Woo Young-woo, the fictional character played by Korean actress Park Eun-bin in the hit drama “Extraordinary Attorney Woo,” has been chosen as the 2022 Person of the Year by Korean newspaper Kyunghyang Shinmun.
In the drama, Woo Young-woo is a lawyer with autism spectrum disorder, a character that captivated the audience.
“Extraordinary Attorney Woo,” which aired on ENA, started with a rating of 0.948 percent and zoomed to 17.53 percent for its finale.
In the newspaper, there were 33 columns, excluding articles, that directly or indirectly mentioned “Woo Young-woo.”
The drama spurred discussions on persons with disabilities in Korea. The newspaper said the drama, sensitive subjects such as the right to love of sexual minorities, the right to happiness of children, discrimination against women in employment, the right to sexual self-determination of the disabled, and animal rights were carefully addressed.
“Woo Young-woo was surrounded by family, friends, and colleagues who respected her as an equal person and helped her without overcoming the discrimination and irrationality he experienced. Without them, Woo Young-woo alone would not have been able to grow into a great lawyer,” according to the newspaper.