Disney+ has set 16 July 2025 for the launch of Low Life, rolling out the first three episodes of the 11-part drama on day one and dropping two new instalments every Wednesday until a two-episode finale on 13 August.
The period crime series, directed and co-written by The Outlaws filmmaker Kang Yoon-sung, adapts the webtoon by Misaeng creator Yoon Tae-ho and is set against the real-life 1977 rumour of an Imperial Chinese shipwreck off Korea’s Sinan coast. Disney’s synopsis teases “everyday Koreans struggling to survive” who are lured to the sea by hidden treasure.
Ryu Seung-ryong leads as small-time grifter Oh Gwan-seok, joined by Yang Se-jong as his nephew Hee-dong and Im Soo-jung as hard-nosed industrialist Yang Jeong-suk, with veteran actors Kim Eui-sung and Kim Sung-oh among the supporting cast.
Newly released stills show Ryu in wide-collared 1970s garb, staring down a desk “with the intense gaze of a man who will stop at nothing for money,” according to promotional notes. A teaser trailer posted on 23 June offers a first look at the retro harbour setting and hints at violent rivalries as “bumpkins blinded by greed” converge on the wreck site.
Low Life arrives as Disney+ doubles down on Korean originals following last year’s breakout Moving. “Korean original content is not only important in Korea but also in the global market… investment will gradually increase,” Walt Disney Company Korea managing director Kim So-youn told reporters.
At a May “Open House” event, local content chief Choi Yeon-woo hailed Korean storytelling’s “universal reach” and placed Low Life alongside tent-pole thriller Tempest in the streamer’s second-half slate. Industry trackers note that Korean titles filled nine of Disney+’s 15 most-watched non-US shows in 2023–24, reinforcing the platform’s push for diverse Asia-Pacific output.
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For Kang Yoon-sung, whose gritty style propelled Disney+ hit Big Bet, the new series offers what fan site Dramabeans calls “a den of scam artists and criminals” racing for treasure. Whether Low Life can replicate the global momentum of its predecessors will be clear when the “smell of money”—as the show’s poster proclaims—rises from Korean waters next month.
