The episode unfolds with Si-won’s parents fighting because of her actions three days prior, where she had traveled to Seoul in order to visit the house of Tony An, a member of the popular group H.O.T. Si-won vowed that she would not return home unless she saw him.
While she and many other fans eventually get to meet him albeit briefly, he tells them to leave since he won’t be leaving his place anytime soon. Si-won and a select few remain, patiently waiting outside his house. The following day, she is the sole fan as she is determined to not end her visit without a proper glimpse of Tony. As a result, she vaults his wall, entering the property. Met by his dog at the door, she startles Tony and while wallowing with self-regret over her actions, she is simultaneously overjoyed as she receives a signature from him.
The scene returns back to their parents’ fight, as it is revealed that her father had forcefully cut her long hair because of this, exasperated at her actions.
The following day, as Si-Won, Yun-jae and Jun-hui are going to school, Si-won voices her concerns about how frequently her parents fight. She remarks that it should be against the law for people from Jeolla and Gyeongsang Provinces to marry, a reference to the regional differences that existed between the two areas in South Korea, which was also a topic that was discussed in class.
It is also revealed that someone with the number 1004 (play on words, in Korean means 천사, or angel) had sent a music gift to Yun-je’s pager. Suspecting and half-wishing it was Shi-won, he is plagued with curiosity, the hidden identity whom the audience would eventually learn later into the episode.
Various aspects of student life are also revealed through the actions of Seong-jae, who is assigned to do tasks such as wiping the chalkboard clean, fetching the milk as well as the attendance sheet. He is also seen playing with his Tamagotchi.
A new student is introduced that day, a student by the name of Do Hak-chan, whose family had to move to Busan because of his father who was in the military. Again regional differences are highlighted, as Hak-chan, the Seoul newcomer, is confused by the Gyeongsang dialect. While Sung-jae had voiced a discomfort with him, Hak-chan wins his heart when Hak-chan wordlessly receives punishment for the mistake that Sung-jae had made.
Later on, the audience observes Shi-won’s parents argue over their television preferences, especially the election of 1997. They fight over the “mess of the country”, which though not explicitly mentioned, historically would have been in large part because of the economy. During their argument they also mention the apparent tendency of citizens in South Korea like Shi-won’s mother to vote for the candidates who are from their region. Interestingly, Shi-won’s father’s preference, Kim Dae-jung became the first opposition leader to win the presidency in 1998.
Near the end of the episode, Shi-won discovers her parents “embracing” within the car, a clear sign of reconciliation. Scarred, she trades this secret for Jun-hui, who she was messaging online. Surprisingly, it turns out that Jun-hui was the one responsible for sending the music gift and that his secret was that he is heavily infatuated with Yun-je.
What did you guys think of this episode? I think there are many interesting points to discuss, such as regional differences and dialects, the sasaeng fans (I could see this be the beginning of much more extreme things we see in the present day https://www.allkpop.com/article/2015/07/13-extreme-accounts-of-sasaeng-fans) and also, LGBT in Korea. How was the final scene presented to the audience and do you think it is trying to suggest something about this period in South Korea?
-Sean
This episode was also viewed through Netflix.
Links:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kim-Dae-Jung
https://www.allkpop.com/article/2015/07/13-extreme-accounts-of-sasaeng-fans)
It was interesting to see the scene of Shi-won’s parents argument over the television as the scene describes very important aspects of the ROK. With the year being set in 1997 it was the year of the Asia Financial Crisis in Korea (Also known as the “IMF”), the 1998 presidential election was very important as the citizens knew a financial crisis was inevitable, explaining Dong-il’s statement of the “country being in a mess.” Furthermore, Kim Dae-jung’s regional origins being Honam, Il-hwa’s statement that Dong-il will vote for Kim Dae-jung no matter his policies is not an understatement.
For people who might not know: the regional origin may not necessarily your birthplace. It depends on your historical origin through parental or grandparental origins as well as your family name. Hence, someone’s parents or themselves might be born in Seoul, but your family roots may be in Honam or Yeongnam or etc.
From primary sources, I figured that for both the election in 1993 and 1998 families and friends who have roots in Yeongnam voted for the presidential candidates from their respective regions. This still happens to this day, where despite his claim to release Pak Geun-hye, Hong Jun-pyo was favoured in the Yeongnam region in the 2017 election, whereas, Mun Jae-in was favoured in the Honam region due to his promise that the majority of his ministers, prime minister and other important political positions will be filled from people of the Honam region. A promise that was kept after his victory.
