'The Zone: Survival Mission' ups the action by adding former fighter and dating show star

Disney+ reality game show “The Zone: Survival Mission” is back for its third season with a new cast lineup and its members facing the threats of a financial crisis and AI.

From left: Kim Dong-hyun, Kwon Yu-ri, Cho Hyo-jin, Kim Dong-jin, Yu Jae-seok and Dex at the press conference for the third season of ″The Zone: Survival Mission″ on Aug. 6 at the Conrad Seoul hotel in Yeouido, western Seoul. [WALT DISNEY COMPANY KOREA]

Disney+ reality game show “The Zone: Survival Mission” is back for its third season with a new cast lineup and its members facing the threats of a financial crisis and AI.

"The Zone: Survival Mission" began in 2022 with the concept of its cast members surviving virtual disaster scenarios. The first season saw the cast surviving large-scale apocalyptic scenarios threatening humanity, while the second season scaled down the situations, which were based on disasters that could happen in daily life.

"The show deals with real-life social issues, such as housing loans and AI,” said director Cho Hyo-jin at a press conference held at the Conrad Seoul hotel in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Tuesday. “We tried to keep those factors in mind so that the viewers could empathize more with the show.”

Also in attendance were four cast members — comedian Yu Jae-seok, singer-actor Kwon Yu-ri, entertainer Kim Dong-hyun and dating show “Single’s Inferno” (2022) star Dex — and co-director Kim Dong-jin.

The first episode of the show will feature 100 “clones” of Yu, under the pretense of an AI takeover. Another episode will show the cast members fighting to keep their housing loan from disappearing.

A still from the third season of Disney+ reality game show ″The Zone: Survival Mission″ [WALT DISNEY COMPANY KOREA]

“It was one of the most difficult film shoots I have done in my life,” said Yu about the episodes featuring the 100 look-alikes. The comedian added that the situation made him contemplate the fast pace of technological advancement in today’s society.

The new season also focused on more physical action compared to the previous seasons, according to Cho.

“We took care to ramp up the difficulty levels of the scenarios,” said Cho. “We made the cast undertake upgraded missions that we couldn’t pull off in the previous two seasons."

From left: Kim Dong-hyun, Kwon Yu-ri, Yu Jae-seok and Dex at the press conference for the third season of ″The Zone: Survival Mission″ on Aug. 6 at the Conrad Seoul hotel in Yeouido, western Seoul. [WALT DISNEY COMPANY KOREA]

The decision to make the scenarios physically difficult comes with the lineup change from the past two seasons. Actor Lee-Kwang Soo from the previous seasons is not showing up, with Kim and Dex filling in the empty slot. Both new cast members are known for being highly physically capable, with Kim being a retired UFC fighter and Dex being a former Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) soldier.

“To be honest, I thought the show would be easy, judging from the last two seasons,” said Dex. “It was not the case. The difficulty level spiked since it had me and Kim in mind, and I think it made the show that much more exciting.”

“It was fun watching the show as a viewer before,” said Kim. “But when I was the one doing it, it was so exhausting. We filmed with snow blowing in our face in the winter.”

A still from the third season of Disney+ reality game show ″The Zone: Survival Mission″ [WALT DISNEY COMPANY KOREA]

A still from the third season of Disney+ reality game show ″The Zone: Survival Mission″ [WALT DISNEY COMPANY KOREA]

While physicality takes an important role in the new season, the other cast members said the show's two new members showed off their wacky charms as well.

“Kim is really cute,” said Yu. “I have never seen someone run away faster than me,” talking about Kim’s demeanor during a scenario that involved an abandoned stadium where the cast had to fight ghosts.

“I always knew in my head that Kim was afraid of ghosts, but it was another thing to actually see him scared,” said Kwon. “He was cute, unlike his physical prowess.”

A still from the third season of Disney+ reality game show ″The Zone: Survival Mission″ [WALT DISNEY COMPANY KOREA]

A still from the third season of Disney+ reality game show ″The Zone: Survival Mission″ [WALT DISNEY COMPANY KOREA]

“It wasn’t a propped up set,” said Kim, saying the reality of the scenarios scared him. “We had to take a boat and go to an island somewhere. It was so real.”

“A lot of my ironclad image fell apart,” said Dex. The ex-UDT soldier said he didn’t have to act scared because the scenarios were very well put together and convincing.

The first three episodes of the third season of “The Zone: Survival Mission” will premiere on Wednesday on Disney+.

From left: Kim Dong-hyun, Kwon Yu-ri, Cho Hyo-jin, Kim Dong-jin, Yu Jae-seok and Dex at the press conference for the third season of ″The Zone: Survival Mission″ on Tuesday at the Conrad Seoul hotel in Yeouido, western Seoul. [WALT DISNEY COMPANY KOREA]

A still from the third season of Disney+ reality game show ″The Zone: Survival Mission″ [WALT DISNEY COMPANY KOREA]

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]