Uncle Samsik ~ Set in South Korea During the 1960s

“Uncle Samsik” is a Korean drama series released in 2024, with 10 episodes, and categorized as Historical Fiction and Political Drama; streaming on Disney+/Hulu; it is English dubbed and subbed.

♦ Doesn’t Everybody Want to Eat 3 Meals a Day?

“Uncle Samsik”, is an affectionate nickname. The nickname “Samsik” was given because “Sam” means “3” and “sik” means “food”. Whether you think of Uncle Samsik as a good guy or a bad guy, you can not deny that he had a noble goal. He wanted every Korean to eat 3 meals a day.

On the other hand, the Kdrama series “Uncle Samsik” paints a dark and grave picture of Korea in the 1960s. It was a troubling time of political transition in the Republic of Korea. Uncle Samsik knows about pizza. His fellow Koreans don’t know because most of them are hungry and can’t imagine bread that has vegetables and cheese! Cheese was not a common or traditional food in Korean cuisine.

In his line of work, Samsik crosses paths with people in both worlds: the world of politics and the world of crime. Somehow he manages to maintain a balance “in-between” and can conversate and negotiate with both groups and get things done.

Kim San is an economist who was educated in the United States and returned to South Korea with a noble goal similar to Samsik. He saw no reason why the people should have fought so hard to gain independence only to be poor and starving. He is an economist and he actually has a plan for how to solve this problem. The plan has been carefully thought out and well written. All the government leaders have to do is implement the steps. How hard can it be? It can be really hard if you can never get a politician to listen to you.

Kim San tried and tried and tried to arrange meetings with political officials to present his plan. But time and time again, there was always an excuse with the politician brushing him aside and saying … “Maybe next time I’ll listen to what you have to say.”

Kim San was fed up with being pushed aside. He knew of a meeting that was taking with other people who were also in politics and decided to go and pitch his ideas to them. Of course, this group wasn’t an easy crowd. Before he even started presenting the information they were already scoffing. Samsik happened to be “in the crowd”. Not as a politician. He just happened in the building because he was taking care of “some other urgent matters”.

Samsik was about to leave the room when he heard Kim San say that he wanted the people to eat pizza! Of course, he meant that both literally and symbolically. Eating pizza meant that people would not be hungry. Samsik had finally met another Korean who knew about pizza and decided: “Why not listen to what he has to say? Maybe this guy knows a surefire way for all the citizens to eat 3 meals a day.” 

Samsik and Kim San were going to develop a relationship and embark upon a path together that would make the country an industrial leader. Becoming industrialized would lift the people out of of poverty.

• NOTE: “Uncle Samsik” is historical fiction but this is a historical fact. “Among all the newly industrializing countries, South Korea’s development strategies, as implemented during the period of export-driven industrialization (1962-80), stand out as a model case in which rapid industrialization has been achieved by means of articulate trade and industrial policies.”  (SOURCE: The Korean Miracle (1962-1980) Revisited | Kellogg Institute) … “Korea underwent a greater industrial transformation in the twenty- five years following 1965 than Britain did in the seventy-five years following 1780.” (SOURCE: Labor Markets and Economic Growth: Lessons from Korea’s Industrialization, 1970-1990 | NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research))

Main Characters:

• Samsik (played by Song Kang-ho, “Emergency Declaration”, “The Face Reader”)

• Kim San (played by Byun Yo-han, “Believer 2”, “Mr. Sunshine”)

• Kang Seong-Min (played by Lee Kyu-hyung, “Seoul Vibe”, “Happiness”, “The Witch’s Diner”, “Stranger”)

Where to Watch

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb: 7.5 out of 10 stars
• My Drama List: 7.8 out of 10 stars
• Dramabeans: 10 out of 10 stars
• Common Sense Media: 4 out of 5 stars

My personal rating is 9 out of 10 stars.

First of all, kudos to whoever was responsible for assembling such an awesome cast! They deserve at least 2 of the stars for that. But these high marks are mainly because the writers did an excellent job of recreating a part of South Korea’s history that makes you appreciate the country as it exists today. The first episode grabbed the viewer’s attention by giving them a lot of food for thought. A person who knows nothing about Korea’s history will immediately lean forward and say “Tell me more.”

During the 60s in America, people were striving to make positive societal changes and challenging those in positions of power in the government. The 60s in South Korea were comparable. But who would have ever thought to promote the idea of peace and prosperity for the Korean people by mentioning the word “pizza”?

The Independence Movement may have begun in 1919, but the Koreans were not free from Japanese colonial rule until 1945, when World War II ended. August 15, 1945, is celebrated in South Korea as Gwangbokjeol, or Independence Day.

But becoming independent is never an automatic guarantee of “the good life”. It’s sad but often after fighting hard to gain one’s freedom, the harsh reality that you are still starving and poor takes the place of the other harsh reality that you were once oppressed by a foreign power. It’s like: “Hey! We kicked out the foreigners and we’re still broke and hungry? What kind of trade-off is that?”

The years following 1945 in South Korea were turbulent and trying times. “Uncle Samsik” is set in the 1960s and the series showed that a quarter of a century after WWII (25 years), there was still a struggle to:

• rebuild a nation of strong free healthy, and happy citizens and
• build the Republic of Korea (ROK) as a constitutional democracy.

South Korea’s political agenda seems to always include “unification” as a primary goal. But suppose South Korea can’t achieve an ideal government and economic prosperity for the people where citizens are not hungry and poor. How can they possibly expect to persuade North Korea to reunite?

♦ THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS:

I don’t mean to digress from an entertainment review and get involved in politics and world affairs. But this real-life situation in the Year 2024 (80 years after WWII) is too obvious to gloss over and not say anything about it. Ironically, the official name for North Korea is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). The way this country is shown in American media it is anything but democratic. Isn’t that the reason why North Koreans defect?

Although, according to a report by CNN, many of them leave because they’re hungry. I can understand that. In America, there was a celebrity named Red Skelton and he said “I left home because I was tired of being hungry.” Of course, he left his home, not his country. But hunger and starvation can be very motivating. The CNN report also said people defected because they didn’t like being constantly monitored and controlled. That too is understandable.

Yet another CNN report based on information received from South Korea, stated that the number of North Korean defectors who were entering South Korea nearly tripled in 2023. (Travel restrictions imposed because of the COVID pandemic that were lifted later may have contributed to the spike. Not sure. Just saying.)

Based on the table spreads I see in Korean dramas and the number of Subway sandwich shops, it looks like starvation is not a problem in South Korea. Of course, I could be wrong. After all, I am looking from a distance. But maybe now … reunification is an achievable dream. I know it’s not my country, but all people everywhere in the world want the same things in life. To be free, have a full stomach, and be happy. Right?

LINKS OF INTEREST:

• ‘Uncle Samsik’ Hulu Review: Stream It Or Skip It? | Decider
• Disney+ K-drama Uncle Samsik: Song Kang-ho makes K-drama debut in evocative political series set after the Korean war | South China Morning Post
• “Uncle Samsik” Ranks on Disney+’s Top 10, “Chief Detective 1958” Heads into Finale | MyDramaList
• Uncle Samsik Review: Song Kang-Ho’s Gripping K-drama Explores Korea’s Devastating History | Times Now

TRAILERS/TEASERS:

Hulu. “Uncle Samsik | Official Trailer | Hulu.” YouTube Video. YouTube, May 2, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYym8B89w5c.‌