“A Virtuous Business” is a 2024 Korean drama, with 12 episodes, categorized as a Comedy, mixed with Crime and Romance. It is a Netflix Limited Series.
SUMMARY: In “A Virtuous Business”, the year is 1992 and women in desperate need of money decide to sell adult sex toys. That’s shocking and shameful if you live in a rural country Korean village in 1992. The money is good! But the haters are awful!
♦ I Have to Pay the Rent!!
In “A Virtuous Business”, four (4) women are from different walks of life, and at different stages of their life. Three (3) of them are facing financial difficulties and one (1) of them is bored and unfulfilled. Their differences do not matter because each one has a talent they can bring to the table, so they unite to start a business selling adult sex toys. Of course, it not going to be easy. The year is 1992, and they live in the conservative rural village of of Geumje. Two (2) have husbands who are opposed, but the wives are determined. As for the other two (2): one woman is a single mom and the other woman’s husband says she’s the smart one in the marriage anyway!
Han Jeong-Suk once won a local beauty contest. She was Miss Chili Pepper. Little did she know then that winning that beauty pageant would be the highlight of her life. The people in the village say she drew the “short straw”. That means the man she married kept her from accomplishing anything else in her life. Now she is a housewife with a young child to care for and works various odd jobs to pay the rent and buy food for her family.
She struggles financially while her husband can’t control his temper and keeps getting fired from his jobs. On top of that, he took the rent money and “invested” it. That’s what he told her. But the landlady wants the rent and she doesn’t have the money to pay her. Han Jeong-Suk sees an ad for a sales job saying she could earn 500,000 won. It’s worth a try. When she gets there the lady tells her she can make that kind of money selling adult sex toys. The woman tells her that she has been in this business for 30 years which proves that it’s profitable.
♦ I Can’t Work This Business Alone
Seo Young-Bok went to the meeting with Han Jeong-Suk. Seo Young-Bok is a mother of 4 children with a husband who doesn’t need sex toys to keep him satisfied. However, maybe she can sell these product to other people. They both agree to give it a try. The problem I they have no place to sell the products.
Han Jeong-Suk works as a maid for Oh Geum-Hui, who grew up in a wealthy family, attended college and majored in English literature, married a pharmacist, and is currently living a life of boredom. She would love to engage in activity that is productive and more fulfilling than arranging flowers. Oh Geum-Hui agrees to let the ladies have a sales party in her home.
Lee Ju-Ri is a single mother, who raises her son alone and runs a beauty parlor. She already know how to run a business and thinks the idea of selling adult sex toys would be fun and profitable.
Han Jeong-Suk, Seo Young-Bok, Oh Geum-Hui, and Lee Ju-Ri go into business, determined to be successful saleswomen. Of course, all the women, i.e. their potential customers, are shocked … at first. But they get persuaded to try the toys. The four women realize they can make money! Even so, there are others in the village who begin a campaign of harassment, to frustrate and frighten them. Nevertheless, they persevere.
♦ The Police Force Gets a New Detective
Kim Do-Hyeon is transferred to Geumje Police Station. He is highly educated and comes from a wealthy family. But nobody knows about his background in the village. They also don’t know that he came there to work on an assignment in secret. Something is going on in Geumje. The villagers may think they they live in a rural village where there is no crime but Kim Do-Hyeon is there because he has reason to be suspicious. He is coordinating his investigative work with law enforcement officers who are outside of Geumje.
Initially, Kim Do-Hyeon does not have any connections or relationships with any of the villagers. He is not there to make friends, find a wife, start a family, etc. He is focused on his work! But … you never know.
Main Characters:
- Han Jeong-Suk (played by Kim So-Yeon, “IRIS 1 and 2”)
- Oh Geum-Hui (played by Kim Sung-Ryoung, “The Fatal Encounter”)
- Seo Young-Bok (played by Kim Sun-Young, “Queen of Divorce”)
- Lee Ju-Ri (played by Lee Se-Hee, “Bad Prosecutor”)
- Kim Do-Hyeon (played by Yeon Woo-Jin, “Nothing Uncovered”)
Viewership and Rating:
- IMDb: 8.5 out of 10 stars
- My Drama List: 9.5 out of 10 stars
My personal rating is the same as My Drama List.
These days people think nothing of working women. But back in the day, a lot of women were at the mercy of their husbands and some husbands did not have mercy. As for a single woman with a child? Forget about it! I love the idea of strong independent women finding an honest and legitimate business to run and learning how to stand on their own two feet.
LINKS OF INTEREST:
9 incredible K-dramas to watch in October 2024 on Netflix & more | NME
TRAILERS/TEASERS:
Netflix K-Content. “A Virtuous Business | Official Clip | Netflix [ENG SUB].” YouTube Video. YouTube, October 5, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8t37Uv5xnk.
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