Low Life (TV series)


Low Life is a 2025 South Korean period drama television series written by and directed by Kang Yun-sung. The series stars an ensemble cast led by Ryu Seung-ryong, Yang Se-jong, and Im Soo-jung. It aired on Disney+ from July 16, to August 13, 2025.
WWW disneyplus.com/ko-kr/seri...

Plot

In 1323, a ship carrying 8,000 gold coins and 20,000 valuable Chinese ceramic pots sank in the Yellow Sea. Treasure hunters recovered many pots over the years, but the gold was never found. In the 1970s, small-time crooks Gwan-seok and his nephew Hee-dong serve time in prison, where they befriend an antique dealer named Song Gi-taek. Inside, they run a smuggling scheme, and after their release in 1977, Gi-taek offers them a deal: salvage the remaining ceramics near Sinan in exchange for substantial payment.
Gwan-seok discovers Gi-taek intends to underpay them and also plans to mix counterfeit ceramics with genuine ones to cheat Chairman Chun Hwang-sik of Heungbaek Industries, who wants the antiques to launder money while building a university. Gwan-seok forces Gi-taek to raise their payout, and Gi-taek introduces his nephew Na Dae-sik as supervisor, though he proves incompetent. Hwang-sik's wife, Yang Jung-sook, suspicious of the operation, sends her aide Im Jeon-chul to oversee it.
The group bases their operation in Mokpo with Gi-taek's contact, Mr. Ha Yeong-soo, and hires a captain, Hwang Tae-san, despite Gwan-seok's distrust of his police ties. As various factions—including the fraudster Professor Kim—compete for the treasure, Gwan-seok demands more money, forcing Gi-taek to order additional counterfeit pots. Jung-sook later reveals she knows Gi-taek's scam and will only pay high prices for real ceramics, weakening Gi-taek's profits. Meanwhile, she begins an affair with Hee-dong.
As Hwang-sik's health deteriorates, Jung-sook manipulates him into worsening his condition to seize his assets. During a salvage dive, a crew member suffers a collapsed lung and is later drowned by Gwan-seok and Tae-san to avoid sharing profits. Gi-taek, desperate after being cut out by Jung-sook, proposes a new deal, but tensions escalate.
The crew eventually uncovers the full shipwreck and retrieves a large haul of ceramics. During the chaotic struggle for control, Gwan-seok and Tae-san kill Jeon-chul, angering Jung-sook. She obtains Hwang-sik's seal, only to discover Heungbaek Industries is deeply in debt. After Hwang-sik unexpectedly recovers and exposes her theft, she suffers a miscarriage.
Song tricks Kim's gang into stealing counterfeit pots meant for Hwang-sik, but Kim survives an explosion that kills his men. Hee-dong betrays all sides, fleeing with most of the ceramics and the local girl he loves. Kim hunts down Gi-taek's remaining associates and kills them.
As Hwang-sik is arrested for corporate crimes, his first wife hires Gwan-seok to kill Jung-sook. Hee-dong meets Jung-sook, who proposes selling the remaining real pots and splitting the profits, but Gwan-seok intercepts them. At a cliff side confrontation, Jung-sook fights with the first wife, who falls to her death. A truck filled with pots falls over the cliff, seemingly killing Gwan-seok, and Jung-sook is later murdered by the first wife's surviving henchman.
A year later, Hee-dong lives quietly in Seoul. Gwan-seok, having survived and salvaged some ceramics, shares the profits with Hee-dong and resumes treasure hunting with a new crew.

Cast and characters

Main

Supporting

Others

  • Woo Mi-hwa as Madame Jang
  • as Jong-mal
  • Go Yoon as Manager Kang
  • as Manager Yoon
  • Kim Yong-seok as Bodyguard Kim
  • Kim Jin-yeon as Bodyguard Park
  • as a housemaid
  • Choi Hee-jin as Gwan-seok's wife
  • Kim Tae-yul as Gwan-seok's son
  • Kim Seo-heon as Gwan-seok's daughter
  • Ha Na-ri as Hee-dong's mother
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Special appearances

Production

In July 2023, it was reported that Ji Chang-wook and Ryu Seung-ryong were in talks to star as an uncle-nephew duo in a new adaptation of Yoon Tae-ho's webtoon. However, both actors' agencies clarified that the series was only one of several offers. Ji Chang-wook later declined the role in October 2023, and the production was delayed until 2024.
In late 2023, Yang Se-jong and Im Soo-jung were also reported to be joining the cast. A script reading took place on March 6, 2024. On April 15, 2024, Disney+ officially confirmed the production of Low Life and announced the cast lineup.

Release

It is scheduled to premiere on Disney+ on July 16, 2025, with the first three episodes released on June 16, followed by two episodes each Wednesday.