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In the sweet and sour chapter of “When Life Gives You Tangerines,” Yang GeumMyeong (IU) packs her career in a box. While she is balancing it upon her lap at a bus stand, a man presumably with twice her experience also balances his career upon his lap. They have both been uprooted in the 1997 International Monetary Fund crisis (IMF Crisis).
A few years back, in the heartwarming yet bittersweet finale of “Twenty Five Twenty One,” Na HeeDo (Kim TaeRi) tearfully buries her fencing dreams as her school team disbands. This too was a direct consequence of the IMF crisis, which left 1.5 million people unemployed and 80% of the nation's population in financial trouble. It was a collective trauma that still manifests in Korean storytelling.
Seeing snippets of When Life Gives You Tangerines part 4, where the FL struggles through IMF crisis reminds me of Reply 1994. Reply 1994 is my favourite Reply series because I find the college setting, IMF crisis background easier to relate to compared to the other Reply series.
— Kairoskat supports #KAIROS 💐 (@katakwasabi) March 28, 2025
The recently canceled series, “Knock Off,” exploring the underground counterfeit trade born from unempl
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