Kultur Pop kor
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-Pop
K-Pop
K-Pop (kor.: 한국대중가요, Hanja: 韓國大衆歌謠, Umschrift: hanguk taejunggayo) ist eine abkürzende
Schreibweise von Korean Pop-Music oder auch Korean Pop und bezeichnet ein weit gefasstes
musikalisches Genre, welches sich in den 1990er Jahren in der koreanischen Musikwelt als Analogon
zum japanischen J-Pop etablierte. Es bezieht sich aufgrund der politischen Situation nur auf die
populäre Musik Südkoreas. K-Pop erreichte durch die Koreanische Welle weltweit Bekanntheit.
Geschichte
Die Anfänge für die heutige Musik, die diesem Genre zugeordnet wird, sollen sich schon etwa 1930,
als Korea unter japanischer Herrschaft stand, in der koreanischen Kultur verankert haben. Sie soll
dabei stark von der damaligen japanischen Populärkultur beeinflusst worden sein. Obwohl die
koreanischen Sänger durchaus talentiert gewesen seien, war es ihnen aufgrund der Kolonialstellung
untersagt sich künstlerisch auszudrücken. Der nächste entscheidende Punkt in der Entwicklung sollen
die im Zeitraum von 1950 bis 1960 von US-amerikanischen Truppen veranstalteten Konzerte gewesen
sein, die damit den Südkoreanern ein weiteres Stück moderner westlicher Kultur nähergebracht haben
sollen. Infolge dessen gründeten sich viele junge Bands nach amerikanischen Vorbild. Daraus sollen
sich schnell drei verschiedene Musikstile abgeleitet haben:[1]
Nach westlichen Vorbild gestaltete Boy- und Girlgroups, die hauptsächlich auf ihre Attraktivität setzen.
Ein technisch schwierigeres und älteres Genre war dabei Trot (트로트), dessen Wurzeln auf die
Beeinflussung Koreas durch Japan während der Kolonialzeit zurückgehen und ein überwiegend
älteres Publikum ansprach.
In den 1960er Jahre hatten auch viele Singer-Songwriter ihren Durchbruch und gaben in den Liedern
ihre persönlichen Erfahrungen und Schwierigkeiten des Lebens wieder.
In den frühen 1990er Jahren soll sich zurückgehend auf Südkoreas wohl bedeutendsten Popmusiker
Seo Taiji ein viertes Genre etabliert haben. Die Entstehung der Gruppe Seo Taiji and Boys im Jahr
1992 gilt somit als Wendepunkt für die südkoreanische Popmusik, da die Gruppe Elemente der
westlichen Musikrichtungen Rap, Rock und Techno in ihre Musik einfließen ließ. Der enorme Erfolg
von Seo Taiji and Boys in Südkorea und auch anderen experimentellen Gruppen setzten den Trend
für die heutige Generation von K-Pop Gruppen und Künstlern.[1]
Heutige Situation
Nachdem der Import japanischer Musik (J-Pop) im Jahr 1999 erlaubt wurde, stiegen deren Verkäufe
stetig an, spielen aber im Vergleich zu der Korean Wave bzw. Hallyu nur eine untergeordnete Rolle.
Im asiatischen Raum, seit K-Pop weit verbreitet und in anderen Ländern teils beliebter als die
Konkurrenz, was unter anderem auf die äußerliche Attraktivität der Musiker zurückgeführt wird, die
wiederum häufig ihren Ursprung in der Plastischen Chirurgie haben soll.[1]
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gegenwärtige_südkoreanische_Kultur
Gegenwärtige südkoreanische Kultur
Die politischen Differenzen zwischen Nord- und Südkorea haben dazu geführt, dass sich die
gegenwärtige südkoreanische Kultur deutlich von der des Nordens unterscheidet. Trotzdem finden
natürlich auch heute noch eine Vielzahl der traditionellen Gebräuche der koreanischen Kultur
Anwendung, im Norden wie im Süden.
E-Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts
Verglichen mit Japan erreichte westliche Musik die koreanische Halbinsel relativ spät, nämlich erst
gegen Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts in Form christlicher Hymnen der Missionare.
Während der späten Joseon-Dynastie wurde die Verbreitung der westlichen Musik aber vor allem
durch die königliche Militärkapelle vorangetrieben, die zu gründen und zu instruieren der deutsche
Dirigent Franz Eckert im Jahre 1901 beauftragt worden war, die aber bereits 1915, dann schon von
der japanischen Besatzungsmacht, entlassen wurde. Die traditionelle Militärkapelle war bereits 1907,
mit der Abwicklung des traditionellen Militärwesens aufgelöst worden.
Die ehemaligen Mitglieder des westlichen Militärorchesters, die während der japanischen Kolonialzeit
(1910-45) zumeist als Musiklehrer arbeiteten, übernahmen die Aufgabe, die europäische Musik in der
Öffentlichkeit zu verbreiten. Anstelle von traditioneller Musik wurde im staatlichen Schulsystem
ausschließlich westliche und japanische Musik gelehrt, was zur Folge hatte, dass diese Musik bald
eine feste Stellung im Musikleben Koreas einnahm und sich zur Grundlage der populären Musik dort
entwickelte.
Ein Charakteristikum der japanischen Besatzungszeit war die unkritische Akzeptanz der westlichen
Musik durch koreanische Musiker, die entweder in Missionsschulen ausgebildet worden waren oder in
Japan studiert hatten. Solche Musiker wie Hyeon Che-myeong (1902-1960) oder Choi Dong-seon
(1901-53), die in Japan westliche Musik studiert hatten, kamen in den 1930er Jahren nach Korea
zurück und versuchten dann, die Qualität der musikalischen Ausbildung in Korea zu verbessern.
Gleichzeitig erlebte der Musikkonsum durch den Bau von neuen Theatern und Konzertsälen, sowie
durch die Schallplattenindustrie ein starkes Wachstum. Dieser Wandel ist vielleicht das deutlichste
Zeichen einer Verwestlichung, denn ein Konzertleben, wie es in Europa üblich war, hatte im alten
Korea nicht zur zumeist privaten oder repräsentativ-rituellen Musikpraxis gehört.
Unglücklicherweise schlossen sich einige Musiker aus dem Bereich der Westlichen Musik aus
Opportunismus der japanischen Politik der „Imperialisierung“ an, die vom japanischen
Generalgouverneur von Korea nach dem Zweiten Chinesisch-Japanischen Krieg im Jahre 1937
eingeleitet worden war. Diese Pro-Japan-orientierten Musiker, unter anderem Hong Nan-pa (jap.
Morikawa Jun, 1897-41) und Hyeon Che-myeong (jap. Kuroyama), stellten die Leitfiguren in der Welt
der westlichen Musik in Korea dar. Aus diesem Grunde konnte die moderne Musikgeschichte Koreas
ihre Identität nach der Befreiung nicht wiederfinden.
Die erste Generation der Musiker, die westliche Technik und Theorien übernommen hatten, wurden
vor allem für ihre Pionierleistungen in der Entwicklung von Kagok anerkannt, das sind kurze Lieder,
die dem deutschen Kunstlied äußerlich sehr ähnlich sind. Kagok ist eine oft gespielte und beliebte
Gattung des Kunstlieds, das verwirrenderweise die gleiche Gattungsbezeichnung trägt wie das
traditionelle aristokratische Genre. Der Stil dieser Kagoks ist gänzlich westlich und benutzt in
Verbindung mit modernen koreanischen Gedichten eine vollkommen diatonische Harmonie. Diese
Musik sagt sehr viel über das koreanische Verständnis westlichen Harmoniedenkens aus.
Nach der Befreiung im Jahre 1945 war das schöpferische Klima für viele Jahre durch politische
Erwägungen belastet, insbesondere nach dem Koreakrieg von 1950-53. In dieser Zeit befand sich
Korea in einem Zustand starker Politisierung; je nach politischem Standpunkt wechselten auch
Komponisten von Süd- nach Nordkorea und umgekehrt.
Seit den späten 1960ern bedienten sich Komponisten wie Sukhi Kang (geb. 1934), Paik Pyong-dong
(geb. 1936) und Kim Chong-gil (geb. 1934) westlicher Theorien und Methoden. Sie glaubten, dass sie
so schnell wie möglich die westlichen Kompositionstechniken des 20. Jahrhunderts übernehmen
müssten, wenn sie das kreative Leben Koreas aus seiner historisch bedingten Rückständigkeit
erlösen wollten. Genauso wie die Wirtschaftsplaner die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung durch die Einfuhr
moderner Technologien vorantreiben wollten, waren diese Komponisten bestrebt, die modernen
Kompositionstechniken des Westens zu erlernen, mit dem Schwerpunkt auf instrumentaler Musik.
Diese führenden Komponisten der zweiten Generation hatten alle in Hannover beim koreanischdeutschen Komponisten Isang Yun studiert, der unstrittig der erste Komponist war, der die Klänge und
Formen der traditionellen koreanischen Musik mit denen der europäischen Avantgarde seiner Zeit
verbunden hatte. Nach der Ost-Berliner Affäre und der Entführung Yuns und anderer Dissidenten
durch den südkoreanischen Geheimdienst konnte Yun seine Heimat Südkorea bis zu seinem Tod
nicht mehr besuchen, hatte aber die Gelegenheit, die genannten Komponisten in Deutschland zu
treffen.
Aber in der politischen Situation nach der tragischen Teilung von Nord und Süd und der daran
anschließenden Militärdiktatur, die drei Jahrzehnte bis in die 1980er Jahre dauerte, kämpften, bei
erheblicher Einschränkung der politischen Freiheit, viele Komponisten um die Befreiung ihres
künstlerischen Ausdrucks.
Eine Reihe von Komponisten, darunter Yi Keon-yong (geb. 1947), glaubten, dass "echte koreanische
Musik" unmöglich sei, solang man sich ausschließlich an westliche Techniken klammere. Diese
Komponisten wurden Teil einer Dritten Generation moderner Musiker, die darauf drängten, die
musikalischen Grundsätze ihrer Vorgänger zu überwinden. Während der 1980er Jahre bildeten sie
eine Bewegung zur Entwicklung einer "koreanischen" Musik-Theorie.
Die meisten koreanischen Universitäten besitzen zwei Fachbereiche für Komposition: Traditionelle
und Westliche Musik. Jene Musiker, die in traditioneller Musik ausgebildet worden waren, versuchten,
die schöpferische Entwicklung ihres Genres durch die europäische Musiksprache voranzutreiben,
(was unter anderem zum Bau modifizierter traditioneller Instrumente führte), während die westlich
orientierten Musiker aus demselben Grund glaubten, dass es dringend notwendig sei, die
Abhängigkeit von der westlichen Musik zu überwinden, die sich im Zuge unserer raschen
Industrialisierung unter Missachtung der Bedeutung der traditionellen Musik eingebürgert hatte.
Im beginnenden 21. Jahrhundert nun erscheint der Dissens weitgehend beigelegt. Die Musiker
versuchen nun, das künstlerische Erbe des alten Koreas mit einer angemessenen Akzeptanz der
westlichen Musik schöpferisch zu nutzen. (Byeon Jiyeon: Die koreanische Musik des 20.Jahrhunderts,
Originalbeitrag fürs Programmbuch des Festivals Urban + Aboriginal XVI: Alte und neue Musik aus
Koreas, Berlin 2004, S.59-61)
K-Pop
K-Pop ist eine Abkürzung für Koreanische Popmusik. Dieser Artikel bezieht sich nur auf Südkorea, da
in Nordkorea noch keine eigentliche Popmusikindustrie bekannt ist. Es gibt viele Künstler, die bereits
auch außerhalb Koreas in China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong und Südostasien bekannt geworden
sind. Die Popularität von K-Pop wird oft als einen Teil der sogenannten Koreanischen Welle oder auch
„Hallyu“ betrachtet.
Geschichte
Die Entstehung der Gruppe Seo Taiji and Boys in 1992 gilt als Wendepunkt für die Koreanische
Popmusik, da die Gruppe Elemente der bekannten Amerikanischen Musikrichtungen Rap, Rock und
Techno in ihre Musik einfließen ließen. Der enorme Erfolg von Seo Taiji and Boys in Korea und auch
anderen experimentalen Gruppen (wie Panic etc.) setzten den Trend für die heutige Generation von
K-Pop-Gruppen und Künstlern. Nach Seo Taiji and Boys dominierten vor allem tanzorientierte
Darbietungen die Popmusikszene der frühen 90er Jahre. Mitte der 90er Jahren wurden vor allem
Gruppen für Jugendliche, wie Fin.K.L., g.o.d., H.O.T., Shinhwa, Sechs Kies und S.E.S., sehr populär.
Sie verfügten über riesige Fangruppen und ihre Alben verkauften sich in großen Stückzahlen. Einige
der Gruppen verkauften sogar über eine Million Alben. Mit dem Auseinanderbrechen der Gruppe
H.O.T. begann das Ende der meisten Gruppen, obwohl einige ihren Erfolg ins folgende Jahrzehnt
weitertragen konnten. Neuere Gruppen haben seither ihren Platz eingenommen.
Zurzeit im 21. Jahrhundert sind Popgruppen nach wie vor sehr populär, obwohl neue Richtungen wie
koreanischer R&B und Hiphop entstanden sind. Künstler wie MC Mong, 1TYM, Rain und Epik High
sind erfolgreich und Hiphop machte seinen Weg in die Hauptströmung. Erst kürzlich wurde auch
Rockmusik von der Öffentlichkeit aufgenommen. Darbietungen wie diejenige von Yoon Do-Hyun Band
haben nationale Anerkennung gefunden. Zusätzlich gibt es einige sehr populäre Techno/Tanzkünstler
wie Lee Jung Hyun und Kim Hyun Jung, die beide bereits über eine lange Karriere verfügen.
Einige der vielen Künstler hatten auch internationalen Erfolg. BoA wurde dank ihres Erfolgs im J-PopMarkt die erfolgreichste Künstlerin Koreas. Dieses war zum einen Teil auf die Anpassung von Lee Soo
Man an die Blue Ocean Strategie zurückzuführen. Seither versuchen Künstler wie Rain und Se7en,
die auch außerhalb Koreas Alben veröffentlicht haben, international bekannt zu werden. Rain hat
bereits eine internationale Tour hinter sich mit Tourdaten wie diejenige an der Madison Square
Garden. Er wurde somit zum ersten koreanischen Künstler, der dort ein Konzert gab.
Heutiger Stil
K-Pop ist ähnlich wie Englische Popmusik neben R&B, Tanz und Hiphop eines der sehr populären
Stilrichtungen der 2000er. Jedoch ist K-Pop für Jugendliche, im Gegensatz zu ihrem Pendant im
englischsprachigen Markt, immer noch sehr populär in Südkorea. Gruppen wie TVXQ, SS501,
Shinhwa und Super Junior setzen ihren Erfolg im K-Pop fort. Künstler wie Ahyoomee und LPG haben
ihre Debütalben veröffentlicht, jedoch mit unterschiedlichem Erfolg. Die 2000er kennzeichnen die
Entstehung von R&B Gesangsgruppen wie SG Wannabe, Big Mama und See Ya, die mit ihrem
Erstling Erfolg hatten. Zusätzlich kam die sogenannte „Trot“-Musik wieder zurück in die Hauptrichtung.
Hauptsächlich verdankt jedoch diese dem Erfolg von Jang Yoon Jung. Balladen sind nach wie vor
sehr beliebt. 2006 wurden einige Single-CDs mit Balladen von Künstlern wie Shinhwa und Baek Ji
Young veröffentlicht.
Bekannte Gruppen und Sänger
4minute, Bada, Big Bang, BoA, Brown Eyed Girls, Epik High, Girls' Generation, Lee Hyori, Lee Jung
Hyun, Lee Seung Ki, Lee Minwoo, Lee Soo Young, Rain (비), SeeYa, Seo Taiji, Se7en, SG Wannabe,
SHINee, Shinwha, Son Ho Young, TVXQ, Wonder Girls, Super Junior
Karaoke
Im koreanischen gibt es kein Wort für Karaoke, stattdessen wird der japanische Begriff einfach mit
dem koreanischen Wort für Gesang = norae umschrieben. Es ist eine beliebte Freizeitbeschäftigung.
Die sogenannten Noraebang (Norae = Gesang, Bang = Raum, 노래방) sind an vielen Ecken
anzutreffen und sind beliebt bei jungen, aber auch vielen älteren Leuten. Meistens können sich nur bis
zu 10 Personen im selben Raum aufhalten. Eine Stunde kostet momentan im Durchschnitt KRW
15,000.00. Die Noraebang sind mit den japanischen Karaokebox zu vergleichen.
Es gibt hingegen auch Karaokebars, bei denen dann vor allen, auch fremden, Leuten gesungen wird.
Diese sind oberhalb der Eingangstür auf japanisch mit "Karaoke" angeschrieben.
Literatur
Hauptartikel: Koreanische Literatur
Hwang Sok-Yong (* 1943) gehört zu den bekanntesten Autoren Koreas. Er hat den Koreakrieg noch
selbst erlebt und war als Soldat auch im Vietnamkrieg im Einsatz. Zentrales Thema seiner Texte ist
der Konflikt zwischen Tradition und Moderne.
Anthologie: Wind und Gras. Moderne koreanische Lyrik, 1991, Überarbeitete Neuausgabe München
2005
Spiele
In den letzten Jahren entwickelten sich Online-Spiele und das traditionelle Brettspiel Baduk zu einem
wichtigen Teil der südkoreanischen Kultur. So werden Baduk-Partien im Fernsehen übertragen und für
sachliche Analysen wiederholt.
Das PC-Strategiespiel Starcraft ist das mit Abstand am meisten im Fernsehen übertragene Spiel in
Südkorea. Die Spiele werden oftmals von Sendern wie MBCGame und Ongamenet ausgestrahlt,
können aber auch in Internet auf Seiten wie GOMtv.net mitverfolgt werden. Turniere werden in der
Regel Live übertragen und haben hohe Zuschauerzahlen. Professionelle Starcraft-Spieler können
durch das Spielen in Südkorea viel Geld verdienen und werden teilweise auch als Prominente
angesehen, wie z.B. Lim Yo-hwan.
Computer-Spiele werden normalerweise in PC방 („PC bang“; ko: PC-Raum) gespielt, die Ähnlichkeit
mit Internet-Cafés haben und nur zum Spielen von LAN-Titeln genutzt werden können, wie Kart Rider,
Maple Story, World of Warcraft, Mabinogi, Lineage. Das ist vor allem eine Freizeitbeschäftigung von
Studenten, wird aber von Koreanern jeden Alters gespielt, Frauen wie Männern.
Film
Zum Hauptartikel: Koreanischer Film
Seit dem Erfolg des einheimischen Films Shiri 1999 genießt die koreanische Filmindustrie einen
beispiellosen Höhenflug. Heute ist Südkorea eines der wenigen Länder, wo Hollywoodproduktionen
nicht ohne weiters dominieren.
Shiri war ein Film von Kang Jae-gyu und handelte von einer nordkoreanischen Spionin, die in Seoul
einen Coup vorbereiten sollte. Der Film war der erste koreanische Film, der in Seoul über zwei
Millionen Eintritte erreichte. Damit wurden die Filme Matrix, Titanic oder Star Wars: Episode I – Die
dunkle Bedrohung übertroffen. Das Budget des Films war mit fünf Millionen US Dollar äußerst
bescheiden. Der Film hat in Korea über 60 Millionen Dollar eingespielt. Dieser Erfolg motivierte andere
Filme mit für koreanische Verhältnisse großen Budgets.
Im Jahr 2000 war JSA (Joint Security Area) ein Hit. Dieses mysteriöse Drama um die Teilung Koreas
war sogar erfolgreicher als Shiri. Dieses glückte auch dem Film Friend im Jahr 2001. Die romantische
Komödie My Sassy Girl war in Südkorea bei weitem beliebter als Der Herr der Ringe oder Harry
Potter. Und 2004 gewann der Film Oldboy in Cannes den Großen Preis der Jury und konnte so in
viele Länder exportiert werden. Quentin Tarantino sagte nach Cannes 2004: "Die fesselndsten Filme
der Welt kommen zur Zeit aus Japan und Korea."
2001 Friend übertrifft Shiri mit 8 Millionen Zuschauern.
2003 Silmido stellt einen neuen Rekord auf mit 11 Millionen.
2004 Tae guk gi Brotherhood – Wenn Brüder aufeinander schießen müssen brach diesen Rekord mit
11,7 Millionen Zuschauern.
2005 stellt The King and the Clown einen neuen Rekord auf mit über 12,2 Mio. Auch Welcome To
Dongmakgol hat über 8 Millionen Zuschauer.
2006 konnte The Host von Bong Joon-ho selbst diese Besucherzahlen übertreffen.
Dieser Erfolg hat Hollywood aufmerksam gemacht. Filme wie Shiri werden nun in den USA verkauft.
Miramax hat sich die Rechte an My Wife is a Gangster gesichert, das 2001 einige
Hollywoodproduktionen übertrumpfte. Miramax arbeitet nun an einem Remake für den amerikanischen
Markt. Auch von My Sassy Girl, Oldboy und A Tale of Two Sisters sind amerikanische Remakes
geplant oder in Produktion.
Koreanische Filme haben auch in Europa und den USA vereinzelt Beachtung gefunden. Viele der
Filme reflektieren, wie sehr die Teilung der Halbinsel die Koreaner beschäftigt. Viele Filme sind
äußerst gefühlsbetont. Oft werden koreanische Filme daher mit französischen Filmen verglichen, aber
die koreanische Filmindustrie produziert unterdessen ein breites Spektrum.
Koreanische Welle (Hallyu)
Hauptartikel: Koreanische Welle
Seit wenigen Jahren spricht man von einem Phänomen in Asien. Koreanische Popmusik, Koreanische
TV-Serien (Drama) und koreanische Filme haben unvorstellbare Zuwachsraten in allen asiatischen
Ländern gehabt. Die Bezeichnung Han-ryu wurde aus dem chinesischen übernommen und bedeutet
die koreanische Welle. Vor allem Popikonen wie BoA (Beat of Asia), die auf Japanisch und
Koreanisch singt, hatte einen Riesenerfolg. In Japan ist der Darsteller aus der TV-Serie Winter Sonata
bald besser bekannt als der bekannteste Sumo-Ringer. BabyVOX hatte vor ihrem Ende einige Erfolge
in Taiwan und in China. Viele der TV-Serien verkaufen sich bestens in den Vereinigten Staaten.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-pop
K-Pop
Stylistic origins Pop • Hip-hop • R&B • Dance-pop • Bubblegum pop • House • Electropop • Various
others
Cultural origins Middle to Late 1990s in South Korea
Typical instruments
Guitar • Bass guitar • Drum kit • Synthesizer • Sequencer • Turntables •
Samplers • Keyboards • Drum machines
Mainstream popularity Mainstream in South Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, South East Asia and India
since 2000s
K-pop is an abbreviation for Korean pop music (also referred to as Kayo or Gayo music), specifically
from South Korea. Many of these artists and musical groups have branched out of South Korea and
have become popular in many countries around the world. The popularity of K-pop is often considered
a part of the rise of the Korean Wave, the recent surge of popularity of contemporary South Korean
culture in Asia.
History
Modern Korean popular music first appeared in the 1930s. In the 1950s and 1960s, the musical
performances organized by U.S. forces in and around the American military bases in South Korea
provided South Koreans with examples of other modern music.[1]
The South Korean pop music scene soon had several genres: Boy or girl bands whose appeal lay
mostly in their appearance; a technically difficult, older genre that had its roots in the colonial period
and was popular with older Koreans; and the often amateur acoustic guitar singer-songwriters, who
became popular in the 1960s and sang in a simple vocal style.[1] In 1970s, rock music was introduced
into South Korea, mainly popularized by Cho Yong Pil. Trot, pop music inspired by Japanese-styled
music, also became a main genre in pop music.
The debut of the group Seo Taiji and Boys in 1992 marked a turning point in South Korean popular
music, as the group incorporated elements of American popular musical genres such as rap, rock, and
techno into its music, which brought a decrease in the popularity of trot. The tremendous success of
Seo Taiji and Boys in South Korea and other experimental groups, such as Panic, set the trend for the
present generation of K-pop groups and artists. Dance-oriented acts became dominant in the South
Korean popular music scene of the early 90s including the legendary hip hop duo Deux. The mid-90's
marked the emergence of teen idol groups, creating a different trend in the music scenes. Groups
such as H.O.T., Sechs Kies, Shinhwa, S.E.S., and g.o.d. became extremely popular, having strong
fanbases and high-selling albums (with some groups having a "million seller", an album selling over
one million copies). Starting with the break-up of Sechs Kies in 2000, however, most of these groups
have since disbanded. Although some artists have continued their successes in the following decade,
new groups have since taken their places.
Currently, in the 2000s, pop groups are still very popular although there has been an emergence of
South Korean R&B and Hip-Hop: artists such as MC Mong, 1TYM, Rain, Big Bang and Epik High have
proven successful. Underground artists such as Drunken Tiger, Tasha (Yoon Mi Rae) have also
helped hip-Hop become mainstream. Recently, rock music has become noticed by the public, with
acts such as the Yoon Do Hyun Band and Seo Taiji gaining national recognition. In addition, there are
also popular techno/dance artists such as Lee Jung Hyun, Kim Hyun Jung, and Yoo Seung Jun, whom
all had very long careers while remaining firmly entrenched in their genre of music. Just as well,
ballads and R&B have remained popular, as singers such as Baek Ji Young and KCM, in addition to
SG Wannabe, have continued their success for many years.
There are also many artists who have had international success as well. BoA has become the highestselling international artist from South Korea, due to her strength in the J-pop market[citation needed];
this was in part due to Lee Soo Man's adaptation of the Blue Ocean Strategy.[citation needed] Since
then, artists such as Rain and Se7en have also released albums outside of South Korea, becoming
well-known throughout Eastern Asia. Rain has also had his international Rainy Day 2005 Tour, having
tour dates at Madison Square Garden, the first South Korean star to do so. He has been recently
featured two Hollywood films, Speed Racer and Ninja Assassin.[2]. He has also been voted the #1
influential person in the world in 2007 by TIME Magazine[3]
Kim Bum Soo is the first South Korean artist to reach the U.S. Billboard chart and ranked as 51 on the
Hot 100 chart in 2001.[citation needed] After that, solo female artist, mink and Korean-American
group, S.Blush also reached the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play charts, where they ranked #1 in
2006[4][5] and #2 in 2007[6] respectively. Skull, a Korean reggae artist from YG Entertainment also
ranked as #3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales[7] and #14 Hot Singles Sales in
2007[8][9]. Se7en who is also from YG Entertainment[10], BoA from SM Entertainment and Rain from
JYP Entertainment[11] are all currently concentrating on their U.S. debuts. Although Wonder Girls
became first K-pop artist to have a song reach the Billboard Hot 100,[12] there has yet to be a
prominent, successful K-pop artist in the American music industry
Current style
K-pop is similar to American pop music, with R&B, dance, and hip-hop being very popular genres in
the 2000s. However, unlike American pop music, which had most of its boy bands and girl groups
either break up or informally disband, bubblegum pop is still very popular in South Korea. Groups such
as TVXQ, Girls' Generation, Super Junior, and Big Bang continue to be top sellers in K-pop, and
artists like Ahyoomee and LPG have released novelty songs, to varying degrees of success. However,
the 2000s has seen the rise of R&B vocal groups, such as SG Wannabe, Davichi and SeeYa having
success with their albums. Ballads are also very popular, as 2006 has seen the release of ballad
singles by non-ballad artists, including Shinhwa and Baek Ji Young. In addition, trot music has made a
comeback in mainstream K-pop as well, mostly due to the success of Jang Yoon Jung and Park Hyun
Bin. The year 2007 was marked with the release of numerous girl and boy bands, though only a few
managed to top the charts. Despite new bands debuting, physical sales for CDs have become
increasingly low, due to the stagnation of the K-pop industry. The highest selling album of 2007 did not
even reach the 200,000 mark with only 190,998 copies sold.[13]
The beginning of 2008 saw the rise of electronica dominance in the K-pop scene,[14][15] influenced
by the release of Big Bang's mini-album Always, which heavily featured the genre.[16] Other artists
also followed the trend, such as Jewelry for their song "One More Time" and Brown Eyed Girls for
"L.O.V.E."[17][18] Even artists that release music in other genres have released electronica-influenced
albums to suit the current trends, including Epik High, Gummy, Clazziquai, and Lee Seung-cheol.[19]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_wave
Korean wave
Hanja 韓流
Revised Romanization Hallyu
Hepburn
Kanryū
Hanyu Pinyin
Hánliú
The Korean wave or Korea fever[1] (Koreanophile) refers to the significantly increased popularity of
South Korean culture around the world since the 21st century, especially among the Net Generation. It
is also referred to as Hallyu (Hangul: 한류; Hanja: 韓流; RR: Hallyu), from the Korean pronunciation.
The term was coined in China in mid-1999 by Beijing journalists surprised by the fast growing
popularity of South Koreans and South Korean goods in China.[2]
South Korea is among the world's top ten cultural exporters[3] and the Korean wave began with the
export of Korean TV dramas such as Autumn Fairy Tale, Winter Sonata, Dae Jang Geum (Jewel in the
Palace), and Princess Hours across East and Southeast Asia; the growing success of Korean dramas
was soon matched by Korean movies, popular music, food[4] and language.[5]
While popular throughout Asia, the Korean wave's influence is most visible in China, Japan and
Southeast Asia, spreading to India and Pakistan,[6] the Middle East,[7] Central Asia,[8] Iran,[9]
Israel,[10] Turkey[11] and Russia.[11] The Korean wave is rapidly expanding beyond Asia through the
internet and has a substantial presence in North, Central and South America, particularly in Chile,
Peru, Mexico and Argentina,[12] and is increasingly becoming popular in the United States[13]and
Canada. It is also gaining momentum in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, led by Hungary[14] and
Norway.[15] It is gathering positive interest in North Africa, attracting a sizable niche audience in
Egypt.[16] Currently, the Korean wave is starting to hit the United Kingdom[17][18], France, Spain, the
Netherlands[19], and Australia.[20]
Explaining the phenomenon
The Korean drama
Birth of the industry
The Korean wave first began in the early 1990s with the film industry under the strict surveillance of
the Korean government. Producers were only allowed to screen films approved by certain
regulations.[citation needed] Due to censorship and restrictions, producers were limited as to what
they were able to produce, giving birth to the melodrama. Such melodramas are now ubiquitous, and
are commonly viewed not only in South Korea, but in much of Asia as well.
Globalization
The Korean wave is seen as a product of globalization and rise of capitalism in Asia.[21] Advent of
giant transnational media corporations in the 1990s lead to development of media technology and
simultaneous circulation of media images and texts on a global level. This process prepared a system
for the manufacture and circulation of popular culture within Asia. This made circulation of South
Korean popular culture in Asia possible, and driven by the appeal of upscale hyper-modern lifestyles
that South Korean popular culture provided, the Korean Wave spread among the rising middle-class in
Asia and beyond.
Asian values and Confucian themes
The success of Korean dramas, a youth-dominated market, may be attributed to attractive actors and
actresses who embody a number of traits that are very familiar to regular drama viewers and popular
fantasies among women. Portrayed sensitivity and depth among male characters in Korean dramas
attracts many female viewers.[22]
Many Chinese scholars attribute success of the Korean Wave to Confucian themes that East Asian
cultures are more familiar with, typically dealing with traditional issues such as family, love, and filial
piety which been applied in developing a successful modern economic system; China is a socialist
market economy with rapid nuclearization of families and Japan is a developed capitalist economy.[23]
National affluence
See also: Economy of South Korea
Another factor may well be South Korea's high affluence within Asia, as one of the booming Four
Asian Tigers during the 1960s to 1990s.[24] South Korea is a highly developed country[25], which is
greatly reflected on its dramas, movies and TV shows, giving many viewers a "Korea Dream" and an
insight into the Miracle on the Han River.
As of October 2008, South Korea is the world's 13th largest economy[26][27][28] and is one of the
world's top ten cultural exporters.[3] South Korea's globally expanding entertainment companies are
thus able to finance shows and movies with higher production values than elsewhere in Asia and
South Korean artists' performances are slickly produced, featuring spectacular special effects.
