Korean Culture Found in KPop Demon Hunters 👹

I know we did a show post last week, but there is a movie that is absolutely taking over the global charts, both in terms of Netflix and Spotify listens: it's KPop Demon Hunters! Today, we're going to take a few snapshots of the movie, which is rich in Korean cultural artifacts, and chat about them! (⚠️ Warning there are spoilers in this email! ⚠️)  Let's dive in!

One of the first snapshots we get is of the food they have on the plane in the first scene

Working from the top-left clockwise, we have:

• 어묵탕 = boiled fish cake soup; you tend to find this at street stalls, great in the cold winter
• 빵 = various types of breads
• 순대 = blood sausage; it tends to also have glass noodles inside as well
• 어묵 = more fish cakes
• 라면 = cup ramen
• 김치 = kimchi
• 냉면 = 냉 (cold) + 면 (noodles) = cold noodles, usually buckwheat; usually eaten in the summer, but traditionally in the winter
• 김밥 = classic kimbap
• 호떡 = sweet-filled (sugar, cinnamon, seeds (sometimes)) pancakes; give me a couple these in winter and I'm extremely happy
  • Side note: there are two thoughts as to the origin of the word 호떡
    • The first is the sound you make to cool a hot ('hoh hoh') 호떡 
    • The second is that 호 (foreign) + 떡 (rice cake) conveys that 호떡 was brought in by Chinese foreigners during the Qing dynasty

Next up! Let's talk weapons

Each of the three characters have distinctive weapons based on traditional Korean weapons. Left-to-right we have:

• 신칼 = 신 (divine, god, spiritual) + 칼 (sword, knife) = these were traditional swords used by shamans performing rituals
• 곡도 = 곡 (curved) + 도 (blade) = another traditional blade; 도 here implies a curved blade where as the next weapon implies a straight blade
• 사인검 = 사 (four) + 인 (tiger, from a Sino-Korean word) + 검 (blade, usually double-edged) = the four tiger sword
  • You might be wondering: why four? and why tiger? The blade was forged (or at least the most important parts of it) in the year, month, day, and hour of the tiger (인, in Sino-Korean). The tiger represents strength, protection, and authority, so it seems like quite the fitting name! The sword can only be made once every 12 years because it has to be the year of the tiger. 

Let's quickly chat about the Saja boys and that side of the movie as well! We first meet 진우 like this (super moody):

There are a few things to already pick out here!

• He is dressed as 저승사자 = 저승 (underworld, afterlife) + 사자 (messenger, envoy) = messenger of the underworld, essentially the Korean version of the Grim Reaper
  • Also, this is why they are called the 사자 boys!
  • On top of that, 사자 also means lion, so the mascot of the Saja Boys is a lion in the background
• The instrument that he is carrying is called a 비파, which is a traditional string instrument from Korea. Although it is based on a similar instrument from China that was introduced from the Silk Road

Next up is one that actually caused the Korean National Museum to run out of stock of one of its items in the gift shop!

The tiger and bird that are seen here are also very traditional symbols within Korean culture. The tiger 호랑이 and the magpie 까치 symbolize strength and good luck in the culture.

However, this class of paintings, called 호작도 (literally, tiger and magpie painting), also tend to be interpreted as satire, with the tigers representing the royalty at the time and the magpies the commoners who make fun of them. 

The tiger and magpie in the movie resembled a badge that you were able to buy in the National Museum of Korea so much that it completely sold out!

There are a TON more little details hidden in the movie that would take a lot more to put all of it here. But if you haven't seen the movie yet, we totally recommend a watch! The songs are unbelievably catchy, so be warned!

If you made it this far, thanks!

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Have a good rest of your Sunday!

지혜 & Ian

Daily Tokki