The Republic of Chaebol Dramas

The South Korean dramas that have hooked viewers around the world combine stark depictions of brutal inequality with opulent commodity fetishism.

(Chung Sung-Jun / Getty Images)

Who would have guessed that Korean television dramas would become known for unvarnished satire and allegories of the dehumanization of neoliberal capitalism? Part of the story is that global platforms like Netflix have emboldened directors and producers in the country to take on topics that just years earlier would have been thought of as too […]

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