[In-Depth Look] The DNA of K-Drama, the Desire for Justice Implementation

Drama 'The Minds of Evil' Still Cut

Last year, K-dramas became one of the hottest pop culture products in the global market following the unprecedented phenomenon of Netflix's "Squid Game." What deserves close attention is the reason behind this popularity. Overseas media analyzing K-dramas unanimously focused on their social drama characteristics. For example, the global success of "Squid Game" is analyzed to be rooted in a worldwide consensus on the intensifying polarization issue, which has become a global concern.

In fact, most of the original Korean series introduced by Netflix, the gateway for K-drama's global expansion, reveal a critical awareness of unfair societies. This was true from the very first original Korean drama, "Kingdom." Praised for its innovative idea of transplanting the Western genre of zombie stories into the Joseon Dynasty setting, it was also highly regarded for projecting the grievances of the lower-class people under the caste system onto the zombies as the "other." Similarly, other original series that gained attention in the global market last year include "D.P.," which criticized the violence within a closed and hierarchical military organization, and "Hellbound," which depicted the tyranny of power groups that build their foundations by spreading indiscriminate hatred toward others.

However, looking back at the history of Korean dramas, these themes are not particularly new. Since the 1990s, after the democratization movement of the 1980s and the advent of freedom of expression, Korean dramas began to cover a wider range of topics, with many landmark works being social dramas. Representative examples include two dramas that are credited with significantly raising the qualitative standards of 1990s Korean dramas: "Eyes of Dawn (MBC, 1991)," which dealt with the issue of Japanese military "comfort women," and "Sandglass (SBS, 1995)," which portrayed the Gwangju Democratization Movement.

Drama 'Tracer' still cut

During the 2000s, when hastily planned products aimed at the Korean Wave flooded the market, masterpieces combining genre excellence and social criticism emerged, such as Kim Eun-hee's "Sign (SBS, 2011)" and Park Kyung-soo's "The Chaser (SBS, 2012)," bringing new vitality to the drama industry. Following the success of writers Kim Eun-hee and Park Kyung-soo, the theme of "realizing justice" to correct unfair realities became one of the most compelling topics in Korean dramas, and social expos? dramas became the mainstream genre. It is quite significant that Kim Eun-hee, one of the leading figures, moved to Netflix and introduced "Kingdom," which led the global K-drama craze.

In short, the global acclaim for the social nature of K-dramas is based on the tradition of social dramas in Korean drama history. The desire for justice remains strong in 2022 dramas as well. The year's first hot topic, "Tracer (MBC and Wavve joint broadcast)," tells the story of tracking down and punishing corrupt privileged classes, while the most anticipated work of the first half of the year, "Through the Darkness (SBS)," explores the motives of those at the pinnacle of evil. Other anticipated works such as "Juvenile Justice (Netflix)," which deals with juvenile crime and the social responsibility of the older generation, and "Military Prosecutor Doberman (tvN)," targeting deep-rooted corruption in military organizations, also contain socially critical elements. The active presence of these works will prove that K-dramas' unique sharp perspective on social realities is a valuable asset.

Kim Sun-young, Pop Culture Critic