If you are into K-dramas you might have noticed a few themes in almost every famous movie or drama. Weather, loan sharks, second lead syndrome, bullying, unrealistic beauty standards, revenge plots, a rich CEO, a million dollar brand wearing mother and a lot of business talks.

If you look through the prism of K-drams, you might feel that every rich boss falls in love with a poor employee. Every household in South Korea is rich and every road has automatic cars running left, right and center. Every man and women in South Korea knows how to sing and dance. Everyone in South Korea is very beautiful.

There is no doubt that South Korea is far ahead in technology and they have better infrastructure than most of the developed countries but South Korea also has a dark side that most of these dramas never talk about. South Korea has several problems such as crippling domestic debts, private loan sharks and powerful chaebol families.

The average household in South Korea owes either a business loan, education loan or just a domestic loan of any sort. The income disparity in South Korea is so huge that you will see people struggling to make the ends meet. This is where the knight in shining armor syndrome comes in. A majority of the people in South Korea are sold the dream of getting out of poverty and climbing up the financial ladder by getting married.

If you have yet to come across a good drama with a rich CEO, we recommend you should watch Heirs, Business Proposal, Crash Landing On You, Strong Women Do Bong Soon, Master’s Sun, Start-Up, My Secret Romance, Protect Your Boss, What Is Wrong With Sectary Kim and Secret Garden, to name the few. Although, these dramas are just the tip of the iceberg but you get to see how the rich in South Korea live. However, if you are looking for discovering the disparity, you need to watch squid games and parasite. Keep in mind that not all these series and dreams are available on a single platform, so you will need a good cable TV connection that allows you to stream on demand titles. For this, we would recommend Optimum. With Optimum Cable packages, you will get to choose the most affordable cable TV connection with the best service.

Exploring the Rich CEO Theme

If you have not joined the dots already, the rich SEO syndrome is not just about money, it is about fascination of the families that has money. Within the Korean industry, big tech are leading. Although k-beauty and k-entrainment are slowly catching up but they just bring the cosmetic changes polishing the soft image. When it comes to wealth, the K-entertainment will never be able to surpass the big techs. This is where they try to dream about filling this gap with the use of imagination.

Deep-Rooted Economic Problems

These loans are generally acquired from banks but after a few failed attempts, bankruptcy filings and defaulter transactions these banks blacklist the loan seeks. This is where they extend hands to the private loan sharks. These loan sharks offer loans on high interests and when they have to retrieve and recover this debt, they use violent methods against families. This highlights the disparity of the wealth within the Korean demographics.

However, it also sparks the endless dream of becoming so rich that you get to be out of the poverty with just one jump. So eventually, they think about the safest and fastest possible option they can use for getting rich – marrying the rich. This creates a domino effect that ranges from trying to fit into unrealistic beauty standards and ends at getting rich through the big names.

The Unstoppable Korean Chaebols

If you look at the current South Korean GDP, you will notice that the biggest chunk of the GDP is contributed by just four companies. These companies are family owned and have enjoyed tremendous amount of wealth throughout generations. Four prominent Chaebol families within South Korea include Samsung, Hyundai, SK Group, and LG Group. Since they contribute big, they also enjoy privileges like no other. These families are considered above law. Good, bad and worse stories have popped up in front of public. Despite being shunned and bashed by public and government in front of everyone they are still rubbing shoulders behind close doors. These families are unstoppable and unbeatable.

Regardless of multiple complaints, plethora of evidence and scandals, government highly relies on the working of these companies and cannot stand against them. This is where the dream of an average South Korean comes in. Since they cannot be them, they aim to join them or at least get a glimpse. These movies and K-dramas are feasting on the dreams of an average Korean by offering them a rosy picture and a hopeful situation.

Next time you see a rich CEO in Korean drama, keep in mind that in real life they actually exit. You will notice automated cars riding, private jets flying, Rolex wearing, expensive brand clad CEO in South Korea very often. However these CEO’s might not fit the picture of an ideal romantic lead. They can range from a public swindling criminal to mass murdering boss-stealing form his own employees by forcing them to work under dangerous conditions.

Bottom Line

To sum it all up, rich CEO themes in Korean dramas depict the need to join the rich Conglomerates or the dream behind it. Although within the dramas these themes seem innocent but in real life they are laced with a lot of subliminal messages offering a very rosy picture of business world in Korea.