Would it be fair to say that South Korean storytelling is defining the upcoming generation? The world has seen such a breadth of K-drama releases in the past few years that they have become household names. Notable examples are Goblin (2016), and, put a pin in this one: Crash Landing on You (2019).
Remember how telenovelas played on every TV set in the 90s? It seemed like every South East Asian granny, stay-at-home-mum (and by extension, every pre-teen who loved a good story, present company included) was riveted to deeply emotional, if outlandish storylines. Indeed, you could almost hear common theme songs playing in every old housing estate as the clock struck.
Interestingly, today we find large swathes of ourselves similarly enamoured by the phenomenon of the K-drama. We’ve realised that K-dramas generally raise social issues and often deal with difficult emotional themes. A Netflix film now in production, My Name is Loh Kiwan, seems to handle perhaps the most sensitive socio-political concept that could ever be explored by a South Korean production: defection.
It isn’t a new move. In fact, it almost seems a direct response to the monumental success of Crash Landing on You, which Netflix aired when it released – and for which the show’s scriptwriter, Park Ji-eun, was highly decorated by the South Korean government for contributing to the “unification” message.
However, unlike Crash Landing on You, My Name Is Loh Kiwan is set in Europe, based on an original novel called “I Met Loh Kiwan” by Cho Hae-jin. In it, we follow the story of Loh Kiwan, a North Korean defector who slipped away to Belgium in his pursuit for freedom, where he inevitably falls in love. Of course, the rub is exactly how that happens. And of course, it all depends on how enchanted viewers become with the characters.
Last month, Netflix announced the star-studded lineup. Taking no chances with casting, Loh Kiwan will be played by veteran Hallyu star, renowned ‘pretty boy’ (cue the M2M song) actor Song Joong-ki. Having been around long enough at age 37, Song began his ascent with Sungkyunkwan Scandal (2010) and the variety show Running Man (2010) as one of the original cast members.
Choi Sung-eun, who had her breakthrough role in Beyond Evil and starred alongside Ji Chang-wook in The Sound of Magic, will play Loh Kiwan’s love interest Mari, a former Korean shooter born in Belgium who is disillusioned with life.
According to Netflix, “A remarkable love story is set to unfold between Loh Kiwan and Mari after the mishap of their first encounter, as the former arrives in Belgium to seek freedom and for a new start in life, whereas the latter feels the exact opposite, having lost her will to face cruel reality.”
This seems rather rich fodder for a tale of romance, and it is perhaps not too much for us to expect some really meaningful storytelling. We mentioned the success of Crash Landing on You. Even if its format was a series, and this new production is a feature film, Netflix has tangible proof that people can connect to the premise of defection. However, while watched widely, Crash Landing was criticised for being “implausible” by the BBC, and “unrealistic by the Washington Post.
We suppose the question now is, will Netflix and its partners be able to honour a topic that is as serious as defection? Will Netflix make the same mistakes with Loh Kiwan, or is choosing a story set in Belgium, far removed from the ‘home’ ground of the Korean peninsula, allow more creative freedom with less pressure to honour geopolitical themes?
Well, we can see that there is a global market for the story. We have the big names attached. We started by discussing how Southeast Asia has by and large has fallen in love with Korean content, and Variety said as much last year, confirming that Southeast Asia added 16 million new streaming subscribers based on the genre alone. Even beyond our region, Juggernaut comments on how strongly the South Asian subcontinent feels about it, too. Clearly, it’s not in our imaginations.
So, here at The PKG, we’re firmly staying tuned to developments around this movement of content from Korea. We’re excited to keep you posted about My Name is Loh Kiwan, and more!
