In 2010 Jung returned to the small screen after 15 years' absence in the big-budget spy series "", playing an NTS (National Anti-Terror Service) agent. "Athena" was a spin-off to the 2009 highly successful KBS2 drama "IRIS". With a budget of (), the series was shot on location in Italy, New Zealand, Japan and the United States. The aired in SBS channel, and its pilot episodes gathered 22.8% of the audience share. Jung and another actor were injured during filming in January 2011, causing a week's postponement of one of "Athena's" episodes. The series was also edited into a two-hour movie version, and released in 2011 as "Athena: The Movie".