Hyun Bin & Jung Woosung

In the second episode of the popular Disney+ Hulu Korean drama series, Made in Korea, a young investigator compliments her handsome boss, Jang Geon-young (Jung Woosung), for resembling the leading French actor of the 70s, Alain Delon. She then notices KCIA agent Baek Ki-tae’s (Hyun Bin) dashing good looks, and calls him Delon. Clearly offended by her comment, Geon-young responds, “Just how many Alain Delons do you see exactly?”

It's hard not to admire Hyun Bin and Jung Woosung's charming and gallant good looks. As part of South Korea's entertainment elite, Hyun Bin and Jung have been considered heartthrobs throughout their careers. When they appeared on Zoom from Seoul for the interview, they looked suave and stylish, a reminder of their star power for this generation of leading men, just like Delon back in the day.

Hyun Bin and Jung chuckle when asked who they consider to be most like Delon. Hyun Bin gives his answer by holding his hand up to present his co-star. Jung smiles shyly.  “You can choose,” he says through an interpreter, laughing. “That’s something we never thought about.”

Made in Korea, which premiered on December 24th, is a political crime thriller set in the turbulent 1970s, at the height of Korea’s drug crackdown. Hyun Bin plays Ki-tae, an ambitious KCIA agent leading a double life as a drug smuggler who clashes with Jung’s character, a wildly tenacious prosecutor determined to expose government corruption and take down Ki-tae. The two go head-to-head throughout the series, with the season finale set to release this week. Yet it won’t be the end of their story: Disney+ and Hulu announced a second season before the show’s premiere, which proved to be the right choice as it became the No. 1 show among Disney+ Top 10 TV shows in Korea and peaked at No. 2 globally.

Though Jung did a brief cameo in the 2024’s Harbin, in which Hyun Bin played the lead role, Made in Korea marks their first official project together. The actors were acquainted before filming and expressed their excitement and anticipation at working together.

“I had a lot of high hopes,” says Jung. “I was really excited. I was quite nervous about it too. There was this sense of newness, unfamiliarity, fear, and also excitement in wondering what kind of Baek Ki-tae that Hyun Bin was going to bring on set. It really helps me as both an actor and as my character. It also builds up the tension between the two characters, as I, as an actor observing actor Hyun Bin, become in sync with how my character observes Baek Ki-tae. It’s conducive to building our character dynamics.”

As serious actors in their craft, Hyun Bin and Jung built a “positive discomfort” with each other on set to maintain the tension between their characters. Jung shares, “It all starts with the character Baek Ki-tae that Hyun Bin portrays and brings to the screen, and being able to watch that as his scene partner was very enjoyable.”

There was no hostility between the two actors at all. After intense, emotionally charged scenes, they shared several fond late-night dinners, celebrating the day's work. “When you come out of a scene that’s really emotionally intense and a lot of heavy tension, there’s a level of ecstasy and sense of release that you feel after you wrap up,” Jung explains. “It may not be playfulness that you feel, but something that’s so rewarding and satisfying about it.”

Hyun Bin agrees, “Woosung is the type of actor who brings a lot of ideas to the moment during filming, and that enriches all of the scenes that we worked on together. As a scene partner, having someone with so many different ideas and being able to react to them is a lot of fun. It really adds a lot more to the scenes that we shared.”

Though Hyun Bin has played a villain once before, most of his work has been rooted in portraying morally heroic characters. His most notable roles, such as Crash Landing on You, Secret Garden, My Lovely Sam Soon, and the Confidential Assignment films, cast him as the leading, virtuous hero. In this series, Baek Ki-tae is an intense, morally corrupt character who would do anything for his family, including bribery, trickery, and murder.

Hyun Bin doesn't believe the character is a villain—but definitely isn't the hero of the story. Baek Ki-tae is just a man who loves his country, navigating the times and doing whatever it takes to protect himself and his family from any disadvantages or harm in society. “I approach the character thinking he is a good man,” he says. “His ways aren't right. However, if you think about how he was raised—his history and upbringing—it’s his way of living. He truly feels he’s doing these things for the country, and strongly believes this is the only way to protect his family. He is someone who is unwavering in his beliefs, albeit his ways may not have been the most ideal.”

