PicoBlog

안녕, it's Ari, your talkative Korean friend and weekend reminder. 🎉 Now that my hands feel much better 😊, I will soon be able to bring back the weekly and full newsletter. I am also planning to launch a new Korean lesson. Please look forward to it!

Today’s newsletter is about long-lasting historical scars and a new K-Drama. Let’s start!

Netflix’s latest historical K-drama series, Gyeongseong Creature, 👆 is gaining immense popularity globally, securing the second spot on the top 10 Netflix programs worldwide, according to FlixPatrol. The series is set during the Japanese colonization of the Korean peninsula, when Koreans suffered a lot under the rule of the Japanese imperial army. In the series, creatures or monsters are born out of human experimentation conducted by a Japanese general. This setting is inspired by the real-life war crimes of Chemical Warfare Division Unit 731, which carried out horrific human experimentation against Koreans during the colonization era.

After the series hit the streamer on Dec. 22, something strange happened in my country. Korean media showered curse-level negative reviews about the series, and malicious comments criticizing or even condemning the series and its lead actors fill the internet. The headlines include “tacky and unappealing (촌스럽고 매력 없는),” “I wasted my time (시간 낭비 했다),” and “empty candy (속 빈 강정).” Not sure how they sound in English, but in Korean, they all sound very emotional for a news headline.

The stark difference between the response of the global audience and the Korean audience and media lies in another dark history of the country. During the colonization era, while activists who fought for the country's independence faced consequences such as imprisonment, torture, or even death, traitors, or those who collaborated with the occupying force to exploit Koreans, lived a comfortable life, becoming rich and elite. Unfortunately, it was those collaborators who grabbed the power of the new government after independence, not the liberation activists. As a result, the traitors didn’t get punished for their betrayal, and the activists continued to live a miserable life. And it hasn't changed much even now. The newspaper that openly pledged loyalty to the Japanese Emperor during the colonization era is still the biggest newspaper in the country. Many of the current elites and the riches are descendants of the traitors while descendants of the liberation activists are in poverty.

When there’s a new drama or movie about Japan’s crimes against Koreans during the era, like Unit 731 in Gyeongseong Creature, oftentimes, the media bombards harsh reviews and malicious online campaigns against the actors follow in order to decrease the popularity of the drama or movie in the country and to deter actors from starring in this kind of series or movie. In response or counterattack, people support the series or movies and the actors by leaving positive comments online. The traitors versus the liberation activists in modern times. Though many years have passed since the time of Gyeongseong Creature, not much seems to have changed.

The first season of Gyeongseong Creature are now available to stream on Netflix.

Thanks for reading! If you liked my newsletter, ☕️ buy me a coffee ☕️ to support my work. It’ll help me keep writing! I will be back next week. 안녕!

ncG1vNJzZmiZnqPGprvNoJiroV6owqO%2F05qapGaTpLpwvI6wn7Jll66ysLrGrJyoppdisLOxwK2sq51dnLy1edKoZKmnn6e5ug%3D%3D