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South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho accepts the Academy Award for best picture along with the cast and production crew of “Parasite” in Los Angeles on Feb. 9.

A major factor in Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” sweeping major categories including best picture, best director, and best original screenplay at the 2020 Academy Awards is its globally relatable storyline and meticulous production.

“Parasite” has a very Korean storyline, delving incisively into problems related to capitalism and the wealth gap. Starting from a story that unfolds between a poor family living in a semi-basement apartment -- a distinctively South Korean form of housing -- and a rich family living in a luxurious mansion, it proceeds to address questions faced by the world as a whole today.

“There’s a steep staircase separating the rich and poor people, and the story ends when with the poor man who tried to climb that staircase ending up coming down instead,” Bong explained. “That’s a sad aspect of our times.”

“This is a film about human decency and dignity. How much you observe decency toward human beings can be the difference between whether you’re a ‘parasite,’ as in the movie’s title, or ‘symbiotic’ in a positive sense,” he suggested.

Capitalism has reigned as the dominant global economic system since the fall of communism in the 1990s. The wealthy have gained more power than political forces as global businesses have extended their reach across national borders in the name of globalization. A side effect of this has been a world where the rich are increasingly growing richer and the poor poorer, with human dignity routinely trampled for the sake of efficiency. This explains why people around the world have related to and applauded “Parasite,” with its satirical treatment of issues commonly faced by people everywhere.

Bong first came up with the story idea for “Parasite” while he was doing post-production work for 2013’s “Snowpiercer.”

“I was to approach a story about rich and poor people in a way that was closer to everyday life and reality, focusing on families as the most basic units,” he explained. His own autobiographical experiences were also incorporated. In one conversation with the audience, Bong recalled working as a “math tutor for a middle school student in a rich family” during his time at Yonsei University.

“I got the tutoring job through my girlfriend [now his wife], who had been teaching Korean at the time. I wanted to introduce the student to another art teacher, but I ended up being fired as a tutor after two months, so I wasn’t able to ‘infiltrate’ like Ki-taek and his family do in the movie,” he said.

In 2015, Bong wrote a 15-page story treatment, and screenwriter Han Jin-won wrote a rough draft while Bong was shooting “Okja.” In 2017, Bong resumed script work, undertaking full-scale revisions to produce the final version.

Bong’s nickname among Korean moviegoers” is “Bong-tail” -- a blend of “Bong” plus “detail” -- and the movie lives up to it with its painstaking and elaborate production. As a first step, Bong envisions the scene and sketches it out in words and images. He then devotes meticulous attention to the actors’ dialogue and movements and the spatial composition down to the smallest props as he brings the images in his head to life. As everything was fine-tuned into place, the result was a film of supreme crafting, which has crossed national borders and language barriers to resonate with viewers worldwide. In his acceptance of the Golden Globe for foreign film early this year, Bong said, “I think we use one language -- the language of film.” Indeed, “Parasite” itself has become a lingua franca in its own right.

The Oscars awarded best original screenplay honors to Bong and Han for “Parasite” -- the first time a foreign-language film outside of Europe has received that award. It also recognized Bong’s exquisite directing with the best director award. Bong became the second Asian winner after Taiwanese director Ang Lee -- all the more special an achievement given that Lee won his awards for two Hollywood films, “Brokeback Mountain” and “Life of Pi.” Finally, the Oscars awarded “Parasite” with its top honor: best picture. With its traditional focus on story, the Oscars opted for “Parasite” -- which uses meticulous production and a novel storyline to address issues faced by the world today – beat the likes of “1917,” a story about World War I.

By Suh Jung-min, music correspondent

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