PUBLISHED ONJuly 22, 2026 10:39 AMBYKristy ChuaAdrenaline junkies, this one's for you.
The second season of Disney+ K-drama A Shop for Killers offers a buffet of fresh action ranging from scenes with ninjas, robots, wrestling, taekwondo and motorbike stunts.
South Korean actress Geum Han-nah, who plays S-class killer So Min-hye, even took on wire stunts and a motorbike licence for her role.
"I also did some fight scenes with choreography I learned from YouTube," said the 39-year-old at the press conference on July 20, which AsiaOne attended virtually.
Fans may recall that in season one, Min-hye only engaged in gunfights and close-quarters combat like knife-wielding and bare-knuckle fighting with her performance earning her the Best Supporting Actress trophy at 2024's Blue Dragon Series Awards.
In A Shop for Killers season one, college student Ji-an (Kim Hye-jun) learns of her uncle Jin-man's (Lee Dong-wook) apparent suicide. She takes over his online 'agricultural equipment' shopping mall Murthehelp but is soon attacked by unknown assassins. She realises the store is a dark web shop for weapons for professional criminals, with people attacking her to steal control.
At the end of the series, it's revealed Jin-man, a former mercenary, had faked his death.
A Shop for Killers 2 continues with Jin-man who becomes targeted by his former organisation Babylon after faking his death.
Joining Babylon in their pursuit are assassins from the organisation's East Asia Division.
Masaki Okada, 36, plays assassin J, who carries an air of risk but is also curious and "childish".
"My cast members taught me a lot about the fun of action scenes," shared the Japanese actor, who is working on a Korean production for the first time. "Action is not just movement - it's like a conversation. That's what I was able to learn every day."
Masaki, who has acted in Japanese films like Villain and Confessions (both 2010), revealed that this series marked his first time engaging in full-scale combat scenes and that it was a "great opportunity".
Hyunri, who was born in Japan and is of Korean descent, plays Q, a team leader and J's sister. The 39-year-old explained that she had to gain five kg of muscle mass across four to five months of training, while travelling back and forth between South Korea and Japan.
"The night before my first shoot, we had this rehearsal where I had such a great adrenaline rush that I couldn't get a single hour of sleep before going on set," said Hyunri. "But thankfully, it went well. The martial arts director told me that afterwards, you reach the point of no return...
"And it was true. Having experienced the action sequences, I realised there's that adrenaline and dopamine rush you can get only when you're doing these scenes. And if you ask me whether I'd do this again, I would - and I'd want to do more action pieces going forward."
She previously played supporting character Shion in the third season of hit J-drama series Alice in Borderland (2025), which also stars her husband Keita Machida.
Korean actress Jung Yun-ha plays Kusanagi, who heads Babylon's East Asia division and is lauded as a "grand mastermind" in the series.
"She's not fully Korean nor Japanese, nor does she fully belong to any of the organisations, so she's like an outcast," shared Yun-ha, 40. "She doesn't belong anywhere and that [lack of identity] feeds her will to fight. She wants to win so much and she has a great appetite, which makes her seem unstable."
Jo Han-sun returns as Babylon mercenary Bale, the series' main villain who, as shown in season one, formerly worked with Jin-man before being betrayed by him.
"In season one, he was curious and pursued whatever interested or intrigued him," said Han-sun, 45. "But he was humiliated by Jin-man, so that's who Jin-man is to him - someone who inflicted this deep wound on him... I'm a bit worried because it's so ruthless. I feel like I'm gonna get a lot of criticism again this season."
However, as the saying goes, "all press is good press". He added: "Everyone whom I came across said that I scared them and I got that a lot. Globally, I'm very much hated, so I think that's proof that our series is doing well."
After being caught in the crossfire in season one, Ji-an goes through rapid character development in the sequel.
Hye-jun, 31, spoke about her role's transformation following the "harsh" Murthehelp handover: "In season one, she was suddenly attacked, so she was busy just staying alive. But now she doesn't only stay attacked; she realises if that she does nothing, everyone around her will be hurt, so she retaliates."
She revealed that beyond her standard hand combat and muay thai scenes, she also worked with firearms in the new season.
According to Dong-wook, 44, Ji-an faces "emotional conflicts" with Jin-man as he figures out how to help her survive while carrying on with their normal lives.
Dong-wook added that with a little nephew in real life, he felt bad for being a "not so good uncle" especially since he's too young to watch the drama.
A Shop for Killers is rated for ages 19 and above in South Korea, and received a "severe" rating in the categories of Violence & Gore and Profanity on IMDB.
A Shop for Killers season two, also starring Kim Min and Lee Tae-young, premieres July 22 on Disney+.
[[nid:740813]]
No part of this article can be reproduced without permission from AsiaOne.
