From SKY Castle to Parasite : values and educational culture reflected through the South Korean movie and series

Abstract

This article aims to investigate the educational culture in South Korean society with an emphasis on its historical context. By investigating the South Korean educational culture, this article will use a Korean drama and film as a case study. ‘SKY Castle’ is a Korean drama that portrays the negative effects of a current South Korean educational system, while Bong Joon Ho’s Oscar-winning film ‘Parasite’ is reflecting a deep economic inequality and a fierce competition between the social classes, resulting in a consequence that causes disparities in the educational culture system in South Korean society. It should be noted that South Korean educational culture plays an important role in both ‘SKY Castle’ and ‘Parasite’. This article argues that the current educational culture in South Korean society has the origin in the link between Korean Confucianism and the immense development project after the Korean War. The education policy is a crucial part of the development project, and its importance is echoed in a famous motto “Education is the key to the national development.” The government has implemented educational policies along with creating people as an important force to revitalize the national economy. Although the economy is recovering rapidly, the result is the competition of people in society such as the competition of education level of children to the competition of work in adulthood, the competition for leading universities like SKY (Seoul National University (S), Korea University (K), and Yonsei University (Y)), or the competition to enter into a leading society. From the educational culture in South Korea leading to social problems, especially the economic and social inequality seen today.