Current situation
Further development
In 2001, many critics predicted the Korean wave would soon cool down. However contrary to most
expectations, the Korean wave has grown stronger since 2003.[29]
Discussion contained in Munhwa siseon, a semi-academic journal published by the Korea Culture &
Tourism Policy Institute, took place in March 2005 with the postcolonialist (??? was ist das?) Won
Yong-jin as the chair, and six academics including Kim Hyun Mee. At the forum, Bak Jae-bok and
other participants predicted that the Korean Wave would continue to surge for some time. They agreed
that the traffic in Asian drama began with the liberalization of Taiwan’s drama market in the early
1990s, Japan being the main exporter at the time. Korean drama, then, entered the niche market in
the late 1990s when consumption of Hong Kong and Japanese popular culture was declining.[30]
Nationalism
In the paper “Korean cultural capital’s phenomenon and cultural nationalism”, Lee Dong Yeun
identifies many ominous traces of cultural nationalism within the phenomenon of the Korean Wave. He
concludes his article by warning, “If the Korean Wave continues to surge, reflecting the diplomatic
relations that supports a capitalist logic rather than a strengthening of the communicative power of civil
society to provide the possibility of diversifying the cultural tastes of the masses, then it will have to put
up a hard fight against China’s ethnocentrism and Japan’s malleable nationalism.”[31]
The 2007 fantasy-action film D-War written and directed by comedian-turned-director Shim Hyung-rae
was released in South Korea and the United States to a mixed reception; however, its domestic
success was enough to warrant a Sequel. This success was widely attributed to its appeal to Korean
nationalism[32], as the film is the first to depict not only oriental dragons but exclusively Korean
mythical creatures, such as the Imoogi.
Cultural interest
Recent years have seen an increase in interest in the Korean language,[5] Korean cuisine[4] and
Hanbok, the traditional Korean dress.
Tourism to South Korea
The success of South Korean dramas, movies, and music served as a major tourist magnet for South
Korea in 2005, with tourists from countries such as Japan, China, the Philippines, Thailand,
Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam.[33]
Celebrity culture
Korean male celebrities are now among the highest-paid actors outside of Hollywood.[34] According to
the South Korean media, Winter Sonata star Bae Yong Joon is now charging US$5 million a film; the
highest in Asia. At least nine other Korean male stars earn more than $10 million a year.[2]
The best-selling international group from Korea is TVXQ also known as Dong Bang Shin Ki in South
Korea and Tohoshinki in Japan.
Figure skater Kim Yu-Na is also widely known outside Korea.
Impact by country
Malaysia
The South Korean popular culture known as “Korean wave” has been a big hit in Malaysia as well as
around the world thanks to the growing success of South Korean dramas, movies and pop songs.[35]
With the Korean Wave phenomenon splashing throughout the South East Asia with its dramas, catchy
pop songs & B-Boys dances, the Korean language & Hangul are no longer an alien to Malaysians.
Many Malaysians would have know how to do simple greeting like 'ahn-yong ha sey-yo' & 'kam sa
ham ni da'.[36].The Korean wave started with popular Korean drama winter sonata when TV3 bought
the right to show it on Malaysian TV."Winter Sonata" was the first of the Korean Waves to crash onto
Malaysian shores. A tsunami of Korean TV series such as "Autumn Fairy Tale," "Joyful Girl," "My
Love, Patsi," and "Jewel in the Palace" followed its success. "Jewel in the Palace" which showcased
Korean food was as addictive as "Winter Sonata" – its lead actress Lee Young-ae is second to Bae
Yong-joon as the most popular South Korean celebrity in Malaysia. Because of the success of Korean
drama, other television company started to air Korean drama.
"This drama has captivated the hearts of Malaysians who are family-centered and sensitive to
emotions. It has left deep impressions in the hearts of Malaysian viewers of Malay or Chinese descent,
regardless of race or religion," wrote Cho Chul-ho, a visiting Korean scholar to the University Malaya,
in his dissertation titled "Korean Wave in Malaysia and Changes of the Korea-Malaysia Relations."
The soap opera attracted more than 1.3 million viewers per episode. It followed by "Autumn in My
Heart" that attracted two million people to watch it. The next Korean Wave then swept Malaysian
cinemas. It began with the blockbuster "Shiri," followed by the horror movie, "Phone." These films
introduced Malaysians to South Korean movie stars such as Lee Jung-jae and Won Bin. Other Korean
movies such as "Old Boy," "Taegukgi: Brotherhood of War," "My Sassy Girl," "Windstruck" and "My
Little Bride" surfed to the Malaysian shores on the popularity wave of "Swiri" and "Phone." In October
13, 2007, KBS World channel was introduced by Astro, thus making the Korean drama more famous
in Malaysia.
Malaysians were also swept away by Famous South Korean Boy band DBSK.For DBSK, the 2007
concert was their second concert in Malaysia since they first visited Malaysia in 2006 as part of their
first Asia tour to support their “Rising Sun” album. In their 2007 visit, not only did they sell double the
number of tickets they had in 2006, but they also played to approximately 12,000 fans, which was a
huge surprise. DBSK is the first Korean performer to hold a concert in Malaysia.[37] Five new Korean
restaurants named Daejanggeum (Jewel in the Palace) have opened in Kuala Lumpur. Thanks to the
boom of the Korean Wave trend, exports of kimchi to Malaysia increased by 150 percent. Many
Malaysian community forum have sub forum dedicated to Korean drama and music. The current
popular K-pop band in Malaysia are Girls' Generation (So Nyuh Shi Dae) and Super Junior.
Burma (Myanmar)
Korean wave reached Burma via drama series. The first Korean drama series broadcasted in
Myanmar was Delicious Proposal by Myawaddy TV in 2002. Nowadays, there are three government
TV channels and other channels broadcasting Korean dramas. Korean foods, language, k-pop,
designs are increasingly being popular among people from Yangon, Mandalay and other cities.
Cambodia
Korean Culture initiately came to Cambodia through the media route such as Film and Drama. While
the previous Japan and Thai's making impact in Khmer young people had decreased, Korean then
gained a decent popularity since the airing of hit drama, Jewel in the palace and lift to new level after
the promotional trip to concert of well-received K-pop band, Baby Vox Re.V appeared to got the
unexpected number of audiences. Korean television obviously now become the part of Cambodian
prime time drama in several top channel such as CTN and their music hooks the majority of local
teenager as their favourite ring tone.
China
In 2006, South Korean programs on Chinese government TV networks accounted for more than all
other foreign programs combined.[38] Super junior-M is also very popular there.
Hong Kong
In 1999, the film Christmas in August was shown in Hong Kong. Asia Television Limited (ATV) and
Cable TV Hong Kong then began showing several series of Korean dramas, laying the Hallyu's
foundations.
In 2001, the film My Sassy Girl was shown and KBS drama "series" (actually a set of sub-series)
Endless Love aired on TV, the first part being Autumn Fairy Tale (also known as Autumn In My Heart).
The next year, ATV aired Winter Sonata, part two of the set. Two radio stations, Commercial Radio
Hong Kong and Metro Broadcast, introduced radio programmes focusing on Korean popular music
and introducing the Korean wave.
In 2004, TVB aired several more series: Stairway to Heaven, Full House and Dae Jang Geum, the last
of which was particularly popular. Entertainers such as Lee Young Ae, Song Hye-kyo, Bae Yong Joon
and Rain began enjoying a local fan base.
India
The national television carries DD National started showing the Korean drama "Emperor of the Sea" in
2006 which was quickly followed by the hit drama "A Jewel in the Palace" that same year.[6] The
mainstream Bollywood film industry which has often been accused of plagiarism, has allegedly made
several illegal remakes of successful Korean films. Some of these films have become significant
commercial success. Most prominent among them are Zinda from Oldboy[39] and Ugly Aur Pagli from
My Sassy Girl.[40] There have also been allegations of music plagiarism from Korean pop bands by
some of Bollywood's music directors, most notably Pritam.[41]
The region of North-East India and the state of Manipur in particular, has often been cited as the
region in India which has been most enthusiastic in its reception to Korean culture. This maybe due to
a ban imposed on bollywood films and mainstream Indian television by the terrorists of the separatist
insurgency who have been fighting the Indian administration. The entertainment gap created has by
some extent been filled by the influx and adaptation of Korean wave.[42][43][44][45]
Iran
After the success of the drama Dae Jang Geum in Iran,[9], Iranian national TV's Channel 2 showed a
series of programs called Korean Wave introducing Korean culture, and interviewed the drama's lead
actress Lee Young Ae[46]. Soon after, national TV's Channel 3 started showing another Korean
drama, Emperor of the Sea denoting the popularity of Korean dramas in Iran. Avid watchers have
created fansites for both dramas.[47] At the moment Jumong is being aired on channel 3.
Japan
The Korean Wave began in earnest in Japan after the airing of Winter Sonata on NHK, with an
especially warm reception for lead actor Bae Yong Joon whom the Japanese have affectionally en
masse nicknamed Yon-sama. Several Korean artists have attempted to make careers in Japan with
the most successful being singer BoA and boyband TVXQ. The Korean wave became a sign of
acceptance from not only the Japanese culture but also internationally. The manga was reproduced
and sold everywhere from Malaysia, China, and Korea.
Philippines
ABS-CBN, after earning a windfall with the introduction of the Taiwanese hit teen drama Meteor
Garden, almost missed out on the Korean Wave. Continually being out-gunned by its rival GMA
Network in airing Korean dramas, it has decided to back pedal on the Taiwanese and Latin American
series and grab as many series as they can from the three of the biggest South Korean television
networks (KBS, MBC and SBS) in order to ensure a steady supply of Korean dramas, which are
insanely popular in the country and at the same time to compete against GMA. As of 2009, Boys Over
Flowers is the premiere Korean drama on Philippine television. However, their best airing of a Korean
drama so far is Princess Hours, which resulted in a rerun because of its immense popularity. As a
result of the popularity of Korean dramas, ABS-CBN had one teleserye shot in South Korea (Only
You), which is a remake of an SBS drama.
GMA Network had a jump start on the Korean drama craze, it was their answer to the Meteor Garden
phenomenon that is continuing to give top ratings and catapulted the once No. 2 channel to the No. 1
position. They have obtained franchises like My Name is Kim Sam Song, Stairway To Heaven, Full
House, the Winter Sonata, Autumn in My Heart series, Jewel in the Palace, Coffee Prince and
Jumong, all of them insanely popular. They also made official Filipino remakes of My Name is Kim
Sam Soon, Stairway To Heaven and Full House. They currently air Korea's most popular costume
drama, Queen Seon Deok – which is being called the "Invincible" Queen Seon Deok in terms of
ratings in Korea. You're Beautiful or He's Beautiful will soon be released under ABS-CBN, this starring
F.T. Island member Lee Hong Ki. Boys Over Flowers a drama from Korea was shown here in the
Philippines under ABS-CBN. It became very successful through the broadcast here and of course in
Korea. This giving a wide fame for the actors like Kim Bum who recently came to the Philippines, Kim
Joon who's boy band T-Max garnered fame because of his role in Boys Over Flowers as well as them
singing the opening theme song of the drama which is entitled Paradise. Lee Min Ho has also
garnered fame and of course the very famous Yoon Ji Hoo who's real name is Kim Hyun Joong from
boy band SS501 meaning Super Stars Five Members Forever One also became famous here its
group having an official fan club called Triple S Philippines.
Albums of various K-pop groups have been released. Some of them being, So Nyeo Shi Dae or Girls'
Generation's Mini Album Genie and studio album Gee are released here. Super Junior's Sorry Sorry
and Super Show 2 Concert CD has been released this being only an audio CD meaning only the
songs are recorded and it is not a video. Super Junior's sub group Super Junior-M's First Mini Album:
Super Girl has also been released. The very famous group SS501's Rebirth Special Deluxe Edition
which is a Taiwan release too. Having a DVD, small miniature photo book and the CD itself. Another
version of the album was released which was a limited edition album which contained the CD, two
miniature posters and the diary. DBSK's Mirotic Concert in Seoul which is just like Super Show 2
Concert CD was also released along by a follow-up releasing the album itself Mirotic and their
Japanese album The Secret Code has also been released it containing a Japanese version of Mirotic.
2PM's 1:59 PM full length album has also been released in the Philippines. SHINee's 2nd Mini Album
Romeo and 2009 Year Of Us album had a release here as well. 4minute's For Muzik was also
released, two versions have been released, one with DVD and one being the CD alone. BoA's Deluxe
Album has also been released here. f(x)'s Chu is also released and Big Bang's full length Japanese
Album has been released containing DVD and various others. Other albums from groups like UKiss,F.T. Island and Wonder Girls might be released soon. The fan club of Wonder Girls who are
called WonderFuls are petitioning for a release of their album Wonder Years Trilogy.
A visit from different of these groups have also been made. F.T. Island has held a concert here last
March 5 at the PICC Plenary Hall and a day before the concert they even appeared on ABS-CBN's
variety show Show Time. 4minute has done a promotional mall tour around SM Super Malls during
February 5, 6 and 7 which was a follow-up from the release of their For Muzik album which included a
DVD of the music videos Hot Issue and Muzik. Super Junior will hold a Super Show 2 concert here
which is dated on April 10 at the Araneta Coliseum, which will be their last stop for the Asia concert
tour. U-Kiss will also be holding mall tours at March 26, 27 and 28 which will be at SM Megamall
(March 26), SM Clark Pampanga (March 27) and SM North Edsa (March 28) and an album release
will also be included possibly a day before or on the day itself considering a fan meeting and signing
will be held.
Some Super Junior members have given attention to the very famous Dancing Inmates of Cebu, when
the inmates performed a dance using their song Sorry Sorry. The boys commented saying that the
dance was amazing and that they appreciate how they danced to their song, although they have also
said that some of the dance moves were wrong but that was just a small comment and it was given
not much focus compared to how the inmates have dance this.
Recently, K-pop boy band U-KISS made a visit to the Philippines for their three day promotional mall
tour. From March 26-28 they made stop-overs at SM Megamall, SM Clark at Pampanga and last stop
was at SM North Edsa. U-KISS is dated to have their concert in the Philippines on May 29 and it is
anticipated to be sold out considering the boys have earned 1 million pesos from the three day
promotional mall shows. They even enjoyed eating banana cue (deep fried banana coated with sugar
on a stick) after one of their performances. They appeared on the pilot episode of GMA Network's
SOP replacement noon time show Party Pilipinas. The boys also taped an episode for a midnight
show of the same network entitled The Master Showman: Walang Tulugan (Walang Tulugan meaning
No Sleeping).
SS501 CD's from Deja Vu, Find and various others are also released just recently.
PEP has signed a contract with multilingual and famous K-pop boy band U-KISS during their visit in
the Philippines. They are the first K-pop artist to sign a contract, stating that their albums will be
released in the Philippines, they were given such a wide spread opportunity because almost all
members are fluent in speaking and communication in various languages. Specifically member
Alexander Lee Eusebio, Woo Sung Hyun or famously known as Kevin and Kim Kyoung Jae or mostly
known as Eli.
BoA's Japanese Album Identity will be released in the Philippines on April 16,2010. Girls' Generation's
2nd full length album "Oh!", was released on the Girls' Generation Day. TVXQ or DBSK's 2010 Best
Selection and a DVD album will also be released soon and Super Junior's Don't Don Repackaged
Taiwan Edition Album with DVD will have a scheduled release as well.
Taiwan
The Pili Satellite Television Channel was the first in Taiwan to broadcast Korean TV shows. Serial
dramas were dubbed into Taiwanese and comedies were dubbed into Korean. However, the channel
(established 1995) suffered from a lack of publicity on Taiwan's cable TV networks.
A larger nationwide cable TV network, Gala Television, began broadcasting Korean dramas dubbed in
Mandarin, inciting the Korean Wave in earnest. Soon after, other TV networks followed the trend, and
shows featured Korean cuisine, travel, culture and language. Record companies also imported Korean
music.
When several networks even stopped producing their own programmes and imported Korean ones to
save costs, some artists called on the Taiwanese government to limit the broadcasting of Korean and
Japanese shows.
Commercial aviation links that were terminated after the 1992 split in relations between Taiwan and
South Korea were reinstated in 2003. Travel agencies began promoting North Korea as a tourist
destination.
Thailand
According to an article written in 2007, by cultural researchers, Ubonrat Siriyuvasak and Shin
Hyunjoon the globalization of Korean pop music is not relatively large compared to the Thai market,
but it is on the rise due to the strategic and smart marketing strategies on both the Korean and Thai
sides[48]. [49]
Korean boy band DBSK, have gained wide popularity among teenagers in Thailand. Korean soap
operas have gained a mainstream following where entire Thai families gather in front of the television
to watch them.
North America (USA & Canada)
Annual Korean Music Festival
The Korean Music Festival takes place annually (since 2003) at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles
and is possibly the largest Korean music festival outside South Korea.[50]
In 2007, the 5th Festival was the finale to the 2007 LA Hallyu Festival, which also included various
events such as the Korean Culture Expo and the Korean Cinema Showcase at Universal Studios. The
theme was We Are One.
The 6th Festival was held on May 17, 2008.[51]
US debuts
Several Korean artists have or will plan to debut in the US. BoA's debut single "Eat You Up" was
distributed to 300 websites in 31 countries on 21 October 2008.[52] BoA's self-titled American debut
album was released on March 17, 2009. It was re-released in the U.S. as "BoA Deluxe" on September
22, 2009 with extra tracks and remixes.
Rain starred in the 2008 film Speed Racer and despite its mediocre success, has continued acting in
the US, starring in Ninja Assassin in 2009, again produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski
Brothers.[53]
Se7en plans to release a US album; there was a preview party in Hollywood, California on May 2,
2008.[citation needed] and a press conference in Los Angeles.
More recently, the popular girl group Wonder Girls toured America with the Jonas Brothers and have
released an English version of their hit song, "Nobody".
Rapper Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas has expressed his view that he "does not have a reason why
Se7en and Rain can't be popular in the US".[54][55]
Lee Byung Hun starred in GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra. A poster of him unmasked as Storm Shadow
was made especially for the Korean market.
The Wonder Girls recently toured with the Jonas Brothers in the summer of 2009.
Vietnam
Vietnam and China are markets where the "Korean wave" has penetrated into the consumer choice
and behavior of its respective citizens. The Samsung Economic Research Institute in its special report
labeled progress of the "Korean wave" in Vietnam and China as in the "3rd stage", out of a potential
four stages. In this stage "Made in Korea" products become increasingly popular.[56]
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/02/world/asia/02iht-korea.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print
A rising Korean wave: If Seoul sells it, China craves it
By Norimitsu Onishi, January 2, 2006
BEIJING – At Korea City, on the top floor of the Xidan Shopping Center, a warren of tiny shops sells
hip-hop clothes, movies, music, cosmetics and other offerings in the South Korean style.
To young Chinese shoppers, it seemed not to matter that some of the products, like New York
Yankees caps or Japan's Astro Boy dolls, clearly have little to do with South Korea. Or that most items
originated, in fact, in Chinese factories.
"We know that the products at Korea City are made in China," said Wang Ying, 28, who works in sales
for the local branch of a U.S. company. "But to many young people, 'Korea' stands for fashionable or
stylish. So they copy the Korean style."
From clothes to hairstyles, music to television dramas, South Korea has been defining the tastes of
many Chinese and other Asians for the past half decade. As part of what the Chinese call the Korean
Wave of pop culture, a television drama about a royal cook, "The Jewel in the Palace," is garnering
record ratings throughout Asia, and Rain, a 23-year-old singer from Seoul, drew more than 40,000
fans to a sold-out concert at a sports stadium in Beijing in October.
But South Korea's "soft power" also extends to the material and spiritual spheres. Samsung's
cellphones and television sets have grown into symbols of a coveted consumerism for many Chinese.
Christianity, in the evangelical form championed by South Korean missionaries deployed throughout
China, is finding Chinese converts despite Beijing's efforts to rein in its spread.
For a country that traditionally received culture, especially from China but also from Japan and the
United States, South Korea finds itself at a turning point in its new role as exporter.
The transformation began with South Korea's democratization in the late 1980s, which unleashed
sweeping domestic changes. As its democracy and economy have matured, its influence on the rest of
Asia, negligible until a decade ago, has grown accordingly. Its cultural exports have even caused
complaints about cultural invasion in China and Vietnam.
South Korea is also acting as a filter for Western values, experts say, making them more palatable to
Chinese and other Asians.
Historically, Christianity made little headway in East Asia, except in South Korea, whose population is
now about 30 percent Christian and whose overseas missionary movement is the world's second
largest after the United States.
Today, in China, South Korean missionaries are bringing Christianity with an Asian face. South Korean
movies and dramas about urban professionals in Seoul, though not overtly political, present images of
modern lives centering on individual happiness and sophisticated consumerism.
They also show enduring Confucian-rooted values in their emphasis on family relations, offering
Chinese both a reminder of what was lost during the Cultural Revolution and an example of an Asian
country that has modernized and retained its traditions.
"Three Guys and Three Girls" and "Three Friends" are South Korea's homegrown version of the
American television show "Friends." As for "Sex and the City," its South Korean twin, "The Marrying
Type," a sitcom about three single professional women in their 30s looking for love in Seoul, was so
popular in China that episodes were illegally downloaded or sold on pirated DVDs.
"We feel that we can see a modern lifestyle in those shows," said Qu Yuan, 23, a student at Tsinghua
University in Beijing. "We know that South Korea and America have similar political systems and
economies. But it's easier to accept that lifestyle from South Koreans because they are culturally
closer to us. We feel we can live like them in a few years."
Jin Yaxi, 25, a graduate student at Peking University, said, "We like American culture, but we can't
accept it directly."
"And there is no obstacle to our accepting South Korean culture, unlike Japanese culture," said Jin,
who has studied both Korean and Japanese. "Because of the history between China and Japan, if a
young person here likes Japanese culture, the parents will get angry."
Politics also seem to underlie the Chinese preference for South Korean-filtered American hip-hop
culture. Messages about rebelliousness, teenage angst and freedom appear more palatable to
Chinese in their Koreanized versions.
Kwon Ki Joon, 22, a South Korean who attends Peking University and graduated from a Chinese high
school in Beijing, said his male Chinese friends were fans of South Korean hip-hop bands, like HOT,
and its song "We Are the Future."
"It's about wanting a more open world, about rebelliousness," he said. "Korean hip-hop is basically
trying to adapt American hip-hop."
Like many South Koreans, Oh Dong Suk, 40, an investor in online games in Beijing, said he believed
South Korea's pop culture was a fruit of the country's democratization. "If you watch South Korean
movies from the 1970s or 1980s, you could feel that it was a controlled society," Oh said.
Hwang In Choul, 35, a South Korean missionary in Beijing, also sees a direct link between South
Korea's democratization and its influence in China. After restrictions on travel outside South Korea
were lifted in the late 1980s, South Korea's missionary movement grew from several hundred into its
current size of 14,000.
Hwang, who since 2000 has trained 50 Chinese pastors to proselytize, is among the 1,500 South
Korean missionaries evangelizing in China, usually secretly."Under military rule, it was simply not
possible to come out of South Korea, and even our activities inside the country were monitored,"
Hwang said. "We had the potential to be missionaries out in the world, but we were constrained."
Until South Korea and China, enemies during the Korean War, normalized relations in 1992, North
Korea had a stronger presence in Beijing, with its embassy, restaurants and shops. Back then, South
Korea remained unknown to most Chinese, or suffered from a poor image.
The Korean Wave has been gathering for some time. Its roots are traceable to democratization, which
kicked off with the South Korean elections in 1987, and the Seoul Olympics in 1988. Social changes
that took decades elsewhere were compressed into a few years.
http://www.ourorient.com/articles/relations/koreanwave.htm
Why Is Korean Wave Popular In China?
Nowadays, Korean culture is influencing young Chinese people very much, and it is called “Korean
Wave”. Why is Korean Wave so popular?
Firstly, South Korea is a close and friendly neighbour of our China. The wars between two countries
were before more than 1000 years. For the past one thousand years, the two nations have been on
familiar terms. In the Ming Dynasty, Chinese army supported Korea and fought against Toyotomi
Hideyoshi (豐臣秀吉)’s army of Japan. Later, the Ming Empire was destroyed by the Manchus, but the
Lee Dynasty (李朝) of Korea still kept the year-title (年号) “Chongzhen” (崇祯) which was the year-title
of the last emperor of Ming, and Korean still kept the hair-style and clothing-style of the Ming Dynasty.
In more than two hundred years, Korean prepared in secret for supporting Chinese people to expel
Manchu invaders. Our Chinese have a word “Friends in adversity”, and Korea was such a friend. Even
if in the future the two nations have some conflicts, we can’t forget the past sincere friendship.
Secondly, Korean culture comes to China, and it shows the great influence of the civilization of ancient
China. From the Zhou Dynasty to the Han Dynasty, from the Tang Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, the
civilization of Huaxia (another name is Han) had influenced deeply the whole East Asia including
Korea, Japan and Vietnam. The national flag of Korea is called "Taegukgi" (太极旗), and its design
was from the Taichi (太极) and Eight Trigrams (八卦) of ancient Chinese philosophy. Now, Korean
culture is very popular in China, because it awakes the far memory of nowadays Chinese about the
civilization of their ancestors.
Thirdly, Korean movies and TV dramas show virtue and kindness. In Korean movies and TV dramas,
people are friendly, and families are harmonious. Juniors respect elders, elders cherish juniors. Lovers
love dearly each other, and spouses care for each other. Even if the historical movies and TV dramas
such as “Dae Jang-Geum” (大长今), directors don’t spend much time on showing political conflicts. In
fact, not only ancient China but also ancient Korea, there were many political conflicts all along.
However, the most of the historical movies and TV dramas of Korea still show the harmonious and
pure-hearted feelings. Every one wishes to have a harmonious family and live in a harmonious
society. Therefore, Korean movies and TV dramas are very popular in China.
Fourthly, many famous TV stations often ardently publicize new Korean movies and TV dramas,
because they want to profit from these programs. Hunan TV Station bought the Chinese version of
“Dae Jang-Geum” from Korea, and then this station publicized this TV drama with exaggeration. So
very quickly all young Chinese knew “Dae Jang-Geum” and wanted to watch it.
Korean people believe in Confucius thoughts. For Confucius thoughts, the three nations China, Korea
and Japan inherited three different sides. Chinese misinterpreted the meaning of “Moderation” (中庸),
and regarded it as a slick and sly way to keep human relations. Korean inherited peaceable thoughts,
but their peaceful ideals were often broken by foreign aggressors. Japan inherited loyal and warrior
thoughts, and then they developed the Bushido and became belligerent. Japanese didn’t dive into
Confucian doctrines, so they were not influenced by the ossified doctrines of Confucian scholars.
However, Chinese and Korean became the victims of the ossified doctrines. So in the history, China
and Korea were in a same way, but Japan was in another different way. Why are Chinese and Korean
harmonious? Why are young Chinese people willing to accept Korean Wave? An important reason is
that, China and Korea are so similar.
http://wonderfulsworld.com/2009/11/03/idol-groups-may-cause-downfall-of-hallyu/
Nov 2009
Idol groups may cause downfall of “Hallyu”
By breezy // Wonder Girls // 7 Comments //
Very long, but interesting read on idols’ influence on the future of the Hallyu Wave. [Wonder Girls
mentioned a few times]
Idol Groups May Cause Downfall of ‘Hallyu’
‘Mass Media Should Give Balance to Programming’
By Park Si-soo
It may not be an exaggeration to say that today’s Korean pop charts are literally “occupied” by boy
bands and girl groups such as the Wonder Girls and TVXQ, whose members are in their late teens
and early 20s and dance to computerized hip-hop music.
This trend is making it harder than ever to watch sophisticated performances by middle-aged artists on
the small screen particularly during primetime hours.
Lim Jin-mo, one of the country’s most influential music critics, said the unbalanced exposure of singers
to the media will undermine K-pop’s international competitiveness and eventually devastate the
country’s breeding ground for young musical prodigies.
“The Korean music industry is extremely unbalanced,” Lim said in an interview with The Korea Times.
“Music producers, consumers and media are all liable for that. Producers try to make only moneymaking music and consumers are moved by songs produced in that fashion. Mass media positioning
itself between the two have no choice but to be swayed by both.”
The journalist-turned-music expert said putting this situation back on track is one of the key roles and
original duties of music critics, but added there are few experts versed well enough in music to carry
out the role and, even worse, their concern has mostly gone unheeded.
“The utmost value of today’s music consumers in listening to music is `fun.’ They no longer seek any
serious messages or meanings from music as people did back in the 1980s and `90s. I’d bet this funoriented appetite of listeners will continue for years to come,” he said.
The 50-year-old also lashed out at the media for its failure to be objective on the matter. “The media’s
liability for this is higher,” he said. “Its basic role should be standing balanced in the middle, as
reporters do, and providing people with opportunities to learn things, in an unbiased way. But it has
failed to do so and even mislead the public.”
He said undue capitalism smearing the media industry as a primary reason for the malfunction. “If they
take negative positions toward a certain singer or band enjoying its heyday, their management agency
might impose a sort of sanction on them, resulting in damaging their bottom line. Negative reporting is
something inevitable for the media. However, I think nobody willingly runs the risk of doing so at the
cost of sustaining financial losses.”
Lim described music as “social air” that helps people share contemporary sentiment and thoughts with
others. “But now it is no more than just a means to make money,” he said. Music critic Lim Jin-mo
says “real” musicians are endangered in Korean music industry, while those only in pursuit of
popularity are cropping up. He urged media outlets to stay balanced in programming to bring the
crippled music industry back on track. / Korea Times
Korean Wave: Double-Edged Sword
Korea’s cultural products, particularly music and film, enjoy large popularity abroad, especially in Asia.
The phenomenon is referred to as “hallyu,” which means Korean cultural wave.
Capitalizing on the wave, some K-pop stars, such as Rain, the Wonder Girls and BoA, have extended
their activities to other Asian countries and even the United States, the world’s largest music market.
Many deem hallyu as a huge success, touting it as a key promoter of Korean culture outside the
borders. But Lim said it’s still too early to judge it a success.
“The Korean wave is a very proud thing in that it has brought Korean culture outside the border and
made it international,” he said. “But I think it still falls short of showing the genuine face of our culture.
In other words, what is projected through hallyu is Korean culture sophistically modified to be familiar
to foreigners.”
To break into the American market, Korean musicians, including Rain and BoA, have armed
themselves with fluent English-language skills and English-version songs, and have had some
success, he said. “But their ultimate goal there should be standing on stage with Korean-version songs
with a very Korean sound, which would be the completion of the Korean wave,” he said.
His assessment of the “corporate-style management agencies” in Korea was mixed. Such agencies
have played a key role in introducing what some call the “star-making system,” in which agencies pick
up talented youngsters, train them for years and then “hit the market” with their songs, looks and even
character doctored to be friendly to the market and consumers.
Among influential agencies using such a system are SM Entertainment, JYP and YG Entertainment.
These agencies have produced most of the K-pop idols, including Rain, the Wonder Girls, BoA, Girls’
Generation, TVXQ and so on.
“The Korean wave is largely attributable to the star-making system,” he said. “Such a systematized
process helped Korean agencies form partnerships and do business with overseas agencies, resulting
in giving additional impetus to the Korean wave,” Lim added. “But it also brought about a lack of `real’
musical artists. “With financial backup and strategic marketing becoming crucial to appealing to the
market, a growing number of talented people are doing their job for the favor of their agencies rather
than sticking to their own way,” he said. “Real musicians are endangered, while those only in pursuit of
popularity are cropping up.”
http://blog.asiahotels.com/hallyu-the-love-for-all-things-korean/
Hallyu, The Love For All Things Korean
July 13th, 2009 by Alex Tan
The Korean Wave, dubbed Hallyu by Chinese journalists, is the export boom of Korean pop culture to
Asia and the rest of the world. From TV dramas to music, video games and fashion, a substantial
audience for Korean-made entertainment is deliberately being courted in countries like China, Japan,
the South-East Asian nations, and even in North America, enabling South Korea to be one of the top
ten cultural exporters in the world.
It all started with the K-drama Winter Sonata, which won a huge following in China and Japan, as well
as other Asian countries. This TV show, replete with good-looking actors, familiar themes of
Confucian-style love and family, as well as portrayals of upscale modern lifestyle, led to a demand for
more shows, which Korean producers gladly provided. Now these qualities have long been embodied
in Japanese pop culture (especially in J-doramas), but Korean pop culture has made in-roads in
countries adverse to Japanese influence, due in part to its aggressive colonial past.
Thus, this surge of interest has helped push offshore sales of Korean movies and albums aka K-Pop,
and sparked a tourist boom in the South Korea. Nami Island is one such example: after being featured
in Winter Sonata, this scenic, tree-lined destination has since been crowded all week long by fans of
the show as well as regular visitors. Korean actors are now the highest paid entertainers outside
Hollywood, aside from Jackie Chan and Jet Li, and some are breaking into Hollywood, like singer and
actor Rain. Some countries like The Philippines have made local versions of K-Dramas, like My Name
is Kim Sam Soon and Full House, and Korean expat entertainers have become popular in their
respective host countries.
Korean brand consumer products like LG, Samsung, and Hyundai have also benefited from the
Korean wave. In many Asian countries, it is easy to spot trendy people sporting hairstyles, clothes,
and makeup inspired by Korean fashion. Korean food has also found new attention, as people want to
sample cuisine they saw on the drama shows. And Korean festivals all over the world saw
attendances rise as Korean culture grew in popularity in the past years.
The boon of ready K-dramas allowed Asian networks to reduce cost by reducing production of their
own shows, which made Korean shows all the more ubiquitous. And a major force that is driving the
wave are women, who are taken by the soft, almost effeminate look of Korean actors and musicians.