The electoral results of 2017 election is below. (Blue = Mun Jae-in, Red = Hong Jun-pyo)
An interactive link to the above map to show election 2017 results can be found at http://vote2017.khan.co.kr/
This may be hard to understand if you do not know Korean but its a video that summarizes which leader is popular in what location during the 2017 election.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZhePRPLjVE
Below is an interesting paper to read about the political disparities of the two regions. Read the section about “Regional Cleavage in Korean Politics: A Historical and Empirical Analysis.”
Sonn, Hochul. “Regional Clevage in Korean Politics and Elections.” Korea Journal, vol.43 no. 2 (2003): 32-54. https://www.ekoreajournal.net/issue/view_pop.htm?Idx=3252
규훈, this is great. The links and information you provided are wonderful and educational for your group mates. Two small mistakes. The Asian Financial Crisis began in 1997 and was very severe by November (I was there) and 2, the citation above should have Son (family name) before Hocheol (given name).
Thank you for the feedback. It has been corrected.
kkkkkkk
What we see in Reply 1997 is Jiyeokgamjeong. Jiyeokgamjeong is a “form of regional resentment and one constituent of regionalism in general said basically the social attitude towards a particular region (Cho et al., 2014).” Gyeongsan-do people and Jelloa-do people have a tense relationship that dates back to 3 kingdom eras. Geographically they are divided by the Sumjin Lake. This may explain the enemy relationship they have as these to regions are close yet separated geographically. Si-won is referring to “jiyeokgamjeong” when she remarks about how there should be a law preventing people from Jeolla and Gyeonsang people to marry.
In politics gyeongsang people almost always vote for the conservative party while Jeolla people mostly vote for the progressive party. In Korea’s government administrative office positions, a disportioncate amount of people have been elected from the Gyeongsan province. As mentioned by Edward, Kim Dae-jung’s regional origins is from Honam which is situated in the Jeolla province. This is illustrated in the drama when Il-Hwa shouts at Dong-il saying he will no matter what vote for Kim Dae-jung. On the opposite side, Il-hwa will likely vote for the candidate from Yeongnam (Gyeongsan province).
Cho, Hŭi-yŏn, Lawrence Surendra, and Hyo-je Cho. Contemporary South Korean Society: A Critical Perspective. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2014.
This is an funny video of a foreigner (Dave) who emulates the different Korean dialects:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCchIPz_pBs
Nice job introducing a key Korean term. I think it’s more accurate to say the two regions are separated by the mountain range between them than one small lake, though. The important questions are– do people vote from people from their region NOW? Do they vote for liberals in Jeolla because they are liberals or because the liberals are from Jeolla? Because let’s be realistic– 노무현 did very well in 전라 but he’s a liberal from 경상– this indicates that 전라 votes liberal, not that it votes for hometown people.
After watching this episode, it was interesting to see how the final moments of the episode was executed. Much like many moments in the drama, Si-won’s voice is heard as the background voice that brings about a status quo to the dynamic nature of each episode that Reply 1997 brings to the table. As such, I feel like it is a convincing way from the audience’s perspective to tie up the loose ends that this episode had with Jun-hui’s big reveal and Si-won’s embarrassing secret.
While I felt that the soft reveal from the merchandise scene revealing Jun-hui as the mysterious “1004” message sender was powerful, the sentiments that the actors portrayed illustrates larger implications to the Korea’s take on the LGBT situation 1997. Judging from Jun-hui’s very visible concern about the situation, it is made obvious to the audience that his infatuation with Yun-je could only be trusted to his closest friend, Si-won. Moreover, viewers can make the valid observation that being associated with the LGBT community at the times of 1997 was received in a negative light, leading to many upcoming moments of tension between Yun-je and Jun-hui.
It is also interesting that the issue of LGBT in Korea comes up in Reply 1997 as it is also very topical at the moment. It was only just this year that the Supreme Court of South Korea affirms LGBT rights, thus allowing “Beyond the Rainbow”, a LGBT foundation in Korea, rights to register with the Ministry of Justice. As a result, this, along with movements such as the Korea Queer Festival in 2015 has helped many in shaping a Korea that is both safe and secure.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/08/04/south-korea-supreme-court-affirms-lgbt-rights
nice job, Raymond. Good details brought in, too.
In episode three, we see Si-won going to Tony’s house which where she is accompanied by many other fans of Tony. Determined to meet him, Si-won goes to the extreme by climbing over a wall surrounding Tony’s house. Upon entering the private property, she finally meets Tony. This is a severe crime which she could have been severely punished, yet Tony gives Si-won a stern warning and sends her back after signing her t-shirt. There are many other extreme cases of fans going too far to get closer or to gain attention from their idols.
