Reimagining North Korea in a new frame: review of the series Crash Landing on You (2019)

Abstract

Which is better between capitalism and communism? The difficult answer would be determined by numerous factors, including the country of residence and the nature of government. This logic can be applied more specifically to South Korea and North Korea representing diametrically opposed lives. It would be safe to assume that it is easier living in South Korea given its democratic ways of life compared to North Korea which is ruled by Kim Jong-un. North Korea has always been a mysterious country for the world. It is hard for outsiders to get in and almost impossible for the North Koreans to get out. Much of what we know about North Korea comes from media, especially the news media, and the defectors who escaped North Korea under circumstances that may seem straight out of a thrilling spy novel. The depiction of North Korea by the liberal media has so far been less than positive. If the constant news updates about North Korea’s nuclear tests have been disturbing, then the bizarre rules applied for the citizens like limited hair styles, concentration camps, and executions by firing squads have been downright petrifying. However, sometimes the power of media is such that it can change popular perceptions of people and the hit series Crash Landing on You (CLOY) is a prime example of a refreshing depiction of North Korea (Um et al., 2019–2020). What is more amusing is that the series is a Korean drama (K-drama) made in South Korea and quite surprisingly North Koreans are given a fair representation. North Korea and South Korea have been at loggerheads with each other and have a turbulent and violent history. Both nations have long considered each other as enemies, until recently in 2019 when South Korea stopped referring to North Korea as its enemy nation in its 2018 defence ministry white paper. This development is a result of three inter-Korean summits in 2018 between Moon Jae-in, President of South Korea, and Kim Jong-un, Supreme Leader of North Korea, and the 2018 meeting of Kim Jong-un with former US President Donald Trump in Singapore (Kim, 2019). CLOY is a romantic comedy that tells the story of a man and a woman who fall in love under extraordinary circumstances that make it hard for them to live together (or at least we are made to believe as such). Yoon Se-ri (Son Ye-jin) is a rich woman