The reason I keep turning the drama "The Story of Deputy General Manager Kim Who Works at a Large Corporation and Owns a Home in Seoul" back on even after watching it intermittently is that I seem to see my own future reflected in it.
A person with a home in Seoul, a large corporation name written in the upper left of a business card, and the title "Deputy General Manager" attached. Perhaps the position many Korean men have quietly dreamed of, or already believe they have achieved.
But what''s strange is that what Deputy General Manager Kim wants to protect isn''t family, or the company, but actually his own pride — one social label: "Deputy General Manager at a large corporation." And I know well: large corporations have more Deputy General Managers than you''d think, and it''s a necessary fact that not all of them become executives.
Perhaps that''s why throughout watching the drama my chest felt strangely constricted. That discomfort wasn''t because Deputy General Manager Kim''s situation was unfamiliar, but because it was all too familiar. In one''s 30s and 40s, the rules of the corporate world were clear — competing, producing results, suppressing emotions, and carving oneself to fit organizational logic. The period of believing that world was everything and holding on. But in one''s 50s, that order begins to unravel without notice. Suddenly, very abruptly.
The world outside the company''s fence is strangely cold, and unfamiliar. The place where the bare face of "me" — hidden for so long — is exposed as-is. The moment the title is stripped away, what remains is simpler than you''d think. Not a profession, but "me" as a person. That''s all.
The drama "The Story of Deputy General Manager Kim" is ultimately that kind of story: the story of a man gradually pushed out of the world that was everything, finally crossing the threshold called retirement, and becoming an adult again beyond it. But this isn''t only Deputy General Manager Kim''s story in the drama — it''s already happening all around us.
The drama kept making me pause. Perhaps the clearly emerging scenes might be me ten years from now. So… honestly I was afraid. And suddenly, out of nowhere but very realistically, a sentence circled my head: "I should save more money." Of course money isn''t everything in life. But it can''t be denied that it serves as a very important floor we need to stand firm without being shaken.
The drama keeps asking me: "Even when the business card disappears, can you still be yourself?"
Titles will someday disappear, and the company will someday leave your hands. That''s a predetermined future. What remains then is ultimately only the question of how to protect "me as a person" rather than a "profession." Deputy General Manager Kim in the drama is now in the process of finding that answer. And I too am contemplating my 50s. The drama leaves one question that will remain like an echo for a long time behind my life: "Even when the company disappears from in front of my name, will I still be me even then?"
