Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
“Under the Queen’s Umbrella” is my top pick of 2022. If you’re looking for a fantastic series to watch, this sageuk/사극 (or historical drama) is difficult to beat. Kim Hye-soo is magnificent as a queen whose sons’ lives (and her own) are in danger if the Crown Prince dies. She is whip smart and almost always one step ahead of her enemies, who want to destroy her family to elevate their own.
There has been much debate in South Korea about how to punish and rehabilitate underage criminals. “Juvenile Justice” deals with these issues in a taut manner, using the law to mete out judicial revenge.
“Hyena” shows that being called the best doesn’t mean anything in the real world. The plot depicted South Korea’s insidious system of revering lineage as flawed (and stupid). And that referring to a human being as disposable — because they don’t hail from the proper background — depicts who exactly is the human garbage here.
“Signal” makes you ponder the consequences of altering life. Is it fate for a person to die at a certain time, no matter how horrific that death might be? And knowing that saving someone’s life in the past could create catastrophic results in the future, would you still take that chance?
A blockbuster hit in Korea, “Thieves” features an all-star cast that includes Jun Ji-Hyun and Lee Jung-Jae. (The duo shared the big screen in the 2000 film “Il Mare” — the film that was later remade as “The Lake House” with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock.)