I want to see kids playing outside with bikes and toys. Not on laptops and phones. I want to see Jordache jeans from 1982 or bell bottoms from 1977!! I want to see bikes with banana seats, tube socks with stripes on top, cut off Jean shorts, Atari 2600, Jordache jeans from 1982 or bell bottoms from 1978!! Please, God, please not 2002...just not yet!!

2002 doesn't feel too recent because it's only five years ahead of 1997. assuming the drama doesn't air until, say, 2018? 2019? they could have it together by 2017, too, but characters might be as young as 30 in present-day. it's been awhile sine I saw the drama, but I think that is close to the age of 1997's characters. should they go for 2002 it will obviously have a very different feel than other reply dramas, tho, since we're still fresh into the 2000s. for that reason I'd prefer they wait a some more years before they try a 21st century reply. but! each reply drama is made distinctive largely by its time period (that includes the relevance of rl events, music, & varying degrees of nostalgia) & partly by location, unique characters, & so on, so going off of that: I'll take whatever year they want to work with tbh, because I'm sure I'll enjoy it well enough. I only ask that they consider keeping eps to no longer than an hour, & ofc I'd like to avoid certain frustrating aspects that are found in the present three reply dramas... but that's nothing more than wishful thinking on my part, I know.

Quoting a 2020/01/06 The Cinemaholic article:

In 2017, director Shin Won-Ho, when asked about the possibility of Season 4 in a press conference, answered that he has not been working on it as he has been busy with other projects. However, he suggested that he continues to research and hunt for the right story.

As of today, there is no official news of a ‘Reply’ Season 4. However, with the director looking for a new tale, ‘Reply’ Season 4 might get a release date sometime in 2022. 

---

If they will remain faithful to the series' trend, then Reply 1972 will be more likely to happen. However, it's quite a bleak time in Korean history since it was during that year that the Martial Law was declared. I could not imagine how they would be able to pull off some comedic scenes in such an era.  Would it be like The Light In Your Eyes? 

2002 is a good year though.  It won't be bad to watch a Reply drama set during that time.

Meanwhile here's a funny clip of a 1970s scene from The Light In Your Eyes: