The happiness of some ... makes the happiness of others.

The worldwide success of the South Korean series

Squid Game

 is the delight of a couple of small shopkeepers in Seoul.

Every day, in front of their modest stand, they see fans rushing to buy a "dalgona", the now famous treat at the heart of a challenge to be met in one of the nine episodes.

This candy, long associated with the extreme poverty that followed the post-war years, has seen new life since the release of the Netflix production of

Squid Game

.

This series features characters from South Korea's most marginalized fringes participating in traditional children's games to win 45.6 billion won (33 million euros).

In one of the tests, the competitors must cut out shapes, in particular a star and an umbrella, in this crunchy sugar cake.

Those who fail to break it are immediately executed.

Fancy making the Squid Game Sugar Cookie? #Dalgona https://t.co/raQrEBD0IT

- 🚴‍♂️ Jassogne (@jassogne) October 9, 2021

Between 300 and 400 dalgonas produced during filming

This life and death game was inspired by the story of director Hwang Dong-hyuk, who grew up in Seoul in the 1970s. At that time, children who managed to cut out a shape received a free dalgona. To win, Hwang Dong-hyuk showed incredible inventiveness, not hesitating to lick the treat to detach its shape or use a heated needle. In the series, the characters reproduce these different techniques. "The dalgonas maker would be dubious to see me pull off the most difficult shape, which is that of an umbrella," the director said in a recent YouTube video.

The candy cutting scenes were complicated to shoot, as the dalgona melts very easily in a humid atmosphere, especially during the rainy season in South Korea. Artistic director Chae Kyung-sun therefore called on "dalgona specialists" who came to make the candy at the filming location. Lim Chang-joo and his wife Jung Jung-soon, produced between 300 and 400 dalgonas during the three days of filming. “They were smaller and thinner than what we usually make,” says Lim Chang-joo. Now their modest stall, located on a street in Seoul's theater district, is one of the South Korean capital's most sought-after places.

As soon as it opens, people flock to it hoping to buy one of these treats that they make on the spot and sell for 2,000 won (about 1.45 euros).

It is not uncommon for customers to wait up to six hours.

Some end up giving up and leave empty-handed.

It takes about 90 seconds for Lim Chang-joo to melt sugar and baking soda in a small ladle over a burner.

Then, he presses the dough and, using a mold, he gives the shape desired by the customer.

The confectioner offers an array of shapes and recently he even added an "N" for Netflix.

"The dalgona is a link in a culture of link"

Lim Chang-joo, who never imagined his confectionery would become so popular, now has a "super hectic" life. “Of course, I'm happy because my business is going well and the dalgona has become famous in other countries,” explains this trader who opened his stand 25 years ago.

The dalgona first appeared in the 1960s, when South Korea was plagued by post-war poverty. Desserts - like ice cream or chocolates - were scarce and sold at exorbitant prices. Very sweet, with hints of nuts and bitterness, this treat was very popular, and many vendors set up their stalls near schools. Lim Chang-joo and Jung Jung-soon decided to embark on this business after their sewing shop closed during the Asian financial crisis of 1997.

The

Squid Game

phenomenon

is the latest manifestation of South Korea's growing influence on the global cultural scene, following the K-pop sensation BTS and

Parasite

, Palme d'Or at Cannes and first non-language film. English to win the Oscar for best film.

"South Korea has always been at the meeting point of modern and pre-modern, Western means and Eastern methods, of preserving the past while sacrificing everything for the future," according to Michael Hurt, professor of theory. cultural at Korea National University of the Arts.

“The dalgona is a link in a culture of link”.

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