I'I wrote that brief explanation above between the study sessions and it is inevitable that now looking at it, I will try to explanation why dropping honorifics in the heat of the moment is different from using informal language with someone after establishing that you can now speak informally. I will try to give examples that has been given to me by my Korean teachers (as I'm not a native Korean speaker myself and I don't want to intrude on a topic that is inherently Korean) and/or observations. All mistakes are my own though and if anyone has something to correct, please do! This is not in any way a compherensive analysis on language is used in the Devil Judge but given that some people might be curious about, I'm finally posting it.
What really prompted this remuninating process was not actually Yohan or Gaon, it was Elijah. So let’s talk about her and how she uses the language (and its connotations!)
When Elijah first appeared on episode 3, I didn’t really think a lot about it. I mean she speaks informally with Yohan which is odd but their relationship is odd, right? I mean a teenage girl, speaking banmal with her uncle? And uses his name on the top of that?! But I let it slide.
Then of course, she started to interact with Gaon and there were instant kill-bill sirens for me. Like seriously, I rewatched that scene a lot to make sure if I hear it right. The thing is the first time they interact with each other, Elijah uses 반말 (banmal), the informal speech pattern. Now that raises a few alarms. Elijah is not allowed to use banmal as Gaon is certainly older than her and their statuses were pretty much on equal ground and when I say equal, I mean Elijah would still need to be formal with Gaon. Gaon is not in her service like Nanny is and though Elijah is richer (lol yes), we would still expect Elijah to use formal speech . One thing I want to clarify for people who doesn't speak Korean/do not understand the complexities of using formal language. It is not simply manners to use formal language but it is something expected which means it is not something you'd ignore for the sake of being Edgy. How you use language and how you use honorifics is how you, as a person, move in the world.
Given the fact that this is the first time they interact with speech, she would maybe get away with less formal than 높임말 (formal speech pattern) but certainly she couldn’t use banmal. Not only that, she is rude to Gaon, definetely something that raises a few alarms on its own.
Of course, as a watcher I can hear that but does show bring it up? Of course, it is a serious offense. Gaon indeed does the sensible thing and asks her in that scene “누군한테 아까부터 반말이야?” Now (my) English subs are “who are you that you’re talking to me like that?”. Like that in English subs is banmal. I mean I don’t need Korean subs to hear that (but I certainly played the video a few times to check if I heard it right.) So Gaon asks, when Elijah tells him to stay in the bed and stop seaking around (I don't remember the exact wording), Gaon asks her "since now, who speaks to me in banmal"?
Elijah is unfazed and answers simply. She is Elijah and she shows no remorse about using banmal to someone older than her. She doesn’t care. Okay. Maybe she just hates him and this is how she shows her animosity. But she never calls him anything but Gaon, even after they get closer and never switches to honorifics.
Any sensible adult who cares about, you know the social structures, anything to do with being social actually, would frown upon that. I will explain why now.
Let’s rewind for a second. In Episode 3, one minute mark, Elijah talks to Yohan and again she is using both banmal and also she calls Yohan, Yohan. Not 삼촌 (samchon, uncle). Given that by that age, this would be an unacceptable behavior, it is obvious that this is the leverage Yohan gives to Elijah. One heartbreaking detail is that when I was rewatching their scenes to see if Elijah ever called him samchon, I realized, in the flashback scene, she indeed did. (When Yohan is waiting outside of the gates, child!Elijah tells him, “uncle you need to go in too”). So Elijah stopped calling him uncle after the accident. She did use banmal to him as a kid as well, so this is also an important detail. (But kids are given more leverage, especially at that age.)
One important thing @xxcaribbean hits on the nail above is that both Yohan and Elijah know about customs/traditions/society's rules, in a very distant, outsider sort of way. Again I'm reminding you that language, especially a language like Korean in which honorifics play a huge part and by speech patterns alone, you'd establish the proximity of relationships. The reason both Yohan and Elijah are sort of above that rigidity is that they had almost no one to teach them how to navigate that.
I took Korean classes on college level, introductory Korean reading and writing and while they were introductory, they were for people who will go on to have BA in Korean Language and Literature so they were tough. One of the reasons, I believe, was because our materials started to cover the most formal speech patterns/structures and moved down from that. Any other introductory course is a laughing stock compared to that as they completely forego the most formal until forever and only teaches you particular middle-ground formalities. When we asked our (Korean) teacher if it is the case for children, our teacher said something very interesting: most kids are given more freedom to speak informally but after a particular age ~6-7, because they need to know the propriety and how to conduct themselves in society, most parents would move on to speak formally in front of the so they'd learn from osmosis.
This, as you see, is not the case for Yohan and Elijah.
It doesn't mean that they don't know those patterns or how to use them, that would be an absurd thought. But they are definetely more lax.
(By the way when Elijah asks her why Yohan brought Gaon to mansion, Yohan asks “Gaon?” right? Not Kim-pansa, not Kim Gaon but just Gaon? Interesting. But let’s move on.)
So two adults who are both way older than Elijah are giving her leverage to call them whatever she wants. But there are two more adults Elijah interacts in the duration of the show. Let's see if she follows the same pattern.
Okay that oen is an egregious (and certainly funny) one. I mean seriously it made me laugh so much the moment I get it. In episode 5, Gaon takes Elijah to meet Soohyun. There is really an important part that you’d miss if until that moment you didn’t get Elijah's antics to forego using honorifics with both Yohan and Gaon. English subs aren’t clear about what happens in this scene so let’s break it down.
