What Korean media is saying about The Remarried Empress

In the series, Emperor Sovieshu (Ju Ji-hoon) falls for Rashta (Lee Se-young), a runaway slave, and asks his perfect empress, Navier (Shin Min-a), for a divorce; she agrees on one condition, that she may remarry Prince Heinrey (Lee Jong-suk) of the Western Kingdom. It is directed by Cho Su-won from scripts by Yeoh Geena and Hyun Choong-yeol, and the supporting cast includes Lee Bong-ryun, Choi Dae-hoon, Jung Young-joo, Park Ho-san and Nam Yoon-ho.

The 3 November press conference at the Conrad Seoul brought director Cho Su-won and the four leads together.

Shin Min-a said the script format raised curiosity and concern, but the familiar-yet-new mix and the chance to play an empress drew her in.

Cho called tone the hardest job: the novel is more serious than the brighter webtoon, and he tried to stay faithful while finding a middle.

Ju Ji-hoon said he was still analysing romance fantasy; if viewers vented their anger at him and felt refreshed, he would count it a success.

Reporters feared that Korean actors in European names and dress could look like a re-enactment show, with Mysterious TV Surprise coming up again and again. At Busan on 9 October, Cho addressed the worry directly:

"조금 오글거리고 어색한 지점도 있는데, 보면서 이겨나가달라."

"There are a few cringe-making, awkward moments — please push through them."

(Cho Su-won, quoted by Xports News on 10 October 2026.)

He said he feared the original fans most and kept the four names deliberately.

Shin Min-a described Navier as a double role — the empress's weight and the woman choosing a new love — where sympathy would be won.

Ju Ji-hoon played Sovieshu as a man who would rewrite the law for Rashta; Cho praised his balance of charisma and jealous weakness.

Lee Jong-suk said the webtoon's extravagant descriptions made Heinrey's looks a burden; the bird "Queen" was built from his gestures.

Lee Se-young called Rashta a "lovable villain" you cannot quite hate and said she worked harder on her appearance than ever before.

Studio N CEO Kwon Mi-kyung said a Korean period would reduce the original's appeal, so the Western setting stayed. The imperial scenes were shot at Schleissheim Palace in Germany and in Czech gardens, with large sets in Korea; Cho said the palace let the characters "play". Costume sourcing became a story later.

Episodes 1–4 dropped on 3 November, a day early; 5–6 were due at 5 p.m. KST on 11 November, after this page was last checked.

• 14 April 2025 — Casting confirmed. Disney+ announced Shin Min-a, Ju Ji-hoon, Lee Jong-suk and Lee Se-young, with Cho directing, Yeoh Geena and Hyun Choong-yeol writing and Studio N producing.
• 19 June 2025 — Script reading made public. The first stills confirmed the Western names and setting would stay, with filming reportedly having begun in Prague; Disney+ confirmed a 2026 release.
• 13–15 November 2025 — First stills, first costume row. At Disney+'s Original Preview 2025, a still of Ju Ji-hoon wearing a medal-like decoration was compared online to a Nazi long-service medal. Studio N apologised for "a lapse in checking the costume props" and promised to replace the photos.
• 18–19 November 2025 — Help on the later shoot. My Daily reported that Shim Na-yeon assisted with the second half of the shoot; the production said she helped with part of the later filming. Credits still list Cho alone.
• 26 August 2026 — Date announced. Disney+ set 4 November and released the poster and trailer.
• 6–15 October 2026 — Busan International Film Festival. Selected for BIFF's On Screen section; its world premiere was 9 October, 18:40, at Lotte Cinema Centum City. BIFF lists 151 minutes, which Xports calls the first three episodes.
• 3 November 2026 — Premiere moved up a day. Disney+ moved the launch of episodes 1–4 to that day, after the sold-out Busan screenings. Cho said the decision came "thanks to the hot response" at the festival.
• 4–6 November 2026 — The look becomes the story. Viewers complained that Ju Ji-hoon's complexion looked unnaturally dark and that some of Shin Min-a's gowns looked like school-play costumes; one critic called it a tightrope walk between blockbuster and re-enactment.
• 9–10 November 2026 — The Temu necklace. New stills of Lee Se-young in a green gown with a black teardrop necklace led users to a similar "Vintage Teardrop Necklace" sold on Temu for about 2,000 won. The production said the piece was bought at a European vintage shop and had no connection to Temu.
• 11 November 2026 — Episodes 5–6. They were scheduled for 5 p.m. KST, with 7–8 on 18 November and 9–10 on 25 November.

Source material: the web novel has passed 160 million downloads, and the webtoon had 2.97 billion cumulative global views as of July 2026.

Before launch, the payoff trailer passed 13 million views in 48 hours, and the Busan screenings sold out.

Disney+'s claim is carefully worded. On 6 November it said the show was "the most viewed local original premiere of all time on Disney+ and Hulu globally", based on three days of views from launch, and the No. 1 Korean title premiere in 50+ markets. This is a platform metric, not a Nielsen rating, and "premiere" is narrower than "series".

Korean coverage often uses broader phrasing. Maeil Business Newspaper said the first four episodes, over three days, made it the most-watched Disney+ local original worldwide — again a platform figure, not independent.

On FlixPatrol, it was No. 1 in 12 countries on the Disney+ TV-show chart and No. 7 worldwide on 5 November; by the 6 November tally it was No. 2 worldwide and No. 1 in 33 countries.

Good Data Corporation's FUNdex ranked it No. 1 among TV and OTT dramas for 2–8 November, up from No. 9 in the pre-release week.

The takeaway: this is a performance story in Korea and on Disney+ charts, but Korean critics still disagree over whether the costumes, tone and Western setting cohere.

Stills and key art on this page come from official trailers, Disney+, Hulu and WEBTOON promotion, credited under each image. To have an image removed, email us (see the Contact page).

Korean-language coverage and Disney+ and BIFF official pages only. Disney+ figures are three-day platform counts, not Nielsen ratings. Full URLs are listed under Sources.