Last year saw the epic conclusion to one of Netflix’s most popular titles, Money Heist, as well as a surge in popularity for South Korean dramas across the world. If only there was some way to capitalise on both events… enter Money Heist: Korea.
Inspired by the Spanish-language phenomenon, this brand new series will shift focus to the Korea and imagines a near-future in which the North and South have unified to form a so-called ‘Joint Economic Area’.
Intended to enrich the lives of ordinary people on both sides, it has instead only benefitted an elite class of super-rich people, whose success has made life even harder for those less fortunate.
That’s what motivates a ragtag team of robbers to plot a mind-blowing heist of the JEA, with their objective to get away with an eye-watering ₩4 trillion (which roughly equates to more than £2.5 billion).
Money Heist creator Alex Pina is an executive producer on this fresh take, which features new versions of beloved characters including The Professor, Tokyo and Berlin, the last of which is to be played by Squid Game‘s Park Hae-soo.
Read on for more details about Money Heist: Korea on Netflix.
Money Heist: Korea release date
Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area will be available to stream on Netflix from Friday 24th June 2022.
The first season consists of 12 episodes, each of which is expected to run for about an hour in length.
Money Heist: Korea cast
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The characters in Money Heist: Korea will be instantly familiar to those who have seen the original series, although an entirely new cast has been drafted to breathe new life into them.
As was the case the first time around, criminal mastermind The Professor and his protege Tokyo will be key players in the story, played here by Yoo Ji-tae (Oldboy) and Jeon Jong-seo (Burning) respectively.
The Professor’s unpredictable right-hand man Berlin, who proved so popular in the Spanish version that he earned his own spin-off, is portrayed in the Korean version by none other than Squid Game star Park Hae-soo (pictured above).
The roles of father-and-son duo Moscow and Denver have been passed onto Lee Won-jong and Kim ji-hoon respectively, while Korea’s Next Top Model presenter Jang Yoon-ju plays wild card Nairobi and Lee Hyun-woo is baby-faced hacker Rio.
Kim Ji-hun and Lee Kyu-ho play muscle-for-hire Helsinki and Oslo, two characters who were Serbian in the original series, but their nationality has been changed to Chinese for this remake.
Besides the gang itself, the Money Heist: Korea cast also includes Yunjin Kim (Mistresses) as police negotiator Seon woo-jin, Park Myung-hoon (Parasite) as Mint director Cho Young-min, and Lee Joo-bin as his colleague Yoon Mi-seon.
Money Heist: Korea plot – Is it a remake of the original?
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Yes! There was some confusion when the series was first announced, with some fans thinking that it would be an all-new story set in the same universe as the original series.
However, it is apparent from the recent trailers that the show is actually an adaptation of the Spanish version, featuring the same characters and certain events from source material.
For more details on the Money Heist: Korea characters – and how they relate to the original Spanish line-up – check out the Netflix featurette below:
Money Heist: Korea – Joint International Area trailer
In June 2022, Netflix dropped the first full-length trailer for Money Heist: Korea, which sets up the daring heist in-store for viewers this season. Watch below.
Previously, a teaser trailer had been released which sets up the high-concept premise, in which a terrible war in Korea ends with the re-unification of the North and the South of the country.
Money Heist: Korea – Joint International Area is available to stream on Friday 24th June 2022. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.
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