The hit SBS drama Agent Kim Reactivated has achieved something no other Korean television series has done before. The show used artificial intelligence to create a complete three-minute action sequence. This marks the first time a Korean drama has broadcast an entire scene made with AI technology, with no live-action footage involved.
Production company Morpheus Studio confirmed the milestone on Thursday. The AI sequence appears in the first two episodes of the series. It shows the backstory of the main character, Manager Kim, played by So Ji-sub. The scene takes viewers inside a covert mission in North Korea during his years as a black-ops agent.
What the AI Sequence Shows
The three-minute action scene is packed with intense moments. Viewers see building explosions, high-speed car chases on snow-covered roads, vehicle crashes, and a car plunging into a river. The sequence also includes gunfights, hand-to-hand combat, and close-up shots of characters.
What makes this scene different is that So Ji-sub did not actually perform any of these actions. The production team did not use stunt doubles either. Instead, they created a “digital double” of the actor using AI technology. The character’s face, body movements, and fight choreography were all generated by artificial intelligence.
Many viewers could not tell the difference between the AI-generated footage and real filming. The technology maintained a high level of character consistency throughout the entire sequence. This has been a major challenge for AI video generation in the past, where faces often looked unstable or movements appeared unnatural.
How the Production Team Made It Happen
The AI sequence was created using AICRON, an AI platform developed by Korean visual effects specialists. Morpheus Studio handled the entire production. The studio used its proprietary system to generate video directly from text prompts within a single production interface.
Ryu Jae-hwan, vice president of Morpheus Studio and a VFX supervisor with film credits including “1947 Boston,” “Swing Kids,” and “Flu,” explained the significance of this achievement.
“The biggest significance is that we didn’t simply replace a few seconds of visual effects with AI. We completed an entire story sequence essential to the narrative using AI. Manager Kim was conceived from the planning stage with a clear purpose for incorporating AI. It demonstrates the potential for AI to become a new production tool that brings creators’ imagination to life.”
According to Ryu, the production team had a clear vision to use AI from the very beginning. This made it possible to produce a high-quality AI sequence. He described it as a strong example of how AI can become both a creative tool and an excellent partner for creators with strong ideas.
Hong Sung-chang, CEO of Studio S, also spoke about the company’s AI initiatives at SBS’s Drama Media Day earlier this year. He said the team is planning to use artificial intelligence in upcoming projects.
“We have incorporated AI extensively into upcoming productions. Viewers will be informed through on-screen captions whenever AI is used. Reducing production costs is certainly one advantage, but the greater significance lies in proving that it can be done. I believe audiences will come to appreciate it even more over time.”
Why the Team Chose AI for This Scene
The production team had good reasons for using AI instead of traditional filming methods. Creating this action sequence the old-fashioned way would have required a massive budget. The team would have needed overseas location shoots, large-scale set construction, pyrotechnics, practical special effects, and extensive visual effects work.
Using AI technology significantly reduced these costs. The sequence would have otherwise required expensive sets and complex visual effects. Morpheus Studio noted that this project demonstrates how far Korea’s AI technology has come, now capable of producing commercial-quality video.
Safety was another important factor. Dangerous action scenes involving explosions, falls, or high-speed crashes always carry risks of serious injury, even when professional stunt performers are involved. AI-generated stunt doubles can eliminate much of that physical danger. This allows veteran actors to take on physically demanding action roles without putting excessive strain on their bodies. They can focus more on character development, emotional performances, and dialogue rather than performing dangerous stunts.
The Series Has Become a Massive Hit
Agent Kim Reactivated premiered on June 26, 2026. It airs on SBS every Friday and Saturday at 9:50 PM Korea time. The series is also available for streaming on Netflix worldwide.
The show has achieved remarkable ratings. According to Nielsen Korea, the sixth episode recorded a nationwide rating of 22.3%. The first episode started at 9.5%. It broke the 20% barrier in just four episodes, hitting 21.6% with a peak of 25.1%. This marks the shortest time for an SBS Saturday-Sunday drama to reach 20% since tvN’s “Queen of Tears” in 2024.
In the past five years, only “Penthouse 2” (29.2% in 2021), “Reborn Rich” (26.9% in 2022), and “Taxi Driver 2” (21.8% in 2023) have surpassed this ratings threshold.
The series has also dominated Netflix’s global charts. It topped the platform’s non-English TV chart, accumulating 10.5 million views during the latest tracking week. It became the most-watched show in the category in 11 countries, including South Korea, Indonesia, and Bolivia. The show reached the top 10 in 68 other countries.
What the Series Is About
Agent Kim Reactivated is based on the popular webtoon “Manager Kim” by writer Toy and illustrator Jeong Jong-taek. The story follows a seemingly ordinary office worker named Mr. Kim, played by So Ji-sub. He does his best to raise his rebellious teenage daughter, Kim Min-ji, after the tragic death of his wife years ago.
Mr. Kim avoids confrontation and backs off when local thugs bother him. But when his daughter goes missing after standing up to bullies at school, he discovers a worrying trail of evidence pointing to a kidnapping. Under his unassuming exterior lie the black-op skills of a former spy. He resumes his role as Agent Kim to rescue his daughter.
The story takes darker turns as Kim’s friends are revealed to be undercover agents. His neighbor and co-worker have secrets of their own. His past in North Korea comes to light through the AI-generated flashback sequence.
The Cast
The main cast of Agent Kim Reactivated includes several well-known actors:
- So Ji-sub as Agent Kim / Manager Kim
- Choi Dae-hoon as Sung Han-soo
- Yoon Kyung-ho as Park Jin-cheol
- Joo Sang-wook as Ju Gang-chan
- Son Na-eun as Jung Sang-a
- Seo Su-min as Kim Min-ji
The supporting cast also includes Kim Sung Kyu, Lee Jae Yong, Won Hyun Joon, Park Jin Woo, Jo Bok Rae, Lee Dong Ha, and Yoo Ji An.
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A New Chapter for Korean Television
The use of AI in Agent Kim Reactivated represents a major shift for Korean drama production. The entire AI sequence was created using technology developed in South Korea. Morpheus Studio emphasized that it is meaningful that the entire sequence was produced using Korean-developed technology alone.
Morpheus Studio plans to continue advancing AICRON into an AI platform that can be widely used in commercial content production. The success of this project shows that AI can be successfully used in TV production. Hong Sung-chang assured that viewers will always know when the team uses AI for scenes, showing they are transparent about the technology’s usage.
Industry experts consider this the first time in South Korean commercial television history that an entire scene has been created using AI generation. Previous uses of AI in dramas were limited to small visual effects or background enhancements. This project proves that AI can handle complete dramatic sequences while maintaining action and emotional storytelling.
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