Prisoner Number 4421 Eating Sushi in 'Sarinja Onnang' "Did They Aim to Evoke Lee Jae-myung?"

The new Netflix drama 'Sarinja O Nangam' has sparked controversy as the character of a construction company chairman is said to resemble Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea.

On the 11th, many online communities reacted that the character Hyung Seong-guk, a construction company chairman accused of corruption who appears in 'Sarinja O Nangam' released on the 9th, is similar to Lee Jae-myung.

A scene where Chairman Hyeong Seong-guk is eating eel sushi in the reception room.
[Photo by Netflix capture]

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'Sarinja O Nangam' is a drama based on the webtoon of the same name serialized on Naver from July 2010 to June 2011. It depicts the story of an ordinary man who accidentally starts killing and the detective chasing him.

There are five main reasons why the setting is suspected to be malicious. First, the appearance is similar. The white hair combed back and the glasses resemble Lee Jae-myung.

Second, the chairman Hyung's daughter’s name, 'Hyung Jisoo,' is said to remind people of Lee Jae-myung’s profanity controversy. During that controversy, online users changed the order of letters to avoid profanity filters, and some argue that the name 'Hyung Jisoo' is a malicious reference to those altered words.

Third, there is a scene where Chairman Hyung, who is imprisoned in the drama, eats delivery food in the visitation room. The menu shown is sushi, which overlaps with the food delivered to Lee’s wife Kim Hye-kyung’s home during the corporate card misuse allegations. This visitation food-eating scene was not in the original webtoon but was added in the drama.

Fourth, the prisoner number of Chairman Hyung is '4421.' This number was not in the original work either. Netizens interpret this as a reference to the total profit of 442.1 billion KRW earned by Jeil Construction, which received six apartment blocks in Daejang-dong from Seongnam City.

Lastly, there is a scene where Chairman Hyung is threatened with murder, and the assailant stabs his neck while confronting the police. The assailant says, "This is the carotid artery," which some claim reminds them of the attack on Lee Jae-myung. However, this scene also appears in the original work.

Supporters criticize the producers for intentionally including elements that evoke Lee Jae-myung, and some even call for a boycott. On the other hand, some netizens responded with comments like "If he were clean, he wouldn’t feel guilty," and "Isn’t this freedom of expression?"

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