Highlights
- Agent Kim: Reactivated has become the first Korean live-action series to feature a fully AI-generated story sequence.
- The three-minute flashback sequence was generated using Morpheus Studio’s AICRON platform.
- Producers used the AI-generated segment to recreate large-scale action scenes that would have required expensive sets, visual effects, and practical explosions.
Netflix's Agent Kim: Reactivated has become the first Korean live-action series to run a story sequence made entirely with artificial intelligence, according to AI production company Morpheus Studio. The AI-generated three-minute flashback appears across episodes one and two and shows lead actor So Ji-sub’s character Kim’s past.
According to the production team, the segment was generated using AICRON, an AI video generation platform that generates video sequences from text prompts. Morpheus Studio launched the platform in February 2026.
AI Moves Into Storytelling With Agent Kim Reactivated
The K-Drama's three-minute clip features Agent Kim’s past as a black-ops officer across North Korea. The primary reason for using an AI-generated sequence in Agent Kim: Reactivated was to bypass expansive sets, real-life explosions, and heavy visual effects work that the sequence would otherwise have required.
Agent Kim: Reactivated premiered on SBS on June 26 and is also streaming globally on Netflix. Earlier in 2026, SBS subsidiary Studio S CEO Hong Sung-chang disclosed the company’s usage of AI in upcoming productions. He also noted that the initiative is taken to cut down the production budget generally required for adapting action-heavy webtoons into live-action series or cinema.
Morpheus Studio Vice President Ryu Jae-hwan, who has supervised VFX in movies like 1947 Boston and Flu, oversaw the AI-generated production at the studio. The studio also highlighted that the clip was “produced using Korean-developed technology alone,” to note its significance.
“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,” Ryu stated further.
Adapted from the popular webtoon Manager Kim, the action thriller follows a former elite officer whose quiet life as a single father is disrupted after his daughter, Minji, disappears. The series debuted with a 9.5% rating, marking the highest premiere rating for any miniseries in 2026, as per Nielsen Korea. The series goes on to become the fastest SBS Friday–Saturday K-Drama to cross 20% rating by July 4.
Netflix earlier used generative AI to build a building-collapse scene for the Argentine series The Eternaut, among others. The move was described as roughly 10 times faster than conventional visual effects.
For now, Morpheus Studio and Studio S are framing the Agent Kim sequence as a proof of concept that AI can be used within expensive live-action production without compromising the quality and can cut down on production budget significantly.
