Jisoo in a scene from Coupang Play's upcoming zombie drama "Newtopia" / Courtesy of Coupang Play

"Newtopia" director Yoon Sung-hyun speaks during a press conference in Seoul, Jan. 7. Yonhap

Yoon Sung-hyun, director of Coupang Play's upcoming zombie drama "Newtopia," expressed confidence that the series will appeal to international viewers, particularly those who prefer a lighter approach to the zombie genre, blending humor with horror.

"There are many international fans who are familiar with the lighter zombie genre. Like George Romero's zombie movies, our drama also has parts that show a narrative related to zombies with a lighter feel. I expect this work to be a nostalgic piece for global fans as it has many scenes reminiscent of zombie movies that mix humor and horror that I've seen in the 1980s," Yoon told reporters after a media preview event at a theater in Seoul, Monday.

"Newtopia" is an eight-part series that will be released on Korean streaming platform Coupang Play and available globally through Amazon's Prime Video, starting Friday.

The series follows Jae-yoon (Park Jeong-min), a soldier, and his girlfriend Young-joo (Jisoo), as they navigate a zombie-infested Seoul to find each other.

"I think this series has a lot of elements that overseas fans who like zombie movies will enjoy. There are many zombies without eyeballs or missing body parts and I think fans of traditional zombie series will like this part," the director said. "Of course, I also expect it to be a big draw for global fans who like Jisoo and Park Jeong-min."

He praised Jisoo, who is also a member of the K-pop group BLACKPINK, saying that the production could not have been completed without her.

"I felt lucky to work with Jisoo. I felt that the character of Young-joo could not have been done without her. There were points where she needed to express the character humorously, and Jisoo is a very humorous actress, so it was a good fit," the director said.

"There are also many physically challenging action scenes and I am very grateful that she silently handled those scenes well."

Actors Park Jeong-min, left, and Jisoo in a scene from Coupang Play's zombie drama "Newtopia" / Courtesy of Coupang Play

Coincidentally, the series includes scenes of a plane crash and a government declaration of martial law in the aftermath of a zombie outbreak, both of which are expected to draw attention due to its resemblance to recent events in Korea.

Regarding this, the director expressed his surprise at these parallels as the real-life events took place after post-production was completed.

"I was also surprised when martial law was actually declared after the editing was finished. I only faithfully delivered what was in the script," Yoon said. "I thought it was important to remain truthful and show the core scenes that are the beginning of the series, so I decided to keep those in."

To Korean and international viewers alike, Yoon asked them to focus on the unpredictable choices the characters make throughout the series.

"There are many unexpected parts about what choices the characters will make and how they will move forward, so there is a freshness about the characters. The zombies show the grotesque and slow-moving traits similar to vintage zombie films I saw in the 1970s and 1980s, different from the zombies of today," he said.