These factors have created a backlash in Asia: some entertainers in China and Taiwan are calling for
a limit in K-drama imports (especially when they notice that South Korea doesn’t import other
countries’ shows in turn), while manly men are decrying the softening down of the traditional qualities
of male attractiveness. Mix this in with the recent under-performance of movie and album sales, and
some might think that these are signs that the Korean Wave has already receded.
This may not be a bad thing, because it would mean that now would be the perfect time to visit your
favorite Hallyu destination in South Korea without having to deal with crowds of your fellow fans. If
you, for example, want to see Nami Island (as seen on Winter Sonata!), take a train from Seoul to
Gapyeong Station, then ride a cab to the ferry wharf at Gapyeong Parking Lot, a board a ferry to the
self-styled “island of magic and fairytales”. And if you are interested in visiting other Hallyu attractions
located in Seoul, the city government has thoughtfully provided the Seoul Hallyu Map which points out
the most famous places where significant scenes from your most-loved K-dramas were filmed. These
include Choong Ang High School from Winter Sonata, Changdeokgung Palace from Jewel in the
Palace, and Myeongdong from 200 Pounds Beauty. The Hallyu map can be acquired for free at tourist
information centers within the city.
http://thekpopnation.com/blog/2010/04/22/will-the-second-hallyu-boom-come-in-japan/
Will the Second Hallyu Boom Come in Japan?
April 22, 2010
“Can Byonsama (Lee Byeong-Heon) revive the Japanese private broadcasting company, TBS?”
“Housewives who are crazy about Hallyu are ruining the family”. These quotes are what the Japanese
media reported regarding the “second Hallyu boom” when the Japanese terrestrial broadcast TBS is
about to air the Korean drama “IRIS”.
The Hallyu boom in Japan began due to the popularity of Korean dramas. When the drama “Winter
Sonata” aired in Japan from 2003 to 2004, the Hallyu boom started in Japan, and it reached its peak
when the drama “Jewel in the Palace” gained huge popularity from 2004 to 2005. But afterwards,
Korean dramas were relegated to cable TV and have shown signs of declining in Japan. In this
situation, the broadcasting of “IRIS” on TBS TV has been recognized as a very ambitious plan to light
a fire again under the Hallyu boom in Japan.
TBS plans to air the drama “IRIS”, which recorded high viewer ratings ranging from 20 percent to 40
percent in Korea, during primetime (9 pm) every Wednesday from April 21. This is actually the first
time that Japanese terrestrial TV will schedule a Korean drama in prime time. TBS already cast voice
actors and actresses for dubbing the drama in Japanese and is going all-out to draw viewers by
inviting the main cast members, Lee Byeong-Heon and Kim Tae-hee, onto several entertainment
programs starting from April 17.
Japanese sports magazine “Daily Sports” reported in the article of April 19, “It attracts attention
whether Byonsama can be the savior of TBS TV”. The article also added that TBS which has worried
about its lagging viewer rating now stakes the future of the company on the deep-rooted Hallyu boom
in Japan.
While there are great expectations about the second Hallyu boom in Japan, there is also great hostility
toward it. The Japanese tabloid evening newspaper “Hyundai” recently reported an article entitled
“The Second Hallyu boom, housewives who are crazy about Hallyu are ruining the family” and
highlighted the negative aspects of Hallyu by saying, “As middle aged housewives are crazy about
Hallyu stars, families here and there are on the verge of collapse”. It presented the example that a
Japanese woman who fell in love with a Hallyu star has recently disappeared in Korea and lamented,
“There is no medication for those housewives who are indulged in Hallyu”. The newspaper pointed out
the reasons why Japanese housewives are absorbed in Hallyu: “Unlike Japanese stars, Korean stars
do not regard housewives as merely middle-aged women and do not look down on them. With the
spirit of Confucianism, they also show respect to their elders, so many middle-aged fans are happy
about it”.
http://hallyuwood.com/filipinos-get-hooked-on-hallyu-k-pop-craze
Filipinos Get Hooked on Hallyu, K-Pop Craze
September 7, 2009
MANILA ― Hallyu, popularly known as the Korean wave, continues to cast its spell in the Philippines.
Not only are Korean dramas being embraced by Filipinos but more teens and young adults are
becoming ardent fans of K-pop artists as well.
Thanks to the Internet, non-Korean fans in Southeast Asia including the Philippines and as far as
North America and Europe can get a daily dose of Korean music, dramas and anything in between.
Filipinos have established their own fan clubs for top K-pop groups like Super Junior, TVXQ, Girls
Generation, Wonder Girls, Big Bang and SS501 as a way of showing their adoration to these idol
groups.
Not only do they interact in their own forums, on blogs and networking sites, they also meet regularly,
hold fan gatherings and dutifully buy their idols’ CDs, photo books, T-shirts and other merchandise.
The Korea Times met with representatives of three fan clubs in the Philippines ― Cassiopeia
Philippines, Super Junior United Philippines and Girls Generation Philippines ― and found out about
their devotion to their idol groups.
Cassiopeia Philippines is the Filipino fan club of Korean boy band TVXQ. The group adopted the
name Cassiopeia, which is the name of TVXQ’s Korea-based fan club that is said to have about
800,000 members.
Michelle Angela Umali, part of the Cassiopeia Philippines core group, said the growing fan base of
TVXQ in the Philippines prompted them to establish the fan club. The club started five years ago, with
the name TVXQ Heaven. It began as a forum and as the fan base grew, organizers decided to make it
official.
They held their first gathering in 2006, the same year that members of TVXQ came to the Philippines
to shoot an advertisement. The fan club’s core members said they spent their own money to buy
balloons, snacks and to prepare for an audio-visual presentation just to make the event a success.
From just 40 people that attended the first meeting, Cassiopeia Philippines now has over 1,000
members and is growing as more Filipino teens join the organization. Every year, the TVXQ fan club
holds events to gather all members. They hold parties and programs to pay tribute to TVXQ and give
away merchandise as prizes. Cassiopeia Philippines has its own Web site and accounts on Twitter,
Multiply, Friendster, YouTube, Facebook and Yahoo!
Cassiopeia Philippines was instrumental in gathering Filipino K-pop fans to attend the filming of the
1,000th episode of Arirang’s “Pops in Seoul,” a TV program which was held in Manila in July last year,
an event that proved successful.
Super Junior United Philippines (SJUPH) is the umbrella organization of four Super Junior fan clubs in
the Philippines: Super Junior Philippines, SuJu Pinas, Super Junior Sahoe and Super Junior Fanatext
Philippines Only, according to Christine Laconico, a member of the organization. The four fan clubs
have been in existence for years and they decided to unite into one organization in September last
year.
Laconico said the formation of SJUPH was made in order to strengthen their presence in the
Philippines. They now have the Internet and mobile communications tools needed to spread the Super
Junior fever through text messaging, networking sites like Multiply and Internet forums, now with more
than 1,000 members. SJUPH will be holding a big event on Sept. 12 to mark its first anniversary,
promising to be fun-filled.
Just like other Korean pop groups, Super Junior’s popularity is growing in the Philippines. Single
“Sorry, Sorry” from their third album released this year was in the top 10 in the daily countdown in July
on music channel Myx Philippines along with the Wonder Girls’s “Nobody.”
2NE1’s fame among Filipinos was mainly fueled by Sandara Park, who became an actress and a
singer in the Philippines before she joined the all-female pop group.
Super Junior’s popularity has prompted Universal Records Philippines to officially release the “Sorry,
Sorry” album in the Philippines on Sept. 4, the first time a Korean album was launched in the
Philippines.
Meanwhile, So Nyeo Shi Dae or SNSD is also getting support from Filipinos through the Girls’
Generation Philippines fan club. Narriel Ceribo said they have decided to form their own fan club after
attending Arirang’s “Pops in Seoul” taping held in Manila last year. He said the one-year-old fan club is
composed of about 700 girls and boys, all dedicated to supporting Girls’ Generation.
To make K-pop even more popular in the country, Cassiopeia will be holding the First K-pop
Convention in the Philippines on Nov. 21, promising to be the largest gathering of Filipino K-pop fans.
Attendees can expect to see booths featuring K-pop idols and everything Korean.
Outside their own groups, Filipino K-pop fans are also members of international fan clubs and Internet
forums. Soompi, for instance, is the largest English-language K-pop fan site. Its members come from
the United States, Canada, the Philippines, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia. Established in 1998,
Soompi now has over 547,000 registered members, about 1.2 million unique visitors and 30 million
page views monthly. Approximately 5 percent (about 60,000) of visitors are from the Philippines, but
the number is increasing. “We hope to be able to focus on growth in the Philippines next year,” said a
Soompi representative in a statement.
The growth of K-pop in the Philippines can be described as unique, with no K-pop group ever visiting
the Philippines as part of a concert tour. In addition, Korean albums are not found in music stores in
the Philippines so fans buy their CDs, DVDs, posters, photo books and other merchandise through
online stores or ask friends in other countries to help. As some sort of rule, they only buy original
copies and shun bootleg merchandises as a way of showing their support.
Some even go to great lengths to attend concerts in other countries to watch their idols in person. For
instance, Paola Ebora, Ana Salera Cruz, Hannah Petrache and Umali, members of Cassiopeia
Philippines, have attended concerts of TVXQ in South Korea, Malaysia and Thailand.
No doubt, the number of Filipino K-pop fans is growing. When asked why they love K-pop, the fans
said Korean pop groups come as a complete package, meaning they can sing, dance, and act. In
Korea, artists usually undergo years of training to hone their skills in singing and dancing before
debuting.
“I really like their music,” Umali said of TVXQ. “When I heard them sing, it was totally different. On the
other hand, the 13-member Super Junior represents a whole range of talented male singers, actors
and DJs, according to Laconico. This is the main reason why they love Super Junior,” she said.
Filipinos seem not to be concerned about the language barrier. As they say, music is a universal
language and they are embracing K-pop as if they are immersing themselves in a new culture.
Credit: Korea Times
http://sassen.org/hallyu-the-korean-wave-is-comming/
Hallyu | The Korean wave is comming
Erstellt von Phil v. Sassen am 3/01/2006
Die Entwicklng von Südkorea in den letzten Jahren ist beachtlich. Von einer unwichtigen Agrarnation
ist es zur elftwichtigsten Wirtschaftsnation aufgestiegen. Diese Trend wird sich aufgrund der
Vorreiterstellung in den Bereichen des Internets sowie der Neuen Medien fortsetzen. Mobile
Kommunikation sowie High Speed Internetspielen eine große Rolle im Alltag der Koreaner.
Auch in Gesellschaftsbereichen im Ausland erlangt der koreanischer Lebensstil eine immer größere
Bedeutung. Man spricht von „Hallyu“ beziehungsweise von der „Korean wave“. Man kann diese
Bewegung vereinfacht als “kulturelle Strömung aus Korea” bezeichnen. Die Trendforscher bei cscout
haben die große Bedeutung der „Korean wave“ erkannt und nennen Beispiele für die „Koreanisierung“
außerhalb Koreas. Hierzu zählt der Hanbok, der Film “Old Boy“, So-ju sowie K-Pop.
Den vorhandenen Nährboden nutzen die koreanische Regierung und der koreanische
Tourismusverband, um im Ausland gezielt für Korea zu werben. Kulturelle sowie wirtschaftliche
Veranstaltungen in Übersee werden finanziell unterstützt. Auch bei uns ist dieser erfreuliche Trend
festzustellen. Wer sich für die koreanische Kultur interessiert findet weitere Informationen auf
hangaram.de.
http://www.koreasociety.org/culture_policy_society/culture_policy_society/hallyu_korean_pop_culture_
sweeps_across_asia.html
August 2, 2006
In less than a decade, South Korea has gone from being just another consumer of Hollywood
entertainment to a media powerhouse in its own right, exporting music, TV dramas and action films to
enthused audiences across Asia.
To understand the phenomenon-termed Hallyu (The Korean Wave) one has to go back to the 1980s
says Frances Gateward, assistant professor of Cinema Studies at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. During the 1980s, South Korea relaxed its film-censorship laws allowing a new generation
of young actors, directors and writers to draw heavily on current events and themes of urban
alienation, making for more dynamic narratives. In the 1990s, increased investment improved in the
industry's production values. Today, a host of Korean directors and producers who came of age during
the 1980s are creating big-budget, outside-the-box entertainment. They're young: 70% of films in
Korea are directed by people just out of film school, and major Korean directors are, on average, a
dozen years younger than their American counterparts. According to Gateward, this gives Korean
films a different sensibility than Hollywood releases and an edge with Asian audiences.
Ji-Hong Lee, public-relations manager at the Korean Cultural Service in New York, and John Woo, a
producer who's worked with AZN Television, spoke about bringing Hallyu to the United States through
Korean cinema, cuisine and television drama.
Dispelling the idea that Hallyu is just another pop-culture fad, Michael D. Shin, professor of Modern
Korean Literature and History at Cornell, illustrated a complex phenomenon that reveals a great deal
about contemporary Asian society. Shin noted that Hallyu is overwhelmingly driven by Korean TV
dramas: the export earnings of TV dramas far surpass those of Korean music and film. Shin
proceeded to break these dramas down into their elements, highlighting what resonates with both
Korean and non-Korean audiences.
One factor is the characters: they're frequently leaving behind dull, monotonous employment and
finding their dream jobs. This suggests that amidst the economic boom of the last two decades, many
in Asia are still searching for satisfying work. A second factor is the setting. Historical dramas are a
staple of Korean TV, and many are set in the early sixteenth century-a period unique in Korean history
for its relaxation of traditional patriarchal norms, according to Shin. Audiences across Asia may be
responding to less-rigid gender relationships as they watch the shows, suggesting that Hallyu is as
much a product of social change across Asia as it is a product of Korean studios.
http://www.seoulstyle.com/cultural.htm
In most cases, people who move overseas will inevitably suffer from culture shock. Culture shock
happens when the people, language, food and environment are severely different from what you are
used to. The French writer Marcel Proust once said, `The real journey of discovery is not in seeing
new landscapes, but in seeing with new eyes.` Its a great theory, but try telling that to a person who
just moved to Korea who went to the store to buy dishwashing liquid and ended up with toilet bowl
cleaner. Where are his new eyes when he needs them?
When one suffers from culture shock, it`s easy to complain and become bitter. Instead of adjusting to
the situation, one gets easily irritated. It takes some desire, effort and perhaps a lot of time to truly
understand where Koreans are coming from. There is an old Chinese proverb that says if you stand
against the wind you will never go anywhere, but if you flow with the wind, you will get where you want
to go much faster. If you live here, or are thinking about moving here, it may help to try to learn the
language or at least prepare yourself for the differences you will encounter during your stay.
Here`s are some cultural insights that may or may not give you some insight on Koreans and life here
as a foreigner..
Expatriate:
The consise Oxford dictionary defines an expatriate as someone who is living abroad or is exiled.
These days an expat is more likely a person from another country who gets posted overseas due to
their jobs or their husband`s jobs.
Most foreigners living in Seoul typically work in these categories.
1 )Expats working for multi-national companies
Many people are hired overseas for job positions in Korea and these people usually get set up with a
good package. These people are the true expats. Oftentimes multi-national companies will pay for
housing, a club membership, a company car and a driver.(They have to pay extra to lure you into
moving to Korea, especially because many times the wives don't want to move) Some of the expat
companies here include banks like Macquarie, Citigroup, BNPParibas, and Deutche Bank. There are
also real estate companies such as Jones Lang LaSalle and Cushman and Wakefield that hire
foreigners. Some hotel chains hire foreigners for their top level management and big companies like
Wal-Mart and Carrefour also employ expats. Life is generally easier for these type of expats as money
can buy comfort. However, there are no expats immune from culture shock. Things are just too
different in Korea.
2 ) US military- There are many Americans stationed in Seoul who are soldiers or working on the US
military base. These guys are still here to protect the Korean people from potential invaders, but they
are less and less appreciated these days. Alot of military people prefer to stay on base because you
can get everything you need there. You can watch American movies, shop for American goods in the
PX, there are even American schools and bars on base! US military folks don't need to stray too far off
base (why bother when you have all the comforts of home there?) but, oftentimes soldiers will venture
out to Iteawon for shopping or nightlife.
3 ) English Teachers- Everyone wants to learn English in Korea, so there are loads of opportunities for
people wanting to work in education. Even if you are just back packing through the region, you can
probably come to Korea to work as an English teacher. Many English teachers tend to be from
Canada.If you have a degree and good qualifications, you may be able to get a job at one of the
universities, or one of the foreign schools. Less qualified people may work at private institutes called
hagwons. Some hagwons have good working conditions, some don't. Alot of english teachers do
private lessons (many times this is 'under the table work' since many people don't have a legal visa to
do this) or many do "phone teaching" where you teach a lesson over the phone. There are agencies
which will connect you with this kind of work. Here are two helpful websites where English teachers
may find work:
www.worknplay.co.kr
www.englishspectrum.com
4)Models
There are many people coming from Russia, Eastern Europe and Europe to work in the modeling
industry here. You don't have to be particularly attractive to get work and it's a good opportunity to
travel and to get pictures for a modeling portfolio. If you are an aspiring model, there are some
agencies which work with foreigners. However beware, the industry is dodgy and alot of people treat
the models as if they are for sale.
Kyopo
A kyopo is Korean person who was born and raised abroad. Kyopos come from Germany, Sweden,
Switzerland, Spain and Japan, but the majority of kyopos hail from Canada or the United States.
Kyopos seem to be higher on the social ladder because they are seen as 'international'. It is
considered huge skill to be able to speak English in Korea, thus Kyopos may seem slightly better
educated to the average Korean. It is the dream of alot of upper-class wives to send their kids to study
abroad. Kyopos generally seem to be exempt of the rigid rules of Korean society. When kyopos come
to Korea (Seoul is full of them during summer and winter holidays), they are generally treated like rock
stars. Kyopo men have been known to have good luck with Korean ladies. Kyopos run in their own
circles, but they sometimes can be seen fraternizing with the expat crowd. There is also a newer term
called 1.5; 1.5 is used to refererence Koreans who were born in Korea, but spent so much time
abroad, they are not really Korean, but they are not 'Kyopo' either. Even though most kyopos and 1.5s
have western mentalities and foreign accents, many still hold Korean values to heart.
Love and RelationshipsDuring high school, students are often studying too hard or they may be attending segregated schools,
so dating is not that common. People often live with their parents until marriage and oftentimes
parents enforce curfews on their kids even into their late 20's.
Usually, the first opportunity that Koreans have to interact with the opposite sex is during university.
Big groups of friends will go out together to socialize. Koreans have a konglish (Konglish is when
Koreans adopt an English word for use in a slang term) word for these gatherings. They are called
'meetings'.
Sometimes your parents or friends will try to set you up on a blind date. Blind dates are very common.
The reason why there are so many coffee shops around town is because that's where people typically
meet for a blind date. Blind dates are referred to as 'soghe-ting'. It's a term combining the word
"soghe" which means "to introduce" and "meeting".
If a woman still hasn't met the man of her dreams at university, then she may have a chance to find
someone during her first career. In the past, if a woman has reached 27 without being married, she is
considered an over-the hill spinster (a no-chon-nyu), but these days that's changing. For the older
generation, being divorced was something to be very ashamed of. Nowadays Korea's divorce rate is
over 50 percent!
Party cultureIn the west, people often go to parties or clubs to get dressed up, messed up, dance and generally cut
loose. Clubs and parties are a good way to socialize and meet people for relationships (whether they
be serious or casual is up to two consenting adults!). Until recently in Korea, partying or clubbing was
not something a 'decent' Korean person would do. (Even today the parties in Korea never get that
wild)
In New York, for example, a party promoter is very high on the social ladder. Until recently, here in
Seoul, being a party promoter was seen as unreputable work. However, within the past 5 years,
Koreans have adopted the party culture and now have the chance to meet each other freely at bars
and parties. Find out where to party on the seoul style events calendar!
Interracial RelationshipsIn other expat cities like Manila, Hong Kong, and Singapore, interracial couples are so common, no
one would bat an eyelash at a couple of different nationalities. In many of the poorer nations like
Thailand or Vietnam, girls want to marry foreigners so they can get away from home and have a better
quality of life. In that sense, it's acceptable or even desirable to date outside your nationality.
However, Korea is a modern developed nation and typical Koreans are not that tolerant of interracial
couples. Some say Korean men get especially angered if foreigners steal their women. Parents also
encourage their kids to marry Korean because the culture is so strong, it will be difficult to
communicate and get along if people don't share the same values and the same language. Korean
women often say that they prefer dating Korean men because they are weary of the cultural barrier
they would encounter if they were dating a foreigner. Also, a Korean woman dating a foreigner may be
the subject of bad gossip and speculation. Many cannot handle being talked about in that way.
However these days, many Korean women are curious about dating a foreigner because some feel
stifled by the rigid rules of Korean society. Many want to experiment with other philosophies and ways
of thinking. Women in their late 20's and 30's sometimes take to dating foreigners because Korean
men often think women that age are washed-up. Sucessful partnerships between Koreans and
Westerners have happened.
MarriageA typical Korean wedding is a funny affair. Ceremonies oftentimes take place is a cheesy wedding
banquet hall. There are hundreds of people there and the bride wears a rented wedding dress which
makes her look like her wedding cake. After the quickie ceremony is over, everyone hurriedly eats and
then the guests take the flowers home so they aren't wasted.
Directly afterwards, in full makeup and hair, the happy couple will fly off to their honeymoon dressed in
a 'couple look' (meaning the wear the same exact clothes as each other. Everyone else does it, so
they feel pressure to be like everyone else). Cheju Island is the most popular honeymoon destination
followed by the Phillipines and Thailand. During a typical ceremony, the bride is not expected to smile,
as it's supposed to be a serious affair. In a western wedding, a bride may cry tears of joy at the sight of
her new husband, but a Korean bride will more likely cry at the sight of her parents who she may not
be seeing as much of after marriage. After marriage, the bride is expected to defer to her husband's
parents. On weekends, she will typically cook for her husband and his parents. Sometimes people
marry for love, but sometimes it's more of a business arrangement to bond two families together and
to bear offspring.
Behind closed doors (a sneak peak inside the 'bangs' or rooms in Seoul)
Koreans are expected to behave a certain way in public, but there are alot of things going on behind
closed doors. A 'bang' is the the Korean word for 'room' . There are several types of 'bangs'.
- DVD bang
A DVD bang is a room where you can rent videos and watch them on a big screen TV. They are
usually found in university areas and are typically on the 2nd or higher floor of a building. The rooms
can range from fairly spacious to claustrophobic and some of the rooms even have beds inside where
you can lounge! Alot of people just watch movies at these places, but many people use it as a secret
place to be romantic with their lovers. University students who live with their parents can hang out with
their lovers in these places.
- PC Bang
These noisy places are often dark and smoky. Alot of people go to PC bangs to surf the web or check
their e-mails, but many come to play video games (That's why PC bangs are noisy). At PC bangs,
there's often a tin ashtray with a wet napkin at the bottom next to your PC and everyone is just
smoking away, even the high school girl next to you who is still in her uniform. Late at night, ajosshis
may sometimes be found surfing porn sites and wanking off in front of the computer. Beware of those
sticky keyboards!!! Yech!
- Norebang
These are little karaoke rooms where people pick songs and sing their little hearts out. Norebang-ing
is one of Korea's favorite pastimes. Nore-banging not just something to do when you're drunk. People
actually come to practice songs for their next outing with their office mates! Inside the norebang, you
can be as crazy as you want to be. Air-guitar solo to Hotel California? No problem! No one will see.
Norebangs are popular with most Koreans.
- Sarang bang or love motel
Love motels which rent rooms by the hour are all over Korea. University students still living with their
parents often use love motels and businessmen having sordid affairs with mistresses often use them
as well.Sometimes the buildings look like lavish castles. Some of them are very basic, but some of the
really fancy ones have different themed rooms with funky lights and vibrating beds etc. Some of these
love motels don't even have a reception desk, so you can secretly slip in and out without anyone ever
seeing you. They have some special credit card machine out front. The parking lots of these places
have these low rubber curtains which hide the license plate of your car, so no one will know if you're
there! Sometimes you can use a love motel as a real hotel room. They are quite well-priced.
- Room salon
These rooms are a bonding place for horny old business men. Alot of deals are sealed behind the
closed doors of a room salon. At these very expensive establishments, girls pour you very expensive
drinks and pretend to like you. They may even perform for the right amount of money. All wives have
to put up with this room salon culture if their men are in the business world.
Apparently there's also a room salon for women. I don't know anyone whose ever been to one of these
places, but it sounds hilarious! Apparently they are twice as expensive as the outrageously priced
room salon for men. They open really late, after 2am and you have to make a reservation and know
someone. Once inside you have a choice of boy toys who are models or aspiring actors. Is it an urban
legend? (seoulstyle will have to find a way to verify!)
- JimJil Bang
The Jim Jil bang is the family sauna. This is the only bang where there isn't something dodgy going
on, (unless you think that permed ajumas dressed in lacy underwear scrubbing naked women on a
plastic table is dodgy) .Read more about the JimJil Bang at these two links:
The Naked Truth
How Confucianism influenced the Korean culture
Confucianism is a way of thinking that a wise Chinese guy from a long time ago came up with to
maintain harmony and social order. Confucius` teachings encourage righteousness. (Don`t be
different, do what`s right, be kind to others, respect your elders and accept your lot in life) In
Confucianism everyone has a role to fulfill: the ruler is the ruler and the subject is the subject, but the
ruler needs to rule with benevolence.
You can see Confucian influences particularly within family structures and business world. Within
families, people are expected to fulfill their roles. Children are expected to obey the wishes of their
parents and wives are expected to obey the wishes of the husband (or the husband's in laws). But the
it's the parent's and husband's duty to be kind and righteous.
Within the workplace, the boss is the ruler and you're not supposed to do anything to insult the boss,
or to go over his head. Alot of Korean employees are like sheep. They only follow what you tell them to
do instead of thinking creatively or taking initiative. Sometimes a boss needs feedback in order to
know if what he's doing is right. Korean employees would never dare give their opinion to their boss.
Many times, they didn't think about it openly enough to have an opinion.This can be a source of
frustration for foreign bosses. On the other hand, as a boss, it's also nice to have your butt kissed
sometimes by your underlings.
One of the biggest ways Confucianism is reflected in Korea is in the language. Oftentimes people will
ask you bluntly how old you are. This is not considered rude in Korea. People are merely trying to find
out where they should place you in society and what they should call you. In Confucianism, age brings
wisdom. Hence, the older you are, the more advice you're allowed to dole out to your juniors. In Korea,
there is no term which is equivalent to sir or madam so you address people by titles instead.So what
do you call an older person?
Ohni:
This is what a younger woman would call an older sister or an older female friend. You also call
waitresses and shop keepers `Ohni` to get their attention. If they are obviously old and married, you
can call them ajuma and if it's an upscale place you may want to address someone ajumoni- an even
more polite honorable way of saying ajuma. It sounds more authentic if you whine a little while saying
it.
Noona:
This is how a younger brother would typically address his older sister, but sometimes boytoys will call
their older girlfriends `Noona` in an affectionately teasing way.
Opa:
This what a younger sister would call an older brother. This term as well could be used when flirting,
depending on intonation. Many hostess bar girls call their clients `Opa` while batting their eyelashes
and trying to look cute. You would not call a waiter opa, or he might think you're flirting with him.
Ajosshi:
Ajosshi is older Korean man, but all adult males can be called ajosshi if you don't know them, even if
they are younger than you. Ajosshis sometimes take the liberty to be pedantic. For example, if you are
Korean girl with a western guy and you kiss him on the cheek in public, and ajosshi may just give you
a piece of his mind about how you shouldn't do that in public. Typically you will use ajosshi to address
taxi drivers.
Ajuma:
Technically, you are an ajuma as soon as you get married, but some younger wives may be insulted at
being called this. Typically, an ajuma is an older woman (at least 40, married or not) who has short
permed hair. Most of the time, they also have tattooed eyebrows and are fond of wearing visors.
Ajumas have jokingly been called ` The Third Sex` because you can't really tell if they are men or
women. It's difficult to tell ajumas apart as they all have a generic look, but there is a slight difference
between rich ajumas and poor ajumas. Rich ajumas play golf, send their kids to study abroad, have
expensive handbags and shoes. They hang out at the Hyatt and Shinsegae Dept store. Less moneyed
Ajumas may be seen working at the food stalls on the street.
These days a lot of women are insulted when people call them ajuma. Women these days don't want
to think of themselves as being old. In fact there is another term for married women who still look
young, hot and single. The term is called "missy-Jok". "Jok" is a classification which loosely translates
as "clan or tribe". "Missy" is a konglish term meaning young-like. Thus "missy jok" means a woman
who seems more like a young miss rather than a madam. My tennis coach had an even better termHOTJUMA! (a hot ajuma)
Education:
In Korea, it's not really the education itself which is important, but rather, it's a diploma from the right
university that counts. Korean High school students bust their butts studying for the all-important
University entrance exam which takes place in November every year. Some of them even go to
special hagwons (private institutes) to do some crash-course studying. Some students may spend 6
months holed up in a small town somewhere preparing just for this exam! Almost every year, a few
students will commit suicide due to the 'stressure' caused by this exam. (Read more at this link )
During high school, it is not uncommon for students parents to give 'gifts' to their student's teachers in
order to persuade teachers to give their kids better grades.The desirable schools to get into are
Yonsei University, Seoul National, and Ewha Women's University. For people in the arts, Hongik
University is the Harvard of Seoul. Once someone gets into one of these elite schools, their careers
are set. The curriculum is not that much more difficult than any other university, but the diploma from
that school is a Korean's ticket into society and into the job market.
As an alternative, kids who don't make it into these schools may also go to study abroad. It is
considered more prestigious than going to some 3rd rate university in Korea. Some kids, whose
parents have enough money or connections, may be able to buy their way into an Ivy league
American school like Brown University in the United States. This limited system seems unfair to most
Koreans, and nowadays people are protesting against this antiquated system. These days people feel
that the process of learning is what's important, not the degree.
Korea's History of IsolationBeing that it's a peninsula surrounded on all sides by water, Korea has historically been isolated.
Instead of going out to conquer new lands, Koreans were constantly subjected to defending
themselves from outside invaders.The Japanese held Korea as a colony from 1910-1945. Not too long
after Japan surrendered, the Soviet Union took control of North Korea and caused the Koreas to split
in two. North and South Korea fought a terrible civil war from 1950-1953. In 1953 there was a
ceasefire, but the Koreas remained divided.
With a little help and protection from their allies, namely the United States, South Korea was able to
flourish as a democracy since the end of the Korean War. Nowadays modern South Korea has a great
deal to be proud of since was able to build the world's 12th biggest economy despite years of political
oppression from neighboring nations. Because of its history, South Koreans have a fierce sense of
national pride and are often distrustful of other cultures. South Korea's success was built from long
hard years of struggle, sacrifice and societal order based on Confucian principals. Koreans are not just
going to open themselves up to new customs and potentially new invaders. However, in this modern
age, people are starting to realize that stubborn old-school ways need to be traded in for more flexible
ones in order to move into the future. (I.E: the unfair school system or the way some businesses are
conducted) There is much talk about globalizing, but oftentimes it's just talk. Instead of globalizing, it
seems Korea is more interested in exporting Korean culture and Korean goods to other countries.
Depending on your viewpoint, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Hallyu-The Korean Wave
Hallyu is a new term which some Korean marketing genius probably came up with in a boardroom
somewhere. Hallyu was invented to increase tourism and raise the profile of Korea in the world. The
term 'Hallyu' means the love for Korean pop culture, or the appreciation of all things Korean. Hallyu
began roughly 5 years ago when the rest of Asia discovered Korean soap operas. One of the
breakthrough dramas was a series called Winter Sonata starring Choi Ji Woo and Bae Young-Joon.
After that, more Korean dramas saw their way to foreign shores and Korean films and music started to
follow suit. Korean marketing people started to see a Korea-centric trend flowing throughout Asia
Hawaii and even in parts of Russia. They dubbed this flow "The Korean Wave" or Hallyu.
2005
http://www.hancinema.net/the-high-tide-of-the-korean-wave-25-hallyu-the-koreanization-of-worldculture-13137.html
THE HIGH TIDE OF THE KOREAN WAVE(25)]
Hallyu: the Koreanization of world culture
2008/03/21
M, (M (엠) - 2007)
, D-War, (디 워 - 2006), Robot Taekwon V, (로보트 태권V - 1976)
, The
Host, (괴물 - 2006), Duelist, (형사 - 2005)
, Welcome to Dongmakgol, (웰컴 투 동막골 - 2005),
Feathers in the Wind, (깃 - 2004)
, Taegukgi, (태극기 휘날리며 - 2004), Memories of Murder,
(살인의 추억 - 2003)
, Friend, (친구 - 2001), The Way Home, (집으로... - 2002)
, Winter
Sonata, (겨울연가 - 2002), JSA - Joint Security Area, (공동경비구역 JSA - 2000)
, Chunhyang,
(춘향뎐 - 2000), Peppermint Candy, (박하사탕 - 1999) , Nowhere To Hide, (인정사정 볼 것 없다 1999), Shiri, (쉬리 - 1999)
In the last few years, Korean films, TV dramas and pop music have become immensely popular
abroad, a phenomenon known as the Korean Wave. This is the 25th in a series of essays by a select
group of scholars and journalists looking at the spread of Korean pop culture in Southeast Asian
countries and beyond. - Ed.
