Disney+ will launch its Korean fantasy-romance series “The Remarried Empress” on November 4, following a world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival, the streamer announced this week.
The 10-episode series, based on a Naver Webtoon that has drawn nearly 3 billion views, stars Shin Min-a as Empress Navier and Ju Ji-hoon as Emperor Sovieshu. Lee Jong-suk plays Crown Prince Heinrey of a rival kingdom, and Lee Se-young plays Rashta, an escaped slave whose relationship with Sovieshu fractures the imperial marriage at the center of the story. Navier agrees to a divorce on one condition: that she be permitted to marry Heinrey, setting off a struggle for power and standing that ripples across two kingdoms.
Cho Su-won, who directed “Still 17” and “Pinocchio,” leads the production. Yeo Ji-na and Hyun Choong-yeol, the writing team behind “The Uncanny Counter,” adapted the webtoon for the screen. Disney has described the series as its most expensive Korean production to date, with filming spread across European palaces and other elaborate sets.
The show will have its world premiere in Busan’s On Screen section during the festival’s run from October 6 to 15, when three episodes totaling 151 minutes will screen ahead of the streaming release. The sidebar, launched in 2021 to give high-profile series a theatrical showcase before their platform debut, will also feature titles from Netflix this year. Once it reaches Disney+, “The Remarried Empress” will roll out four episodes on its premiere date, followed by two new installments each Wednesday through a November 25 finale.
The series adds to a growing slate of Korean originals on Disney+, joining titles such as “A Shop for Killers,” “Nine Puzzles” and “Tempest.” Streamers have leaned heavily into Korean drama production over the past several years, chasing the global audience appetite that titles like Netflix’s “Squid Game” helped build. Casting for “The Remarried Empress” was first confirmed in mid-2025, when producers signaled the project as a major bet on webtoon adaptations reaching international viewers through prestige festival exposure ahead of streaming.
