While reading Youjeong Oh’s chapter on “The Interactive Nature of Korean TV Dramas,” I was immediately reminded of an original Norwegian webseries called “Skam” which gained a large international following due to its presence on social media. The plot of the show was based on a group of Norwegian teenagers and their lives in high school, however the concept of the show was its existence in real time with the audience. Instead of full episodes, 4-minute clips and social media and text message conversations from the characters are posted on the NRK website daily during the webseries’ seasons. This garnered immense attention on internet- fanbase websites because the audience lived with the characters in real time. Since the posts appear to occur spontaneously, their consumption seems much more natural. An audience member scrolling through their instagram feed might find a new post by one of Skam characters in between those of friends and family.
Yet, I could argue that the concept of the show’s assimilation into the audience’s real life paradoxically makes it extremely unnatural due to its strict timing and production. Then perhaps Korean TV dramas are the shows that assimilate into the audience’s life the most naturally and organically. Youjeon Oh’s chapter discusses the relationship between the audience and production of Korean TV dramas. The practice of live production comes from the importance of audience response, and forces the show to be created on a loose narrative. Instead of big production companies creating a finite product, and people viewing passively, the audience has an impact on the trajectory of the show. Oh notes that many popular series have even changed the finales- concerning the life or death of characters, or relationship outcomes- based on audience responses. Actors who were initially hired as supporting roles might become leads a few episodes later if they gain enough fan support for their characters.
While Skam was finitely scripted with changes based on audience interest only occurring between seasons, Korean TV dramas evolve in real time with the viewer’s interests in a much more natural manner.
Now that Hallyu has globalized Korean cultural products, and many global popular streaming sites such as Netflix and Hulu are getting rights to Korean TV dramas, it will be interesting to see how diverse and foreign responses might begin to shape a series. If the Korean-speaking audience has always been an active agent in the production of a show, then first-generation Hallyu followers might have just been a shadow audience of those productions and their translations. However, today, subtitled series are released within an hour after their release on Korean sites, so non-Korean-speaking audience members can interact with the product in the same time as those in Korea. Depending on how fast the international responses make it back to Korean production companies, I believe that in a few years we could trace how Korean TV drama becomes an international product that is dictated by audience responses all over the world. Simply put, only the production of shows is purely Korean, the shows themselves might become global, universal products.
The Politics of K-Pop 
I find the concept of real-time interaction with “Skam” very interesting, as it sounds like fans had to keep up with all of the show’s posts on social media in order to simply follow the plot. I have seen similar posts by American media, but the posts are most often irrelevant jokes about the show as a whole, not critical plot points / character interactions.
With Oh’s explanation on how fanbases affect the outcome of a KDrama, I wonder how long this direct influence can last. I would imagine that if a KDrama directly caters to a certain group of fans (for example, chooses a certain outcome of a season finale), fans who wanted a different outcome would stop supporting the series altogether. In contrast, traditional TV shows and movies with planned plot lines often do end up disappointing some fans, as it’s hard to create a universally satisfying ending to a story (for example, many fans of “How I Met Your Mother” and “Get Out” were disappointed with the endings that aired).
Regarding your consideration of KDramas’ ability to become global and universal products, I agree that the increased accessibility to a wider audience through subtitles and timed releases is beneficial to a show’s popularity and the overall influence of Hallyu; however, I fear that entertainment companies around the world could take the stereotypical tropes of KDramas and make their own shows which they could classify as “KDramas” but nothing would be Korean about them.
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While the method of live production seems to work in favor of the show’s producers by decreasing financial risk, the actors and other television industry workers face the repercussions of labor exploitation. Youjeong Oh points out that producing two 140-minute shows a week takes a toll on workers’ health conditions. Oh writes, “…they suffer from constant sleep deprivation and alternating periods of stand-by waiting and multitasking during a three to six-month period when a drama is being aired.” Moreover, workers’ per-day, per-episode contract terms do not specify how many hours compose a day of work. Vague contract terms, coupled with workers’ own self-exploitation by the motivation of the “affective nature” of work make it easier for drama producers to maliciously extract overwork from workers.
With that said, I hope this particular method of live production as seen in the Norwegian webseries “Skam” and the Korean dramas “Painter of the Wind” and “Sign”, does not find its way into newer productions of Korean dramas tailored for global audiences via streaming sites Netflix and Hulu. I do believe that producers of these shows will be able to maximize profits and minimize risk not by trying to catch up with the audiences fleeting emotional reactions, but by tuning into the diverse and foreign live-time responders via official drama websites, discussion boards in portal sites,10 and DC Inside (www.dcinside.com). Rather than gauging consumer wants and needs based on passive reactions, producers should research the carefully thought-out reception of these shows through online discourse of the show’s plots and images which Oh calls “discursive consumption”. Users (called DC Gallers) of the aforementioned Korean online community DC Inside has developed unique operational practices that also shape the consumption and reproduction practices of television drama, as well as the interactions between consumption and production.
Media companies have already begun to hire specialised fan engagement teams which I believe will smoothly shape the trajectory of globalized K-Dramas by researching and being attuned to the interpretive practice of appreciation/suggestion, online community building and pleasurable social interactions surrounding the entertainment, and information sharing and support.
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Globalization of Korean Culture will definitely alter the future trend in Korean Drama plot. There have been signs of Korean Drama topic changes. For example, in recent two years, dramas such as “Strong Woman Do Bong Soon” and “The Weightlifting Fairy” have associated themselves with feminist elements by physically empowering the female leads. Though they may not be as mature and still show signs of male dominance in relationships, they are slowly reverting the traditional sexist values. Moreover, just one month before, “Sky Castle” was the most influential Korean drama not only in Korea but also globally. It was so popular and stirred so much discussion mainly because of the issue it centers the plot around. Of course, the actors and actresses’ acting skills were worth appreciating but the voice it gives to the Korean media industry is what made it even more impressive. It comments on the corrupted elitist education system in Korea, where parents with high social status are using dirty methods to get their children into Seoul National University. Families are competing against each other and trying to live up to the traditional values for success, yet none cares about happiness and mental wellness. The drama is dark; the plot is intense; however, it is relatable, though evoking and reflective.
Hence, we can see how Korean dramas are being slowly influenced by western culture, in which they are inserting more of the people’s own voices and no longer living according to the country’s traditional values.
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