Hell Joseon

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Hell Joseon, Hell Chosun or Hell Korea (Korean: 헬조선) is a satirical South Korean term that became popular around 2015. The term is used to criticize the socioeconomic situation in South Korea where the costs of living are rising and crushing regular working people.^[1]

While overt pro-communism is illegal under the National Security Law, South Korean media has increasingly included narratives of class antagonism which have been popular successes for Western audiences, with films such as Snowpiercer (2013)^[2] and Parasite (2019)^[3] and the popular TV show Squid Game (2021)^[4]^[5]^[6]

References

[1] "Lashing out at “Hell Joseon”, young’uns drive ruling party’s election beatdown" (2016-04-15). Hankyoreh.

[2] THE TRAIN IS CAPITALISM- SNOWPIERCER AND CLASS CONSCIOUNESS

[3] Parasite and Capitalism: What the Film Says About the Pursuit of Wealth

[4] Squid Game & The Rise Of Anti-Capitalist Entertainment

[5] “The Squid Game”: Anti-Capitalism and Netflix

[6] “Squid Game” Works Because Capitalism Is A Global Scourge

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See also

References