Gaon tells her it is better for Elijah to have a 친한 언니 right? The English subs are “I thought it would be great if you had a close female friend.” Unnie, as you all may already know, is not friend, not even close. It is used for older sisters/sister figures, particular emphasis on sister figures. Again sort of establishing proximity in a relationship through speech/language. I mean for an American/European, it may be an absurd concept but what you call another person (not their name but a particular title) matters in establishing your relationship with that person. The fact that Soohyun offered that after meeting Elijah once is actually very sweet of her. This is also important as Soohyun is a stranger to Elijah and offers that kind of ease to her. Next, a very innocent Soohyun, tells Elijah “Next time, can we speak casually so we can get closer. Or you can just call me by my name.” (English subs). Well Soohyun tells her Elijah can call her unnie next time they meet and speaking casually doesn’t mean you drop honorifics (you wouldn't do that unless...well married to that person lol) but more like you can call me unnie and you don't need to be rigid with me in speech. If you watch this scene you can see Elijah stops herself from telling her something, maybe holding her laugh. I mean seriously watch that scene. There is a reason Gaon is like ""hmm that would be good" because he knows.
And of course Elijah drops the bomb that is “I don’t want to. I’m not a child anymore.” Seriously given that she never uses honorifics with Yohan and Gaon, this intends to be a very funny scene as I mentioned while children are given more leverages with honorifics, the moment you are an adult, you are supposed to be very careful about how you use language. Elijah uses somewhat a formal language with Soohyun and does it as if she is always like that, proper and rigid when it comes to social proprierity.
Of course this is an act on her part which is understandable. Elijah is secluded from the world, from the society. She doesn't have anyone close to her like, like an unnie and Soohyun offers that to her. In the shopiing mall scene, another funny scene is lost in the translation. Elijah tells the person in the store "pack this one for ahjumma" and Soohyun looks around, looking for the ahjumma. And then she gets it "Oh I'm the ahjumma." Now Elijah knows that Soohyun isn't one but what else she would call her? Again you see that, she doesn't assume the proximity with her like she does with Gaon. Later she starts to call her unnie (so cute) to Yohan's shock and dismay. Elijah assumed that promixity with a person? is probably what he is thinking. It must be the 13th episode I believe.
If you have read until the point, you might see that there is a pattern. Both Gaon and Yohan allows her some laxity. But what about Yohan and Gaon? As I mentioned, Gaon drops the honorifics in the spur of the moment when they quarrel, the first offense is in the 4th episode. Gaon starts off using formal endings and then from "don't be hypocritical" part, he is using the informal endings. 당신 (you) is a cherry on top in that way. I was wrong about the episode and the order above, so apologies for that. Yohan smirks when Gaon uses informal language and calls him a monster though, that part is still true. I believe Yohan in that scene liked the fact that Gaon is no longer hiding under some pretense.
One thing I'd like to correct is that Gaon's informal speech when they quarrel is different from dropping them after establishing a relationship and therefore being more comfortable with each other. It is him being irreverent, for the sake of showing Yohan that now the relations have been soured. Gaon does the same thing with the professor in the last episode, which must be obvious. But with Yohan, it is a series of offenses on his part that Yohan doesn't seem to have any problem with. There is one fanfic writing, I don't remember which one who actually brought it up in one fic and I was floored.
If you want to nerd about the use of 당신, check this one out. It explains it better than I can.
I don't know how many words I have written but given that this show is set in dystopian Korea, the whole idea behind honorifics = respect, filial piety, the reverent cursoms/traditions has been... a thing of past. In the present conditions, most people of upper echelons of society know that their power is not limited to the titles they hold, the most obvious one is the pupper president case. That is why Jung Sunah slightly mocked Cha Kyung-Hee when she told her "she is a mere secretary" and threw her words back to her when Kyung-Hee needed her help. Sunah knows that she is not merely a secretary of course and Cha Kyung-Hee only had an inkling of what happens behind the closed doors of Foundation and she still operated with the yesterday's rules. Of course she was in the wrong.
In some ways, the characters are constantly making mockery of formality whether it is in speech or their interactions. Yohan's whole schtick, Sunah killing the Chairman and I can write a whole essay about the scene where Sunah drags Chairman to another room only to punch him), the President thinking he somehow has the upperhand and then being put to his place...It shows the hierarchy in that society is no longer adhering the rules of yesterday.
In that case, again I agree with @xxcaribbean, Yohan is certainly in a position to be disillusioned by the aspect of the language as an extension of the disillusionment with the society, as there is enough evidence in the shows that Yohan's father hides his monstrosity under the guise of respectability that comes from wealthy and flashy - the house, the maids, the names. I don't think he would be %100 okay with the fact that let's say, K or lawyer Ko, using informal speech with him but again, in Yohan's worldview, only two people are given more leverages than others and it is Elijah and Gaon, the latter being receiving end of so many leverages that if it doesn't make you go "mmm" a little, I'd advise you to watch the show again.
(The last thing I want to say is that is that up until the last part, Sunnah calls Yohan 도련님. This, in itself, is odd as again ~님 indicates respect but Sunnah's behaviour has nothing to do with respect. This, I believe, also enforces that "what you see isn't what you get" notion.)
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