How South Korean TV took over the world

Subsequent TV hits like Hellbound – the apocalyptic dark fantasy series that bested Squid Game at the top of Netflix’s most-watched charts in November 2021 – and mystery thriller Dr. Brain, Apple TV+’s first Korean production, only underline the point. They boast globally-renowned directors Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan) and Kim Jee-woon as their helmsmen and are led by recognisable stars Yoo Ah-in (Burning) and Lee Sun-kyun (Parasite) respectively.

With Netflix having pledged to spend a further $500 million on South Korean films and series this coming year, it’s no surprise that the next major South Korean Netflix production, The Silent Sea – an ambitious space rescue series landing on Christmas Eve – will be led by Gong Yoo and Bae Doona (The Host, Kingdom), with notable Kim Jee-woon and Bong Joon-ho collaborators also featuring among the crew.

The Hallyu cultural infiltration of the West shows no signs of slowing as we enter 2022. Oldboy cinematographer Chung Chung-hoon has been working on the new Star Wars series Obi-Wan Kenobi for Disney+, while Ma Dong-seok (Train to Busan) just made history after becoming the first South Korean Marvel superhero in Eternals.

The Oxford English Dictionary, meanwhile, added 26 new words of Korean origin in September 2021, including ​“hallyu”, ​“bulgogi” and ​“manhwa”. And London’s V&A Museum has just announced an exhibition titled ​‘Hallyu! The Korean Wave’ to open in September 2022.

Anton Bitel hopes that the greater exposure offered by the likes of Netflix and Apple TV+, as well as events such London Korean Film Festival and London East Asian Film Festival, can provide a platform for broader South Korean filmmaking genres and ​“new or unacknowledged filmmakers”, highlighting lesser-known talents like Kim Jong-kwan, Hong Seong-eun and Yi Ok-seop. But he also asserts the belief that, as streaming services realise how deep the trove of ​“buried – if not very well buried – treasure” is in South Korean visual media, they will start bringing even more of it to their platforms.

“The truth is that it has been great for a very long time,” he concludes. ​“I’m delighted to see that its time has come – again.”

from Hacker News https://ift.tt/3sVmyXM