"Hallyu", or the Korean Wave, marks the long overdue re-emergence of Korean culture into the global
arena. Korean culture's newfound international vogue situates South Korean cinema, TV melodramas,
K-pop, and computer games as active participants in the transformation of world culture.
These "domestic" electronic audio-visual cultural creations are no longer limited to just the Korean
peninsula and the global Korean diaspora despite that they are produced in the Korean language - a
language that is not one of the globalized imperial languages such as English, French, Spanish,
Japanese, and Chinese.
Despite this linguistic barrier, hallyu is now a recognized agent of global cultural invigoration,
committed to its core population of ethnic Koreans while simultaneously becoming attractive to a
growing legion of adherents who choose to become cultural Koreans through their engagement with
hallyu.
Hallyu cool, compelling, sophisticated
In short, hallyu has inaugurated the Koreanization of world culture because it is aesthetically cool,
economically profitable, culturally compelling, technologically sophisticated, and ideologically
introspective.
All of these factors reveal the former Hermit Kingdom (Achtung, das war der falsche Spitzname…)
transformed into a dynamic and sparkling country. A country that has found the means to secure its
share of the global cultural limelight, despite historical forces that have stymied the country's rise to
global significance.
Chinese hegemony, Japanese colonialism, the Korean War, political division of the peninsula, and the
IMF crisis are just some of the more pronounced events that could have, but ultimately did not,
conspire to keep Korea as a minor and forgettable national entity.
The birth of Korean cinema
To illustrate my position, I will focus on the cinematic component of hallyu. Since its origins, Korean
cinema struggled to exert its aesthetic, economic, and ideological independence. In 1895, at the dawn
of the cinema, Korea's geographic obscurity and technological backwardness positioned Korea as an
exhibitor of foreign films rather than a producer and distributor of films.
The Lumiere brothers first unveiled their "cinematographe" in Paris. It would take three years before
the cinema arrived in Seoul in 1898, at the tail end of the Chosun dynasty.
Korea came across this new medium well after the metropolitan capitals of Europe and North America.
Even across Asia, the people of Bombay, Shanghai and Osaka encountered the cinema well before
those in Seoul.
The need for massive capital to contemplate, let alone establish, the foundations for film production is
still a daunting endeavor. It should come as no surprise that it took twenty-one years before Park
Sung-pil produced and Kim To-san directed "Righteous Revenge" in 1919. This is the first Korean
kino-drama, a mixture of live theater interspersed with the screening of 1000 feet of film, constructed
around 8 acts and 28 scenes.
The real surprise here is that it did not take longer before Korean cinema officially began independent
production. Korea's first bona fide feature film arrived four years later. In 1923, Yun Baek-nam
produced and directed "The Plighted Love Under the Moon". While their cinematic landmarks
represent Korean entrepreneurial successes, both were completed during the Japanese occupation of
Korea.
Hence, up until the liberation of 1945, the Korean films produced during this oppressive period faced
strict Japanese censorship and almost all of these films were compromised in some way. Moreover,
these films were designed for local consumption, since even domestic distribution was a challenge.
The end of Japanese rule did not automatically improve conditions for the Korean film industry. In less
than a decade, the partition of the peninsula into Russian and American zones of administration was
followed by the Korean War before the peninsula was officially divided politically into a democratic
South Korea and a communist North Korea.
These events greatly disrupted film production, damaged the industry's infrastructure, and obliterated
much of its cinematic heritage. Even under duress, Korean cinema in the south still managed to
produce classics such as Choi In-gyu's "Hurrah! For Freedom" (1946), Lee Kyu-hwan's "Chunhyang
Story" (1955), Han Hyoung-mo's "Madame Freedom" (1956), Lee Kang-chun's "Piagol" (1955), and
Shin Sang-ok's "Flower in Hell" (1958).
Korea's cinematic Golden Age
1955-1972 marks South Korea's cinematic Golden Age. In part, the relative stability of life after the
Korean War coupled with the favorable tax incentives for the film industry that President Syngman
Rhee instituted made this possible. A relatively liberal censorship policy also allowed for a degree of
unsuppressed expression that was formerly impossible on the peninsula. Thus, for the first time in
Korea's cinematic history, all of the pieces were finally in place to grant the film industry a degree of
stability and freedom to excel.
This new nurturing environment produced neorealist and experimental masterpieces such as Kim Kiyoung's "The Housemaid" (1960), Shin Sang-ok's "Mother and A Guest" (1961), and Yoo Hyeon-mok's
"Aimless Bullet" (1961).
Facing the realities of a divided people and the need for rapid modernization just to attain a level of
basic survival conditions, let alone prosperity, these films interrogated the depth of the Korean
predicament. The easy answers that are favored by entertainment cinema's escapist mode of
filmmaking were eschewed. Instead, these films raised and revealed, in the neorealist mode of art
cinema, the very Korean values and traditions that led to Korea's recent series of national tragedies.
The filmmakers held that a better national future was not possible unless Korean society addressed
these issues in an overt exercise of willful self-critique.
For example, "Aimless Bullet" questions traditional Confucian values and patriarchy as an insufficient
moral foundation to address the economic plight facing the Korean people. In this film, moral purity
does not provide an easy answer to economic devastation if the "perfect world" that this morality was
supposed to guarantee is turned upside down.
After a series of family misfortunes, the protagonist voices his conundrum. All of his sincere efforts to
live the proper life of the eldest son steeped in Confucian virtue is not a source of guaranteed
empowerment in post-Korean War Seoul. He bemoans, "I've tried so hard to be a good son, a good
husband, a good father, a good brother, a good clerk". The protagonist's younger brother expresses
the true issue of the questionable Confucian ideal, one that makes one "reasonable, honest, and poor
as hell". But at the end of the day, the only thing that can rectify his family's plight is the stark
economic confession, "I know I could have been a little richer".
This type of honest self-critique of sacred Korean values voiced the repressed questions that existed
in every Koreans' mind but due to social etiquette remained largely unvoiced. This film was released in
1960 at a key juncture in South Korea's history after President Rhee's resignation from office and
before General Park Chung-Hee's May 16th coup d'etat in 1961. Park pulled the film from the theatres
soon after taking office. The film's interrogation of Confucian patriarchy and its value system still rings
relevant today since Confucian ideology continues to define and justify Korea's moral social
framework.
1961 marked another tide of paradigmatic change with the start of militarized democracy as former
generals became the next three successive presidents. Begun by Park Chung-hee and continued by
Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, ideological inflexibility defined by staunch anti-Communism was
the standing order of the day. During this same time, North Korea responded with an equal anti-South
Korean policy.
Economic growth feeds censorship
Rapid economic expansion via accelerated industrialization and an export-oriented economic policy
catapulted South Korea to its current enviable status as a nation amongst nations.
Questioning or critiquing this dual-focused national agenda - of anti-communism and industrialized
development - was suppressed and the creative dynamism of the previous decade was compromised.
The cinema was not immune. Stricter censorship laws and film policies that favored over production of
domestic films in hopes of securing a lucrative foreign film import certificate created a cinematic dark
age.
Korean filmmakers struggled to create films that were critically engaging during a time when such
critical perspectives were frowned upon. Even a film such as Park Kwang-su's 1988 film "Chilsu and
Mansu" had to create an oblique critique by having its two protagonists engage in pro-democracy
demonstrations. Yet even this dark cloud could not stop the creation of local box office sensations
such as Kim Cheong-gi's "Robot Taekwon V" (1976), South Korea's first animated feature film, and a
number of landmark films by Im Kwon-taek such as "Gilsoddeum" (1986) and "The Surrogate Mother"
(1987).
'Shiri' turns the tide
On the cinematic front, the hallyu breakthrough moment occurs in 1999. In the previous year, each
and every national film market had succumbed to the Hollywood onslaught represented by James
Cameron's "Titanic" (1997) when the film was released to the global film market.
South Korea's national film industry was repeating the global norm under which its domestic market
was inevitably dominated by Hollywood films.
Nevertheless, Kang Je-gyu's "Shiri", produced as a Korean styled Hollywood blockbuster film
complete with some of the latest special effects wizardry, bested "Titanic" at the local box office:
2,448,399 tickets vs. 1,971,780 tickets in Seoul.
"Shiri" set a new standard, which successive South Korean filmmakers have continued to surpass.
Based on box office data compiled by the Korean Film Council, local films have continuously retained
the number one spot since 1999: Park Chan-wook's "JSA - Joint Security Area" (2000), Kwak Gyeongtaek's "Friend" (2001), Lee Jeong-hyang's "The Way Home" (2002), Bong Joon-ho's "Memories of
Murder" (2003), Kang Je-gyu's "Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War" (2004), Park Kwang-hyeon's
"Welcome to Dongmakgol" (2005), and Bong Joon-ho's "The Host" (2006).
The dominant position of the domestic box office hit vis-a-vis the Hollywood challenger and the
disparity in favor of domestic films by the domestic audience can be seen in 2006 when "The Host"
sold 13,571,254 tickets nationally versus J. J. Abrams' "Mission: Impossible III" (2006) which sold just
5,740,789 tickets.
On top of retaining the number one box office spot for eight successive years, South Korea's domestic
film industry also retained the majority share of its box office.
According to KOFIC, domestic films regained majority share in 2001 and retained this through 2006
except for 2002: 50.1 percent in 2001; 48.3 percent in 2002; 53.5 percent in 2003; 59.3 percent in
2004; 58.7 percent in 2005; and 63.8 percent in 2006.
This is a dramatic improvement from the nadir of 15.9 percent in 1993. More importantly, the average
attendance per capita for domestic films increased from a low of 0.2 in 1995 to a record high of 2.0 in
2006.
For foreign films, the average rose slightly from 0.8 to 1.1 for the same period, respectively. This
clearly demonstrates the domestic film industry's ability to establish and maintain its economic viability
and popular appeal on its home turf. The home audience and market has been and must remain the
primary market for South Korean cinema for it to revel in its dynamic success.
The new Hollywood counter model
Unfortunately, data for 2007 reveal a resurgence of American domination with Michael Bay's
"Transformers" (2007) taking the top box office slot and Korea losing its majority share of the market
with 46.8 percent.
Had "Shiri" been the only local film to attain this unimaginable milestone, this event would only stand
as a minor footnote in world cinema. The fact that "Shiri" heralded a renaissance for South Korea's
film industry in tune with its other hallyu media compatriots (TV melodramas such as "Winter Sonata"
(2002) and "Jewel in the Palace" (2003), K-Pop artists such as Boa and Rain, and computer games
such as NC Soft's Lineage situates South Korea's cinema as the new counter model to Hollywood.
Prior to 1999, local cinematic power over Hollywood imports occurred in India (Bollywood's "masala"
films), China (due to a strict import quota on foreign films), and Hong Kong (prior to the countdown to
1997 and there afterward due to the success of its action cinema and Canton language based
comedies).
In effect, South Korea's film industry is now the new cinematic business model by which a small nation
can revitalize itself and reclaim its domestic market even against the full weight of Hollywood. To
reflect this new paradigm, Anthony Leong would title his analysis of the rise of New Korean Cinema as
"Korean Cinema: The New Hong Kong" (2006).
What began as a Korean specific cultural phenomenon did not remain isolated just to the southern half
of the Korean peninsula. One of the earliest foreign adherents to the rise of hallyu was none other
than Korea's historical nemesis - Japan.
According to export figures released by KOFIC, Japan remains the biggest single overseas market for
Korean feature films: 74 percent in 2002; 44.8 percent in 2003; 69.3 percent in 2004; 79.4 percent in
2005; and 42.4 percent in 2006.
Next in line is the United States: 10 percent in 2002; 14.5 percent in 2003; 4 percent in 2004; 2.7
percent in 2005; and 8 percent in 2006. However, in 2006, Thailand would take over the number two
spot accounting for 13.6 percent.
On a regional basis, Asia has always been the favored area followed by Europe and then North
America. This held true from 2002-2006. Asia's share would peak in 2005 at 87 percent. For Europe, it
reached a high of 20 percent in 2006. For North America, the high reached 14.5 percent in 2003.
So while Japan's national share may wane, Asia's regional share still increased as new markets
opened up in Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand.
Hollywood keeps firm grip on U.S. cinema
The status of hallyu films in the United States is somewhat enigmatic. America's domestic screens
remain largely closed to foreign films.
There is a ready-made small venue through art cinemas but mass crossover appeal is not possible
since American studios and distributors favor direct release to DVD or the creation of Hollywood
remakes of foreign originals.
Roy Lee, co-founder and CEO of Vertigo Entertainment, is the "remake king" in large part because he
is at the forefront of introducing Asian box office hit films to Hollywood for the remake treatment. The
danger of this strategy is that the Hollywood studio that purchases the remake rights also demands
legal ownership of the intellectual property to the original concept behind the film. So while the remake
deal may provide the Korean production company with income and some limited exposure to the U.S.
market, it also raises the strange case where it loses ownership of its original cinematic creativity. This
means that if the original Korean creative team desires to make a sequel, they will first have to
purchase the rights from Hollywood. Otherwise they will be in violation of intellectual copyright laws.
The inclusion of English subtitles to Korean DVDs of feature films and TV melodramas makes possible
the dissemination of hallyu from the blocked-out big screens of the cinema to the more numerous and
accessible little screens in individual living rooms across the Anglophone world.
Internet vendors such as yesasia.com and dvdasian.com have seen sales rise dramatically as both
ethnic and non-ethnic Koreans return as repeat customers. In major U.S. cities with large ethnic
populations, the local ethnic Asian media outlets also serve as distribution nodes. So while hallyu films
may not register on U.S. box office charts, they do circulate with a growing fan base.
For the big screen, independent cultural entities are at the forefront of holding local film festivals that
exclusively or inclusively feature hallyu films. Through the efforts of Kim Jin-young and Cho Yuni, The
Korea Society regularly organizes the Korean Film Festival in New York City. Individual universities
will also schedule annual or intermittent film festivals for these films. In 2006, the Korea Foundation
sponsored a Korean Cultural Festival at 30 universities in the U.S. with hallyu films serving as one of
the key components. In San Francisco, the Korean Image Makers Association, a diverse group of
students led by Professor Heo Chul of Korea University and San Francisco State University, have
spearheaded a near-annual Korean film festival in the Bay Area.
On the other side of the continent, Subway Cinema's New York Asian Film Festival plays a significant
role in introducing Korean films to a wider American audience, with regular inclusion of popular Korean
blockbusters in its program.
The Village Voice even recognized the festival as being "pivotal in recently putting Korean cinema on
the urban-American map". Thanks to the efforts and personal passion of the festival's co-director
Goran Topalovic, NYAFF also brings attention to smaller, overlooked genre films, such as Song Ilgon's "Feathers in the Wind" (2004) and Nam Ki-woong's "Never Belongs To Me" (2006).
While the limited direct U.S. distribution to theatres of "The Host" and Shim Hyung-rae's "D-War"
(2007), released as "Dragon Wars: D-War" in the U.S., mark a welcomed change to an otherwise
closed domestic film market in the U.S., hallyu films will continue to circulate largely by way of DVDs
and film festivals in North America.
Hallyu films become bolder
The strength behind hallyu films is their willingness to readdress aspects of Korea's past that was
formerly taboo and their reengagement with cinema as an aesthetic endeavor. For example, the pain
of the divided Koreas and the desire for unification rather than perpetual separation are narrative
tropes repeated in "Shiri" and "JSA - Joint Security Area". In "Shiri", the South Korean agents
ultimately prevail over the North Korean infiltration team but the terms of victory become bittersweet
since the protagonist must shoot dead his fiance and their unborn child. In "JSA - Joint Security Area",
fifty years of political division - diligently maintained along the Demilitarized Zone separating the two
Koreas - quickly melts away as two sets of guards from both sides strike up a natural camaraderie.
Rather than remaining as the demonized other, North Koreans have become objects of romantic love
and friendship, respectively.
Other examples include Lee Chang-dong who utilizes reverse chronological narratives built around a
series of regressing flashbacks in "Peppermint Candy" (1999) to question the inevitability of the
Gwangju Incident.
A director like Lee Myeong-se continues to push the cinematic aesthetic envelop in films such as
"Nowhere To Hide" (1999), "The Duelist" (2005), and "M" (2007).
Even a blockbuster hit like "The Host" upstages the traditional horror genre by revealing in full detail
under optimal lighting conditions the monster early in the narrative rather than traditionally delaying
this scene until the final confrontation.
Conclusion: A Korean film renaissance
In short, hallyu films reveal a renaissance within the Korean film industry. One that can entice its
domestic audience because of its willingness to address local concerns, desires, and sensibilities with
the full global cinematic array of genre, aesthetic, and ideological perspectives. Hallyu cinema
advances a new vision of a present and future Korea that is no longer isolated from the global limelight
but rather engaged with it. It is this renewed creative cultural openness that positions hallyu cinema as
an invited dynamic force in the continuing transformation of world cinematic culture - one that can
remain nationally engaged and thereby internationally compelling.
By Aaron Han Joon Magnan-Park, www.koreaherald.co.kr
http://www.thiscenturyreview.com/HALLYU_THE_KOREAN_WAV.hallyu.0.html
HALLYU (THE KOREAN WAVE): A CULTURAL TEMPEST IN EAST AND SOUTH EAST ASIA
JungBong Choi
A gust - ephemeral, but transformative. The abrupt forays of hurricanes, tornadoes, and tsunami bring
about topographical and ecological changes. The same holds true for the socio-political domain as
well. The tempests we have witnessed in the twentieth century, strikes, uprisings and revolutions,
have triggered historical ruptures not just in the nations from which they originated, but also in the
overall power dynamics of the world. In the realm of culture, too, such transformative events occur
periodically, as illustrated by the upsurge of rock’n’roll, China’s Cultural Revolution, and the American
hippie culture.
Today, the ferocious advance of cultural globalisation reorganises our quotidian experiences
dramatically. From the wave of cultural globalisation, there emerges a derivative, counter-tide of
cultural regionalisation: the so-called Hallyu (Korean Wave) is a case in point. The term Hallyu literally
denotes “Korean (Cultural) Wave/Current,” and was first used by the Chinese media in the late 1990s.
It refers to a sweeping phenomenon in which Korean cultural/media products are enthusiastically
hailed by adjacent countries in East and South East Asia: namely, Japan, China (including Hong
Kong), Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. This unprecedented craze for Korean
culture is spreading at an astonishing pace, stretching from content-based products like movies,
popular songs, and television dramas to such cultural hardware as food, clothing, accessories, mobile
phones, and the likes.
For instance, a famed television drama Winter Sonata (South Korea, 2002) has been broadcast in
thirteen different terrestrial and cable stations in Japan alone and viewed by over two-thirds of the
nation’s television households. When the male protagonist of Winter Sonata, YongJun Bae, visited
Japan in November 2003, nearly 4,000 middle-aged female fans swarmed the Narita International
Airport, practically paralyzing it for a few hours. Situations in Taiwan, Vietnam and China are similar by
and large. In China, South Korean programs have become a fixture on commercial networks and
cable stations as well as on CCTV (China Central Television), a government-owned and operated
television network. The total hours of running Korean programs outstrips that of all other foreign
broadcasts combined, including those from the United States and Japan.
The phenomenal success of Korean television dramas is paralleled by equally strong demands for
South Korean films, pop music, and media celebrities, which in turn fuel the robust growth of Korea’s
culture-based industries. For example, in response to the sudden influx of avid Hallyu fans from
Japan, Taiwan, and China, savvy tourist companies introduced a variety of “Hallyu tour” packages,
itineraries which consist mostly of visiting famous drama sets, broadcasting stations, and live music
concerts. It is reported that a record 257,000 Japanese visited South Korea in October 2004 alone. As
such, the number of foreign tourists travelling to South Korea increased dramatically, from 2.8 million
in 2003 to 3.7 million in 2004.
What are the socio-cultural and politico-economic contexts from which Hallyu arose? What are the
implications of Hallyu in East and South Asian regions? The Korean Wave may be seen as a
conjunctural effect resulting from a conflation of domestic/international, economic/political, and
historical/contemporary factors. More specifically, Hallyu is an upshot of the clash of two
crosscurrents: first, the relative decline in Japan’s economic, political, and cultural leadership in Asia,
which highlights the startling rise of China; second, the proliferation of (neo)liberal doctrines leading to
a higher level of regional integration in economy and culture, which is at odds with the residual forces
of Cold War and postcolonial politics that reproduce political schisms in the region. The following
briefly outlines the principal political and economic conditions from which Hallyu sprung to life.
From the early 1990s onward, Japan’s clout in East and South Asian provinces in the areas of politics,
culture, and the economy has visibly waned. A decade-long economic recession eroded the foothold
the country had gained over forty years in the post-WWII period. Politically, the resurgence of ultrarightwing politics exacerbated the already estranged relationship with neighbouring countries. The
ever-escalating anti-Japan sentiment in the region permeates cultural domains as well. Contrary to the
warm reception that Japanese culture enjoys in the industrialised West, an increasing level of
antagonism and apathy toward Japan is evident in East and South East Asia. Hence, even the most
widespread cultural products – mascots, karaoke, hair styles, pop music, animations, mange, etc. –
are losing ground in the sudden wake of the Korean Wave.
The waning of Japan’s authority coincides with the striking ascent of China as a regional hegemon
and global superpower. At the same time, China’s growing prevalence is closely connected with the
end of the Cold War and the acceleration of economic liberalisation in the region. With the official
conclusion of the Cold War came the close of many ideological confrontations in the region. What
followed was an era characterised by cutthroat economic competition under the banner of
deregulation, marketisation, and liberalisation. The neoliberal canons for a borderless, free-trade world
prompted the relaxation of economic and cultural border patrolling, thereby precipitating the
crystallisation of what might be termed a pan-Chinese arc in Asia, an archway stretching from
mainland China and Hong Kong, to Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand.
The nations in the pan-Chinese arc are more or less in a similar stage of economic growth and, to a
significant degree, share common traditions and mindsets. For some time they have been in search of
a viable model for development, one that harmonises market economy with socio-cultural life
consistent with time-honoured codes and values. It is a known fact that the American or European
models of modernity do not represent compelling paradigms to much of East and South Asia.
Likewise, the Japanese model of development and social organisation has received only a halfhearted endorsement by these societies, due largely to the nation’s unremitting attempt to “exit” Asia
in favour of Euro-American modernity. It is amid this vacuum that Korea surfaces as a reassuring and
intimate model worthy of imitation.
There are three main, interrelated reasons that account for South Korea as an example to be
emulated by its neighbours. First, contemporary trajectories of South Korea are often labelled as a
pattern of “compressed modernity,” which eloquently attests to the possibility of leapfrogging from an
agricultural society to a high-tech information society in less than four decades. Second, the South
Korean mode of development epitomises the continuing relevance of Confucian values to economic
growth and political reformation. Third, Korea is accredited for having achieved a high level of
participatory democracy, mature civil organisations, and active labour unions after the sustained
period of social unrest during the military dictatorship. For many Asian societies, the contemporary
social formation of South Korea represents a healthy standard which prizes public good and
communitarian spirit without stifling individual freedom and the creativity of the market. In this respect,
one can say with reasonable confidence that the Korean Wave is animated by and indicative of East
and South East Asia’s eager search for a model of sound growth in both society and the economy.
It is in this context that Korean media/cultural products function as a multidimensional theatre in which
experiences of Korean modernity are narrated and performed before the curious eye of regional
audiences. Nevertheless, this is not to suggest that Hallyu is all about lofty soul-searching and noble
quests for Asiatic ingenuity. Truth be told, a good amount of Hallyu product is fraught with conspicuous
displays of wealth, vulgar mimicry of Western lifestyles, and the crude exaltation of the patriarchal
order. Upon close inspection, however, there is an interesting tension between style and content, or
presentation and representation in many Hallyu media products.
What accompanies the flamboyant exhibitionism of Korean dramas, movies and music videos is a
subtle embedding of traditional values such as the centrality of communal life, filial responsibility,
disciplined work ethics, and empathy toward social minorities. These are values that conform to
Confucian teachings and are widely upheld by the countries that comprise the pan-Chinese arc. The
two ostensibly opposing vectors, that is, the vociferous parade of high-modernity and the faithful
defence of group (not individual) values, can be identified as the main point of attraction for the Asian
audiences who harbour bi-directional aspirations for material wealth and ethical exaltation
simultaneously. Replete with dizzyingly modern, exotic images on the one hand and curiously familiar
ideas on the other, these texts indeed offer satisfaction in twofold measure. In this regard, Hallyu can
be said to be a ventriloquist with superb technique, simultaneously articulating commodity attraction
and moral edification, a sleek surface and poignant substance.
Let us not forget, however, that the momentum of Hallyu comes not just from textual and technical
excellence; instead, the very impetus that propels the particular type of narrative composition that
Hallyu embodies are the socio-political and economic-cultural yearnings of the region itself. In other
words, Hallyu did not “originate” in Korea. Rather, it is a cultural tempest steered by the aesthetic and
political judgment of extensive publics in East and South East Asia. For too long the region has been
dependent on the provision of cultural products from the United States, despite violently brewing
discontent with material perceived as incongruous with the outlooks and emotional textures of Asian
audiences. Lamentably, today’s “cultural globalisation” is in reality the second phase of what may be
better defined as cultural Americanisation (diluted with some degree of reciprocity). The only
perceptible difference between the previous era of overt Americanisation and today’s covert version is
the fact that what used to be the one-way transmission from the U.S. to the rest of the world is now
being elusively carried out by a handful of transnational media behemoths like Time-Warner, News
Corp., Sony, Bertelsmann, and Disney.
In this respect and others, the rise of Hallyu is a significant political event. Take, for example, the case
of Japan, a country that has been awash with cultural products imported from the United States. The
Hallyu frenzy in Japan is something of an anomaly. That the combined rating of E.R., Ally McBeal, and
Friends on NHK channels is dwarfed by that of Winter Sonata indicates an astounding shift both in the
relationship between two long-estranged nations and in the cultural inter-dynamics between the U.S.
and East Asian countries. Indeed, Hallyu is the most powerful catalyst in healing colonial wounds and
alleviating postcolonial resentment between Japan and Korea. It was in this spirit that the Korean pop
singer Boa was invited to perform at a summit held between South Korean President Noh MooHyun
and Japan’s then-Prime Minister Koizumi. An article in USA Today notes, “The [Hallyu] phenomenon
signals a sharp reversal in the relationship between two peoples with a long and mostly bitter history. It
also reflects the easing of old Asian animosities, the search for alternatives to American culture and
the kind of inexplicable national mania that sent Japanese tourists trudging through Iowa a decade
ago in search of The Bridges of Madison County.”
Here, it is worth repeating that Hallyu is a regional phenomenon. Which may be part of the reason why
it has been able to keep its political significance intact: Hallyu is a cultural asset shared by regional
members, a modest and yet encouraging form of cultural repertoires through which people in the
immediate area can improve communication and understanding. Its wide distribution bodes well for the
birth of regional cultural spheres promoting dialogue between peoples beyond the confines of national
culture. Even if Hallyu falls short of becoming a common cultural asset in the region, it could certainly
be a stepping stone toward the latter.
Nevertheless, there are some disconcerting signs that plague this upbeat prospect for the arrival of
regional cultural spheres. Earlier this year, Chinese CCTV announced that it would “diversify” the
foreign drama genre by bringing in more programming from Taiwan and Hong Kong, a move aimed at
warding off the deluge of Korea products. Similarly, the Taiwanese Government Information Office is
considering a ban on “foreign” dramas during prime time, a time slot that has been inundated by
Korean programs over the last two years. More drastic measures might come from the Vietnamese
government, which stated publicly that it would put a ban on the importation of Korean movies and
dramas to rein in the overheated Hallyu boom. Hostile reactions against Hallyu have visibly spiralled in
Japan as well, as evidenced by the wide circulation of a comic book titled Ken KanRyu, which may be
roughly translated as “Disgust toward Hallyu.”
These hostile actions against Hallyu were no doubt provoked by an ensemble of agents responsible
for the engineering of Hallyu products (and not Hallyu as such): that is, Korea’s mainstream media,
government officials, intellectuals, and culture industry in its entirety. For these cohorts Hallyu
represents little more than a goose that lays golden eggs and which, sadly, is on the verge of being
butchered by the greedy farmer. Disturbing evidence suggests that dreams of “dominating” Asian
culture, a kind of cultural fascism nourished by petit-nationalism and crude mercantile spirit, are on the
rise in these circles. Hallyu, like other cultural trends, is at its worst when driven by aggressive
nationalist impulses coupled with unbridled commercialism. Right now, Hallyu is at critical moment;
and so is the prospect for building a healthy regional cultural sphere. At this crossroads, a judicious
intervention of the concerned regional public is imperative.
USA Today, Dec 9, 2004. www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-12-09-korean-actor_x.htm
(accessed on Sept 21, 2006.)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-12-09-korean-actor_x.htm
12/9/2004
Korea's romantic hero holds Japan in thrall
By Paul Wiseman, USA TODAY
TOKYO – Hiroshi Saito holds one of the most perilous jobs in this city of 12 million people. He's the
security guard responsible for keeping hundreds of middle-age Japanese women away from a
sculpture displaying the toned torso of South Korean heartthrob Bae Yong Joon.
South Korean actor Bae Yong-joon before opening his photo exhibition in Tokyo on Nov. 26.
Repeatedly, Saito has to tell disappointed women who have paid $15 to see an exhibit of Bae
photographs and memorabilia that, no, they can't touch the statue. And no, the statue isn't going to be
sold or auctioned off when the exhibition, on the 52nd floor of Tokyo's fashionable Mori Tower, closes.
They can't take it home.
Too bad. It would fetch a fortune. The hottest items in Japan these days are the baby-faced Bae, 32;
Winter Sonata, the melodramatic South Korean TV miniseries that made Bae a star; and South Korea
itself. Middle-age Japanese women suddenly are embracing all things Korean. They're trading recipes
for kimchi (fermented vegetables, usually cabbage), enjoying a renaissance in Korean films, studying
the Korean language and taking excursions to South Korea in record numbers. The Japanese
television network NHK says the audience for its Korean-language instruction programs has doubled.
The phenomenon signals a sharp reversal in the relationship between two peoples with a long and
mostly bitter history. It also reflects the easing of old Asian animosities, the search for alternatives to
American culture and the kind of inexplicable national mania that sent Japanese tourists trudging
through Iowa a decade ago in search of The Bridges of Madison County.
Bae, known here by the respectful nickname Yon-sama, is at the center of the frenzy.
An idol and a symbol
Japanese women in their 40s, 50s and 60s line up for hours to see him the way some of them lined up
as teenagers to see the Beatles here back in 1966. They pay $145 for a book of Bae photographs and
up to $1,650 to take package tours to sites in South Korea where Winter Sonata was filmed.
Yoshiko Takeuchi, 50, came to the Mori Tower exhibit from Saitama Prefecture, an hour and a half
away. She has Bae's picture on her cell phone screen, regularly checks his Japanese-language Web
site, can talk in some detail about his diet and exercise regimen and has seen all 10 or so of the South
Korean dramas in which he has appeared.
Takeuchi says Bae is an old-fashioned gentleman: cultured, well-read and kind – nothing like the
shallow pretty boys who seem to dominate Japanese pop culture. (Exhibit A: SMAP, a Japanese
version of the Backstreet Boys.) "He has all the old characteristics that we lack," she says. The only
American who comes close, she and her friends say, is Robert Redford – and, well, that was years
ago. They say it's useless for men to try to learn anything from Bae. He's beyond imitation, a work of
art.
New era of relations
When Bae visited Tokyo late last month, he was met at Narita International Airport by 3,500 fans, 10 of
whom were injured in the resulting melee; 350 riot police were on hand to restore order. Japanese
media stalked him in helicopters during his riotous 41/2-day tour. When he returned to Seoul, some
Japanese fans were waiting there, having flown 1,000 miles across the sea to beat him home.
The enthusiasm for Bae and other things Korean is an unexpected switch here. Relations between the
countries have been tense, the result of Japan's occupation of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to
1945. The 1 million ethnic Koreans who live in Japan – most of them descendants of slave laborers
imported during the occupation – have long faced discrimination here.
But things began to change two years ago when Japan and South Korea co-hosted soccer's World
Cup tournament in what was widely viewed as a resounding success. As relations between the two
countries warmed, NHK started receiving e-mail messages from viewers demanding to see Korean
dramas that were appearing in Japan on small-audience satellite and cable channels. NHK, which
broadcasts U.S. dramas such as ER and Ally McBeal, was looking for more foreign programming and
decided on Winter Sonata, a 20-hour romance that was a solid but unspectacular success in its
homeland.
