The Glory Part 2, Released on Netflix on the 10th
Jung Soon-shin Case, School Violence Issue as a Social Topic
"Cheering for Dong-eun's Revenge to Succeed"
The life story of Moon Dong-eun, who made Park Yeon-jin her life goal. A brutal yet emotionally immersive school violence revenge drama. The drama that sparked various speculations about its ending...
'The Glory Part 2' will be released worldwide on Netflix on the 10th. Moon Dong-eun (actress Song Hye-kyo), whose body and mind were trampled by her high school classmate Park Yeon-jin (actress Im Ji-yeon) and her friends, becomes a teacher and begins a grand strategy of revenge for her crushed life. The reason she learned Go from her university senior Joo Yeo-jung (actor Lee Do-hyun) is also connected to her revenge.
She used Go as a means to approach Park Yeon-jin's husband Ha Do-young (actor Jung Sung-il). Ha Do-young and Moon Dong-eun shared secret conversations through Sudam (手談), a silent communication through Go. Even after recognizing the shadow of destruction looming over Moon Dong-eun, Ha Do-young cannot sever his ties with her.
Ha Do-young cannot break the connection between them, which is neither a relationship of reason nor emotional empathy. 'The Glory Part 2' contains the reason for this.
Moon Dong-eun's high school was a place where power, authority, and money were used as means of domination. There, friends met as perpetrators and victims of school violence.
The reason viewers were captivated by Moon Dong-eun's revenge drama is not just because it is a drama, but because they accepted it as their own story or something close to them. School violence is an act that not only destroys someone's body and mind but also disrupts the direction of their life. Moon Dong-eun does not succumb to her disrupted life but leads a time of reversal.
Although it is a facet of private revenge forbidden by law, viewers cannot help but empathize with Moon Dong-eun's actions.
The reason Moon Dong-eun's current revenge drama inevitably draws more attention is that the aftermath of the Jung Soon-shin incident, who was appointed head of the National Police Agency's Criminal Investigation Headquarters but fell from grace in one day due to her son's school violence issue, has not faded away. The Jung Soon-shin son case, who plunged into the world of school violence relying on the strong background of a "prosecutor dad."
That son entered Seoul National University, which all students admire, while the school violence victim was distanced from university entrance exams.
Therefore, the public cannot easily forget the Jung Soon-shin case. 'The Glory Part 2' is a question mark aimed at this society, striking at the heart of such sentiments.
It asks what we are doing now, whether there are ways to help children suffering somewhere even now, to help a second Dong-eun, and whether we will neglect the harsh reality where victims can only suffer unilaterally, as shown in the drama.
The more interest grows in 'The Glory Part 2,' the more uncomfortable perpetrators of school violence like the son of lawyer Jung Soon-shin are likely to become. However, the public may experience a catharsis that the embers of school violence, which undeniably exist in this society, are gradually dying out.
Writer Kim Eun-sook left this message regarding the content of 'The Glory Part 2.'
"Many Dong-euns in this world do not have wealthy parents or such environments. So I wanted to cheer for those people. Hoping for Dong-eun's revenge to succeed..."
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