106 - Stowing Away on The Korean Wave

We address several excellent questions and comments from a listener (u/joshuaism) about Korean culture, partially through the lens of the currently extremely popular Korean streaming series Squid Game. The nature of Korean entertainment on the global stage. The country's complex relationship with gambling. Debt. Wealth inequality. Economic and social mobility. Loan sharks. Organized crime and its portrayal in popular fiction. Christianity and religion or lack thereof more broadly. North Koreans defecting to the South. Immigration and migrant labor.Support: patreon.com/heatdeathpodGeneral RecommendationsJD'S Recommendation: Dasha PlesenJNM's Recommendation: The Housemaid Further Reading, Viewing, ListeningBTS and EXO: The soft power roots of K-popSouth Korea’s Complex Relationship with GamblingHousehold debt posing major threat to Korean economy amid pandemicFrom loan sharks to drug fortune: S Korean reaps virus rewardsSouth Korea: Nature and extent of loan-sharking; protection available for victims of loan sharksOrganized Crime in South KoreaKkangpaeChristianity in KoreaThe Global Social Mobility Report 2020 Equality, Opportunity and a New Economic Imperative Generational Divides and the Future of South Korean Democracy'Parasite' reflects deepening social divide in South Korea‘Squid Game’ is No. 1 on Netflix and South Koreans are using the survival drama to talk about inequalityNorth Korean defectors: What happens when they get to the South?Crossing Divides: Two Koreas divided by a fractured languageLocationless Locationsheatdeathpod.comEvery show-related link is corralled and available here.Twitter: @heatdeathpodPlease send all Letters of Derision, Indifference, Inquiry, Mild Elation, et cetera to: [email protected], check out our newly updated YouTube channel for the hell of itSend us Fan MailSupport the showSupport: patreon / buzzsprout