central couple in the remake will be reimagined as North Korean agents embedded in South Korean society. The premise involves North Korean spies posing as ordinary citizens while working to undermine South Korea, with the series exploring themes of patriotism, loyalty, identity, and love as a counterintelligence agent investigates them.
The main cast includes Squid Game star Lee Byung Hun, who will lead the series as Kim Myung Jun, an elite operative who has lived undercover in South Korea for over a decade. Han Ji Min will play Yoon Hak Kyung, an agent who becomes Kim Myung Jun's wife as part of their cover. Lee Hee Joon will play an anti-espionage detective investigating the couple.
The creative team behind the series is directed by Ahn Gil Ho and written by Park Eun-kyo. The adaptation will follow a Korean production model, with the same writer and director overseeing the entire series.
The series is set in a period shortly after South Korea's transition to democratic governance after the June Democratic Uprising of 1987.
The series will be released in 2027, but details such as the episode count and distribution scope are still unclear.
The original series The Americans premiered in 2013 and ran for six seasons until 2018. It followed two deep-cover Soviet spies posing as an American married couple in suburban Washington, DC, during the Cold War.
The original series won the Golden Globe for best television series – drama in 2019 and was nominated for 18 Emmy Awards, winning four. According to Disney's head of international local originals, the adaptation's premise resonated due to similarities with the original and cultural relevance in Korea, with the Korean team's passion driving the project.