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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Koreans took to social media on Tuesday to congratulate “Squid Game” on its multiple Emmy wins, but as the country grows accustomed to its growing prominence in global entertainment effect, the overall response was flat.
From K-pop smash hits BTS and BLACKPINK to the four Oscar-winning film Parasite, Korean pop culture is now a global phenomenon. While “Squid Game” being the first Korean drama to win an Emmy is big news, many South Koreans aren’t as surprised by such a victory as they used to be.
South Korean social media was flooded with messages after Netflix drama star Lee Jung-jae won the best actor in a drama and its creator Hwang Dong-hyuk won the best drama director on Monday. . Both were the first Asians to win in these categories.
President Yoon Se-yeol congratulated Lee and Hwang, saying the entire country was celebrating their achievements in a show that resonated with audiences around the world.
“(We) hope (you) will continue to actively participate in your work and appear in good works that move the world,” Yin said in a message he shared to Lee on Facebook.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon wrote on Facebook that he was proud of the works created by South Korean artists “that are warmly celebrated and highlighted around the world.”
Ordinary citizens also wrote congratulatory messages on social media. But some sources were critical of the show, with more euphoria than when Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” became the first non-English-language film of 2020 to win Best Picture and three other Oscars much lower.
Then-President Moon Jae-in and his advisers kicked off their regular meeting with applause to celebrate the Oscars, which was widely reported in South Korean media.
Hours after “Squid Game” won an Emmy, the news still appeared on the front pages of the Internet pages of major South Korean media outlets, but did not make it to the top, dominated by domestic politics.
“People are used to (the main awards),” said film critic Jin Shimao. “Bong Joon-ho won four Oscars for ‘Parasite,’ another of our actors won an Oscar for ‘Minari,’ and then Park Chan-wook won Best Director at Cannes for ‘Decision to Leave’. No more Koreans They think there are any barriers to entry for these awards, they think anyone has a chance to win if they put in the effort.”
Kim noted that Koreans are less familiar with the Emmys than the Oscars, in part because Korean dramas didn’t have much of an impact in the U.S. before.
“Korean dramas have been popular in Asia for years, especially in markets where people share similar feelings to Koreans,” Kim said. “‘The Squid Game’ has gained worldwide popularity because it tackles a global problem of inequality, but also takes a refreshing approach to telling the story through a brutal and deadly children’s play competition .”
“As a Korean, I’m very proud of (the show),” Choi Hyun-sik, a 32-year-old office worker, told The Associated Press. “I realized again how popular the ‘squid game’ is.”
“(Lee) delivered the award ceremony in English, but at the end he spoke in Korean and emphasized his fans and people in Korea, so I was really touched,” said Jeong Ye-won, a 22-year-old college student.
Squid Game is a brutal survival drama about desperate adults competing in deadly children’s games for their chance to escape debt. In the series, Lee Seung-hyun plays the show’s main character, Sung Ki-hoon, a laid-off auto worker who struggles with a chaotic divorce, constant business failures and gambling problems.
Associated Press reporters Yong Jun Chang and Juwon Park contributed to this story.
Copyright 2022 Associated Press. all rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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