[Kulture-Issue] A look into the global popularity of mystery K-dramas "Nine Puzzles", "Dear Hongrang"

For today’s “Kulture Issue“ we want to analyze two Korean mystery series “Nine Puzzles“ and “Dear Hongrang“ that are currently the center of attention in the K-drama world. Let’s go deeper into the mystery genre and look into the factors behind the two dramas’ global popularity, with our culture critic, Professor Chie Hye-won at Kyung Hee University. Welcome Professor Chie!

Professor Chie, before we get into today’s topic, there is something to celebrate that just came in earlier this Monday, or Sunday New York time, that you want to mention, which Walter also reported on in K-Enter.

Q1. Let's now get into our main topic of mystery K-dramas "Nine Puzzles" has become the most watched Korean series on Disney+ this year. Please tell us a bit about this drama.

Q2. What do you think is the strongest factor that draws viewers to the series and is there anything about it that makes it different from previous Korean mystery dramas?

Q3. Let’s now go on to “Dear Hongrang“ or “Tangeum“ in Korean. This mystery melodrama is a Netflix series that continues to be in the top 10 of non-English shows.

Q4. “Dear Hongrang“ is a historical drama, what’s called “sageuk“ in Korean. So, it might have been quite unfamiliar to the international audience, but yet we see this popularity. How do you explain that?

Q5. So, what are the strengths of Korean mystery productions?

Q6. Mystery or crime thrillers can be both engaging and at the same time exhausting for viewers. What do you think is the key to striking the balance between those factors?

Q7. Are we expecting mystery productions to continue to emerge in the second half of the year? Anything we should look out for?

Thank you Professor Chie as always, have a great start to the new week.

Thank you Walter, we'll see you back tomorrow.