Netflix series When Life Gives You Tangerines (Korean title: Poksak Sokassuda) is generating a heated response. The series scored 3.6 million views, landing at the 4th most watched show worldwide in Netflix’s global non-English TV show weekly rankings from March 3rd to 9th.
It hit the Top 10 in 24 countries, including Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Peru and Bolivia, topping the charts in Korea, Hong Kong and Indonesia. Unlike typical Netflix releases that drop all episodes at once, When Life Gives You Tangerines adopts a phased approach, releasing four episodes per “act.” With twelve already out, the remaining 4 will drop on March 28th, concluding the 16-episode run.
The Korean title Poksak Sokassuda is a Jeju dialect phrase meaning “You’ve worked so hard.” The first four episodes reveal of an older Gwan Sik (played by Park Hae Joon) alongside hints from the next-episode preview—and the tear-jerking performance of Gwang Rye (Yeom Hye Ran), Aesoon’s mother and a female diver referred to as haenyeo—suggests this series is a tribute to our parents’ generation, quietly enduring tough times with a heartfelt “You’ve worked so hard.”
When Life Gives You Tangerines follows the adventurous lives of Jeju-born Aesoon (IU) and Gwan Sik (Park Bo Gum). Their middle-aged selves are portrayed by Moon So Ri and Park Hae Joon.
Aesoon’s bold declaration, “I don’t want to live like my mom!” draws inspiration from a real figure. Written by Lim Sang Chun—known for Fight for My Way (2017) and When the Camellia Blooms (2019)—the drama is based on thorough research in Jeju. Aesoon’s character is modeled after Hong Kyung Ja, Korea’s first female fishing village chief from the Hansu town. Hong, now in her mid-70s, earned widespread respect as a village women’s leader and proactive community member, according to “Hong Kyung Ja’s Story” by Kim Jin Kyung in The Jeju Voice. In 2004, she was unanimously chosen as the first female chief. When offered the role, her husband—perhaps the inspiration for Gwan Sik—just said, “Do well.”
With her husband and family’s support, Hong served as chief for three consecutive years, earning the New Fishery Leader Award—the first woman to do so—for boosting fishermen’s incomes. In 2012, she received a presidential industrial medal and worked to elevate haenyeo’s status. Haenyeo are female divers in the South Korean province of Jeju, whose livelihood consists of harvesting a variety of mollusks, seaweed, and other sea life from the ocean. She contributed to Jeju haenyeo’s UNESCO intangible heritage listing, speaking at the 2012 World Conservation Congress and donating 150 personal photos of haenyeo life from the late 1970s onward to the Jeju Development Institute in 2014. These efforts paid off in 2016 when Jeju haenyeo were officially recognized as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.
>> IU Shuts Down Claims of $345K Per Episode Salary for ‘When Life Gives You Tangerines’
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