How does the media portray these kinds of cases, are the idols taking action to stop such events? So I did a bit of searching and I found this blog which covered the issue of sasaeng fans and laws which deals with possible crimes. In the case of Si-won, although she did not steal anything, she could have been charged with a similar law of
형법 제38장 절도와 강도의 죄
제330조(야간주거침입절도) 야간에 사람의 주거, 간수하는 저택, 건조물이나 선박 또는 점유하는 방실에 침입하여 타인의 재물을 절취한 자는 10년 이하의 징역에 처한다.
http://blog.daum.net/mojjustice/8705629
(I apologize for the Korean… It basically states if a person invades one’s property at night and steals something he or she can be charged with 10 years in prison.)
Although this law was passed in 1995, we see in this drama that Tony makes no action to punish Si-won. I remember Tony saying somewhere that something similar had happened when he was a member of H.O.T. Do you guys think that Tony (in reality) would have taken legal action towards the invader or sent his fan off? If a fan were to do the same now, would there have been a more severe punishment given to him or her? In addition to legal action, are there rules and boundaries within fandom groups in order to be considered part of their fan group? How do other fans react to such extreme cases?
Tony leaving his house + sasaeng fans. Picture taken from http://blog.naver.com/powerhrg/130177367254
Thanks 도희. Good idea to check out what the legal regulations were at that time.
Awesome post, Sean!
What struck me the most throughout the entire episode was Si-won’s extreme tactics to receive any kind of recognition from her favourite celebrity. I understand this is a drama, and most situations are exaggerated and dramatized. However, the portrayal of fan activities in Reply 1997 dives into a deeper issue of “sasaeng fans” (사생팬), where stalking, harassment, and other intrusive behaviours are justified and interpreted as loyalty or an undying love for idols. For sasaeng fans, the distinction between Korean idols’ public persona and real private lives are blurred.
Si-won sleeps outside of Tony Ahn’s house for days and resorts to climbing over a wall (!!!) to see him. Despite regretting her actions after being scolded by the one and only Tony 오빠, her perseverance and determination is ultimately rewarded when Tony signs her t-shirt. During this moment of conciliation, the two bond with one another. However, Si-won’s bizarre and extensive attempts to interact with Tony reveals to the audience this sort of behaviour is normalize and may even condone it. It suggests that fans are entitled to intrude the personal spaces of celebrities receive recognition for their own personal gratification and benefit, and eventually be rewarded. This kind of mentality is incredibly toxic because it undermines the human rights of celebrities. For example, countless idols have experienced car accidents as a result of sasaeng fans tailing celebrities vans (1). This is especially damning in contemporary society where literally anything and everything is uploaded onto the internet; it has become easier to share the private lives of celebrities without their consent. The issue regarding sasaeng fans still remains to be an issue within the K-pop industry, and is being managed by the government through the Korean Creative Contents Agency (KOCCA). In 2012, a new clause was added in the Minor Offenses Act to protect idols from sasaeng fans (2). However there still lacks to be a clause or any sort of law condemning sasaeng fan behaviour.
J. Patrick Williams (2016) writes, “fans become sasaeng who devote too much time to stalking their idols, abandon-ing their own personal and social lives in the process” including activities such as “skipping school, spending nights sleeping in 24-hour internet cafes or in front of the idols’ houses or agencies,” (3) all of which are demonstrated by Si-won. By this definition, Si-won would be considered a sasaeng fan.
(1) parky1. “13 extreme accounts of sasaeng fans.” Allkpop. https://www.allkpop.com/article/2015/07/13-extreme-accounts-of-sasaeng-fans.
(2) Khairat, Sara. “Korean pop’s giant leap with ‘Gangnam’ steps.” Al Jazeera Media Network. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/11/2012112512266385478.html.
(3) Williams, J. Patrick. “Negotiating fan identities in K-pop music culture.” In Symbolic Interactionist Takes on Music, edited by Christopher J. Schneider and Joseph A. Kotarba, 81-96. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing, 2016.
Great job, Kelly. I agree totally with your harsh assessment, and likewise I was troubled by the selfishness of the fan(s) (or in this case Siwon, specifically). Good job bringing in the citations, too.
