The Korean Wave, or Hallyu, which began in neighboring Asian countries in 1997, has expanded to become a global phenomenon in the 2020s. Korean cultural content, as witnessed through BTS (K-pop), Parasite (K-cinema), and Squid Game (K-drama), has come to dominate mainstream culture on the global stage. This is especially true with Korean dramas, which played a pioneering role in the birth of the Korean Wave, as well as in generating interest in Korean society and culture. In recent years, thanks to global OTT platforms like Netflix, Korean dramas have been distributed to every corner of the planet and have attracted a wide range of audiences across racial, national, gender, and age divides.

This book selected thirteen K-dramas for television and K-cinema films that have either become global hits thanks to the Korean Wave or are worthy of further exploration, and provides a wide-ranging look at the meanings and contexts of these works, as well as the reasons for their success and how they can be interpreted from different angles. In addition, this book examines the realities and specificities of Korean society and how those specificities are not just limited to Korea, but have become universal so that they now resonate with people around the world.

The works covered in this book were all released between the second half of 2021 and the second half of 2022: Squid Game, Hellbound, The Silent Sea, D.P., All of Us Are Dead, Juvenile Justice, Pachinko, and Extraordinary Attorney Woo (dramas) and Broker, The Outlaws series, Alienoid, Seoul Vibe, and 20th Century Girl (movies). We sincerely hope this book will help readers better understand each of these works and develop an interest in and passion for K-cinema and K-dramas.