[Photo &] Netflix No. 1 “Chamgyoyuk” director Hong Jong-chan interview: “Violence is fantasy—here’s hoping for an open public forum”

The global sensation sparked by daring retribution—handing the classroom a rod after it crossed the line

‘Netflix’ original series ‘Chamgyoyuk’ has swept through media markets worldwide. In just three days after release, it notched a staggering feat: No. 1 in the non-English TV category and a debut in the Top 10 across 48 countries. The so-called ‘satisfying narrative’, in which a collapsed system of authority is subdued through sheer physical force, explosively released the public’s suppressed thirst for catharsis. Behind the box-office surge that even outpaced controversy over the original webtoon, there are also criticisms that the show justifies corporal punishment. In response, director Hong Jong-chan acknowledged the limits of what a creator can do, yet put the emphasis squarely on the weighty questions the work raises for our society itself. In effect, it opened up a forum for hard-edged debate about real-world education, going beyond simple entertainment.

Director Hong Jong-chan asked, “How far can a drama’s role go?” and added, “I don’t think providing a solution is in our lane.”

A painful truth paradoxically underscored by unlawful fantasy: “Do we have ‘real adults’?”

The ‘Office for Protection of Educational Authority’, the central institution that runs through the drama, is entirely a product of fantasy. Under the command of Education Minister Choi Kang-seok (Lee Sung-min), Na Hwa-jin (Kim Moo-yul) and Lim Han-rim (Jin Ki-ju) put classrooms that have crumbled under blood-soaked violence on trial. Director Hong Jong-chan made it clear that, in the story, corporal punishment is never something that can be allowed in real life. The target this brutal catharsis is zeroing in on is the absence of ‘good adults’. It’s a painful paradox that a decisive adult who can be feared by children—and a sturdy seawall that reaches out at the edge—are desperately needed in reality. In particular, the overwhelming performance by Kim Moo-yul, which perfectly stitched together action packed with impact and comedy, is drawing praise by pushing the production’s completion to its limit.

Pulling the fuse between catharsis and a bitter aftertaste—lighting the spark for intense social debate

Public reactions split between two extremes: exhilaration and bitterness. The Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations said it felt understood because the fictional ‘Office for Protection of Educational Authority’ stood in for teachers’ desperate feelings, while also sharply pointing to the need for ‘legal protective measures’—not punches. That’s because behind the satisfaction delivered by extreme remedies like violence lies a heavy sense of helplessness in the real world. Director Hong Jong-chan said he hopes this rough narrative becomes a small consolation for those who have been hurt. Even if the drama can’t hand over a perfect answer, the value of ‘Chamgyoyuk’ has already been proven simply by showing the festering wound in the education world and igniting the spark for heated discussion.