Winter Sonata appeared twice on NHK's satellite service and then went nationwide in April, appearing
weekly through August. Even though the show started at 11:15 p.m. Saturdays, it drew more than 20%
of Japanese households some nights, compared with 5% for ER. NHK is airing Winter Sonata again
this month.
The series follows two high school sweethearts – Bae and actress Choi Ji Woo – through a tortuous
tale involving, among other things, amnesia, a tragic separation, the search for a missing father and
the creepy possibility that the lovebirds just might be brother and sister. "We don't know exactly why
it's such a big hit," NHK producer Junko Ogawa confesses. But Ogawa has some theories, beyond the
appeal of the dashing but sensitive Yon-sama.
Old-fashioned virtues
The story plays up old-fashioned virtues and traditional Japanese themes such as the conflict between
love and duty (as The Bridges of Madison County did). The characters reveal their emotions openly,
weeping and raging and confessing their love – a liberating change for Japanese taught to conceal
their emotions.
The high school setting takes many Japanese women back to the days before marriage, which for
many of them was arranged by their families. It also allows them to reminisce about what might have
been with old flames from their youths. The girl-next-door actress, Choi, is a perfect stand-in for their
younger selves, Ogawa says. NHK has received countless phone calls and e-mails and more than
20,000 letters from viewers, many of whom write about their own loves and losses.
What's more, the music of Winter Sonata is lush and the scenery beautiful. No wonder 1,500
Japanese tourists have taken the Japan Travel Bureau's Winter Sonata tour, which whisks fans to a
series of locations such as Yong Pyong Ski Resort southeast of Seoul and Chuncheon in South
Korea's northern lake district. Another 1,100 toured locations from another popular South Korean
drama, Hotelier. And 800 more signed on for a Travel Bureau tour that visits sites from both Winter
Sonata and a new South Korean drama, Stairway to Heaven.
Through November, the number of Japanese visiting South Korea is up 38% this year from the same
period of 2003. In October alone, a record 257,000 Japanese visited South Korea.
South Korea's popularity is coming partly at the expense of the USA. Producer Ogawa says Japan has
been saturated with American pop culture and is looking for something new. "We used to think only
about going to the States," says Yon-sama fan Takeuchi. "I used to want to go to the Grand Canyon,
but I've switched to Seoul."
http://newsletter.kf.or.kr/english/contents.asp?lang=English&no=634&vol=58
Nov 2005
Hallyu: How Far Has It Come?
Kim Dae Sung, The Hankook Ilbo
Since the Middle Ages, Asia had been cast in a marginal role in the world history led by the West.
Moreover, Korea was a small country within this marginalized Asia. In addition, it experienced
considerable difficulty lying between China with its great power, and Japan, which became powerful
enough to confront the United States after the Meiji Restoration.
The images of Korea were no doubt negative as the country underwent change from a calm land in a
marginal part of the world to Japan‘s colony, then to a war-inflicted impoverished country, and a nation
ruled by a dictatorial regime when President Park Chung Hee came to power after a military coup
d‘etat, similar to other newly independent Asian and African countries.
Such a country, however, has now become an exporter of its culture. Products of Korea’s popular
culture, such as TV dramas, films, and animation, are in the spotlight of Asian markets thanks to their
strong consumer appeal. Korean TV dramas are now being viewed by households in East Europe, the
United States, South America, and even Africa, where they have received favorable responses overall.
In March, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism released "Analysis of Import and Export of Broadcast
Programs 2004," which documented the substance of hallyu, or the "Korean Wave." According to this
report, the export value of Korean dramas last year amounted to some $57.71 million. The average
rights fee per TV drama increased from $2,198 in 2003 to $4,046 in 2004, representing an incredible
84 percent increase.
The economic impact of the Korean Wave, including TV dramas, games, films, and animation, as it
becomes part of the global popular culture scene is impressive indeed. According to "Analysis of
Economic Effects of Hallyu"by the Korea International Trade Association’s Trade Research Institute,
the amount of foreign currency earned from hallyu products last year was estimated at 2.14 trillion won
(about $1.87 billion). The economic effect of hallyu within Korea is reported to be valued at some 1.43
trillion won during 2004.
The Korean people pridefully refer to this extraordinary cultural phenomenon as hallyu. It is not
hangukpung (Korean wind) or hanguk style (Korean style), but hallyu (Korean Wave). Flowing
naturally like water, hallyu is a peaceful link bringing together the three countries of Korea, China and
Japan in Northeast Asia, where confrontation due to nationalism and historical relations remains a
serious concern. As such, it provides freshness to Southeast Asian countries, which have been
uncomfortable with long-held antagonism toward Japan; meaningfulness to the seemingly materialistic
and pleasure-seeking cultures of Singapore and Hong Kong, the most affluent areas in the region; and
cultural harmony in contrast to Chinese hegemony.
The hallyu trend first washed ashore in Japan. Chanting a slogan, "Escape Asia and Join Europe,"
Japan became the first Asian country to succeed in modernization, which subsequently led to its
forcible suppression of Joseon. Before Japan forcibly colonized Korea, Joseon served as a cultural
conduit to Japan. The general trend of cultural exchange in Northeast Asia during pre-modern times
involved the creation of advanced culture in China, which was localized and refined on the Korean
peninsula and then transmitted to Japan.
However, under Japan’s colonial rule, Korea came to receive modern civilization through Japan. Korea
was basically an imitator, mimicking Japan’s economic system and culture for the next 60 years. As
such, Korea was overwhelmed by Japan’s state-of-the art electronic products, like the Sony Walkman,
as well as its popular culture, ranging from animation to TV dramas and fashion. With Japan being
several steps ahead of Korea in the field of popular culture, many Koreans expressed serious concern,
just four or five years ago, about the unrestricted opening of Korea to Japanese popular culture,
worrying that Korean culture might be absorbed into Japan’s culture.
Then somewhat unexpectedly, Korea’s popular culture came to be transmitted to Japan. As is well
known today, this reversal of direction, under the hallyu trend, began with Winter Sonata, a KBS TV
drama featuring Bae Yong-joon and Choi Ji-woo that created an unimaginable phenomenon in Japan.
Through Winter Sonata, hallyu laid a foundation for establishing itself as a long-term cultural trend in
Asia, rather than simply the temporal success of a Korean TV drama.
The various results of Winter Sonata are truly amazing. Winter Sonata, generated some 3.5 billion yen
(about 35 billion won) of revenue for Japan’s NHK in 2003. According to NHK’s financial report for
2003, overall revenues, including affiliates, amounted to 144.5 billion yen, an increase of 9.8 billion
yen from the previous year, including 3.5 billion yen of income from the sale of DVDs, videos, and
books related to Winter Sonata.
In addition, about 300,000 Winter Sonata DVDs, priced at 350,000 won per copy, have been sold
since its release in 2002. Also, sales of original soundtrack albums (2,500 yen per album) have
reached 600,000. The sales revenues of original soundtrack albums, including single recordings of
instrumental arrangements, amounted to more than 20 billion won. Another 13 million copies of related
publications, including the Winter Sonata novel upon which the series is based, guidebooks, and
Korean-language textbooks with tie-ins to the series, have been sold as well. From such data, Winter
Sonata is unofficially estimated to have generated some 100 billion won of revenue in Japan.
Thanks to Winter Sonata, its lead actor Bae Yong-joon became an entertainment superstar in Japan.
When Bae, known respectfully as "Yon-sama" in Japan, visited Japan to publicize his new film April
Snow, Japanese broadcast media allocated more hours to coverage of Bae than to Hurricane Katrina,
which wrought extensive damage in the United States and otherwise dominated the headlines
worldwide at that time.
As of October 13, April Snow had attracted more than 2.2 million viewers in 27 days since its opening
at 320 cinemas across Japan on September 17. This is a record-breaking gate for a Korean movie
released in Japan thus far. The film distribution rights were acquired by Click Stars of the United
States for a hefty price at the tenth Pusan International Film Festival. It is scheduled for showing in
Hawaii in late November and then across the United States. It has also been invited for screening at
the 30th Toronto International Film Festival and the 24th Vancouver International Film Festival.
While the romantic Winter Sonata laid a foundation for hallyu, a history-based drama Daejanggeum
(Jewel in the Palace) has been stirring up its own waves in China and other Chinese-speaking
regions. The MBC serial, about a court lady Janggeum who becomes a court chef and then a royal
physician, was dubbed a "national drama" in Korea last year, when it attained an unprecedented
viewer rating of 50 percent. Now being shown in various countries around the world, it is enjoying
tremendous popularity and opening new horizons for the Korean Wave. The popularity of Jewel in the
Palace started out in Taiwan in May 2004, swept through Hong Kong and Singapore, and then arrived
on China’s mainland in September. Attracting strong viewer interest from its very first episode, Jewel
in the Palace is now aired by Hunan Satellite TV throughout China, making it the latest hallyu
sensation.
NHK, which enjoyed a financial windfall from Winter Sonata, is also re-broadcasting Jewel in the
Palace on its terrestrial TV channel beginning in October. In conjunction with its airing of Jewel in the
Palace in July on its satellite TV channel BS2, at the request of viewers, NHK featured a special
program known as "Guidebook for Jewel in the Palace" to enhance audience understanding about the
historical details of the series.
The popularity of Jewel in the Palace, which surged in Hong Kong this spring, is still going strong
there. Recently, Kelly Chen, who gained popularity by singing "Hope," a Chinese version of the Jewel
in the Palace theme song, made headlines when she visited a sick boy in a hospital and sang "Hope"
to him as encouragement for his recovery. Responding to a boom for learning the Korean language,
the national RTHK is now airing a new program for the study of Korean instead of Japanese.
Jewel in the Palace is also being broadcast in other Asian countries, such as Vietnam, Thailand and
Malaysia, as well as Uzbekistan and Iran. Indeed, it can be regarded as a kind of "Global drama," in
light of the fact that it is being aired on Japanese- and Chinese-language channels in Europe, the
United States, and Australia.
Since spreading throughout Asia, hallyu has also reached the shores of South America and Eastern
Europe. Another television series, Stairway to Heaven, starring Kwon Sang-woo, Choi Ji-woo, and Kim
Tae-hee is now being broadcast in eight South American countries, including El Salvador, Peru,
Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Guatemala, and Costa Rica since October. In Mexico,
Korean TV series like All About Eve and Wish Upon a Star, which have been broadcast on several
local TV channels since October 2002, have proven to be tremendously popular among viewers.
Mexican fan clubs for Jang Dong-gun and Ahn Jae-wook were formed in May 2004, which are said to
have memberships of about 2,000.
Hallyu is gaining momentum in Eastern Europe as well. For example, Arirang TV has been airing the
popular SBS drama series All In in Macedonia since August. Although All In failed to elicit an
enthusiastic response from viewers in Turkey when it was aired in February, it is now being rebroadcast in Macedonia at the request of local audiences, two months after its original showing.
Arirang TV also airs a variety of Korean programming, including Korean TV dramas, in Eastern
European countries and the CIS, such as Poland, Bulgaria, Russia, Lithuania, Belarus, and
Uzbekistan.
The success of hallyu is attributed, in large part, to a combination of Oriental sentiments and
aesthetics, as a contrast to Western lifestyles; an ability to portray lyrical as well as passionate
sensibilities; and cultural traditions that have evolved over thousands of years. However, there are a
number of problems that need to be addressed as well. As such, the current production system for
Korea’s popular culture needs to be further refined. The most serious pitfalls to the continued success
of hallyu include an over-reliance on individual stars, mass production of cookie-cutter dramas with
similar story lines, and a lack of creative talent, including writers, directors, and production crews.
"Cultural imperialism" is another matter that calls for careful attention. There are already hints of a
hallyu backlash in Japan, China, and Mongolia. Such resistance will be further intensified if hallyu is
limited to unilateral export of popular cultural products and becomes viewed as a form of cultural
hegemonism. In this regard, there are those who say that it is now necessary to focus on a worldoriented hallyu, which embraces non-Koreans as well as Koreans, as compared to existing Koreanmade hallyu pop culture, in order to sustain its appeal.
Hallyu will be the most innovative creation of the Korean people in the 21st century, if the various
problems at home and abroad that might undermine its popularity can be adeptly overcome, so that it
can become a permanent fixture of the global cultural scene.
http://hanopolis.com/?articleNo=10387&story/The-Economist-on-Hallyu
The Economist on 'Hallyu'
"A Korean wave washes warmly over Asia"
Hanopolis, Jan 27, 2010
The UK magazine is a little late to the party, but as they say, better late than never.
Interesting factoids from The Economist:
• Hallyu is huge in Cambodia
• Three Korean administrations since the 1998 economic collapse looked to Hallyu as a "tool for soft
power".
• Since 2005, the Korean government has taken a more "mercantilist approach"; organizations that
introduce Korean culture overseas "have won millions of dollars in government grants".
• 80 percent of respondents from China, Japan and Vietnam (3 of the largest markets for Hallyu) in a
survey conducted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs in 2008 said they look to S Korean culture
with "respect".
• Hallyu scholar and former soap-opera actress, Park Jung-sook, thinks the government should now
take it easy on the marketing lest foreigners "recoil" from the "smell of nationalism".
• China's trade deficit with Korea in the area of cultural goods exceeds its trade deficit with Korea in
industrial goods by ten times. As a result, on several occasions in 2006, China threatened to limit the
number of Korean soap operas and concert tours allowed into the country.
From the Economist, Hallyu, yeah!:
AT FIRST glance, one might take Prum Seila to be the epitome of Westernised youth, a living
stereotype born of two decades’ globalisation in Asia. This modish 23-year-old Cambodian film student
cuts a striking image in a country of temples and rice paddy, his tilted newsboy cap and lavender
sunglasses making the young ladies swoon at local film festivals.
But Mr Prum isn’t aping Western fashion. Like many Asian youngsters, he considers the trends of
North America (and Japan) to be insipid relics. “In Cambodia we watch Korean dramas, listen to
Korean music, and take our fashion from South Korea,” he says. He names the South Korean singer
Rain and the Korean soap opera “Full House” as his favourites. Next year he hopes to attend film
school in Seoul, and eventually to bring more of their artistic nous to South-East Asia.
The Koreans have a word for Mr Prum’s infatuation: hallyu, or the love of South Korean cultural
exports. An international phenomenon, hallyu is driving Seoul’s nascent but growing influence across
Asia. South Korean popular culture rose from relative obscurity in the late 1990s when, after decades
of draconian internal censorship came to an end in the 1980s, its television dramas began to be
broadcast widely in China, Japan and South-East Asia. Exports of Korean video games, television
dramas and popular music (“K-pop”) have all doubled since 1999, while the total number of cultural
products exported since then has increased almost threefold, to $1.8 billion in 2008. In terms of market
share, these numbers still rank modestly against the Japanese comic-book industry, which dominates
80% of the worldwide market, but sales of Japanese manga have halved since reaching their apex in
1995.
Some scholars find an explanation for hallyu in the family-friendly, Confucian teachings typical of
South Korean dramas; these values, they say, appeal to Asians more than does the usual Western
fare. But this explanation seems to require imputing a uniform mentality to at least two billion people.
Michael Shin of Cornell University argues instead that by their rags-to-riches storylines these dramas
are able to speak directly to audiences who have lived the Asian economic boom of the past two
decades. Popular characters often abandon monotonous middle-class jobs to seek fame, or a “dream
job” – perhaps suggesting that many Asians feel dissatisfied with their careers, despite the prosperity
that has come with growth.
The first hints of hallyu came just as South Korea’s economy collapsed during the 1998 financial crisis
in Asia, when GDP plunged by 7%. In the stagnant decade that followed, three administrations looked
to hallyu as a tool of soft power, hoping to expand South Korea’s profile abroad along with demand for
its cultural exports and tourism. Since 2005 the government has taken a more mercantilist approach.
Organisations that introduce Korean culture overseas have won millions of dollars in government
grants.
The efforts may be working. A survey conducted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs in 2008
found that about 80% of respondents from China, Japan and Vietnam (three of the largest markets for
hallyu) look to South Korean culture with high respect. It is not clear however that this esteem has
increased trade and tourism. Park Jung-sook, a former soap-opera actress and now a scholar of
hallyu, thinks the government should relax its aggressive marketing, lest foreigners recoil from the
smell of nationalism. China is used to running a trade deficit with South Korea, but its deficit in the
trade of cultural goods is ten times greater than in industrial goods. On several occasions since 2006
China has threatened to limit the number of South Korean soap operas and concert tours allowed into
the country.
North Korea’s method is blunter. Pirated South Korean soap operas have become so widespread
there that in recent years the regime mobilised border squads to execute DVD smugglers, according
to the Korea Institute for National Unification, a think-tank funded by the South Korean government. A
police commander who defected from the North last year says its leaders are getting nervous about
the free-market fantasies spun by the imported dramas. (When North Korea revalued its currency in
November, it essentially wiped out the country’s personal savings – and with them the black market for
foreign goods.) Yet this backlash, uniquely, could work in Seoul’s favour. Roh Moo-hyun, the late
president of South Korea from 2003 to 2008, once remarked that hallyu will someday unify the
peninsula.
Hallyu World
The massive 995,000 sq. meter entertainment mecca will feature a film village, amusement park,
cultural facilities
Hanopolis, Jan 15, 2010
Pictured below, Yonhap News presents an "artist's impression" of Hallyu World (Korean Wave), "a
mammoth culture and entertainment complex."
But according to the GyeongGi-Do website, an article dated 2006 said Hallyu World (Hallyu-Wood) is
scheduled to be completed by 2010.
"Hallyu-Wood construction will be completed in 2010, and the first project will be focused on promoting
locations to enjoy Korean cultural contents, including stages, a film village, an amusement park,
shopping malls and cultural facilities," the site said.
"The second project will be the construction of a 27,000 pyeong complex facility where Korean cultural
offices and residences. The third project includes a hotel, commercial facilities, and more."
"Artist's impression" of Hallyu World
The site added 880 billion won (US $786 million) will be spent on "various centers" such as an Hallyu
Contents Support Center, Hallyu Museum, and "accommodations, like a monorail, underground
parking place, waterside park and theme park facilities".
A recent KBS story however said the project will be "divided into three sections" and is "set for
completion in 2014."
Evidently, the theme park is years behind schedule. But no worry, the basic groundwork at least will be
finished this year.
Furthermore, the province of GyeongGi-Do will spend 6 trillion won (US $5.33 billion) on the "Korean
Wave" complex occupying 994,756 sq meters.
On the official Hallyu World website, it said the project is "designed to build cultural infrastructure to
support the development and production of cultural content. At the same time, it will be a space where
people of the world come together, experience other cultures and exchange their own, and create a
next-generation culture."
In short, it wants to serve as a "mecca of entertainment, combining tourism, culture, content, and IT".
Hopefully, when they build it, the faithful will come!
http://worldadventurers.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!527D5112087F519A!1395.entry
25 Februar (2010?)
The Hallyu Effect
When I spoke to a Korean audience last week, the subject of "Hallyu", or the "Korean Wave," came
up. "Hallyu" is a buzzword that describes the spread of Korean media and culture worldwide, primarily
through Korean films and television shows (especially dramas). The person who introduced me noted
that I had done a study on the economic impact of the Korean Wave and mentioned that audience
members who had questions about it could ask me questions on the subject. The irony in that offer is
that he was inviting Koreans to ask me, a foreigner, about a Korean phenomenon that most Koreans
already know well. What they don't know is just how significant an economic impact Hallyu has had on
the Korean economy.
I did my study on the effects of Hallyu in 2004. My study is a bit dated but still relevant. In 2004,
"Winter Sonata," a 20-episode drama series by Korean broadcasting company KBS, rocked the Asian
world. The drama made Korean stars Bae Yong Jun and Choi Ji Woo household names in Asia. The
euphoria over "Winter Sonata" has since subsided, but Korean Wave is still rolling. Korean films and
dramas tend to become popular overseas about a year after they are initially released in Korea. During
the past two years, three notable Korean dramas have been extremely popular here and have the
potential to become Korea's next runaway global hit -- "Lovers in Paris," "Lovers in Prague," and "My
Lovely Samsoon."
Like their American counterparts, Korean producers and directors are keen to build lucrative
franchises ala James Bond and the "Lord of the Rings." For example, "Winter Sonata" is one of four
dramas in the "Seasons" series. The other three lesser-known dramas in the series are "Summer
Scent," "Autumn Tales," and the upcoming "Spring Waltz." Dramas with variations of the "Lovers"
theme also form a quasi-franchise. I sometimes remark that "Lovers" dramas, which are set in various
amorous locations ranging from Harvard to Prague, is a bit like the U.S. show "Survivor," which moves
around from destination to destination. I'm still waiting for "Lovers in Guatamala." Probably won't
happen.
Here is a summary of my 2004 report on the effects of "Hallyu" on the Korean economy.
What is "Hallyu," or the "Korean Wave"?
The term Hallyu, or "Korean Wave," was created by the Chinese media to describe a “new” Korean
media phenomenon. "Hallyu" is especially popular in East and Southeast Asia and in overseas Asian
communities. Countries that have embraced "Hallyu" include Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China,
Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore. "Hallyu" is a buzzword for the rising worldwide interest in Korean
culture, including:
Dramas (soap operas)
Movies
Popular music
Food and drink
Traditional culture
Tourism
Cosmetic surgery
"Hallyu" is not just a teen phenomenon. In fact, in many places such as Japan, older women are its
biggest fans. It has been actively promoted by the Korean Government through organizations such as
the Korean National Tourism Organization. Korean actors such as Bae Yong Jun, Choi Ji Woo, and
Won Bin, singers such as BoA and Bi, and artists and designers such as Andre Kim have helped
promote "Hallyu" worldwide.
Hallyu Timeline
Worldwide interest in Korean media and culture grew after the Korean War (1950-53):
1955: Modern tae kwondo is born
1980s: Discourses on Korean culture by Yi Gyu-tae and others
1988: Korea showcased during Summer Olympics
1997: Hong Kong's STAR-TV broadcasts Korean drama "Star in My Heart"
2002: World Cup promotes Korean culture globally
2004: KNTO launches “Korean Wave 2004” campaign and interest in the Korean Wave skyrockets
after "Winter Sonata" is broadcast in Japan
Benefits of "Hallyu"
"Hallyu" significantly benefits Korea and its economy, including:
Increasing awareness of Korean culture worldwide
Promoting a positive image of Korean culture
Providing a new Japanese mania with a Korean (foreign) flavor
Depicting Korea as a post-modern center of Confucianism
Improving relations between Koreans and other nations, particularly between Korea and Japan
Promoting Korean tourism (2004 tourism increased by 47% over 2003)
Earning more currency from tourists who spend boatloads of money to relive their favorite "Hallyu"
Generating increased revenue and exports for Korean companies
The Economic Effect of "Hallyu"
In addition to the benefits listed above, "Hallyu" contributed nearly .35% to 2004 Korean gross
domestic product (GDP). "Winter Sonata" was by far the largest contributor. Revenues from "Winter
Sonata" were more than $2.25 billion in 2004, representing one-quarter of one percent (.25%) of
Korea's 2004 GDP. In addition, the domestic Korean impact of the "Hallyu" was $866 million in 2004,
or .10% of Korean GDP. Contrast the success of "Winter Sonata" to that of the "Lord of the Rings"
trilogy, which brought in $2.91 billion at the box office. "Winter Sonata" grossed more than the #1
movie of all time, "Titanic," which brought in $1.84 billion. The single biggest film of all time when
measured as dollar purchasing parity, "Gone With the Wind," grossed nearly $200 million in 1939. It
signifcantly impacted the U.S. economy at a time when the country was emerging from the Great
Depression and was not yet gearing up for World War II. "Gone With the Wind" contributed .02% to
U.S. GDP in 1939, much less than the .25% contributed by "Winter Sonata." While .35% of GDP may
not sound like much, it is amazing to think that a phenomenon that did not even have a name in 2003
contributed so much to Korea's bottom line in 2004.
+
Hi! I've been dropping for awhile and it's like being in Korea myself. Thanks for sharing to your readers
various things about the country. In Manila, TV soap that started to hit the viewers came from the hit
"Marimar" of Puerto Rico. Then, we were hit by Koreanovelas (as locals refer to it) which is Hallyu as
you've mentioned. I think, the first Hallyu to hit TV here, "Lovers in Paris" became the biggest hit so
far. After Lovers in Paris, many Koreanovelas were shown and is still showing. People are now
interested in Korean things - food, clothing, actors and actresses. In a way, Hallyu also showed and
taught local producers on why these Koreanovelas are such a hit among the Filipino people, that is
because the pacing of the story is faster but still manages to bring suspense and anticipation to its
viewers.
+
Hello, I just came across your blog while browsing the Spaces area of MSN. I just read your article
about the so-called "Korean wave". After living here in South Korea for four years (as a part of the US
Army), I think it's time to effectively put an end to the "Korean wave". I'm sick of all of the hype and
hyperbole surrounding it as well as the South Korean government's attempt to exploit this so-called
"craze".
Have you ever been to Incheon Airport? I'm disgusted everytime I see photos of Lee Hyo Ri, Kwon
Sang Woo, and Choi Ji Woo that I get sick. Or, every Hyundai, LG, Daewoo, or Samsung display that
they shove in your face.
Are there some good films being produced here? Yes, there are. However, not every film produced
here is a masterpiece. (Anyone notice the high number of anti-US and anti-Japan movies coming out
of South Korea the past couple of years?)
All I can say for some "entertainers" here in South Korea (Bae Yong Chun, BoA, etc), enjoy it while it
lasts. BoA might be popular, but she isn't Hikaru Utada by any means.
From what I have read, there is already a backlash occurring in Japan and Taiwan. For example, look
at the famous Kenkanryu (Hate the Korean Wave) graphic novel that is very popular in Japan for
instance.
http://www.asianewsnet.net/news.php?id=7970&sec=3
Reviving Hallyu
The Korea Herald, 28-09-2009
Hallyu, or the Korean wave, appears to be alive and well despite concerns in some quarters that the
popularity of Korean pop culture has been on the wane after reaching its apex in the mid-2000s.
Hallyu was first observed in Taiwan in 2000 when Korean pop music began to enjoy a big following
there. It then swept through China, Japan and Southeast Asian countries, attracting huge fan bases
for Korean dramas, films and pop music.
Despite the enormous popularity of a number of big-name celebrities abroad, the overall enthusiasm
for Korean pop culture exports is not as fervent as in the early days of Hallyu. Some speculate that it
was just a fad, similar to the brief boom enjoyed by the Hong Kong noir films.
However, observers of the Hallyu phenomenon report that Korean pop culture is still popular abroad.
While the once-feverish following in Japan and China has calmed down somewhat, sales data for
Korean cultural products is still growing, albeit at a slower pace. For example, overseas sales of
Korean television programs have grown at an annual average of 27.8 percent since 1998.
In fact, the market for Hallyu products has expanded over the years. Now, Korean programs are being
shown in Europe, South America, South Africa and the Middle East. Indeed, Hallyu has spread
beyond East Asia and Southeast Asia.
While the initial Hallyu phase had been limited to dramas and pop music groups featuring celebrities, it
now spans a wide range. Dramas, pop music and movies are now joined by games, documentaries
and even food.
The economic spin-off from Hallyu has thus far been the main reason for promoting Korean pop
culture abroad. In 2007, Hallyu accounted for 1.48 trillion won in added value and more than 4 million
jobs. However, financial gains from Hallyu exports have been in decline over the years, and now
economics should not be the sole reason for the government's push of Korean pop culture.
In fact, a move away from purely economic concerns may be what is needed to revive and sustain
Hallyu. It is time to view it from the cultural aspect; in pushing our culture abroad we forgot that
promotion of Hallyu abroad must be accompanied by reciprocal exchange of others' cultures. For
Hallyu to be sustainable there must be two-way communication between Korea and the recipient.
Another mistake was the overemphasis on government support for promoting Hallyu.
The Hallyu products themselves also need to be improved. Korean dramas in recent years have relied
on tried-and-true formulas and have ceased to attract followers.
Even though the feverish pitch has died down, Korean popular culture is still enjoyed around the
world. It is time to revive it through improved and varied product offerings and by being mindful of the
cultural sensitivities of other countries. A robust Hallyu will do much to improve Korea's national brand
image.
http://www.korea.net/detail.do?guid=43385
Economic ripple effects of Korean Wave continue to grow
Mar. 03, 2010
The economic value of the Korean Wave or Hallyu is growing every year, according to the Ministry of
Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The ministry said Hallyu’s production driven effect and value added effect in 2008 were tallied at 4.9
trillion won (US$43 million) and 1.7 trillion won ($14.9 million), respectively, a 31 percent and a 13
percent increase from the previous year. The numbers are from a Hallyu development report released
in February by the Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange (KOFICE).
The report also revealed a survey result of the four largest Hallyu consuming nations - Japan, China,
Taiwan and Vietnam. A total of 800 people in their teens and twenties took part, 200 from each
country.
According to the result, the favorite Hallyu items were broadcasting and music followed by movies and
computer games.
By country, China’s favorable impression of Hallyu content was highest followed by Vietnam, Japan
and Taiwan in that order.
The report calculated the total amount of Hallyu content consumption in 2008 by the four countries.
China ranked first ($1.5 billion) followed by Japan ($410 million), Taiwan ($234 million) and Vietnam
($148 million).
http://www.viet-studies.info/hallyu_and_its_effect_VN.htm
THE KOREA HERALD
June 3, 2009
Hallyu and its effect on young Vietnamese
Over the last decade, Korea has been responsible for a television phenomenon known as "Hallyu" often called the Korean Wave - with a number of dramas, including "Autumn Fairly Tale," "Winter
Sonata" and "Daejanggeum" ("Jewel in the Palace"). Its popularity has spread to a number of East
Asian countries, including Vietnam, creating a cultural flow in contemporary Asia. The rising success
of Korean dramas was soon matched by Korean movies, popular music, food and language. More
importantly, it was related to Korea's growing power and the rise of global multinationals such as
Samsung, LG and Hyundai-Kia.
In Vietnam, on the other hand, the Economic Renovation launched by the Vietnamese Government in
1986 - as a switch from a subsidised period to an open market economy - has had a vital impact on
Vietnamese media. This article will focus on the following issues: the media's landscape and
consumption in Vietnam, policies issues regarding media content imports, focusing on Korean dramas,
and a number of issues for establishing a common ground and vision for building a pan-Asian cultural
content community.
The media landscape in Vietnam
The Economic Renovation launched by the Vietnamese Government in 1986 not only transformed
Vietnam from one of the world' poorest countries in the 1980s, to one of the most successful countries
in the world in terms of economic growth, it also had important impacts on Vietnamese media.
Vietnamese audiences, who found it difficult to subscribe to a newspaper in the past, started to enjoy
a wide range of choice in the media. More significantly, though mass media in Vietnam are under
government control, after 1986, for the first time, they had to compete to maximize their audiences and
increase their income from subscriptions and advertiser. They also had to justify continued financial
support from government.
From 1995 to 2007, the number of newspapers published more than doubled, increasing from 375 to
867. The Vietnamese radio network is comprised of hundreds of radio stations, 11 of which are
controlled directly by Voice of Vietnam. In addition, there are 64 provincial radio stations and 606
district radio stations, among which there are 288 FM radio stations.
In terms of television, the national television station has five channels. There are also 4 regional and
64 provincial television stations. As a number of television stations offer 3-5 channels, the total number
of television channels in Vietnam is approximately 100 (excluding cable television channels). VTV, the
only nation-wide TV station in Vietnam, was formed in 1970 from an editorial department of VOV. In
1976, it was separated from VOV and became an official name in 1987.
Vietnam is also among the top countries in the ASEAN for internet use, with an increase of 32.5
percent per year. At present, 23.5 percent of the population in Vietnam are web users.
Regarding movies, after a significant decline in the last decade, at present, there are 19 cinemas in Ho
Chi Minh City and 15 in Hanoi, and approximately from three to four cinemas in each province.
Amongst those there are a number of modern and luxury cinemas with more than 500 seats, for
example the Vincom cinema group in Hanoi. Since these modern cinemas were established, the
number of attendances increased considerably. For example, the Megastar cinema group in Hanoi
welcomes 12,000 - 15,000 viewers each week. Ho Chi Minh City continues to dominate the
Vietnamese movie market which occupies 60 percent of total revenue from movie industry.
Having considered the internal development of media in Vietnam, it should be noted that the increase
of media organisations and productions - across all media - provides greater opportunities for people
to access public information. For the first time, listeners and viewers became consumers who could
choose from a wider range of media products. Their needs were paid attention to, and mass media
had to compete with each other and develop independently in commercial terms.