As the story progresses, Hyun Bin does admit that as Baek Ki-tae gains more power and influence, it may be difficult for him to let it go, potentially corrupting him even more.“He gets to experience and get a sense of even greater and more intense sweetness of it all,” he adds. “That could lead to other ways of his personal emotions getting in the way and being thrown in the mix. That’s going to be an even more entertaining and intriguing factor for the audience.”

While preparing for the show, Director Woo Min-ho recommended that Hyun Bin watch the British television series, Peaky Blinders, for inspiration. He likened Baek Ki-tae to the main character, Tommy Shelby, who rose to power in the criminal underworld to survive. “When we were preparing this work with the director, I watched Peaky Blinders,” Hyun Bin admits. “It’s somewhat similar. There are some differences.”

On the other end of that spectrum, there’s no denying Geon-young’s place in the story as he’s determined to rid the drug trade and any forms of criminality. His backstory follows the typical hero’s journey, using the tragedy of his father’s drug addiction as fuel to seek justice in crimes related to it. “Geon-young harbors a sense of denial towards his father’s downfall and his father’s poor state in his final years,” says Jung. “He wants to deny his father’s very existence. Consequently, Geon-young places greater emphasis on social significance. He centers his identity on social justice, which he must uphold as a prosecutor. It’s part of his duty.”

When the two characters first meet, their chemistry is apparent: opposing forces trying to bring each other down. Hyun Bin credits the characters’ shared common ground as the source of their tense connection—both have traumatic childhoods, but chose different paths. “Both Geon-young and Baek Ki-tae developed certain beliefs and thoughts from their childhood pain and inadequacies,” he says. “Now, working in different power institutions, they clash. Both characters are rationalizing each other, and within that rationalization and clashing of different approaches, their chemistry emerges.”

As the characters continue to interact, the tension becomes so thick, you could cut it with a knife. One could compare Ki-tae and Geon-young’s energy to Sherlock Holmes and his archnemesis, Moriarty, or X-Men’s Professor Xavier and his relationship with Magneto. “When these two characters meet and clash, a third party might think it’s understandable because their relationship creates room for it,” says Jung. “One might think, ‘That choice could be justified.’ Baek Ki-tae and Jang Geon-young have completely opposite spectrums regarding their goals.”

Made in Korea is not just your typical thriller about opposing sides – good versus evil, it boldly inserts these characters and storylines into South Korea’s historical events. The first episode has Bae Ki-tae involved in the real-life Japan Airlines Flight 351 hijacking of 1970, where he was key in tricking the Japanese Red Army Faction into believing they landed in their destination of North Korea, when they actually landed in South Korea.

The team behind the series wanted to be as authentic as possible while honoring the legacy that makes South Korea fascinating. It was the biggest appeal for both actors, seeing how historical events transform the fictional story. Hyun Bin says, “Fiction is blended with actual events to create an entirely new story. Within that, the characters meet, clash, and the narrative unfolds. I think the viewers will find that aspect really enjoyable.”

Though the season concludes this week with the final confrontation between Ki-tae and Geon-young, viewers won’t have to wait for more as the second season is set to premiere in the latter half of 2026. Hyun Bin promises the next season will be “much deeper and broader,” with Jung revealing that it’s “even more intense.”

Though the two remain tight-lipped about the finale and the second season, they ponder the last question: Which side would succeed? Will good prevail over evil? Do nice guys like Geon-young actually finish last? “Do the good people survive?” Jung reflects, ruminating on his character’s journey. “Reality isn’t like that, though. Reality seems more like God is constantly experimenting on humans.” Hyun Bin adds, “It would be nice if the world became one where good people survive. Of course, society has its different points, but I still think we should strive towards that.”