The Korean content industry in the 2020s has entered a phase of further internationalization with US streamers financing both films and series, while non-Korean actors are starring in Korean productions. Korean actors are also increasingly featuring in US content and international co-productions.  

Kim Tae-hee appeared in the US series Butterfly along with other local actors, the Disney series Tempest features an array of talent from both Korea and overseas including Gang Dong-won, Jun Ji-hyun, John Cho and Michael Gaston. Hope directed by Na Hong-jin brings together Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander. The film will be released in 2026.

This isn’t the only film that has an international cast – Don Lee (aka Ma Dong-seok) teams up with Colin Woodell, Ali Ahn, Abraham Popoola and others in Lee Sang-yong’s Pig Village set close to the US – Mexico border that also hit screens sometime in 2026. 

This is a new era of global productions for the Korean film and wider content industry with financing coming from Korea, the US and elsewhere. Casting, a central component when securing investment, is inevitably evolving with the industry.

This week we take a look at the casting of Korean actors in co-productions and non-Korean films beginning with Asako in Ruby Shoes (2000) before turning to English-language films (Snowpiercer (2013)), Okja (2017)), US films (Minari (2020)), Past Lives (2023)) and Southeast Asian Co-productions (Love Barista (2025)).

Japan-Korean Co-productions (Asako in Ruby Shoes)

With the global interest in Korean films, much attention is on the US, not least with Netflix financing much Korean content that was on display at the Busan International Film Festival. The streamer had a big presence at the event that included the Japan-Korean co-production series Romantics Anonymous (2025) that features Han Hyo-joo in a leading role alongside Japanese stars Shun Oguri and Yuri Nakamura.

Japan first became a major market for Korean cinema in the late 1990s and while exports to the country has fluctuated since then, it remains an important destination for both film and the wider content and entertainment industry. In recent years, there have been further signs of international co-productions. In 2021, CJ ENM signed a partnership deal with TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System).

 One of the early notable international co-productions between Japan and Korea was E J- Yong’s Asako in Ruby Shoes (2000) that stars Lee Jung-jae and Misato Tachibana. It follows a bored civil servant (Lee) who becomes obsessed with a webcam girl (Tachibana) and then decides to visit her.

 Lee Jung-jae is an actor who has adapted as the industry has grown both locally and internationally. He turned into a star after roles in the 1990s that included City of the Rising Sun (1999) and later appeared in Typhoon (2006), a blockbuster with international overseas locations. He was also in successful titles The Thieves (2012) and New World (2013) before becoming a global superstar following the unprecedented hit of Squid Game (2021) that gave him the opportunity to take a leading role in the Disney Series Star Wars: The Acolyte (2024). 

English-Language Films (Snowpiercer, Okja)

 Also a figure who has not only understood how the industry is evolving but where it is heading is Bong Joon Ho. This is reflected in his casting choices in Snowpiercer and Okja. These were not the first English-language Korean films featuring a non-Korean cast - Shim Hyung-rae’s Yonggari (1999) along with D-War (2007) came much earlier. But the international co-production Snowpiercer that was filmed in Prague did mark the first time such a high-profile cast (Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, Octavia Spencer, John Hurt) joined Korean actors (Song Kang-ho, Ko Ah-sung) that is now much more common in the industry in the post-Parasite (2019) era.

Snowpiercer is based on the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige and is set in a post-apocalyptic world after an experiment to reverse global warming goes horribly wrong forcing the last surviving inhabitants to board a train. It’s segregated by social class with the poor located in the rear of the train while those more affluent are in the front. A revolution begins to try and take over the engine. It was hugely successful in Korea selling over nine million tickets.

Okja was one of Netflix Korea’s first productions and Bong again approached casting in interesting ways combining local and international elements with Ahn Seo-hyun chosen as the lead, while Tilda Swinton returned playing an equally eccentric character. It also starred Paul Dano, Steven Yeun, Lily Collins and Byun Hee-bong who acted in several of Bong’s films (Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000), Memories of Murder (2003), The Host (2006)).