This episode had plenty of drama revolving around Si-won, with her angry dad responding drastically, to her leaving the house and traveling to Seoul. Of course the only reason for Si-won to travel to Seoul is to see Tony from H.O.T., who is fresh back from America. As he pulls up in his blue car a large group of fans are awaiting him outside his home. The result of Shi-won being the final fan spending nights outside his place is an emotional meeting with Tony himself after breaking into his yard! After returning to her home, her Dad is not so happy and decides too cut her hair to teach her a lesson. Now she has to go to class with a short cropped haircut from her dad. Her mom fiercely fights for her respect against her father, in the parent fight scene which is heartwarming to see.
The episode ends with a focus again on Si-won who is getting ready to watch a movie with her parents. Her dad has bought her favorite ice cream evidently to try to get back into good standing with the family. Her moms ice cream then awkwardly falls out and onto the middle of her dads lap sticking up. This is an awkward moment and Shi-won retreats to her room saying she will go to sleep early. The episode ends by going forward in time to the high school reunion with Shi-won taking the picture of all the guys at the reunion.
In response to The LGBT revelation between Yun-je making a move on Jun-hui this shows how big of a deal it is to go public with any advances at the time, and how Jun-hui is actually taking a big risk to his friend group by making advances on Yun-je. Even in our modern times Korea still has a long way to go on LGBT issues. An example is seen below as in 2017 their own military is pursuing charges against members, for being gay which is ridiculous to say the least. Korea can clearly do much more for the LGBT community and is falling short by not standing for singling people out based on their sexual identity. If someone wants to be in the military but is in the LGBT community, they should not be treated differently than those who are not.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/05/south-korea-soldier-convicted-in-outrageous-military-gay-witch-hunt/
Alex, you don’t have to comment on all aspects of an episode. Either LGBT or fan behaviors or family interactions are enough. That will allow you to be a little deeper on any one of these issues.
As Sean mentioned, several aspects of student life are portrayed in this episode. This can be seen through the actions of Seong-jae, who is responsible to wipe the chalkboard and bringing the milk and attendance sheet. This was interesting to see since it is a major cultural difference in between Canada and Korea. I worked out from various primary sources that in Korea, it is not uncommon to clean the classrooms and other areas of school. Students are assigned tasks such as sweeping, taking out the trash and the tasks showed in this episode. There are janitors who clean larger areas of school such as bathrooms. But sweeping floors, wiping tables and chalkboard, etc. are the responsibility of students. Unlike Canada, the closest students have got to cleaning is perhaps cleaning the board or taking out the recycle. This does teach the students to treat their classroom and school with respect.
Another point which is interesting to see is physical punishment. This can be seen through Yoon-jae, Shi-won and Do Hak-chan where they are punished because of misbehaving what is considered disobeying. From several primary sources, I can say that parents don’t have an issue with physical discipline in classrooms as long as their kids are obeying. Corporal punishment used to be allowed and is still tolerated covertly. Korean schools have employed physical discipline for disobedience and they used to have a disciplinary stick. But as Korea continues to westernize itself, this is a little less likely to be seen. But even if the teacher doesn’t openly hit a student, they make them do things such as squats, use the hands-off method, etc. Again a major difference from Canada children plea prosecution in contrast to Korea where this is something which is not frowned upon.
Corporal punishment of children in
the Republic of Korea (Report prepared by the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of
Children)
http://www.endcorporalpunishment.org/assets/pdfs/states-reports/RepublicOfKorea.pdf
Natasha. “4 DIFFERENCES IN KOREAN EDUCATION AND THE KOREAN CLASSROOM.” Livelearnventure. http://livelearnventure.com/korean-education-and-the-korean-classroom/
If these two sources are what you consider ‘primary’ sources, then you are misusing the term. Primary sources could be conversations with students or teachers in Korean schools, or reading something they wrote. It would not be a report or something written by a foreigner who is teaching in a hagwon. I look forward to reading YOUR analysis of some aspect of the next episode, not web-based ‘research.’
예찬, great job, by the way on outlining some good topics your group could cover while discussing this episode.
I was really surprised that the show brought up LGBT issues from the late 1990’s. Given the response of the guest presenter in class, who said they could hardly imagine being open about their status as part of the LGBT community, I’m surprised that Jun-Hui managed to tell Shi-Won about his feelings for Yun-Je. We see that even in the “present” time (outside the high school flashback), Yun-Je still treats Jun-Hui familiarly, suggesting he has no idea about Jun-Hui’s feelings. I would have expected Shi-Won to be more weirded out by this revelation than she was, but I’m glad she was able to look past Jun-Hui’s “secret.” I wonder if this the director/ scriptwriter’s way of trying to bring the LGBT community more into the light of Korean society as everyday members of society.