The impact of Korean popular culture
The impact of Chinese movies and later the "Korean wave" during the last decade, especially on
young Vietnamese, has been a dramatic and significant phenomenon. As China and Vietnam are
neighbours, Vietnam is influenced significantly by Chinese culture, which took root during the long
Chinese occupation. However, Korean dramas are even more popular than Chinese ones. Chinese
movies were gradually replaced by Korean dramas on cinema and on television, after "Winter Sonata"
broadcast nationally on Vietnamese television in the early 2000s.
In addition to the relatively reasonable price of Korean popular dramas, compared to Japanese and
Hong Kong dramas, the attractiveness and content of Korean cultural products really attracted Asian
production companies and Asian viewers. In Vietnam, during the 2000s, Korean dramas rapidly
gained airtime on television channels, from the North to the South. At least four to five Korean dramas
are broadcast every night. If the rebroadcasts by cable television channels are counted, the number
goes up even more. In other words, Korean television dramas have been part of the daily
programming of almost of all television stations in Vietnam in both afternoon and evening schedules,
and their audience ratings surpass those of local dramas.
Young viewers in Vietnam have been attracted to the "modern image" seen in the lifestyles of Korea.
The views and items portrayed in Korean cultural products, and the high standard of living, portraying
Korea as a dynamic and developed country. The modern images projected, all showed Korean
television drama to be trendy, and Vietnamese realised that Korea was much more modern than they
had thought. Beyond enjoying Korean television dramas, the new generation of consumers are
eagerly adopting and emulating Korean lifestyle from fashion, food and consumption patterns to
plastic surgeries.
For audiences in Vietnam, Korean television dramas are more suitable than American ones because
the former retain traditional values while having achieved the technical sophistication comparable to
the latter. Korean movies added to the Korean Wave by offering sensational scenes and plots, in a
manner different from those offered by Hollywood or Bollywood. Apart from nice storylines, good
production values, beautiful locations, excellent and gorgeous actors and actresses, many Vietnamese
scholars attribute the success of the Korean Wave to Confucian themes that East Asian cultures Vietnamese culture included - are more familiar with. Korean dramas typically deal with traditional
issues such as family values, the importance of respect for elders, fighting for true love, and filial duty
in an age of changing technology and values.
Moreover, the successes of Korea, such as becoming the world's 13th largest economy and one of the
world's top ten cultural exporters give many Vietnamese viewers a "Korean Dream" and an insight into
the "Miracle on the Han River."
As the media is said to play a central role in shaping socio-economic structures, cultures and
development dynamics, and to change cultural and political views worldwide (although the real power
of media rests in hands of those with economic power), this paper will explore the Vietnamese current
policies toward media content imports.
As mentioned previously, as Korean dramas are very popular in Vietnamese media and Korean
culture and products have had significant impact on Vietnamese youth. So much so that critics are
concerned that the spread of Korean popular culture could strip away the self-identity of young
Vietnamese. Although Korean popular culture may have an Asian dimension and characteristics, it
may also carry with it values that contradict local ones. A number of critics raised questions: To what
extent do Vietnamese media enable Vietnamese people to understand Korean culture and people?
What are the effects of Korean cultural content on Vietnamese youth? How does the craze for Korean
cultural products affect the lifestyle and behaviour of Vietnamese youth? Will the love of Korean
cultural products make Vietnamese youth despise their own culture? And more importantly: how
should we keep the self-identity of young Vietnamese?
Partly due to these pressures, a number of government documents were issued to request national
and local television stations to reduce foreign movies and dramas and increase local content to
balance the media content between foreign and domestic programs (Official document No.
5045/VHTT on Dec. 1, 2003 by the Ministry of Culture and Information; the Decree No.96/2007/ND-CP
on June 6, 2007).
Pan-Asian cultural content community
There are a number of factors and conditions for the rise of regional networks of cultural production.
Asia's television marketplace is huge because the Asian population makes up more than 50 percent of
the world's population, and the region's growing prosperity is attributable to the increasing middle class
in these markets. With the rising expenditure taken by middle and upper class and youthful
demographics of a prosperous East Asian region, the demand for more sophisticated cultural products
and better quality services will correspondingly increase.
Although popular culture entertainment forms such as film and television are a Western invention,
Asian people, with their own cultures and identities, have more diverse taste in TV programs and are
interested in popular content that is locally relevant, and regionally accessible. Therefore, Korean
products are said to evoke a sense of familiarity among people in Asia.
However, there are signs that everything might not be so rosy for Korean dramas in Vietnam as well
as the rest of East Asia. The Korean Wave is a topic of debate and doubts from many angles. Asian
audiences have witnessed the success and decline of Hong Kong, Chinese movies, Taipei and
Japanese dramas. There has been a historical stream of exchange and flows within predominantly
ethnic Chinese areas by the early 1990s when the film and TV industry in the PRC were liberalized,
heralding the start of the "Chinovelas" (Chinese novellas) fever. There also has been the flow of
Japanese TV dramas into the rest of the region without corresponding import of TV dramas from
elsewhere until the late 1990s when "Winter Sonata" was broadcast.
Some disparage the quality of Korean popular culture, which, they argue, spread only as an affordable
replacement for Japanese popular culture after the sudden economic drop in the 1990s. Many
observers believe that it will not sustain its popularity and insist that its producers and artists will not be
able to meet the demand for innovative products needed to continue attracting Asian audiences.
Indeed, some argue that its popularity is already fading and it no longer interests Asian fans as much.
In addition, the structural context of media liberalization in East Asia should be further taken into
account. East Asia was not a region in which television programming trade was active until the 1980s.
According to Waterman and Rogers, "countries of the Asian region as a whole have a relatively low
dependence on imported programming, and a relatively very low dependence on intra-regional
program trade" before the 1990s. Many Asian governments had for a long time been on the defensive
against cultural influences from foreign countries. Recently, a number of governments, including
Vietnam, Taipei and China considered limits on the broadcast of foreign shows.
Moreover, although many Asian cultures share similar traditions, the various cultures of Asia each
developed their own ethnic identity through the interaction of history, environment, and culture.
Therefore, to promote Asian culture, value and identity, we should consider the content, creativity,
culture and community. In addition, perhaps, cooperation should be considered in producing cultural
products amongst Asian countries and strengthen the Asian identity, creating a fertile ground for the
evolution of the Korean Wave into an Asian Wave.
By Dr. Dang Thi Thu Huong
http://desktoptoilet.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/hallyu-economics/
My reseach focuses on connecting culture with economics, mostly through an insightful look at Hallyu
and the benefits it has brought to South Korea. This connects two of my favorite subjects – the
entertainment industry and economics. I became interested in such subjects - daubed the “culture
economics” - after reading an interesting factoid. The economic benefits a single film “Jurassic Park”
surpassed that of the Korea’s entire automobile industry. Pokemon, the ground-breaking game, made
10 times that.
My research has shown that Dae-Jang Gum, a South Korean drama set on the Chosun Dynasty, has
made 3,000,000,000,000 won - that is 3 billion dollars!! All this data is showing that culture industry is
an immensely profitable business.
So let’s get started!
Korean male celebrities are now among the highest-paid actors outside of Hollywood.[39] According to
the South Korean media, Winter Sonata star Bae Yong Joon is now charging US$5 million a film; the
highest in Asia not counting Jackie Chan and Jet Li, the latter of whom received US$14 million for the
Chinese film The Warlords and more for Hollywood films.[20] At least nine other Korean male stars
earn more than $10 million a year.[20]
The best-selling international singers from Korea are TVXQ, Rain, and BoA; the latter due in no small
part to her popularity in the J-pop market.[40]
http://www.teachingkimchi.com/329/friendly-wave-that-hit-korea-hallyu/
Friendly Wave that hit Korea: Hallyu
Oct.05, 2007
Hallyu is a term coined by the Chinese Media which literally means the “Korean Wave”. It is a
collective term used to refer to the phenomenal growth of Korean popular culture incorporating
everything from music, movies, drama to online games and the Korean cuisine. This craze for Korean
culture is spreading at an astonishing pace, stretching from content-based products like movies,
popular songs, and television dramas to such cultural hardware as food, clothing, accessories, mobile
phones, and the likes. Hallyu is a cultural asset through which people in the immediate area can
improve communication and understanding.
Hallyu, or Korean Wave, is the growing aspiration to know more about Korean culture. The road to
Hallyu is trodden everyday by new visitors who are warmly welcomed by Korean people and
fascinated by the culture. The drive to know more about Korea stimulates Hallyu to develop into more
sophisticated cultural forms, which in turn, brings Hallyu to a higher level. Hallyu goes beyond the love
for television and movie stars. It is about fully appreciating the Korean culture portrayed through them.
To ride the Korean Wave means the drive to know more about Korean culture.
Hallyu or the Korean wave has been a blessing for Korea, its businesses, culture and country image.
Hallyu has become one of the biggest cultural phenomena across Asia Pacific. So tremendous has the
Hallyu effect been that it has contributed 0.2% of Korea’s GDP in 2004, amounting to approximately
USD 2 billion. Hallyu is known to be the friendly wave that hit Korea.
More specifically, Hallyu is an upshot of the clash of two crosscurrents: first, the relative decline in
Japan’s economic, political, and cultural leadership in Asia, which lead to the startling rise of China;
second, the proliferation of (neo) liberal doctrines leading to a higher level of regional integration in
economy and culture, which is at odds with the residual forces of Cold War and postcolonial politics
that reproduce political schisms in the region. The following briefly outlines the principal political and
economic conditions from which Hallyu sprung to life. Hallyu is all about lofty soul-searching and noble
quests for Asiatic ingenuity. In other words, Hallyu did not “originate” in Korea. Rather, it is a cultural
tempest steered by the aesthetic and political judgment of extensive publics in East and South East
Asia. In this respect and others, the rise of Hallyu is a significant political event.
Hallyu is a powerful catalyst in healing colonial wounds and alleviating postcolonial resentment
between Japan and Korea. Hallyu, like other cultural trends, is at its worst when driven by aggressive
nationalist impulses coupled with unbridled commercialism. Right now, Hallyu is at critical moment;
and so is the prospect for building a healthy regional cultural sphere. At this crossroads, a judicious
intervention of the concerned regional public is imperative.
http://www.globalizationstudies.upenn.edu/oceania
Globalization and Pop Culture
This story gathers information about selected cases that help to understand the relationship between
pop culture and globalization. How do local populations around the world relate to `foreignness'
presented to them in the form of pop culture? What role does pop culture play with respect to
globalization? More importantly, how does pop culture help us to understand globalization?
Case: Korean Pop Culture in Asia
Hallyu, or "Korean Wave"
The term Hallyu refers to the growing popularity of Korean popular culture in East and Southeast Asia
within the last decade. Hallyu initially began with Korean TV dramas (soap operas, "K-drama"), and
the term started to appear in mass media reports that discussed their popularities in China and Japan.
Other genres of pop culture including music ("K-pop") and movies were immediately included in the
"wave." Within a few years, the phenomenon expanded to several countries in Southeast Asian
region, and South Korean tourism has capitalized on its popularity.
One of the most famous TV drama said to have ignited the "wave" was Gyeoul Yeonga (English title:
Winter Sonata) of Korea Broadcasting System (KBS), a public broadcaster that is South Korea's one
of three largest and influential media organization.
The drama had drawn tourists from Japan in size that was unprecedented in South Korea's history
(see also Kim, Agrusab, Leed, and Chon 2007). With this, its filming locations began to be officially
promoted by the South Korean government as tourist sites. This map is of Namiseom (Nami island),
which is one of several locations where Gyeoul Yeonga was filmed. It is one of several "hallyu maps."
[Source: Map of a filming site of 'Winter Sonata'. Korea Sparkling, official website of Korea Tourism
Organization (KTO)]
The map below was produced by Seoul Metropolitan Government. It points to filming locations of
several TV dramas that are in Seoul. According to a press release, the map shows a total of 17 sites,
has English, Japanese and Chinese versions, and is being distributed through tourist information
centers and travel agencies. Comments about the "demise" of hallyu have been on a gradual rise. But
it remains the single most important theme that drives contemporary South Korean tourist industry (for
example, see also 2008 Seoul Hallyu Festival).
[Source: Han, Aran. Map makes surfing Korean Wave easy for Seoul's tourists. August 25, 2007.
Korea.net, official governmental homepage managed by Korean Culture and Information Services
(KOIS) of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]
Reports and Researches
Cho Hae-Joang. 2005. Reading the "Korean Wave" as a Sign of Global Shift. Korea Journal
45(4):147-182. [PDF available for download. Use Internet Explorer]
Abstract: In this paper, I examined the discourse surrounding the "Korean Wave," within South Korea
media from 2001 till 2005. The cultural nationalist, the neoliberal, and the postcolonial camps were
drawing the discursive terrain of the Korean Wave, sometimes clashing and at other times engaging
each other in strategic compromises. The initial diverse discourses congealed and merged in their
concentration on economic profit later on, which is indicative of a neoliberal turn in the 2000s Korea.
The media technology revolution and global capitalism prepared the system for the manufacture of
cultural products and circulation within Asia, and formed the coeval space of capitalist Asia. However,
the diverse images and texts circulating within Asia were providing new opportunities to construct an
alternate consciousness through the sharing of popular culture. Non-Western societies which used to
measure their modernities against Western standards entered the new stage of subject formation.
Han, Kyung-Koo. 2006. From Housewives to Butterflies: Hallyu and the Fantastic Journey to Korea
(Hahm Hanhee and Heo In-sun). Korea Journal 46(2):269-274. [PDF available for download. Use
Internet Explorer]
Kim, Dae Sung. 2005. Hallyu: How Far Has It Come? The Korea Foundation Newsletter 14(4).
Kim, Sang-Bae. 2007. Hallyu-ui mae-ryuk-gwa Dong-Asia munwha network (Hallyu's Appeal and East
Asian Cultural Network). Se-gye Jung-chi (Global Politics), 28(1):190-233.[PDF available for
download. Written in Korean]
Kim Hyun Mee. 2005. Korean TV Dramas in Taiwan: With an Emphasis on the Localization Process.
Korea Journal 45(4):183-205. [PDF available for download. Use Internet Explorer]
Abstract: Most research on the Korean pop culture has had a tendency to emphasize the universal
superiority of Korean culture or the economic effect of the phenomenon based on economism. This
paper aims to provide a detailed empirical case on the concrete processes of distribution, circulation,
and consumption of Korean pop culture in Taiwan using the specific case of Korean TV dramas.
Taiwan has been one of the biggest importer of Korean dramas.
The images delivered through the Korean TV dramas have very much influenced the Taiwanese to
view contemporary Korean society as a country of modern and urban elegance, and womancenteredness. This article also stresses that the popularity of the Korean drama can be understood in
the context of the specific reprocessing and consumption system in Taiwan to reduce the high
economic risk of the business. One way of adapting that has been developed to maximize profits and
minimize the risks of the cultural industry is the accompaniment of various localization processes. The
localization process sometimes entails the "hybridity" of the Korean drama's text as well.
Kim, Young-Duk. 2007. Ilbon-nae Bangsong Hallyu Hyungwhang-gwa Chunmang (Status and Future
of Television Hallyu in Japan). Korean Broadcasting Institute
Yin, Kelly Fu Su, and Kai Khiun Liew. 2005. Hallyu in Singapore: Korean Cosmopolitanism or the
Consumption of Chineseness?. Korea Journal 45(4):206-232. [PDF available for download. Use
Internet Explorer]
Abstract: The export of Korean dramas in the late 1990s sparked off a palpable craze for Korean
cultural commodities in early 2000. This popular cultural phenomenon known as hallyu has seen a
surge in interest in Korean culture expressed through study of the Korean language and
understanding of the culture through travel. Heterogeneous in nature, this phenomenon re-invents
itself to suit local taste cultures and pre-existing modes of consumption and distribution. In this paper,
a case study of Korean popular culture consumption in Singapore demonstrates the complexities of
hallyu as it intersects with and challenges the pre-dominance of "Chinese"-based popular culture,
while remaining at the same time, very much a form of "Chinese" consumption.
Other Links
Blog: Students of a Korean Wave class, University of Pennsylvania
Quote: "The phenomenon of hallyu may be some unique confluence of economics, politics and
creativity, but discourse of that nature obscures the fact that Koreans are simply making more media
that is enjoyable to consume. In that sense, hallyu has been effective in expanding the audience and
increasing the amount of regional and global exposure of the many talented Korean artists."
(University of Pennsylvania EALC 198/598 students, Spring 2006 & 2007. 10 Apr. 2008.
://koreanpopculture.blogspot.com/).
http://opinionasia.com/TheDiminishingKoreanWave
Hallyu: The Diminishing Korean Wave?
Chachavalpongpun
Southeast Asia has in recent years been bowled over by “the Korean Wave”, a fad for Korea’s popular
culture. Known as Hallyu, it was unleashed as the state’s tool in the proliferation of Korea’s cultural
influence and a foreign policy instrument, designed to strengthen the country’s political and economic
relations with the Asia-Pacific in particular.
Hallyu comprises of various cultural elements, ranging from films, soap-operas and music to fashion
and cuisine. For Korea, the assertion of Hallyu signifies its cultural independence from Asia’s older
civilisations, its reconstruction of “Koreanness” in modern garb, and its inclination to take on regional
politics through the use of soft power. On the surface, the Korean Wave seems to have been well
received by Southeast Asian. At a deeper level however, a sense of discontent amongst some local
communities towards Korea is gradually on the rise. Separately, the Korean government has also
failed to address any enduring impact of the Hallyu.
A sentiment is being shared that Korea’s cultural messengers, including tourists, businessmen, and
missionaries, have largely misrepresented the Hallyu while interacting with Southeast Asia. There are
a number of reasons for this.
First, the exercise of soft power has proven counterproductive when left to the vicissitudes of Korean
tourists. Undoubtedly representing the few, some tourists have been referred to as “Ugly Koreans,”
behaving in a brutish fashion while travelling in the region. Some resorts were said to have banned
Korean tourists because they leave their rooms in shambles after their stay. In 2001, in the middle of
Indonesia’s Ramadan season, a group of drunken Koreans at a karaoke bar attempted to force
waitresses to engage in sexual acts. Similar tales were told in Thailand and more recently in
Cambodia where Koreans have been identified in the underage sex industry, as reflected in the report
of the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region.
Second, aggressive Korean Christian missionaries have also diminished the adhesive quality of the
Korean Wave. These missionaries have been known for offering assistance and shelter to North
Korean defectors in Thailand. The Thai government for its part, has tried to discourage North Koreans
from using Thailand to seek asylum, fearing it could disrupt diplomatic relations with both Seoul and
Pyongyang. The same also took place in Vietnam where the interference of missionaries in the
refugee issue led to a diplomatic incident between Hanoi and Pyongyang.
From another perspective, the spread of Christianity à la Korea has also upset many in Southeast
Asia. In the Philippines, where the majority of the population commits to Catholicism, Korean
missionaries have zealously sough to attract locals to their Protestant denominations, which are
perceived by local religious leaders with suspicion. Korean missionaries tend to use finance to recruit
locals and new converts to work together with them in evangelising and establishing churches.
However, some have done so at the cost of corrupting innocent people.
Third, bad behaviour on the part of Korean businesses has also provoked ill feelings among the locals.
Korean bosses have increasingly become synonymous with fraud, human rights abuse and people
who are ignorant of the sensitivity of local cultures. Korean managers have gained a notorious
reputation as being among the harshest and most abusive “foreign investors” in the world, with the
term “military culture” employed to characterise Korean management practices.
The question of to what extent the Korean government has been willing to use the Korean Wave as its
foreign policy tool is crucial. Although this phenomenon has received much publicity at the state level,
it remains a low priority in the current government’s list of to-dos. It certainly has not been prioritised in
key diplomatic tasks as stipulated in the website of Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Exactly how the government cooperated with Korean cultural messengers in the promotion of the
Hallyu has never been explained.
There is also little to suggest that an increased understanding of the impact of Korean culture abroad
was ever a major concern of Korean policymakers. Likewise, it is also doubtful that the Korean Wave
was originally designed as a policy that promoted national identity abroad, but was intended for
domestic consumption and propagated for domestic consumption. Hence, the intention was to perfect
Korean cultural products for a nationalistic purpose rather than to use them to win hearts and minds of
the Southeast Asians.
Some have argued that the Koreans had become the Japanese of the 1960s-70s, who arrived in
Southeast Asia during the height of Japanese popular culture. As the Japanese reinvented
themselves to become more responsible and better behaved in light of wartime atrocities in some
Southeast Asian states, the Koreans today are partly perceived to have taken the form of Japan’s past
notoriety.
Nonetheless, the negative aspects of Hallyu are repairable, particularly since Korea and Southeast
Asia do not have any bad history between them, unlike in Japan’s case. Korean tourists, missionaries
and businessmen need to be aware of the growing tension that has taken root in Southeast Asia
against many Koreans over the years. An education program to guide Koreans on the traditions and
other cultural practices of various Southeast Asian nations may well represent a viable policy option to
limit the damage already done.
Pavin Chachavalpongpun is a Visiting Research Fellow at the ASEAN Studies Centre, Institute of
Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore.
http://iamkoream.com/hallyu-hits-hollywood/
Hallyu hits Hollywood
Kari Ruth, November 11th, 2009
The latest Newsweek talks about the Korean wave (hallyu) cresting in Hollywood.
Film producer Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment says that there now are more people of Korean
descent working in Hollywood – from actors to writers to producers to set workers to talent managers –
than any other Asian group.
More significant is the fact that Hollywood sees economic opportunity in opening its doors to more
actors of Asian descent – and those actors’ global fans.
Like all of corporate America, Hollywood is going global. There are big bucks to be had across the way
by finding roles for Korean stars with mega fan bases in Asia.
That’s all very cool, but I hope more and more Asians and Asian Americans eventually become the
power brokers in crazy town because Korean American fans in the U.S. are not like the fans in Korea.
We won’t be happy just to see Rain (ripped as he is) on the big screen. We want more leading roles
that portray Asians as complex human beings – not just martial arts killers or hot-looking ethnic
flavoring in a mainstream film or TV series. Asian actors can do more than stare into a camera
menacingly, damn it.
So I hope that the wave of Korea-mania in Hollywood does not mean that Asian American audiences
are bypassed in favor of bigger dollars from rabid fans in Korea who think it’s fun to see Rain make it
big in Hollywood. The fans in Korea worry less about how he is portrayed, of course; they live in
Korea. They see themselves reflected in mainstream media every day.
Sadly, I think Asian Americans will be subjected to more ninja assassins before the wave of casting
Asians as complex human beings smacks Hollywood in the head.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/221320
Korea Takes Hollywood
By Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop, Nov 16, 2009
In the late 1990s a Korean wave washed over Asia. From TV soap operas and movies to pop music,
the region couldn't get enough of Korean culture and its good-looking stars. But the wave never quite
reached the American entertainment industry. At most, Hollywood embraced the remake of several
Korean films – including The Lake House and, more recently, The Uninvited.
Lately, however, ethnic Korean actors have started to gain traction in American film and TV. Kim
Yunjin and Daniel Dae Kim broke through when they were cast in Lost in 2004, followed by Sandra Oh
in Grey’s Anatomy and James Kyson Lee in Heroes. This year Korean-American heartthrob Daniel
Henney appeared in X-Men Origins: Wolverine as the villainous Agent Zero, and now stars on the new
CBS medical drama Three Rivers. Lee Byung-hun took on the role of Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe: The
Rise of Cobra. And John Cho, who played Hikaru Sulu in Star Trek, is currently starring as an FBI
agent in ABC's drama FlashForward.
Next up: Jeong Ji Hoon, a.k.a. Rain, a pop superstar in much of Asia but still little-known on the global
stage. On Nov. 25, Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers will release their latest big-budget martialarts thriller, Ninja Assassin, starring Jeong as the title character, who seeks revenge on the secret
society that raised and trained him and killed his best friend.
The casting of Korean stars in prominent Hollywood roles reflects the new business realities: Jeong
and his peers have a huge following in Asia, one of the few regions where movie audiences are
growing. Korea, in particular, has become a key foreign market for Hollywood films, in some cases
surpassing the U.K. According to the Web site Box Office Mojo, G.I. Joe earned more this summer in
Korea – $13.2 million – than anywhere else outside the U.S.
Hollywood producers are also courting Korean directors who have a proven track record delivering hits
for Asian audiences. "Every studio executive here has seen Oldboy by Park Chan-wook, and you can't
say that about a lot of foreign movies," says Korean-American film producer Roy Lee of Vertigo
Entertainment. Though Korean directors may be in demand among Hollywood producers, they are
reluctant to make the leap. "Top directors in Korea have the ability to make whatever films they want
with total creative freedom," says Lee. "With the [U.S.] studios they do not have that control."
Korean actors face cultural challenges, too. For actors from Asia to make it big in Hollywood, they
have to commit to mastering English and networking with executives. "In Asia, for the most part, there
is no auditioning process," says Grace Chen, the former managing director of William Morris Asia, now
an independent consultant in Hong Kong. "So for big Asian stars to go to Hollywood and have to
audition, it can be quite a foreign process." Plus, she says, those playing the Hollywood game risks
losing opportunities back home.
And Asian actors in the U.S. are still often typecast as martial-arts experts. "Stereotype does still exist
when casting films," says Rain. "Asians have our own broad and unique culture; it's just that more
people have been interested in the martial-arts side than others."
But things are definitely changing. While it may be a while before Korean actors are cast as romantic
leads in Hollywood, references to Korean culture are seeping into American films and TV. "In the past,
you'd see a lot of Japanese references, Caucasian characters eating sushi or speaking a few
Japanese words. But recently I noticed [they] are being replaced by Korean ones," says Shinho Lee, a
Korean scriptwriter who splits his time between Seoul and L.A. Vertigo's Lee cites the rising
prominence of Korean-Americans at all levels of the film-production chain: "There are more people of
Korean descent working in Hollywood than of any other Asian ethnicity." Especially in front of the
camera.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp
April 19, 2002
CLOSE NEIGHBORS?
Language, music point way to stronger relations
Japan, South Korea pop culture markets see mutual benefits from increasing exchanges
By HIROSHI MATSUBARA
People wait in line to see the South Korean film "Chingu" ("Friends") at Miyuki-za Theater in Tokyo's
Ginza district.
When Akiko Konishi felt life had become routine after five years in the same company, she decided to
spice things up a little by studying a foreign language. With few fond memories of studying English, it
could have been any other language. She ended up choosing Korean, however, just because there
was a school near her office.
The after-work lessons soon gave way to a full-time interest and set her future on a new course. "First
it was hangul that caught my heart, and then I gradually fell in love with many cultural aspects of
(South) Korea, including movies, music and other pop culture," the 36-year-old said. "Korean things
look quite similar to those of Japan, but if you know more, they gradually look different, and I felt
something very exotic in these cultural differences between the two countries."
Her enthusiasm for South Korean culture led her to quit work and move there in 1996 to take Korean
ethnic studies courses in college and graduate school. Soon after she returned to Japan in 2000, she
was offered the post of chief editor at K-pop Star, the first Japanese magazine devoted to South
Korean pop music.
"I was expecting our readers to be mainly Korea freaks in their 30s like me. But letters from readers
show that many of them are teenagers or in their early 20s, who may have encountered (South)
Korean pop culture via the recent media frenzy over South Korea prior to the World Cup soccer finals
(to be cohosted by Japan and South Korea)," she said, adding that the circulation of the bimonthly has
increased to around 50,000.
The content does not differ greatly from Japanese music magazines, featuring interviews, photographs
and CD reviews of pop stars, whose fashion tastes appear close to their Japanese counterparts.
"The traditional Japanese view of South Korean pop culture as somewhat uncool has drastically faded
away from the mind of the Japanese in the past decade, allowing many people to purely appreciate
the quality of the music itself," Konishi said. "Japanese who listen to (South) Korean pop music tend to
hold fewer stereotypes of the country than older generations, and they are often very adamant in
deepening their knowledge of South Korea."
Letters from readers are often quite serious, with many saying they have begun studying Korean and
taken an interest in other aspects of South Korean culture since listening to the country's music.
Booming movie exchange
The trend took off two years ago, when the South Korean action movie "Shiri," which boasted having
better action scenes than Hollywood flicks, earned 1.85 billion yen in Japan, a record for a South
Korean movie. That smash hit was followed here by "Chingu," ("Friends") earlier this month, which
was seen by a record 8.2 million in South Korea last year.
Also booming is a series of movies and TV programs jointly produced by Japanese and South Korean
concerns, including the action movie "Seoul," released earlier this month. Another coproduced movie,
"2009 Lost Memories," featuring both Japanese and South Korean top stars, was seen by more than
2.2 million in South Korea earlier this year.
A suspense movie based on the abduction of South Korean President Kim Dae Jung by his country's
agents when he was a political dissident visiting Japan in 1973 is planned for the big screen in both
countries in May. Another coproduced movie, "Dodge GoGo," which focuses on the friendship
between children in Japan and South Korea, will be released in July.
In February, "Friends," the first TV drama coproduced by Japanese and Korean TV networks, was
aired in both countries, attracting an enthusiastic reaction from young fans on both sides of the Sea of
Japan. The four-hour drama, a love story between a South Korean man and a Japanese woman, drew
hundreds of messages to Web sites in both countries. "It is a very typical love story, and it is unusual
for such a drama to receive so many enthusiastic messages from fans, even months afterward," said a
spokeswoman at Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc., which coproduced the drama.
"I think the fact that the story was between a South Korean and Japanese somehow made them feel
so romantic," she said, adding that she believes the story of pure love beyond national borders
impressed young viewers. In response to fans' requests, a soundtrack CD, DVD and video game
software of the program are to hit the market soon.
Last month, an album by South Korean pop singer BoA topped domestic sales charts in Japan.
Though all the songs on the album are in Japanese, it was the first time for a musician from the
country to win a top chart position. "We hope the success of BoA will turn more Japanese ears to
South Korean pop music," said Hitoshi Yajima, senior manager of international service at Avex Inc.,
BoA's record company.
Avex is one of two major record companies that sell South Korean pop music in Japan, holding the
domestic sales rights of several top artists. Other record companies have been closely monitoring the
two firms' efforts to gauge the potential of South Korean music, Yajima said. "My dream is to see CDs
of South Korean groups being sold in imported music sections along with English CDs, and Japanese
music fans buying them without any prejudice," he said. "I don't think the dream is too ridiculous,
considering that quality South Korean pickles, which were so hard to find not so long ago, are now
everywhere in Japan."
J-pop prepares assault
In the meantime, major record companies in Japan have already set up subsidiaries in South Korea to
prepare for a planned lifting of bans on the sale of Japanese music. Although illegally imported copies
of Japanese CDs, magazines and other popular culture have been available in South Korea for a long
time, the country maintained a decades-old ban on Japanese pop culture until October 1998. Seoul
partially lifted the ban, eyeing a total end in time for the start of the World Cup in May.
Japanese movies that won international awards and comics were the first examples that were allowed
in South Korea, followed by concerts by Japanese musicians. International award-winning animated
movies came next and sales of CDs by Japanese musicians singing in any language except
Japanese.
But last July, Seoul announced it would postpone the removal of the bans for an indefinite period. The
announcement came after the Japanese government authorized a controversial junior high school
history textbook that South Korea claims glosses over Japan's atrocities during its colonial rule of the
peninsula and during the war.
"If such bans are totally removed, there will be a much larger, unified entertainment market in East
Asia, and it will probably provide both countries' pop cultures with opportunities to improve in quality so
they can compete with the rest of the world," Yajima of Avex said.
O Son Hwa, an award-winning author who has lived in Japan since 1983, also said that such
promotion of mutual interest and understanding can give both countries a new form of national
identity. "Although the two countries are leaders in Asia, the only way to build up those identities was
to compare themselves with Western civilization, which has often merely resulted in a growing
inferiority complex with the West," said the South Korean-born author of several books and essays on
Japanese and Korean culture. "But if they find something really nice and respectable in the cultures of
their neighbors, they will likely discover a greater respect for their own cultures," she said.
O, however, also believes cultural proximity has prevented Japanese and South Koreans from truly
understanding and respecting each other. "The fact that we have similar physical appearances and
cultural elements often makes us intolerant of our differences, making Japanese and South Koreans
very picky and often condescending toward each other," she said. O said it may take decades before
the current cultural exchanges truly bring the two countries closer. "I have made every effort to
understand Japan since I came here, but it still took me five years to appreciate, for example,
Japanese pottery, which appeared too dark and plain to my Korean eyes."
http://www.newstatesman.com
How Korea became cool
Victoria James, 07 March 2005
Observations on eastern fashions
An unlikely romance is in the air. For decades, little love has been lost between Japan and South
Korea. Japan once occupied its close neighbour and, to this day, zainichi kankokujin - those born in
Japan of Korean ethnicity - are denied Japanese nationality, even several generations along. Koreans,
who allege forced labour and sex slavery as "comfort women" to the Japanese military during the
Second World War, regularly issue reparation demands that are just as regularly thrown out of the
Japanese courts. But now Japan just can't get enough of its closest neighbour. This has officially been
declared "Korea-Japan Friendship Year". To young Japanese, Korea has never been so cool.
