How Made in Korea on Disney+ shows the country’s dark underbelly of the 1970s
Director Woo Min-ho explains why he chose 1970s South Korea to explore themes of power, corruption and ambition for his first TV series
Woo set out to explore how the hunger for power and a corrupt system can turn a person’s ambition into something monstrous and destructive.
“I am constantly throwing out the question of what the essence of power is and why people change so drastically once they attain it,” he says in an interview in Seoul. “Rather than providing a clear answer, I wanted to show the process of how history repeats itself through these characters.”
The series, which premiered in December and concluded its six-episode first season on January 14, does not shy away from the darker side of Korea’s rapid transformation. Against the backdrop of a nation in turmoil, it immerses viewers in the chaos of the era, portraying drug trafficking, political conspiracies, social upheaval and moral compromise.