How Agent Kim Reactivated made its three-minute AI action sequence

What happened

SBS’s drama Agent Kim Reactivated premiered on 26 June 2026, and a roughly three-minute action sequence showing the lead character’s past was split across the first two episodes. Money Today reported on 9 July 2026 that the sequence was produced with AI, and that Morpheus Studio’s AI platform Aicron was used 100 percent for that production. Hankook Ilbo reported on 10 July that an AI platform developed by Korean VFX specialists — Aicron — was used throughout the same scene. VFX, or visual effects, are the computer-generated and composited images added to filmed footage.

Money Today described the sequence like this: set in North Korea, So Ji-sub’s character blows up a building, a car chase runs along snow-covered roads and through a tunnel, a vehicle overturns, a car crashes through a railing and sinks into a river in an underwater scene, and the vehicle is then salvaged.

Money Today wrote that this was the first case in Korea of a long sequence running to three minutes being produced entirely with AI, rather than cuts lasting only seconds. The Korea Herald reported on 10 July that the three-minute sequence in the first two episodes was produced entirely with AI by Morpheus Studio on its own text-to-video platform, Aicron, with no live-action footage.

On why that route was taken, Money Today reported that shooting the scene live would carry considerable production costs, including art department costs, outdoor location costs, special effects such as the explosion and VFX work including CG.

Ryu Jae-hwan is vice-president of Morpheus Studio, the company that handled the AI video production for this sequence on its own platform, Aicron. He told Hankook Ilbo that the greatest significance lay in completing a whole sequence with AI. He told The Korea Herald: “The significance lies in using AI to produce an entire story-critical sequence, instead of just editing a few seconds of VFX shots.”

Hong Sung-chang is the chief executive of Studio S. Speaking to Hankook Ilbo about the AI production, he said he thinks viewers will come to like it even more later on.

Why is it trending?

SBS News reported on 22 July 2026 that Agent Kim Reactivated took global number one in Netflix’s non-English TV show category for three consecutive weeks. The same report said it was number one in 19 countries in total, including Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and Peru, and entered the top 10 in 73 countries worldwide.

The figures also sit in Netflix’s weekly top 10 tallies. For the week of 29 June to 5 July 2026, Agent Kim Reactivated was number one in the non-English TV category with 10.5 million views, 44.1 million hours viewed and two weeks in the top 10. The week before, 22 to 28 June, it was third with 6.6 million views and one week in the top 10. For the week of 13 to 19 July it returned to number one with 8.2 million views, 72 million hours viewed and four weeks in the top 10.

Domestic television ratings are cited alongside those numbers. SBS News reported that episode 8 recorded 23.6 percent in the Seoul metropolitan area, 23.1 percent nationwide and a peak of 26.2 percent, based on Nielsen Korea figures — Nielsen Korea is the ratings measurement firm whose numbers Korean broadcasters quote. Yonhap News TV reported on 26 July 2026 that the finale rated 23.0 percent nationwide, adding that the drama passed 20 percent in only four episodes and hit a high of 23.1 percent with episode 8, placing it second among SBS Friday–Saturday dramas — the network’s weekend prime-time slot — of all time.

What you need to know

• The AI-produced section is a flashback sequence of about three minutes, split across episodes 1 and 2. Money Today reported that Morpheus Studio’s AI platform Aicron was used 100 percent for it.
• Money Today described the scene as a building explosion set in North Korea, a car chase on snow-covered roads and inside a tunnel, a vehicle overturning, an underwater shot of a car sinking into a river and the vehicle being salvaged.
• The Korea Herald reported that the sequence was made on Morpheus Studio’s text-to-video platform with no live-action footage.
• Money Today wrote that this was the first case in Korea of a long sequence running to three minutes being produced entirely with AI.
• SBS News reported, as of 22 July 2026, three consecutive weeks at global number one among Netflix’s non-English TV shows, number one in 19 countries and a top 10 placing in 73 countries.
• In Netflix’s top 10 tallies, views were 10.5 million for the week of 29 June to 5 July and 8.2 million for the week of 13 to 19 July.
• Yonhap News TV reported a finale rating of 23.0 percent nationwide and a high of 23.1 percent for episode 8.
• The series was planned as 10 episodes and premiered on 26 June 2026. SBS News wrote that episodes 9 and 10 were to air on 24 and 25 July at 9:50 p.m.