Squid Games’ Emmy-winning Korean celebrations have subsided

From K-POP sense BTS With BLACKPINK and the four-Oscar-winning film Parasite, Korean pop culture is now a global phenomenon. It was big news that Squid Game became the first Korean drama to win an Emmy, but many Koreans weren’t as surprised by the win as it was in the past.

South Korean social media were flooded with messages after Netflix drama star Lee Jung-jae won Best Male Actor in a Drama Series and its creator Hwang Dong-hyuk won Best Drama Director on Monday. Did. Both were the first Asians to win in these categories.

President Yoon Seok-yeol congratulated Lee and his fans, saying that the entire nation was celebrating their achievements in a show that resonated with viewers around the world.

“(We) hope that (you) will continue to be active in your work and appear in good works that move hearts around the world,” Yoon said in a message shared with Lee. Facebook.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon wrote on Facebook that he was proud that Korean artists were producing works that were “enthronedly admired and highlighted by the whole world”. I wrote a message for However, some messages were critical of the drama, with Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite winning Best Picture at the 2020 Academy Awards, becoming the first non-English film to win three other Oscars. The level of elation was much lower than it had been during that time.

Then-President Moon Jae-in and his advisers kicked off their regular meeting with applause celebrating the Oscars, and the news was covered extensively in the South Korean media.

Hours after winning an Emmy for “Squid Game,” the news was still on the front page of the Internet version of major South Korean media outlets, but domestic politics ruled so it didn’t make it to the top. I did.

“People are getting used to[major awards],” said film critic Kim Si-im. and Park Chan-wook won Best Director at Cannes (“Decision to Leave”).Koreans no longer believe that there are barriers to entry for these awards, and anyone can win if they put in the effort. I think we can win the award.”

Kim said Koreans are less familiar with the Emmy Awards than with the Oscars.

“korean tv drama It has been huge in Asia for years, especially in a market where people share similar sentiments as Koreans. It was a huge hit, but it also took a novel approach to telling its story through brutal, deadly competition in a kids’ game.”

“As a Korean, I am very proud[of the drama],” Choi Hyun-sik, a 32-year-old office worker, told The Associated Press. did.”

22-year-old college student Jung Ye-won said, “(Lee Jong-suk) gave his speech in English at the award ceremony, but at the end he emphasized Korean fans and people in Korean, so I was very moved.” . student.

The Squid Game is a brutal survival drama in which desperate adults compete in deadly children’s games for a chance to escape debt. In the drama, Lee stars as the show’s protagonist, Song Ki-hoon, a laid-off auto worker dealing with a messy divorce and struggling with constant business failures and gambling problems.