We dive into as many Korean cultural nuances we could find that may have had you scratching your head while watching Squid Game 2. Also, get out your maps because we track down almost every single filming location in Seoul.
Guest: Ron Chang
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Credits
Produced by Joe McPherson and Shawn Morrissey
Music by Soraksan
Top Tier Patrons
Angel Earl
Joel Bonomini
Devon Hiphner
Gabi Palomino
Steve Marsh
Eva Sikora
Ron Chang
Mackenzie Moore
Minseok Lee
Hunter Winter
Cecilia Löfgren Dumas
Josephine Rydberg
Devin Buchanan
Ashley Wright
George Irion
Notes
SPOILERS AHEAD
Episode 3 – 001
- Boat literally named “Paradise” in English
- Mudang character – unfortunate stereotype again?
- Shawn
- “How old are you?” when reprimanding someone
- Ron: or calling someone (Thanos) hyung to gain respect
- Thanos – The most annoying character in streaming history
- Patterned after T.O.P.
- Shitty rapper
- Drops English and other languages badly–just like K-Rap
- Ron: There’s an unnecessary use of English in general in this second season, maybe for the global audience? Also Thanos shows the sense of entitlement some Koreans have, speaking informally to those who they deem inferior to them; this often happens at companies where people think because of age/position, they can talk to employees casually
- Use of drugs
- Crypto Guy (Lee Myung-gi)
- Do Kwon of Terra – Same backstory
- “Men are men and women are women” the viewpoint of many older adults/elderly when viewing transgenders
- Frontman (Oh Young-il) disguising himself as a player, same Number 001
Episode 4 – Six Legs
- Traditional Dosirak
- Shawn
- Ron: Mom used to pack me that dosirak when I was a kid too, when I lived in the states and Korea, would be made fun of… some restaurants have it across Korea – just gotta shake it….that restaurant below the Donimun Museum Village has the dosirak as well. Also very common in the military, especially with a spork
- Pulling rank, even though they’re not currently in the military
- Ron: Only former Marines do this. Marines are considered elite and because there’s such a small no. of them, all Marines, old and new, become friends right away…as well as there is a hierarchy like all aspects of Korean society like school and job.
- Lots of people saying 18
- Ron: Because that’s the most powerful swear word in Korean, right?
- Single mother stigmatization
- Ron: Also stigma with old people as with #149, the mom of no. 7
- Seoul Dobong Police Station – near Changdong and Nowon Stations, way up in northeastern Seoul
- Near Yeonsangun’s Tomb and The Seoul Robot & AI Museum–WEEEEEEE!!!!
- Drinking Somaek at the 회집
- Mudang’s hairband
- K-놀이 (K-Games) Mini Games 딱지치기, 비석치기, 공기놀이, 팽이치기, 제기차기
- Dalgona in Season 1 and then no Gonggi Nolyee in Season 2
- Ron: Gonggi – you need to have quick hands, at least I did when I was a kid…but I would always lose one of them and replace it with like a marble but you could really use any small circular object to play the game. Parents’ generation were much more skilled at these games because that’s all they had. For these games, you need a lot of patience as well as flexibility
- Yi Sun-shin quote
- “죽고자하면 살것이요, 살고자 하면 죽을것이다” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHrbK6qRRVc
- “Those seeking life shall crack. Those seeking death shall live.”
- Speech before the Battle of Myeongnyang
- Quoting “The Art of War” – Sun Tzu
- Sacrifice oneself for the greater good
- Ron: Yi Sun-shin is known as the father of the Korean Navy, and while most Marines don’t like to admit, the ROKMC is part of the Navy, meaning the government only recognizes three official military branches
- Significance of telling someone your real name
- Many times, Koreans call each other by titles, not given names
- Ron: at some companies I worked at, I didn’t even know the names of colleagues or secretaries, I would just call them by their title
Episode 5 – One More Game
- Does the music sound like the ‘88 Olympics?
- It’s a Korean children’s song, one of the most popular ones
- Significance of calling the trans woman “unnie”
- The way Korean treat people outside their social circles almost like animals
- Kim Byung-hun – Former professional baseball pitcher with Arizona Diamondbacks and Boston Red Sox
- Vietnam War – South Koreans did fight alongside the U.S. in Vietnam
- “Aged Kimchi Jjigae with lots of pork”
- Ron: considered comfort food right? In a pot, with people around the table…beats any games and death
- Bongcheon-dong and Sillim-dong – near each other and were considered poor sections of town (Joe used to live in Sillim-dong)
- Gwangmyeong
- Ron: These areas are still considered a bit run down, even though SNU – Seoul National – is located there. A lot of prostitution still in that area
- Why doesn’t Gi-hun just bribe everyone to quit the game?
- “Pilseung!”
- Ron: Used in the Marines and Navy
- Korea’s lax loan regulations + Keeping up with the Kims
- Milk in modern Korean history
- Shawn
- Thai ladyboys “hotter and more beautiful than most women”
- Thanos forgetting the lyrics in the audition show finale – saturation of audition shows in Korea
- Bi-nyeo (?)
- Shawn
- Factory strike – very much a part of Korean culture
- Failed chicken shop – Chicken hof market
- “Cheapskate of Ssangmun-dong” (?)
- Game: 짝찟기 (Mingle)
- Player 246 – Reference to Les Miserables?
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