Extraordinary Attorney Woo

(2022-); Legal drama; 16 one-hour episodes (Slated for a second season on Netflix, 2024)

Starring: Park Eun-bin, Kang Tae-oh, and Kang Ki-young

 

Woo Young-woo is a rookie attorney—a genius with autism—who tackles challenging cases in the courtroom but finds navigating daily life and relationships problematic. She becomes increasingly competent with both while earning the respect of her colleagues, despite initial discrimination and prejudices. Many episodes involve difficult legal issues and ethical questions.

 

Extraordinary Attorney Woo is an excellent series to dip your toe in the Kdrama pool. It’s a good introduction to how Koreans perceive traditions, honor, societal behavior, and values as protected in both criminal and civil law.

 

Park Eun-bin, as Woo Young-woo, is nothing shy of brilliant. She’s able to connect with the audience and convey deep emotions while portraying a character who shows little emotion. 

Kang Tae-oh’s portrayal of Lee Jun-ho, in many ways, reflects our own reactions to the frustrations, anticipations, joys, and disappointments we feel on behalf of Woo Young-woo and her inability to express her emotions fully. His acting is sensitive and nuanced, even if we’re captivated by his smile and want to spend as much screen time with him as possible.

 

Kang Ki-young, who plays Jung Myung-seok, is a wonderful character actor. I’ve seen him in several supporting roles and I’ve never been disappointed. He always brings a freshness to his craft such that his characters match the mood and genre of the series while avoiding stereotypes.

Extraordinary Attorney Woo is more than a courtroom drama with an unusual protagonist. The series broke ENA (television channel) viewership records, and became the seventh highest-rated cable television drama by number of viewers. It was successful and popular and that's an understatement.

 

Extraordinary Attorney Woo became more than just a drama series. The show shed light on some issues facing South Korean society without ever being preachy. To begin with, Woo Young-woo is an unusual protagonist. She’s a woman with a disability and that alone brings to the fore the challenges facing Korea’s disabled population. Woo Young-woo is rejected by a good number of firms before she is hired, albeit reluctantly.

 

So, before my brain exploded with a thousand questions, I did a little digging.

 

In 2022, 2.6 million individuals (about 5% of South Korea’s population) were registered disabled people. This is not uncommon. Only 34.5% of the disabled population are employed. And, it’s not just getting hired that’s an obstacle: transportation, access to schools, workplaces, and transportation is problematic, if not impossible. And then there’s the issue of buildings not being what we’d consider ADA-compliant with wheelchair ramps, elevators, and accessible toilets.

 

South Korea is a member of the G20. The national employment rate (which includes retirees) is 60.9 percent, but the employment rate for those with disabilities is 34.5 percent—a little more than half. And, just to make things a bit more interesting, students with disabilities are more likely not to receive an education—of the 98,000 students meeting the eligibility requirements for “special education” in 2021, less than 28% attended special schools or classes in traditional schools. And, while bullying is a big problem in schools (more on that in another blog post), it’s especially problematic for students with disabilities.

 

This isn’t to say that South Korea turns a blind eye. In 2005, the South Korean government mandated the accommodation of disabled people in public transportation and, in 2007, it prohibited the discrimination of disabled people. And, 10 years ago, the Korea Disability Law Association published a manual for lawyers and judges regarding disability rights.

 

Still, Extraordinary Attorney Woo highlights the shortcomings of discrimination against the disabled and helps to foster better understanding.

 

Then came the protests.

 

Episode 9 (The Pied Piper) features a young man who kidnaps students from his mother's academy for an afternoon of play. The episode actually sparked protests against South Korea’s zealous focus on students and academic achievement at the expense of play and the joy of just being kids. 

 

A little context here: South Korean government, as we know it today with direct, presidential elections and protected civil rights, began in 1987 with the 6th Republic. Shortly after, the economy went belly up and the IMF stepped in with austerity measures and unemployment rose. Since then, the government has focused on the 4th industrial revolution (digital and AI technology) and it has been at the forefront for decades. The government has also invested in educating the population and there’s an enormous focus and pressure regarding students’ academic achievement.

 

There is a lot of pressure for students to take and pass the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), which is an eight-hour marathon of back to back exams. The results determine what university they attend, but beyond that, it can dictate their job prospects, income, where they’ll live, even future relationships. It’s not just students and their parents who take it seriously, the whole country is in on it: businesses open late to avoid the chance of traffic jams, students can get a ride from the police if they’re running late, and planes are grounded during the listening portion of the exams. South Korea takes education very seriously.

 

Extraordinary Attorney Woo questioned whether students’ focus on academic achievement was detrimental to the lessons of childhood. It isn’t unusual for students to study 15 hours a day. That’s school, an after-school academy, homework, and self study. And, it’s not uncommon for students to study late into the evening.

 

In episode 9, Bang Guppong (played by Koo Kyo Hwan) faces trial for kidnapping the students of his mother’s academy so that they could play, rather than study. This actually sparked protests in July 2022 when the Education Minister reported to President Yook Suk-Yeol that the ministry would begin discussing dropping the age to begin school from age six to five. The law, if approved, would start in 2025.

 

Many Korean parents decried this new proposal citing that “children are already suffering from hyper-competitive academic stress and rank last in child happiness among other OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries. ("Koreans are Demonstrating Against A New Proposed Law, And ‘This Extraordinary Attorney Woo’ Character is Leading the Charge"; www.koreaboo.com; August 3, 2022)

 

The Minister of Education has since backpedalled on her proposal. However, the culture and pressure for academic achievement remains—at least as far as can be inferred through 2023 Kdramas.

 

I highly recommend Extraordinary Attorney Woo: The quality and caliber of the show is top notch, but also because of its impact on Korean society and what we can learn about Korean culture and values.

 

 

©2024 Caitlyn Frost. All rights reserved.