SBS Drama Agent Kim Surges Past 20 Percent Ratings as AI Sequence Draws Attention

SBS’s Friday-Saturday drama Agent Kim has turned into one of the clearest breakout stories in Korean television this summer, passing the 20 percent ratings mark only four episodes into its run while also drawing new attention for its use of AI-generated video.

According to reports citing Nielsen Korea, the drama’s fourth episode recorded a nationwide rating of 21.6 percent. That made Agent Kim the first drama of the year to cross the 20 percent threshold, a level now considered unusually high in Korea’s fragmented TV and streaming market. The same reports noted that the series opened at 9.5 percent, rose to 15.7 percent for episode two, reached 18.8 percent for episode three, and then broke through with episode four.

The pace of that rise matters because it suggests the show is not only benefiting from a strong premiere or star casting. Viewers appear to be returning week by week, and the drama has also found traction on Netflix. Kyunghyang Shinmun reported that Agent Kim ranked No. 1 in Korea on the platform and topped Netflix’s global non-English TV chart for the week of June 29 to July 5, overtaking True Education.

A Father-Revenge Story Built For Impact

Agent Kim stars So Ji Sub as Kim, a seemingly ordinary savings-bank manager and father who has concealed a dangerous past. The character is described as a former North Korean operative who was later recruited by the South and lived as a double agent before trying to disappear into ordinary family life. When his daughter Min Ji goes missing, the identity he has suppressed returns to the surface.

The premise has familiar ingredients: a parent searching for a child, a hidden past, organized criminals, state secrets, and a hero capable of overwhelming force. What appears to be setting the drama apart is how directly it delivers those elements. Rather than slowing down for extended setup, the series emphasizes compact episodes of pursuit, punishment, and visual payoff.

Kyunghyang quoted an SBS official as saying that the show’s appeal lies partly in the sense that the protagonist will not lose, along with the pleasure of watching new action spaces unfold almost like stages in a quest. Cultural critic Kim Gyo Seok also pointed to the drama’s willingness to prioritize scene impact over additional plotting, an approach that fits audiences already accustomed to fast, high-impact clips and global action series.

The show’s emotional hook is just as important as its fight choreography. Kim is not framed only as an invincible former agent; he is also a father carrying regret over how he treated his daughter before her disappearance. The drama pairs him with other middle-aged father figures, including characters played by Choi Dae Hoon and Yoon Kyung Ho, turning the spectacle into a story about parental guilt, protection, and late-life resolve.

AI Sequence Adds A Production Talking Point

The ratings surge has now been joined by another talking point: the drama’s use of AI video. A TV Report article carried by Daum said the production used an approximately three-minute AI-generated sequence to portray Kim’s past as an operative. The sequence reportedly spans scenes such as explosions, a vehicle chase, an overturned car, underwater imagery, and close-up character moments.

The report described the sequence as a notable first for Korean drama production, emphasizing that it replaced material that would have been expensive to shoot in live action. It also said the work was handled by Morpheus Studio through its AI service Aicron, with VFX professionals building a pipeline for prompt-based and utility-assisted video creation.

For the industry, the significance is not simply that AI was used. Korean dramas have long relied on visual effects, stylized flashbacks, and digital environments. What makes the Agent Kim case notable is the scale and placement of the sequence inside a mainstream hit that is already attracting large domestic and global audiences. That turns a production experiment into something viewers and competitors can measure in real time.

The attention also arrives amid broader debate over AI in entertainment, where producers see possibilities for cost control and visual expansion while actors, artists, and technicians worry about credit, labor, and quality standards. In Agent Kim, the early discussion has focused less on replacement anxiety and more on whether the sequence helped the drama achieve a cinematic backstory without slowing its pace.

The series’ success points to a practical lesson for Korean broadcasters: traditional TV can still create event-level ratings when a show offers a clear hook, fast momentum, recognizable stars, and streaming availability. Agent Kim is not succeeding only because of AI, and it is not succeeding only because of action. Its breakout status comes from the overlap of an easily understood revenge story, a father-centered emotional engine, and production choices that make the show feel bigger than its schedule slot.

With its early episodes already setting ratings records for the year, the question now is whether Agent Kim can maintain momentum once the novelty of its premise and AI backstory fades. For now, it has given SBS a major summer hit and added a new case study to the conversation about how Korean dramas can compete across broadcast television, domestic streaming habits, and global platform charts at the same time.