The thaw began in 2000 with the partial lifting of a 50-year ban on the exchange of popular culture
between the two countries - restrictions affecting everything from films and music to "manga" graphic
novels and animation. Shiri, a 1999 South Korean action thriller about the reunification of north and
south, soon topped the Tokyo box office.
The handsome face of hanryu or the "Korean wave" is Bae Yong-jun, the romantic lead in a South
Korean mini-series, Winter Sonata. Riot police were needed to contain 3,500 fans, mostly middle-aged
women, who mobbed the airport when the 32-year-old flew in to Tokyo a few weeks before Christmas.
Bae is known in Japan as Yon-sama - sama being an honorific usually reserved for royalty. His appeal
has been credited for a growth in dating agencies that hook up Japanese women with Korean men.
When Winter Sonata first aired, in April 2004, it took the national broadcaster NHK's top night-time
slot, usually filled by US shows such as The West Wing. Now Japanese fans take package tours to
shooting locations across Korea. The two countries exchange 10,000 visitors daily, against 10,000
annually 40 years ago.
On the big screen, Korean hits just keep on coming. The most recent Tokyo release was Spring,
Summer, Fall, Winter . . . and Spring, whose creator, Kim Ki-duk, won the best director award at the
Venice Film Festival for 3-Iron. Duk's movies are violent, edgy and multifaceted, and he seems to be
taking that spot in the limelight of Asian cinema that was once occupied by a Japanese, Takeshi
Kitano. Spring, Summer . . . was one of more than 30 films from Korea that opened in Japan last year.
The romance continues off-screen. Japan's cabinet office reports that 57 per cent of Japanese
express an "affinity" for South Korea; as recently as 1999, 60 per cent expressed no enthusiasm at all.
But a similar survey, by South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper, found that only 27 per cent of South
Koreans reported favourable feelings towards Japan.
http://www.globalpost.com
Will Korean manhwa replace manga?
As sales in Japanese manga plummet, the "Korean Wave" takes hold, offering popular comics with
sophisticated themes.
By Geoffrey Cain, November 28, 2009
SEOUL, South Korea – In his bag, Park Jae Dong always carries a fine-point ink brush. The mellow,
aging artist speaks in few words, preferring to communicate through Korean cartoons, or manhwa,
which have gained such popularity across Asia in recent years.
When his fans approach him, he pulls out the brush – smirking, like it's a new idea each time – and
strokes little streams furiously onto cardboard, arriving at an impromptu self-caricature with his
signature below. Tough work for a national icon.
But that’s good news. In recent years Korean manhwa has reached a peak in popularity. That comes
as Japanese and American comics – once dominant across the world comic book market – are losing
their clout, reflected in their slumping sales and re-branding to the film and video game industries.
Since 1995, Japanese manga sales have more than halved, thanks in part to an aging fanbase that’s
looking for something new. Unlike Japan’s gritty post-apocalyptic mangas for teenagers, manhwas are
full of realistic dramas for aging fans, touching on adult themes like domestic violence, romance and
gender inequalities.
Enter the “Korean Wave,” the recent trend of South Korean cultural exports gaining popularity abroad.
Just a few decades ago, South Korea was a poor and isolated country, ruled by a military government
that sti?ed pop culture. But Korea’s rapid growth, political liberalization and wiring to the Internet have
spurred the creation of television shows, movies and magazines that have found new markets around
the world.
Last month, one publisher announced it would sell manhwa in North Africa, a first after expanding into
North and South America and Europe earlier this decade.
Yet manhwa wasn’t always like this. In Park’s golden years, the art was often a political tool used by
dissidents and government officials. His fame came in the 1980s for lampooning his country’s military
regimes in the Hangyeore Sinmun, South Korea’s first left-leaning political newspaper. With the fall of
military rule in 1993 and subsequent economic growth, Park’s art form has moved away from politics
and into today’s youth tastes for entertainment.
The first manhwas were drawn in 1909 to criticize the colonial Japanese administration. But they didn’t
become widespread until Park Chung Hee launched a coup d’etat in 1961 against a nine-month-old
parliamentary government, imposing authoritarian rule in order to build South Korea into an industrial
powerhouse. Park curtailed freedom of speech, jailing dissenters under the slightest suspicions. Life
for many South Koreans meant suffering, and manhwa gave them a reason to cheer up.
Knowing this, the government encouraged publishers to create myongnang manhwa, or patriotic
“cheerful comics,” according to The Korea Society, a New York-based nonprofit organization that
promotes Korean culture. Publishers jumped on the bandwagon, opening presses across Seoul and
distributing the comics to all audiences.
Comic-book magazines catered to children, depicting unpatriotic, mischievous characters receiving
justice and mocking the leaders of North Korea. Alongside the cheerful comics, South Korea saw an
influx of pirated Japanese mangas during the 1970s, adding to the popularity of comic books.
The country’s export-led growth under Park Chung Hee peaked, and in the 1970s the young,
educated middle class felt the time was approaching for the political system to open up as the
economy had. Thanks to manhwa’s growing popularity, artists saw they could humorously use it
against the government. After the student protests in the 1970s, manhwa shifted away from cheerful
themes toward dark humor.
Many stories were highly taboo in Korean society, such as those depicting the urban underclass that
benefited little from the country’s development, as well as gender inequalities and South Korea’s rapid
economic growth set against repressive political rule. Artwork became more realistic, and storylines
more oriented toward adults.
A Daunting Team, published in 1983, set the standard for the 1980s, what artists now call manhwa’s
golden age. The comic book depicted a scruffy baseball player, Kkachi, who defied authority during
the dictatorial regime of Chun Doo Hwan – the military ruler between 1980 and 1988 who continued
the repressive policies of Park Chung Hee. Kkachi was an average kid whose rebelliousness fueled
his baseball talents and earned him success.
Koreans wanted to see more characters like Kkachi, average people whose hard work, not their
connections, catapulted them to stardom. Artists like Heo Youngman, Lee Hyun-se, and Park Bongseong took the cue and molded characters who rose from extreme poverty to achieve success in
government and business, often against the wishes of fictional aristocrats. Government censors,
however, feared that such stories would taint South Korea’s image before the Seoul Olympic Games
of 1988 and cracked down on the publishers. Pirated, underground comic books became common.
But when presidents made democratic reforms in the early 1990s, cartoonists said there was little left
to satirize. They widened the scope of manhwa to general entertainment, like ghost stories, zombies,
science fiction and romance. Call it a reflection of Korea’s changing national pulse – a country that
decades ago was one of the poorest in the world, now curious but wary of what the 21st century will
bring. “We have democracy now, so manhwa has become more diverse,” said Kim Dong-hwa, head of
the Korean Cartoonists Association.
Now artists are feeling the effects of free online content, despite manhwa’s growing popularity. Ten
million Koreans read free web comics, while only 3 million choose to pay, according to the Korean
Culture and Content Agency, a government-affiliated body that promotes Korean arts around the
world.
In the past two years, at least 10 Korean cartoon magazines have stopped publication due to a lack of
subscribers. South Korea only has 12 such magazines now, compared to 300 in Japan. Kim
Donghwa, head of the Korean Cartoonists’ Association, remarked that many Koreans view manhwa as
something that should be free.
Yet manhwa is hardly dying. When Park oversaw the opening of a manhwa museum in September,
thousands of fans showed up. Park is doing quite well, teetering in the film and print industries. But
today, he’s widened his political focus to more general strips about the excesses of modern life for
South Koreans: He satirizes the country's high suicide rate, gender discrimination and the often
unrealistic pressures on students to perform well.
“My work became famous because people could laugh when political events were very serious,” he
suggests. “All people are half emotional, half logical. My job is to help them find their emotions.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com
South Koreans Embrace Underground Tattooing
07-20-09
SEOUL -- Wandering Seoul's streets in hopes of finding a tattoo parlor, even in the hippest
neighborhood known to shelter hundreds of tattoo artists, is mostly a waste of time. You need to know
the "proper" steps: first you run a search on the web, then you hook up with a tattooist who will guide
you to a nondescript space, and finally you sit down for the illegal procedure.
Sitting in an underground tattoo parlor with his arms folded across his chest, 37-year-old tattooist Kang
Un explains why things are so. There are no laws specifically about tattooing in South Korea, but
medical laws state that only doctors can practice the act of penetrating someone's skin with a needle.
In other words, to be a tattooist in Korea, you must hold a doctor's license.
Tattoos have long been considered in the country a mark of violence, membership to a gang, or at the
least, defiance of mainstream culture. There wasn't much demand for a long time and getting a tattoo
at an illegal parlor somehow suited the rebellious nature of it.
However, in recent years, many South Koreans have started to embrace tattoos as a work of art and a
fashion statement. Tattooists are starting to call for regulation and legalization of the industry, but for
now, most parlors remain illegal.
"There's this huge gap between the laws and reality," said Kang, a frontrunner in the field who started
practicing tattooing as a profession eight years ago. He is known as a master of his craft and has
almost 500 active artists whom he groomed in his underground parlors.
Despite the dark tunnel-like entrance with graffiti covered walls, Kang's studio is fully equipped with
worktables and tattoo stations. The artist, who boasts a long-sleeve David Beckham-inspired tattoo,
says he is the only tattooist who has two parlors and a studio where staff teachers hold classes.
"When I first started learning, I hid it even from my family," Kang recalled. He said sentiments toward
tattoos have changed drastically since then. Kang pinpoints 2002, when South Korea hosted the
soccer World Cup, as one of the moments that brought about a wave of change. Seeing many famous
soccer players with tattoos, he said, made people realize that there's nothing wrong with getting one.
The customers have diversified greatly over the years to now include doctors, business consultants,
celebrities and even soldiers. Recently the Korean military started to allow men with tattoos to carry
out their mandatory service, but the military's acceptance of the practice still has its boundaries.
Those with tattoos that cover two-thirds of their bodies are not allowed to serve as regular combatant
troops and are sent to alternative services.
"People with that many (tattoos) tend to have high accident rates, and since they deal with weapons
that have the capability of killing, we tend to exclude them, kind of like what we do with criminals," said
Kwak Yu-suk, an official at the Military Manpower Administration.
Sentiments like this are slowly dying out, but Kang knows he still has a lot to deal with. His shops and
400 others are located in the Hongdae district, considered the most culturally vibrant and dynamic in
the country.
There are no official numbers on tattooists, but Kang and other artists put the estimate at about
20,000. This does not include permanent make-up artists whose numbers range anywhere from
100,000 to 200,000 also operating illegally.
If caught by law enforcement, which carries out regular inspections, owners can get slapped with a
fine anywhere between $500 and $10,000.
What the 37-year-old wants to do is build a voice for his industry. He wants to see the day when South
Korea creates a licensing system like the U.S. and lets all of the underground artists surface.
Kang said he is concerned that with increasing demand and untrained tattooists sprouting up,
customers are exposed to more dangers.
One of the very few tattooists who has a doctor's license agrees with Kang. Kwon Yong-hyun is a
dermatologist who came across tattooing while he was still in medical school. He now runs a nicely lit
skin clinic on the outskirts of Seoul and offers regular services such as laser hair removal, anti-aging
treatments and tattooing.
"I've seen people use Coke bottle caps, you know the little red ones, to pour tattoo ink into," Kwon
said. The 28-year-old physician blames the lack of official education and training available in the field.
"There are a lot of people who want to get tattoos, and they should be able to go to places that they
trust."
Kwon says about 5 percent of his clients come to get tattoos and roughly four times that number come
to get them removed. Through his clients Kwon sees the trends changing. The designs have become
much more elaborate and artistic, and the reasons for getting tattoos more varied.
Kwon does not see why only doctors should have the right to legally practice tattooing. He believes as
long as there are regulations on safety and sanitation there is no reason for the limitations.
Although he considers himself fortunate for having a medical degree, he knows the idea is not
practical. "If they're telling just doctors to do it, it means no one can, really," he said.
Kwon received his own training from an artist in the Hongdae area, but there's only so much people
like him can do to professionally train tattoo artists given the rapid growth in numbers. "If things don't
change, we're going to see a lot of victims," said Kang, the Hongdae artist.
Kang has numerous ideas on how to legalize the practice and has written up endless pages of
research including tattooing laws from other countries.
"The tattoo culture I know is in a transitional stage," he said. "The problem is, I don't know how many
years it's going to take."
http://www.asianewsnet.net
Popularity of Korean dramas surges
By Mami Tsukahara, The Daily Yomiuri, 2004-06-03
TOKYO: In addition to the huge hit drama Winter Sonata on its terrestrial network, NHK is airing two
other South Korean dramas, All In and Beautiful Days, by satellite. These three shows signify the
tremendous popularity currently enjoyed by South Korean dramas.
However, the popularity of South Korean dramas has not appeared out of the blue in Japan, which
had long strained political relations with South Korea due to the Japanese occupation of the country.
Several factors that emerged in the late 1990s have led to this popularity, according to Kizo Ogura,
assistant professor of Tokai University Foreign Language Center.
„After Hong Kong's return to Chinese administration in 1997, the number of Japanese tourists to Hong
Kong, which had been one of the most popular tourist destinations, decreased, and many of them
chose South Korea as an alternative,“ Ogura said. „Many of the tourists are young women, who don't
harbor any historically biased feelings toward Koreans.“
Ogura points to the significance of Shiri, a movie released in 2000 in Japan, which focuses on the
North-South conflict, as the trigger for the current „South Korea boom.“ The Hollywood-style movie
attracted 1.4 million viewers in Japan, chalking up 1.85 billion yen in box office sales, a record for a
South Korean movie released in Japan.
JSA, released in 2001, attracted further attention by featuring the friendship of two soldiers, one North
Korean one South Korean, who are stationed in the demilitarized zone between the two countries.
Needless to say, the 2002 soccer World Cup finals, cohosted by the two countries, also helped to
heighten enthusiasm for South Korean culture.
This rise in Japanese interest for its Asian neighbor has been reflected in a surge of students studying
the Korean language. Sales of textbooks for NHK's Tuesday and Sunday Korean-language program,
for example, have rocketed. The Japan Broadcasting Publishing Co., which publishes textbooks for
the television program, said it published up to 200,000 copies in April this year, nearly double its
scheduled 110,000, mainly due to a dramatic increase of demand after Winter Sonata started running
on terrestrial television. This was up from 90,000 copies per month in fiscal 2002, the year the World
Cup was held, which in turn was an increase of about 12% from the 80,000 monthly sales the previous
year, according to the publisher.
The popularity of „things South Korean“ is also a measure of an increase in the entertainment value of
South Korean films and their international popularity, Ogura said. According to the Korean Film
Council, 164 Korean films were exported to 56 countries worldwide in 2003, bringing in about 31
million dollars in revenue, a dramatic increase from the 17 films exported in 1991.
South Korean films also have taken a greater share of their own domestic market, surpassing the 50%
threshold in 2003. In February this year, domestic films accounted for 82.5% of ticket sales in South
Korea, a new monthly record. In 1993, their domestic share was only 15.9%.
According to Ogura, a young generation of directors and producers in their 30s and 40s, who are
familiar with Hollywood-style filmmaking and marketing methods, are responsible for spearheading the
success of the South Korean film industry.
„After the Asian financial crisis hit the film industry of South Korea, the younger generation, who had
fought for democracy up to 1987 (when the nation's last military president announced democratization)
and who learned filmmaking at college, gained strong self-confidence from the experience of securing
democracy in a bloodless revolution, and this confidence is fueling energy into their filmmaking,“
Ogura said.
„They know what kind of theme and what kind of films will be commercially successful.“ Ogura argues
that Japanese fans have found in these South Korean films something long lost in a postmodern
Japan that promotes individualism.
According to Ogura, Japanese have only recently been reminded of the importance of patriotism as a
result of problematic international relations – North Korea's aggressive attitude being one example –
while the importance of ties among family and with neighbors has become more obvious in the wake
of an increasing number of crimes committed by juveniles. Japanese have begun to see their focus on
individualism critically, and it is this individualism that is the base of the stereotypical characteristics of
most Japanese dramas, Ogura said.
Sachiko Maruyama, chief editor of the Motto Shiritai (We want to know more) series of TV fan
magazines, argues that the current South Korea boom may have helped to dramatically change
commonly held historical views of South Korea.
„Japanese in their 50s and older have been exposed to a long-held bias toward Koreans since their
childhood, but our readers of those ages now say in their letters to us that the bad image they may
have held toward South Koreans, who they had previously thought were different from them, has gone
since seeing Winter Sonata,“ Maruyama said. „This made us realize that culture has a more powerful
influence on people's minds than politics.“
http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/korea/korean_dramas.htm
Korean Dramas
Korea is riding on the „hallyu“ movement – the globalization of Korean dramas (K-dramas). Whether
it's Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, China or the U.S., viewers who watch Korean dramas are enamored
by the „real“ acting and fascinating stories that unfold before their eyes.
K-dramas are a refreshing change for many, and some, like Winter Sonata, take them back to first
loves. Others like, Dae Jang Geum, tell about history in a fascinating way with rich costumes and
realistic sets.
While some viewers may find them too „mild“ for their taste, many others will be thrilled to find tasteful,
endearing programming that reels them in and leaves them wanting more...and more...and more....and
then they're hooked only to find that they are part of the „hallyu“ movement
http://www.koreaheute.de/kultur/1002/Kul008.htm
Koreanische Pop- und TV-Kultur
Oktober 2002
Clon war ein männliches Pop-Duo, das in Korea bis vor einigen Jahren sehr populär war. Leider
wurde Kang Won-rae, eines der Mitglieder, in einem Verkehrunfall verletzt. Dadurch kam es zur
Auflösung der Gruppe. Das passierte 1999, als Clon nicht nur in Korea, sondern auch in Taiwan viele
Fans hatte. Die ausgefallenen Bühnenkostüme des Duos, ihr dynamischer Tanzstil und ihr
machohaftes Auftreten hinterließ auch bei den taiwanesischen Fans großen Eindruck. Das „Oppa,
Oppa!“-Gekreisch taiwanesischer Teenager unterschied sich nicht von dem fanatischer koreanischer
Fans, die bei den Konzerten des Duos teilweise reihenweise in Ohnmacht fielen.
In die Fußstapfen von Clon traten dann die Gruppe H.O.T. (zur Zeit nicht mehr aktiv, aber immer noch
sehr populär), NRG, Lee Jong-hyun, Baby V.O.X. und Papaya. Ebenfalls einen Namen im Ausland
machten sich die koreanischen TV- und Kinoschauspieler Ahn Jae Wook, Jang Dong gun, Song
Seung Hun, Song Hye-gyo, Lee Young-ae, Kim Nam-ju, die durch TV-Serien und Kinofilme in Taiwan
eine enorme Beliebtheit erlangten. Was macht die Faszination der koreanischen Pop- und
Fernsehkultur für taiwanesische Fans aus?
In Taiwan, China, Japan, Vietnam, und anderen asiatischen Ländern hat sich ein wahres HallyuFieber ausgebreitet. Hallyu steht für „kulturelle Strömung aus Korea“. Hallyu kommt jetzt sogar nach
Singapur und Thailand. Der Enthusiasmus für koreanische Pop- und Fernsehkultur, der Ende der
1990er Jahre begann, ist heute genauso stark wie zuvor. Am meisten haben koreanische TV-Serien
zu dem Trend beigetragen. Hallyu breitete sich auf dem chinesischen Festland aus, nachdem Chinas
CCTV Kanal 1 die koreanische Serie „Was ist Liebe?“ auszustrahlen begann. Das Programm hatte
Zuschauerquoten von 43 Prozent, was zu der Zeit eine hohe Zahl für eine ausländische Serie war.
Danach wurde die Serie noch einmal bei verschiedenen anderen chinesischen Sendern gezeigt.
Darauf folgten die koreanischen Serien „Stern meines Herzens“ und „Liebe in deinem Herzen“ in
Taiwan und Vietnam, die dafür sorgten, dass das Hallyu-Fieber sich weiter in Südostasien ausbreitete.
Dann kamen die sensationellen Erfolge koreanischer Popgruppen wie Clon, NRG und H.O.T., die den
Boom noch verstärkten. Nach seinem Konzert in Peking Anfang 2000 stand H.O.T. für eine Rekordzeit
von 5 Monaten auf Platz eins auf der Beliebtheitsskala beim chinesischen Musikmagazin Dang Dai Ge
Tan. Das Magazin hat eine Auflage von über einer Million.
In Vietnam haben eigentlich selbst die jungen Leute negative Gefühle gegenüber Korea, weil es
immer noch viele Ressentiments wegen der Beteiligung der koreanischen Truppen am Vietnam-Krieg
gibt. Trotzdem ist es den koreanischen Popgruppen gelungen, die jungen Vietnamesen für sich zu
gewinnen und ihnen ein positiveres Bild von Korea zu vermitteln. Heute tragen selbst Mittelschüler
und Universitätsstudenten in Vietnam Bilder mit koreanischen Popstars auf ihren T-Shirts.
Haarschnitte und Acessoires von koreanischen Popstars entwickeln sich schnell zu neuen
Modetrends.
Junge Chinesen koreanischer Abstammung werden oft in China gefragt, ob sie nicht die Texte von
koreanischen Songs von H.O.T. aufschreiben und ihre Bedeutung erklären können. Auch
Musikkassetten und Poster gehören zu den beliebtesten Geschenken, die chinesische Schüler von
ihren koreanischen Freunden erhalten. Deshalb wünschen sich immer mehr junge Chinesen
Brieffreunde in Korea.
Allein in China wurden Aufnahmen von H.O.T. und NRG mehr als 400 000-mal verkauft. H.O.T.s
Konzert in Peking im Februar 2000 zog 1300 Fans an. In China werden die Korener, die sich für alles
Koreanische begeistern, auch hanhanzhu oder „Korea-Verrückte“ genannt. Manche von ihnen haben
sogar koreanische Flaggen in ihren Schultaschen. Obwohl koreanische Produkte etwa fünfmal so
teuer wie chinesische sind, sind sie bei den Jugendlichen ein Hit. Besonders die Kinder hochrangiger
chinesischer Kader und die Nouveau Riche bewundern koreanische Kultur. Auch die Zahl der Leute,
die Koreanisch lernen wollen, hat sich erhöht.
Nachdem in Japan die koreanischen Filme ‚Shiri' und ‚JSA' gezeigt wurden, begannen auch die
Japaner, Interesse für Korea zu zeigen. Der koreanische Film ‚JSA' wurde in 359 japanischen Kinos
gezeigt und erreichte in nur zwei Monaten Zuschauerrekorde von 800 000 Besuchern. Der Umsatz
belief sich auf sieben Millionen US-Dollar (10 Milliarden Won). Die Vertriebsrechte für den
koreanischen Kinofilm ‚Freunde' betrugen für den japanischen Markt 21 Millionen US-Dollar. Dies ist
ein Rekordpreis. Japaner sagen, dass koreanische Filme originelle Themen und einen hohen
Unterhaltungswert haben.
Wie kommt es zu dem plötzlichen Hallyu-Fieber in Asien? In den 1970er und 1980er Jahren boomten
in Korea die Hong-Kong-Filme. Die Filme ‚Enter the Dragon' und ‚Better Tomorrow' mit Bruce Lee und
Chow Yun-fat zogen zahllose koreanische Kinobesucher in ihren Bann. Die gelben Boxershorts, die
Bruce Lee in seinen Filmen trug, wurden zum Kult. Koreaner, die heute zwischen 20 und 40 sind,
erinnern sich immer noch an Bruce Lees unvergleichliche Geste, wie er mit dem Daumen über seine
Nasenspitze strich und einen Schrei ausstieß, bevor er zum Angriff auf sein nächstes Opfer überging.
Zu der Zeit sorgten Lees Filme nicht nur dafür, dass Koreaner sich ein besseres Bild von der
chinesischen Kultur machen konnten, sondern führten auch dazu, dass Koreaner mehr über die
Chinesen wissen wollten.
Ein Grund dafür, dass Chinesen heute so viel Enthusiasmus für koreanische Kultur aufbringen, liegt
wahrscheinlich darin, dass die koreanische Kultur, die Elemente westlicher und koreanischer Kultur
verbindet, der chinesischen Mentalität eher entspricht als die japanische Kultur, die bereits sehr
verwestlicht ist und viele „extreme“ Elemente enthält. Asiaten beschreiben die koreanische Kultur, die
sie in koreanischen TV-Serien sehen, als „einzigartig“. Manche glauben, dass die Kultur Koreas,
obwohl sie eine Mischung aus japanischen und amerikanischen Elementen enthält, dennoch
erfrischend anders ist, weil in ihr die koreanische Sensibilität sichtbar wird.
Auf dem chinesischen Musikmarkt herrschen vor allem Balladen vor. Die dynamische und
unkonventionelle koreanische Popmusik hilft, die unterdrückten Wünsche einer neuen Generation von
Chinesen zu erfüllen. Durch koreanische Popmusik können Chinesen Rebellion zum Ausdruck
bringen.
Koreanische Unternehmen versuchen, aus dem gegenwärtigen Hallyu-Fieber Kapital zu schlagen.
Eine Anzahl von Gruppen-Touren werden angeboten, um mehr ausländische Touristen nach Korea zu
bringen. Die Popstars sind zu Touristenattraktionen geworden – viele Fans aus Übersee wollen das
Heimatland ihrer Idole besuchen.
Nachdem die koreanische Serie ‚Autumn Fairy Tale' sich 13 Wochen lang an der Spitze der Charts in
Taiwan hielt, organisierte die Korea National Tourism Organization (KNTO) eine ‚Autumn Fairy Tale
Tour'. Im August letzten Jahres gab es dann ein ‚Ahn-Jae-Wook-Camp' am Yangji-Resort in der
Gyeonggi-Provinz, das etwa 250 chinesische und taiwanesische Touristen anzog. „Obwohl die Reise
etwa 20 Prozent teurer als eine normale Pauschalreise war, hatten wir keine Probleme, Leute zu
finden“, bemerkte ein KNTO-Sprecher. „Dieses Tourangebot ist so beliebt, dass praktisch jeder
chinesische Reisende davon gehört hat.“
Die Hauptkonsumenten koreanischer Popmusik sind chinesische Teenager. Deshalb sind sie auch die
Hauptzielgruppe koreanischer Reiseanbieter. Im August 2001 gab es zum Beispiel ein dreitägiges
Pauschalreisenangebot, um beliebte Sänger wie NRG und Baby V.O.X. in Korea zu sehen.
In Taiwan führten die koreanischen TV-Dramen ‚Invitation' und ‚Flame of Fire' mit dem Star Lee
Young-ae zu einer großen Nachfrage nach koreanischer Mode und Kosmetika. In Vietnam haben die
Schauspieler Jang Dong-gun und Kim Nam-ju solche große Anhängerschaft, dass die Produkte von
‚L'-Kosmetik, für die die Schauspielerin Kim Nam-ju Werbung macht, sehr guten Absatz finden,
obwohl sie mehr als ein Drittel des monatlichen Lohns eines durchschnittlichen Vietnamesen kosten.
Chinesische Mobilfunkunternehmen versuchen verstärkt, koreanische Entertainer anzuheuern, um
ihre Produkte an den Mann zu bringen und dadurch einen größeren Anteil auf dem riesigen
chinesischen Mobilfunkmarkt zu ergattern.
Pläne, ein ‚Hallyu Boom 2000'-Konzert in Peking aufzuführen, schlugen fehl, nachdem ein Angestellter
von Merit-21-Entertainment, der koreanische Organisator des Events, mit dem Geld der Firma
durchbrannte und verschiedene Rechnungen des Unternehmens nicht bezahlte. Daraufhin
verhängten die chinesischen Autoritäten ein „Auftrittsverbot für koreanische Sänger in den nächsten
fünf Jahren“. Zum Glück wurde dieses Verbot bereits nach sechs Monaten wieder aufgehoben, und
koreanische Stars durften wieder in Peking auftreten. Dennoch wird noch einige Anstrengung nötig
sein, um das negative Image vergessen zu machen.
Wie lange diese Hallyu-Welle andauern wird, ist ungewiss. Einige sind der Meinung, dass sich die
japanische und amerikanische Kultur länger halten können werden. Die Tatsache, dass die
koreanische Popkultur lange blind der westlichen Kultur gefolgt ist und kaum eigenständige
koreanische Elemente entwickelt hat, könnte zum Problem werden. Auch wenn die Hallyu-Welle nun
schon einige Jahre anhält, könnte sie bald wieder abflauen, wenn es der koreanischen Popkultur nicht
gelingt, ein eigenständiges koreanisches Image zu schaffen, das sie von der Popmusik anderer
Länder abhebt. GS
http://www.korea.net/news/news/NewsView.asp?serial_no=20050606010&part=103&SearchDay=
Korea asks China to ease regulations on 'hallyu'
June 06, 2005
South Korea has asked China to streamline complex procedures imposed on its cultural projects being
undertaken there, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said on Monday (June 6).
China confirmed that it has tightened regulations on foreign cultural projects, including Korea's, during
a meeting between officials of the two countries on cultural exchanges and cooperation held in Seoul
on May 30, an official said.
It is the first time that South Korea has ever made such a request to China to promote its pop culture,
dubbed „hallyu” or the Korea wave in China.
Koo Bon-woo, a senior ministry official, who attended the meeting, said he requested China should
ease complicated procedures that require a lot of time to approve South Korean cultural projects.
„We asked the Chinese officials to simplify those procedures,” Koo said. „And we also requested
China to fix other regulations that oblige Korean entertainers to bear additional costs.”
For example, when Korean singers perform in China, they have to make a contract with a Chinese firm
under local regulations, which cause an additional cost to them, he added.
Chinese officials asked for Seoul's patience, saying they are aware of the problems but that all foreign
activities including cultural events require permission from the their government.
„If Korean entertainers jump into the Chinese cultural market without proper knowledge of Chinese
rules and regulations, they may face unexpected costs,” Koo quoted a Chinese official as saying.
„However, we are now considering easing regulations with the accession to the World Trade
Organization (WTO).”
Koo said that the Korean government will wait until next year for action, as China regard the „hallyu”
fever positive and promised to review the regulations blocking the expansion of „hallyu.”
South Korean entertainers, who want to jump on the bandwagon of the hallyu sweeping China, have
complained that it takes too much time and money to hold performances in the neighboring country
due to the regulations.
http://www.knto.or.kr/eng/hallyu/hallyuintro.html
Hallyu (Korean Wave) Tourist Marketing
Background
Hallyu (Korean Wave – enthusiasm for Korean pop culture) began when Korean soap opera was first
introduced to China and Taiwan at the end of 20th century, and now it includes many areas such as
Korean pops, movies, computer games, fashion items in countries like Hong Kong, Vietnam,
Singapore and Thailand.
Many including Korean mass media agencies paid great attention to this fever in the beginning of
2001, and many suspected that such „ social phenomenon“ would not last long. However, it seems
that it is not merely a „fever“, but is a social phenomenon. Considering current circumstances until
now, it cannot be regarded just a temporary trend as it is linked with others and forms a social cycle in
many different ways.
Such phenomenon renewed national image of Korea, which renders foreigners to have a great desire
for Korean products as well as trips to Korea. Hallyu fever is significant and efficient in international
marketing in tourism. Promoting tourism in Korea that takes advantage of Hallyu fever will eventually
make it last longer and take root within society, and such will in turn result in a synergy.
Hallyu (Korean Wave)
Hallyu (Korean Wave) indicates Korean pop culture that is popular in China and Southeast Asian
nations. This word was first coined by Chinese mass media in the middle of 1999. Hallyu (韓流) was
first derived from Chinese word '寒流', which are homonyms. The original word (寒流) means that
another culture is penetrating deep into their own, and the derived word (韓流) has been used instead
of the original word to indicate the fever, because the first character in the derived word indicates
Korea. The fever represents culture of young generations in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam and
other Asian nations who are deeply into Korean pop culture, admire Korean celebrities and try to learn
about the culture.
Shin Hallyu (新韓流 New Hallyu)
Shin Hallyu is a new trend that focuses on producing profits in fields such as tourism, shopping,
fashion industry by taking advantage of the ongoing Hallyu fever in Asian nations. That is, it is the
promotion activities that attract foreign tourists into Korea. These foreign tourists come to Korea in
order to go to concerts of their favorite Korean singers, or they come to visit the movie set or location
where their favorite Korean soapie was shot, and others come to Korea for shopping. The new trend
implies the will to gain profits using Hallyu fever.
Interest in Hallyu
Analysis
As the chart of survey on the Access to Korean Pop Culture indicates, access to Korean soap opera is
the highest among other categories, and it reflects Korea Fever has strongly affected them.
Participants of China International Trade Mart (CITM, Shanghai) 2002 answered the survey (CITM is
the biggest international tourism exhibition in Asia). Participants of CITM included people engaged in
tour industry and mass media. About 33.4% of these people have had access to Korean soap opera,
which is the highest figure, and 22.1% and 9.9% of people have had access to Korean traditional
music and pop songs respectively.
