The worldwide success of the South Korean series Squid Game goes well beyond the sheer number of people who devoured it on Netflix or the pop-up store that opened on October 2 and 3 in the 2e arrondissement of Paris to the delight of its fans. The story of these “losers” in South Korean society – a debt-ridden father, a North Korean defector, a Pakistani immigrant and petty thugs – competing in different games to pocket 45.6 billion won ( 32.5 million euros), while knowing that they will be coldly shot in the event of defeat, finds a particular echo in South Korea. And not just because the games chosen are reminiscent of those of childhood.
The situation is such in the country that people in heavy debt have come to dial a phone number assigned to “Squid Game”, believing to join the organizers of the game, to participate.
For many Koreans, the series is the exact reflection of the cruel social reality, especially born of the Covid-19 crisis. Still, the series project dates back to 2008, but its director, Hwang Dong-hyuk, struggled to convince producers to fund a project that reflected society’s struggles. “In just ten years, we have evolved to find ourselves in a world as cruel as this drama of survival, this world where the winner takes it all. I’m sad “, he explained on a daily basis Joongang.
Household debt greater than 100% of GDP
The story of the main character is particularly eloquent: after being fired during restructuring in the automotive industry, he unsuccessfully opens several small restaurants. The result is mathematical: he begins to accumulate debts. Like hundreds of thousands of Koreans in real life. Lee Kang-kook, economist at Ritsumeikan University, explains in the daily Hankyoreh that this drama is similar to that of small family businesses struggling since the start of the pandemic. “They concern a fifth of workers in South Korea. Yet it is they who have suffered the greatest impact. “
South Korea’s household debt, the highest in Asia, exceeds 100% of GDP. Families accumulate credits, granted quite easily by banks, to pay for their housing (the prices of which are skyrocketing) and to send their children to the best universities. It was mostly for debt matters that nearly 800 people tried to end their life between 2014 and 2018, by jumping from Seoul’s Mapo Bridge, nicknamed the Bridge of Death.
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