Saygo :
These topics are not specific or prevalent to Korea alone but it is interesting to see the Korean context/perspective
Yes, in fact, i wrote above that it applies to the whole world, also in Italy (I do not speak from direct experience) there are loan sharks, there is the mafia etc, but even if there are films and TV series that talk about the mafia and indirectly of loan sharks I've never seen things like kdrama. So, as you say, will it be just art or something taken from life? Here we say that if there is smoke there is also a roast.
I really like trying to understand, through the dramas, the social mechanisms they highlight.
for example, also if we are off topic, in recent years i see in kdrama (also jdrama, tdrama etc) the loves between younger boys and older girls, the so-called noona.
Ok this is also a phenomenon not limited to Asia, but see it very treated, so one wonders when dramas are influenced by life and when they affect it.
I don't know if you understand what i mean, my english is poor for serious conversation.