Everything to Know About JISOO's 'Newtopia' Before the Feb. 7 Coupang Play Premiere

JISOO of BLACKPINK is set to make her most ambitious acting move yet when zombie survival drama "Newtopia" premieres on Coupang Play this Friday, February 7. The eight-episode series, which pairs JISOO with celebrated Korean actor Park Jung-min, arrives as the K-zombie genre is enjoying renewed global momentum — and as the BLACKPINK member charts her own identity beyond the group's decade-defining pop career. Pre-release surveys already place "Newtopia" at the top of Korea's OTT viewership intent rankings, ahead of competing entries from Netflix and TVING.

JISOO plays Kang Young-joo, a spirited engineering graduate who must navigate a zombie-overrun Seoul to reunite with her boyfriend, soldier Lee Jae-yun (Park Jung-min). It is a role that demands both physical comedy and genuine dramatic weight — a combination that makes "Newtopia" one of the more revealing tests of any K-pop idol-turned-actor this season.

From BLACKPINK Stage to Coupang Play's Flagship Drama

JISOO (Kim Ji-soo) has been a member of BLACKPINK since the group's 2016 YG Entertainment debut, contributing to one of K-pop's most consequential careers of the past decade. Her acting path began in earnest with the JTBC drama "Snowdrop" in late 2021, where she carried the lead role opposite Jung Hae-in through a controversial Cold War-era melodrama. Whatever the show's divisive reception, it confirmed that she was willing to take on demanding dramatic material — and that she had enough name recognition to headline a primetime network production.

"Newtopia" represents a significant escalation. Where "Snowdrop" was a sentimental melodrama with a slow narrative build, "Newtopia" is a genre hybrid — equal parts zombie survival thriller, romantic comedy, and absurdist action. Based on Han Sang-woon's novel "Influenza," the series was adapted by writers Han Jin-won ("The King's Affection") and Ji Ho-jin, with Yoon Sung-hyun directing. Yoon's previous feature "Time to Hunt" demonstrated a sharp command of genre tension and kinetic action — credentials well-suited to a story that asks its leads to sprint across zombie-infested Seoul for emotional payoff.

JISOO's characterization of Young-joo emphasizes physicality and humor. "I was drawn to Young-joo's charm from the start," she has said, "and I wanted to bring her to life. I hope audiences have as much fun watching her grow as I did playing her." The director confirmed the casting was instinctive: "Jisoo's spirit matched what I had imagined for Young-joo almost perfectly."

Inside 'Newtopia': Genre, Story, and What Makes It Different

The premise is deceptively simple: a soldier on active duty and his civilian girlfriend are separated when a mysterious virus transforms Seoul's population into zombies. Each must fight their way across the city to find the other. The drama's Korean nickname — "좀콤" (zombie comedy) — captures the tonal gamble: zombie genre mechanics deployed in the service of a love story, with JISOO armed with a golf club instead of a firearm and Park Jung-min navigating high-rise military installations overrun by the infected.

Park Jung-min brings formidable dramatic credibility to the pairing. Known for roles in "Deliver Us from Evil," "Smugglers," and "Start-Up," he has established himself as one of the more versatile actors of his generation, with a particular talent for balancing physical performance with emotional authenticity. His Jae-yun is described as a soldier who grows through his determination to reach Young-joo — the kind of character-through-action arc that Korean drama audiences respond to strongly.

The eight-episode format also marks a deliberate departure from the longer run times typical of Korean broadcast dramas. Coupang Play's streaming-native structure allows for tighter pacing, and the production team appears to have used that flexibility: the first look materials and trailers suggest a show more interested in momentum than slow-burn exposition. Pre-premiere audience surveys rated "Newtopia" first in both awareness and viewing intent among Korean OTT titles releasing in February's first week, ahead of Netflix's "Melo Movie" (Park Bo-young, Choi Woo-sik) and TVING's "The Scandal of Chunhwa."

The K-Zombie Genre's Ongoing Expansion

K-zombie content has traced a remarkable arc in global entertainment over the past decade. "Train to Busan" (2016) demonstrated that Korean filmmakers could execute high-concept zombie horror with mainstream appeal; Netflix's "Kingdom" (2019) brought the genre's visual intensity to episodic streaming and attracted a dedicated international audience; "All of Us Are Dead" (2022) pushed the formula into a high-school setting that resonated particularly strongly in Southeast Asia and the United States. Each successive production expanded what the genre could accommodate tonally and structurally.

"Newtopia" situates itself at the genre's most deliberately hybrid end: zombie survival as a romantic delivery mechanism. The approach is not without precedent in Korean cinema — the emotional register of Korean genre filmmaking has always been comfortable yoking extreme circumstances to sentimental narrative payoffs — but doing it in episodic streaming form with a K-pop idol as the female lead is a combination that positions the show at the intersection of multiple audience bases. For JISOO, whose existing fanbase spans music listeners across dozens of markets, "Newtopia" offers an entry point for viewers who might not have encountered Korean drama before.

What to Watch When 'Newtopia' Premieres

"Newtopia" premieres Friday, February 7, 2025 at 8 PM KST on Coupang Play. All eight episodes release on the platform's subscription service, which operates primarily in South Korea. The central questions heading into the premiere are straightforward: whether the genre blend holds together under real episode conditions, whether the chemistry between JISOO and Park Jung-min translates from stills and trailers to screen, and whether JISOO's Young-joo — specifically written to leverage her natural humor — will land with domestic audiences in the way the production team has anticipated. The pre-premiere momentum suggests the appetite is there. The show itself will determine whether the investment was warranted.