When watching dramas these days, they can be entertaining, but I sometimes wonder why they can't be made like the old ones.

One of those is the drama 'Seoul's Moon' that aired in 1994. It's been over 30 years, and as time goes by, this work seems more impressive.

What is more surprising than the highest viewership rating of 48.7% at the time is the fact that in today's environment, there is no longer the courage or the setting to create such dramas in Korea.

The reason 'Seoul's Moon' is special is that it started from a completely opposite direction compared to the themes that dramas of that era typically dealt with.

At that time, the mainstream was about chaebols, pure melodramas, and glamorous love stories, but this drama highlighted the lives of people in the shantytown looking at the lights of Gangnam from the hills. And what's even scarier is that it never romanticized poverty.

There is no formula that says poor people are kind and pure. Only extremely realistic humans appear, who deceive each other, fight over money, and secretly enjoy the misfortunes of others. The story of trying to hold onto hope in despair, "Under the sky of Seoul, I have no land to call my own," is one where hope betrays you again. Such realism would probably get cut immediately in a planning meeting at an agency these days.

The character Kim Hong-sik, played by Han Seok-kyu, would be considered completely unbroadcastable by today's standards.

He is a con artist, a betrayer, and uses women for his own success. Yet strangely, he is not someone you can hate. His struggle to survive in Seoul after coming from the countryside and gradually becoming a monster is very realistic. His desire to "live in style just once" reflects the inner feelings of many people who were pushed out during the industrialization of that era, and the fact that it ends in tragedy shows the cruelty of this society.

Characters like Choon-seob, who contrasts with Hong-sik, and Young-sook, played by Chae Si-ra, are the same.

They are not neatly categorized into good and evil, success and failure. Everyone is understandable, and everyone is slightly flawed. The appearances of all the people who came to Seoul during that time are fully represented. Who would create such characters in an era where image management is so important?

The lines from 'Seoul's Moon' still sting today. Phrases like "If you have money, even a dog won't bark at you" come out just like that, as if they are mere lines.

Director Jeong Eung-young captures the smell of the alleys in the shantytown and the coldness of the winter air, pulling them out of the screen. Such texture is even harder to create in today's clean and refined visuals.

People say that now is a much more prosperous era than the 90s. However, the anxiety about home ownership, social mobility, and the future is even more daunting than back then. That is why 'Seoul's Moon' does not feel outdated at all today. This work is not just a memory but a record. It is the most honest record of how the city of Seoul raises and swallows people.

To be honest, we can't make such dramas now. If we did, we would be criticized, receive complaints about discomfort, and there would be no guarantee of viewership ratings. That is why I believe 'Seoul's Moon' is a work that is hard to see again in the history of Korean dramas.