Okja centers on a genetically modified pig who is raised by girl (Ahn) and her grandfather (Byun) in rural Korea. The pig is taken back to the US where the company that created it headed by Miranda (Swinton) has plans to commodify it. The girl embarks on a rescue mission.  

U.S. films (Minari, Past Lives)

There have been Korean actors who have starred in US productions. Famously, Lee Byung-Hun took on supporting roles in G.I. Joe films, Red 2 (2013), Terminator Genisys (2015) and The Magnificent Seven (2016). Bae Doona was cast in Cloud Atlas (2012). Earlier Jung Ji-hoon (aka Rain) featured in Speed Racer (2008), and Jun Ji-hyun appeared in Blood: The Last Vampire (2009).  More recently Jeon Jong-Seo was in Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon (2021), while Choi Soo-Young and Jung Doo-Hong play small roles in Ballerina (2025).

More significantly, however, are the US films made by filmmakers from Korean descent focusing on the Korean and Asian diaspora in North America that feature Korean actors.

Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari featured veteran Korean performer Youn Yuh-Jung who made history winning Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film becoming the first Korean actor to win an academy award. This came one year after Parasite won Best Picture, and while none of the actors from the film were nominated it set the stage for what came later with Minari and also Past Livesthat was nominated for two Academy awards.

Youn Yuh-Jung wasn’t the only Korean actor in Minari, it also starred Han Ye-ri in a sizable role as the wife of a South Korean immigrant who moves to Arkansas to start a family business. Yoon plays his mother-in-law. Korean American actor Steven Yeun was cast as the lead and received an Academy Award Nomination for his leading role. He later won a Primetime Emmy Award for his role in the Netflix series Beef (2023) that also focuses on Korean diaspora. The second season will star Song Kang-ho and Youn Yuh-jung, while the cast also includes Carey Mulligan and Oscar Isaac.

Celine Song’s Past Lives would repeat the critical acclaim of Minari and both films premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.  The film follows the relationship between a Korean man (Teo Yoo) and a young woman (Greta Lee) who emigrated to Canada from Korea and then moves to New York. The film takes place over several time frames spanning 24 years.

What separates Past Lives from Minari is that CJ ENM was involved making it an international co-production between South Korea and the US. While the studio has been financing fewer Korean films, much like many other major players in the Korean film industry, it has been working on global projects such as the Save the Green Planet! (2003) remake Bugonia (2025).

Many of these projects feature Korean components like Past Lives that has an international cast including German Korean actor Teo Yoo who has been active in the Korean film and wider content industry for many years. He was nominated for a BAFTA for his role in Past Lives.

Southeast Asian Co-productions (Love Barista)

Along with territories like Japan, countries in Southeast Asia have been key markets for Korean content and IP. This is illustrated through the remakes of Korean films such as Sunny (2011) and Miss Granny (2014). Films including Train to Busan (2016) and Exhuma (2024) have performed strongly in many of these markets. Korean variety shows like Running Man (2010-present) have also been popular in the region.

Former Running Man star Lee Kwang-soo has teamed up with director Kim Sung-hoon (Confidential Assignment (2017)) and a cast of Vietnamese actors Hoang Ha, Duy Khanh, Cu Thi Tra for Love Barista (2025).  Fellow Korean actor Um Mun-suk also stars in the film that is to be released in Vietnam on October 3 before hitting screens in Korea later on this year.

The comedy will be distributed in Vietnam by CGV Cinemas Vietnam and is produced by Jerrygood Company that is headed by the former head of content at Plus M Entertainment, Lee Jung-se. The company recently produced the horror title The Cursed (2025) that was released on September 17 and has since sold close to 60,000 tickets.

Love Barista follows one of the biggest stars in Asia who dreams of going to Cannes but ends up getting stranded in Vietnam where he meets a young local woman who wants to become a barista.

Remakes of Korean films invariably feature a local cast, but this is an international co-production that encompasses both Korean and non-Korean actors as the Korean film and wider content industry embarks on more projects that are targeting markets outside Korea.  

Written by Jason Bechervaise

Edited by kofic