A survey conducted by Korea Foreign Trade Association shows that people had more access to soap
opera (34%) than to Korean food (27%), Korea pop songs (22%) and traditional music (11%). The
survey was done in China, where Korean soap opera is aired far less than in other Southeastern Asian
nations. If a similar survey is conducted in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and other countries, then
the figure is expected to be much higher than that of China.
In a survey asking what is the most impressive thing about Korea, the number of people who chose
„Hallyu“ were the second highest. The number of people who chose Hallyu (32.8%) is higher than that
of those who chose economy (19.8%), soccer (23.8%), Korean food (12.6%) and Taekwondo (10.9%).
This tendency is more apparent and the ratio of preferences over Hallyu to others is higher in CITM
survey conducted in 2002 than the survey in 2001 when Hallyu fever first began.
According to the survey by ITF (International Travel Fair, Taipei), the number of people who chose
Hallyu (52.83%) is by far the highest than those who chose other categories such as economy
(23.8%), Worldcup (13.58%), Korean food (7.17%), ski (16.98%) and plastic surgery (5.94%).
In this survey, it shows that foreigners' impression on Korea has grown more favorable after the World
cup, and so it seems that the World cup has contributed to this result. In the survery by CITM in 2002,
figures for categories 'better', 'worse', 'same' and 'others' were 69.7%, 3.2%, 20.8% and 6.3%
respectively, and in the survey by ITF, the results for categories 'very good', 'good', 'so-so', 'not good'
and 'bad' were 27.26%, 29.81%, 28.11%, 3.77% and 1.04% respectively.
In a survey asking what is the most decisive source of information when choosing a travel destination
abroad, mass media is shown to have the greatest influence. In the survey by CITM in 2002 were as
following: Mass media (34%), travel guidebook (25.7%), travel agency (24.5%), relatives/friends
(6.8%), others (9%). In the survey by ITF were as following: Mass media (20.63%), advertisement
(19.28%), recommendation from acquaintance (19.28%), travel agency (15.7%), travel guidebook
(11.66%), business trip (7.17%), the Internet (6.28%).
In a survey on favorite tourist sites in Korea conducted by ITF, those who chose Seoul (28.11%) and
Soap opera shooting location (25.66%) showed higher percentages than those who chose Jejudo
Island (16.04%), Gangwondo (5.85%), amusement park (6.7%), ski resort (16.9%) and others (0.6%).
Such result shows that the travel destination was largely affected by Hallyu fever.
This survey was conducted on people who participated in International Travel Fair, and these people
included those who are engaged in tourism business and in mass media. The result stands out
because people preferred shooting locations to other tourist sites such as Seoul (famous city for
shopping) and ski resorts (which is also very popular among Taiwanese). The result is note-worthy as
people's interest does not lie in specific region but in shooting locations.
There are more than hundreds of fan clubs of Korean celebrities in Taiwan as well as in China, Hong
Kong, Thailand, Singapore and other Asian countries. They are mainly comprised of young
generations using the Internet, and they are quick in sharing opinions and very active in their activities
as fans.
These fan clubs are currently collecting and sharing information about their favorite stars, and they
even organize and give help at events when their favorite stars visit their countries. Hallyu fever is
maintained and spread by these fan clubs. These people are also big fans of Korea. They purchase all
different kinds of items that once belonged to their favorite stars, or music records of their favorite
singers using information acquired from Korean soap opera and movies. It is a great source of foreign
currency. Some fans come to Korea to see their stars in groups, and they are playing significant roles
in terms of placing tourists in Korea. Korea National Tourism Organization (KNTO) is actively
concentrating on overseas marketing on these people by supporting and providing them with
information through overseas branches.
Foreign tourists of Hallyu
KNTO has come up with tour packages that focus on soap opera shooting locations and many
different products such as Red Devils products, taking advantage of Korea's renewed national image
after the World cup. KNTO has also placed about 130,000 foreign tourists through star marketing.
Such figure, however, is just a mere number of people who visited Korea. Considering great influence
on those who are into Hallyu fever, and the effects on people, which heightened their desire to visit
Korea through active marketing in many aspects, the potentiality of such influences is much greater
than the mere number of actual results.
Hallyu fever could be a natural outcome arising from cultural differences and unique characteristics of
different culture. However, KNTO has contributed a great deal in the beginning and spread of Hallyu
fever. The role played by KNTO is closely related to Hallyu fever in overseas marketing. Various soap
operas and advertisements were provided by KNTO, and KNTO focused on linking entertainment
business with tourism in Korea. Marketing was mainly targeted on young women when holding various
exhibitions, and KNTO chose appropriate marketing strategy. KNTO made the best use of Hallu fever
when conducting special exhibitions or events. KNTO also worked hard to gain the most out of various
events, tourism in Korea, and mass media in foreign countries in order to have the most desirable
results. Such overseas marketing resulted in spread of Hallyu fever, long-lasting Hallyu effects by
securing Hallyu manias and enhancing the Hallyu fever itself.
Koreans first paid attention to Hallyu fever when Korea co-hosted New Korea Stream 2001 with China.
The event was held to gain benefits from overseas Hallyu fever by reprocessing it in a way that it
might have the most profitable effects on tourism, fashion industry and shopping in Korea. Therefore,
the event mainly emphasized on overseas marketing. Main theme of the event was „street fashion
show“: it drew great attention from foreign mass media agencies, and the main purpose of the event
was to attract attention to major tourist attractions in Korea and to introduce them to the world. Many
influential mass media agencies such as New China News Agency, Beijing TV, Shanghai Oriental TV,
TVBS in Taiwan, Star TV – Hong Kong, and TBS in Japan joined the event. Along with „street fashion
show“, Chinese models toured in Gyeongbokgung Palace, Yejiwon and Korea House (where visitors
can experience Korean traditions), and they also learned Taekwondo (Korean martial art) and visited
Dongdaemun (major shopping area in Korea) and Korean-style hot bath called Hanjeungmak, and
such was done in order to introduce a variety of tourist attractions in Korea. Benefits arising from
foreign mass media agencies airing such event back at their home countries turned out to be
approximately 10 billion Won (based on the estimate costs if they were to be spent on actual
advertisement in each of these agencies). The event not only raised interests among foreign mass
media agencies but also among local agencies that it offered opportunities for locals to use Hallyu
fever to its best.
What is most noteworthy in Hallyu marketing in 2002 is in using soap operas. In 2001, tour packages
related to popular soap opera called „Autumn in my heart“ have been very successful in the market.
With this success, there have been concerted efforts to make the most out of another soap opera
called „Winter Sonata“. Both of these soap operas were by the same producer and drew great
attention to both of soapies in Korea too. Both of them have beautiful scenes and sad story lines that
bring tears to eyes, which is mainly targeting on young women, and this is closely related to the
strategy used in promoting tourism in Korea as the Hallyu strategy also targets on young generations,
particularly on women.
Developing tour package of „Winter Sonata“ started out systematically from the very beginning. It was
planned and promoted even before the soap opera was aired, and such efforts resulted in greater
achievements than that of „Autumn in my heart“. The package targeted on Taiwan, Hong Kong,
Singapore and succeeded in placing about 50 to 60 thousand foreign tourists, and it became the major
area in Hallyu marketing.
Although Taiwan is the center to many fans of Hallyu, there are great difficulties in securing seats in
flights to and from Korea. In the mean time, promotion on Hallyu fever has been in the process
through overseas branches that the number of Hallyu fans has been on the dramatic rise.
There has been urgent need to secure more flights between Korea and Taiwan, and with great efforts
on stressing on such needs, Fushing Airline and Fareast Airline of Taiwan, and Korean Air are allowed
to operate between these two countries, although it is only temporary. It bears a great meaning
because flights between two countries were ceased in 1992 when the diplomatic relations between
these two nations was broken. This event has provided a basis of opening of airways, which was not
possible due to the political problems. Hallyu fever has brought about the opening of airways. This
matter only applies to Taiwan, but such active Hallyu marketing in other countries such as Hong Kong,
Singapore, Malaysia, and Russia as well has helped in increasing foreign tourists to Korea and
spreading Hallyu fever.
Along with Hallyu marketing, new culture such as activities by Red Devils (a group of soccer fans in
Korea who showed great enthusiasm for their home team) at the World cup games in June last year
was introduced to the world, and by developing new products using Red Devils' images, more than
20,000 foreign tourists visited Korea. It also suggests that cheering by Red Devils could also take part
successfully in Hallyu fever, which was known to comprise only of pop culture such as soap opera,
movie and pop music. Hallyu, therefore is not merely a temporary trend created and maintained by
marketing or strategy of particular individual or companies (i.e.: entertainment or record companies),
but a social phenomenon which is led by the whole nation.
Strategy of marketing in tourism (Regional Goals)
China/Southeastern Asia
Promote active and continuous marketing to maintain Hallyu fever that introduces new national image
to the world.
Develop products and packages relating Hallyu fever in order to replace the shortage of tourist
attractions.
Increase marketing on customers who are in the main streams of Hallyu fever.
Japan
Continue introducing Korean culture to the general public to bring about Hallyu fever.
Make a variety of materials and programs that introduce Korea to the public by using famous
celebrities and their images.
Europe and America
Work on introducing tourism in Korea and Korean culture in Korean communities.
Work on arousing people's interests in Korean culture by supporting sports stars and performances.
Emphasize on unique characteristics in Korean culture.
http://www.taz.de
08.05.2006
Ein panasiatischer Erfolg
TV-Serien, Kino-Melodramen und Komödien aus Südkorea finden ein begeistertes Publikum
von TILMAN BAUMGÄRTEL
Bei diesem Projekt wird nicht gekleckert, sondern geklotzt: In Gyeonggi, der Gegend nordwestlich der
südkoreanischen Hauptstadt Seoul, soll ein Vergnügungspark entstehen. Für fast 2 Millarden Euro soll
ein Stück Land von einem Quadratkilometer entwickelt werden, auf dem neben einem Freizeitpark
auch Veranstaltungshallen, Fernsehstudios, Multimedia-Agenturen, Medienforschungsinstitute und
eine Medienschule angesiedelt werden sollen - eine "Pop-Culture-Cluster-City", wie es in der
englischsprachigen Selbstdarstellung heißt. Und die wird von höchster Stelle protegiert. Die Regierung
beteiligt sich an den Kosten, und aus der Hauptstadt Seoul soll eine direkte Bahnverbindung zu dem
Gelände gebaut werden. Der Name des Projekts: Hallyu Wood.
Hallyu Wood? Außer beinharten Asia-Pop-Fanatikern dürfte dieser Begriff im Westen bisher kaum
jemandem bekannt sein. In Asien hingegen ist "Hallyu", das koreanische Wort für "Welle", inzwischen
ein geläufiger Begriff für ein Phänomen, das in den letzten Jahren ein asiatisches Land nach dem
anderen heimsucht: der sagenhafte und vollkommen unerwartete Erfolg von Kinofilmen,
Fernsehserien und Popmusik aus Südkorea. Das Land, dessen Popkultur bis vor fünf Jahren
außerhalb der Landesgrenzen so gut wie unbekannt war, ist gerade dabei, ganz Asien im Sturm zu
nehmen. Die Südkoreaner, bisher nicht gerade an besonderes Interesse an ihrer Heimat gewöhnt,
wollen nun reagieren: Zum "Hallyu Wood"-Komplex soll auch ein "Hallyu"-Museum gehören, in dem
das Phänomen gebührend aufgearbeitet werden soll.
Begonnen hat das Korea-Fieber 2002 mit der Fernsehserie "Winter Sonata". Das Melodrama um
unerfüllte Liebe und Unfalltote rührte Teenagerinnen, Mädchen und Hausfrauen in ganz Asien zu
Tränen. In Japan, Hongkong, Taiwan, China und den Philippinen, aber auch in Teilen Russlands
erreichte die Serie Rekordquoten. Oh Su Yeon, der Autor der "Koreanovela", ließ auf "Winter Sonata"
umgehend "Autumn Story" and "Summer Scent" folgen.
Die Serie machte den koreanische Schauspieler Bae Yong Joon, der in "Winter Sonata" und einigen
anderen Soaps und Liebesfilmen die Hauptrolle spielte, zum gesamtasiatischen Superstar. Seine
Auftritte lösen in Städten wie Hongkong, Tokio oder Taipei regelmäßig tumultartige Szenen aus. Als er
Ende des vergangenen Jahres in Peking seinen neuen Film "April Snow" vorstellte, wurde der in einer
der größten Hallen der Stadt präsentiert. Und obwohl der Eintritt 40 Euro betrug, war diese
ausverkauft. Die Besucher waren zum Teil aus Schanghai und anderen weit entfernten chinesischen
Städten angereist.
Plakate in Peking
Aber es sind nicht nur die südkoreanischen Soap Operas, die in ganzen Asien erfolgreich sind. Auch
Kino-Melodramen und Komödien wie "My Wife is a Gangster" sind im Kino und auf DVD
Riesenerfolge. Im Westen ist bisher vor allem das anspruchsvollere südkoreanische Kino der letzten
Jahren auf Beachtung gestoßen. Spätestens seit der Regisseur Park Chan Wook 2004 für "Old Boy"
bei den Filmfestspielen von Cannes den Großen Preis der Jury erhielt, interessieren sich europäische
und amerikanische Cineasten für die Filme von koreanischen Arthouse-Regisseuren wie Kim Ki Duk
("Frühling, Sommer, Herbst, Winter … und Frühling", 2003, "Die Insel", 2000).
In Asien ist es dagegen eher das südkoreanische Unterhaltungskino, das ankommt - besonders
romantische Komödien wie "My Sassy Girl". So leicht dieser unglaublich erfolgreiche Film über eine
Studentenromanze auch daherkommt, so gibt er doch Auskunft über Entwicklungen in der
südkoreanischen Gesellschaft der letzten Jahre. Die Protagonistin, die ihren Freund Kyun Woo
herumkommandiert und sich regelmäßig bewusstlos trinkt, ist weit entfernt vom Klischee der devoten
Asiatin und kann als Ausdruck der veränderten Rolle der Frau in der ehedem extrem konservativen
und patriarchalischen koreanischen Gesellschaft betrachtet werden. Die Hauptdarstellerin Jun Ji Hyun
wirbt inzwischen asienweit für Digitalkameras und Kosmetik und lächelt von Plakatwänden von Peking
bis Singapur herab.
Der grenzüberschreitende Durchbruch von Filmen ist für Asien - anders als für Europa - ein
vollkommen neues Phänomen. Bis auf die Kung-Fu-Filme der 70er- und 80er-Jahre aus Hongkong hat
es bisher nur sehr selten panasiatische Filmerfolge gegeben. In den meisten Ländern der Region
dominiert entweder das nationale oder das US-amerikanische Kino. Anrainerstaaten werden in Asien
kaum wahrgenommen, oft ist der kulturelle Bezug zu den ehemaligen Kolonialherren größer als zu
den Nachbarn.
Nur wenige Schauspieler - Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee oder Michelle Yeoh - wurden in der Vergangenheit
gesamtasiatische Stars. Auf die koreanischen Erfolge ist hingegen inzwischen sogar schon Hollywood
aufmerksam geworden und kauft Filmrechte. Nach den diversen Remakes von japanischen
Horrorfilmen wie "The Ring" oder "The Grudge" wird es wohl demnächst einige Remakes von
koreanischen Filmen wie "My Sassy Girl", "My Wife is a Gangster" und "Old Boy" geben.
Das plötzliche Interesse an ihrem Land ist Balsam für die Seelen der Südkoreaner, die sich
jahrzehntelang entweder als missachtete Außenseiter oder hilflose Opfer empfunden haben.
Jahrhundertelang war das Land immer wieder von seinen großen Nachbarn China und Japan
überrannt worden und wurde zuletzt Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts von den Japanern mehr als 30
Jahre mit äußerster Grausamkeit als Kolonie gehalten. Was für ein Triumph, wenn japanische
Hausfrauen nun über die Liebesverwirrungen in Serien wie "Eternal Love" oder "Stairway to Heaven"
bittere Tränen vergießen.
Seit "Winter Sonata" wollen Leute aus ganz Asien nach Korea, das zuvor kaum Reisende anlockte.
Die schneereiche und bergige Gangwon-Do-Region im Nordosten Südkoreas, in der die Serie spielt,
wurde vorher selbst von Koreanern kaum besucht. Nun ist sie eine Touristenattraktion, zu der
Reisegruppen aus Japan und Taiwan pilgern, um die Parkbank zu bewundern, auf der sich Jun Sang
und Yoo Jin zum ersten Mal küssen.
Das koreanische Fremdenverkehrsamt bietet inzwischen Pauschalreisen zu den Drehorten von
"Winter Sonata" an. 2005 kam eine knappe halbe Million Touristen, um Locations dieser und anderer
koreanischen Serien zu besuchen - unter anderem die einst einsamen Namiseom-Inseln, auf die das
Liebespaar in "Winter Sonata" einen Ausflug macht. Die Behörde schätzt, dass im vergangenen Jahr
insgesamt eine Million Gäste durch die "Hallyu"-Begeisterung nach Korea gekommen seien; der Profit,
den die Tourismusindustrie gemacht hat, wird auf mehr als 9 Milliarden Euro geschätzt.
Der Boom hat System. Hinter den Kulissen hat die koreanische Kulturbehörden zum Erfolg von
koreanischen Serien beigetragen. Die Soap Operas wurden zum Teil zu Dumpingpreisen ins Ausland
verkauft, um Südkoreas Ansehen in der Region zu stärken. Ganz klar wollen die Koreaner, nachdem
sie in den 90er-Jahren zur wirtschaftlichen Großmacht aufgestiegen sind, nun auch kulturell
international mitspielen.
Schmachtende Blicke
Auch der Erfolg des koreanischen Films ist Ergebnis staatlicher Intervention. Trotz regelmäßiger
Proteste der USA hat Südkorea bis heute ein Quotensystem, nach dem nur die Hälfte aller Filme in
koreanischen Kinos ausländische Produktionen sein dürften. Der Rest ist für lokale Produktionen
reserviert, die zudem durch staatliche Subventionen gefördert werden. Dadurch ist es in Korea
gelungen, die Dominanz amerikanischer Blockbuster-Produktionen in den Kinos zu vermeiden, die
zum Beispiel dem Hongkong-Film langsam das Ende zu bereiten scheint. Damit könnte es jetzt
allerdings bald vorbei sein: Um einen Freihandelsvertrag mit den USA zu erwirken, hat sich die
südkoreanische Regierung bereit erklärt, die Quote für koreanische Filme zu kürzen. Statt an 146
Tagen wie bisher sollen dann nur noch an 73 Tagen lokale Produktionen im Kino laufen. Die
koreanische Filmindustrie befürchtet große finanzielle Einbußen.
Dem westliche Betrachter mögen solche Serien etwas spießig erscheinen. Das ist freilich genau der
Grund, warum die koreanischen Produktionen in der Region so beliebt sind. Selbst in Serien, in denen
junge Leute im Mittelpunkt stehen, geht es nie um Sex, Gewalt oder andere Exzesse, sondern um
sittsame, romantische Konflikte. Gut aussehende, junge Menschen missverstehen sich, schmachten
und leiden still, ein waidwunder Blick sagt mehr als tausend Worte, und erst ganz am Ende finden sie
doch noch zusammen. Die Betonung des Melodramatischen ist besonders bei einem Land wie Korea
erstaunlich, in dem das Wort für romantische Liebe erst Anfang des vergangenen Jahrhunderts als
Lehnwort aus dem Japanischen aufkam und dessen Touristen im Rest Asiens wegen ihrer Grobheit
und Unhöflichkeit gefürchtet sind.
Serien wie die gerade phänomenal erfolgreiche "Jewel in the Palace" appellieren ganz offen an
Traditionsbewusstsein und asiatische "family values". Das kommt nicht nur in der Region gut an: Als
"Winter Sonata" Ende des vergangenen Jahres in Ägypten im Fernsehen gezeigt wurde, war die Serie
so erfolgreich, dass die koreanische Produktionsfirma anschließend ein arabisches Diskussionsforum
auf der Website der Serie einrichtete. Auf dieser können sich nun auch die neuen ägyptischen Fans
von Bae Yong Joon über dessen eingefärbte braune Strähnchen und seine John-Lennon-Brille
austauschen.
http://www.aroundseoul.com/article.php?id=9
Seoul: The land of man-bags, high heels and short skirts in winter.
Dec. 20, 2007
Author: Keren
Our social status is determined by so many things and quite obviously fashion is one of them. But
fashion, like beauty, is most certainly in the eye of the beholder. Often, what you think looks fit for
America's next Top Model, is maybe scoffed at by your partner of friends, if not to your face, most
certainly behind your back. Not only does fashion differ amongst us and our friends, but also between
different social groups within our surrounding areas. Most, if not all social groups are identified by their
sense of fashion (or lack thereof). But on a larger scale, there is the vast difference in fashion between
the continents. And with this concept we are all familiar; the runways of Milan and Paris seem so
exquisite when viewed on the big screen of the fashion cafes, while the butch designer outfits of
Germany and Belgium are maybe not quite so exquisite. But, having paged through a million fashion
magazines and having gone to an international foreign university with people from all corners of the
globe, I can honestly say that I have never witnessed such fashion hypocrisies, blunders and
peculiarities as I have in South Korea, Asia.
Upon arriving here, I felt like I had been transported onto the set of Flashdance or Working Girl. Am I
in the right decade? Are you sure this isn't the year 1986?
For the next few weeks, I walked with my mouth hanging open, aghast at the fashion "trends" I
encountered. My friends and I actually sat on a park bench in Nowon, watching the "models" exit Lotte
World. We had opted for this entertaining activity instead of going to see a movie. Sitting in the street,
instead of going to a movie like normal people? Even the Korean passers-by tilted their heads a little
at the sight of three foreigners sitting on the side of the road, and smoking! The absolute shame of it
all!
But guys, the joke was on you, because with every man that walked by with a man-bag, the laughs got
louder and louder. My Irish friend even snapped a couple shots in between bursts of laughter just to
"show me man back home". Because without a photo, they just wouldn't have believed her.
The "do's and don'ts" of fashion have taken on a completely different meaning here in Korea. Actually
a reverse way of thinking might get you looking good (not only while dancing to "What a feeling" in the
privacy of your own home) but also out on the streets.
If you get confused, just think, "If it's acceptable back home, it's outrageous here and if it's laughable
at home, it's fashionable here!"
To help you out a little, here are the 10 commandments of Korean fashion:
1. Girls: High heals are a must! Never wear comfortable shoes. Even when walking far distances, the
more uncomfortable, the trendier. Trainers are not acceptable after high school. Ever. Not even when
you're on your way to gym.
2. Boys: Always carry a handbag. Not a backpack or an office bag. A handbag. And when it's shinier
and bigger than your girlfriend's, you're on the right track.
3. Girls: Always cover the shoulders. No matter what time of the year, what social occasion, always
cover those sexy shoulders. After all, you don't want to be tempted with the offers on the road, ranging
from "How much-ie?" to "You, prossie?"
4. Boys: Always use as many feminine cosmetics as possible before leaving the house. A manicure
and a facial at least once every 2 weeks is a must, to keep you in the running for "Korea's best turned
out man"
5. Girls: As the temperature decreases, so should the length of your already-short skirts. If it's too cold
for you, there is a wide range of boots available at most subway stations, originating from the style
used in Pretty Woman.
6. Boys: Fix your hair at any time during the day when you can find a mirror or even a reflection of
yourself. Even if you think it still looks exactly like it did when you left the house, I can assure you it
doesn't.
7. Girls: A must in your wardrobe is blouses. Now I know that the last time you wore an article of
clothing even remotely resembling a blouse was in first grade when you had to go to your
grandmother's 80th birthday beside the local church, but it really is rather feminine. And the winning
touch is the big brooch or flower or frill on the high collar that keeps the chest mostly, or completely
concealed.
8. Boys: If you find a shirt in your girlfriend's wardrobe that looks as though it will fit you (tightly) and
look quite good, wear it! Even if the clothes you wear are slightly feminine, it's a step in the right
direction because the more feminine, the better!
9. Girls: Never leave the house without make-up (or if possible, surgery). And don't worry about not
being able to find the smoky, subtle colours that you have recently run out of since living here,
because all the major cosmetic outlets have a wide variety of turquoise and pink eyeshadow, as well
as a huge selection of red lipstick and nail vanish.
10. Boys: Convince your girlfriends to spice up your love-life by buying a few "couple outfits". Not just
matching tops, but the entire outfit. These are also sold at major clothing outlets all around Seoul. If
you see the handbags for men, you're in the right store.
I know the transition will be hard, but you'll soon get the hang of it. Soon you'll be on a subway feeling
quite comfortable within your surroundings. If you're a little nervous about how you look from time to
time, remember there are mirrors everywhere and if all else fails, you can share the subway window
with the other 20 Koreans that are fixing their hair or make up, and rectify those little imperfections
before stepping into the crowds. If you are a little confused about accessorizing or matching outfits,
just call up your parents and ask for their advice. After all, they should still have a couple outfits from
their early dating days that comply with the fashion here.
If this fashion step is too large a one for you to take, rest assured, the rest of the world still appreciates
your trainers, un-kept hair and unpolished nails. But as Will Ferrell so poetically put it in Anchorman,
"When in Rome...!"
Comments
deebosong : Dec. 19, 2007
This article rocks. I'm not gonna lie, I was on the verge of purchasing a murse (man purse) as well, but
this article has slapped me out of Korea's hypnotic and overarching influence (but how long I can
resist, only God knows). And curse the vile and evil blouses with their unsexy shoulder poofy things!
Who invented such ridiculousness for the female form! Makes me wanna punch through walls and
upturn tables! Blast!!! We need more top 10 lists.
prodikl : Dec. 19, 2007
HAHAHA, i just want to say i love yer comment deebo. Thank god you saw this, murse's are not ok
hahah. haha the poofy things on dresses, reminds me of napoleon dynomite puhah "i like your poofs.."
"thanks."
poliflux : Dec. 25, 2007
OMG! Brilliant absolutely brilliant. I have only been here 2 weeks and I have already observed all of
the above. It's good to know someone out there still thinks it's ok to wear my flats, and mussy hair :)
prodikl : Dec. 27, 2007
man its so refreshing to see jeans and sneakers on a girl altho i feel like a bum sometimes surrounded
by all these overly-formally dressed people.
Jiyoung : Mar. 16, 2008
Thats so true!
http://groups.uni-paderborn.de/wipaed/ASBE/2006/06/19/aspekte-der-koreanischen-kultur-undgesellschaft-herausgegeben-von-woon-jung-chei/
“Aspekte der koreanischen Kultur und Gesellschaft” herausgegeben von Woon-Jung Chei
Rezension im Rahmen des Literaturzirkels des Moduls „Asian Studies“
von
Kathrin Heyne, Sommersemester 2006
„Aspekte der koreanischen Kultur und Gesellschaft“
herausgegeben von:
Woon-Jung Chei
Ardey-Verlag 2004
ISBN: 3-87023-254-4
Preis: 9,90 €
1. Bibliographische Angaben
Die Herausgeberin Woon-Jung Chei wurde in Seoul geboren. Sie studierte zunächst Germanistik und
Philosophie an der Heinrich-Heine-Universität in Düsseldorf und nahm später das Studium der
Sozialwissenschaften an der Gerhard-Mercator-Universität in Duisburg auf. Neben zahlreichen
Veröffentlichungen sowohl in deutschen als auch koreanischen Literaturzeitschriften und Anthologien
hat sie auch mehrere Bücher in Deutschland veröffentlicht. Sie lebt heute als freie Schriftstellerin in
Erkrath. Ihr Anliegen ist es, mit dem Buch „Aspekte der koreanischen Kultur und Gesellschaft“ dem
deutschen Publikum eine Hilfe zum besseren Verständnis dieser fremden Kultur zu bieten. Für die
Zusammenstellung des Buches bediente sich Chei mehrerer Aufsätze verschiedener koreanischer
Autoren. Bei diesen handelt es sich durchweg um Universitätsprofessoren. Nähere Angaben zu den
Autoren können leider trotz Nachfrage bei der Herausgeberin nicht gemacht werden.
Die Originalausgabe des Buches „Aspekte der koreanischen Kultur und Gesellschaft“ erschien 1998
im Verlag Sakyejul in Seoul. Mit finanzieller Unterstützung durch die Korea Foundation in Seoul folgte
die deutsche Übersetzung 2004 im Ardey-Verlag.
2. Einleitung
Zur Vorbereitung auf einen Studienaufenthalt in Südkorea habe ich nach Literatur Ausschau gehalten,
die sich mit den kulturellen Besonderheiten dieses in Deutschland noch relativ unbekannten Landes
beschäftigt. Das genannte Buch schien mir besonders geeignet, da sein Titel genau diese Einführung
suggeriert. Es enthält fünf Aufsätze, in denen jeweils ein besonders relevantes kulturelles Phänomen
der koreanischen Gesellschaft geschildert wird.
Im Folgenden sollen wichtige Aspekte der einzelnen Aufsätze zunächst kurz vorgestellt werden.
Anschließend folgt eine kritische Stellungnahme sowie eine Empfehlung der Lektüre.
3. Inhaltliche Zusammenfassung
Im ersten Aufsatz widmet sich Bong-Yong Choi der Spielkultur und dem sozialen Charakter der
Koreaner. Ausgehend von der Tatsache, dass der Konkurrenzgedanke ein zentraler Punkt im Leben
des Koreaners ist, stellt der Autor die Spielkultur als Spiegelbild, aber auch als notwendigen
Gegenpol, des im Berufsleben existierenden Existenzkampfes dar. Es wird ein Überblick über
verschiedene Spiele gegeben, die sich im Laufe der Jahrzehnte etabliert haben.
Der zweite von Gi-Jung Lee verfasste Beitrag thematisiert die Alkoholkultur. Diese scheint besonders
geeignet zu sein, auch die Kehrseiten der koreanischen Gesellschaft aufzuzeigen. Korea ist bekannt
für einen extrem hohen Alkoholkonsum. Die Trinkkultur stellt im Allgemeinen eine Fluchtkultur dar.
Dies bedeutet, dass sie der Entspannung dienen bzw. die Flucht aus dem Alltag erleichtern soll. Da
der Gegensatz zwischen Alltagskultur, die durch einen harten Existenzkampf gekennzeichnet ist, und
Fluchtkultur in Korea besonders stark ausgeprägt ist, hat auch der Alkoholkonsum in diesem Land
einen anderen Stellenwert als in anderen Kulturen. Besonders kennzeichnend ist jedoch, dass die
koreanische Trinkkultur stark von der in diesem Land herrschenden Gruppenkultur beeinflusst ist. Der
Autor weist darauf hin, dass die Gesellschaft das Trinken regelrecht befiehlt. So ist es z.B. üblich,
dass der Zusammenhalt von Gruppen durch den gemeinsamen Alkoholgenuss gestärkt wird. Dabei
sollte jeder mit den Gruppenmitgliedern „Schritt halten können“. Derjenige, der sich dieser Gewohnheit
zu entziehen versucht und sich damit nicht in die Gruppe einfügt, wird von dieser schnell
ausgeschlossen. Möchte man sich aus einer Trinkrunde frühzeitig verabschieden, so wird eine gute
Begründung erwartet. In diesem Zusammenhang hebt der Autor auch den Unterschied zwischen
einem westlichen Individuum, das allein über seinen Alkoholkonsum entscheiden kann, und dem
koreanischen Gruppenmitglied hervor. Letzteres hat sich dem Gruppenzwang zu beugen. Ausländer
bezeichnen die koreanische Trinkkultur oft als „Ritual des Aufdrängens“.
Der folgende Aufsatz von Jun-Sik Choi gewährt Einblicke in die Religion der koreanischen
Gesellschaft. Korea zeichnet sich durch die Koexistenz von modernen sowie einigen der ältesten
Religionen der Welt aus. So sind beispielsweise der Konfuzianismus aus China, der Buddhismus aus
Indien und das Christentum aus dem Westen vertreten. Das Interessante ist hierbei, dass diese
Religionen miteinander vermischt existieren. So ist jeder Koreaner, welcher sonstigen Religion er auch
angehört, mehr oder weniger Konfuzianer. Dies zeigt sich darin, dass die Verhaltensweisen ebenso
wie die gesellschaftliche Moral stark vom Konfuzianismus beeinflusst sind. Der Grund für diesen
starken Einfluss ist darin zu sehen, dass die Jahrhunderte der letzten Königsdynastie stark von
diesem Gedankengut durchdrungen waren. Beispiele für Grundprinzipien dieser Religion sind
Ehrerbietung und Rangordnung. Der Autor beschreibt ferner, dass die Rangordnung wohl für kein
Volk auf der Welt wichtiger sei als für Koreaner. So spielt das Alter des jeweiligen Gesprächspartners
beispielsweise eine überaus große Rolle.
Daneben hat auch das Christentum seine Spuren hinterlassen. Weihnachten ist mittlerweile auch in
Korea ein staatlicher Feiertag.
In einem weiteren Aufsatz stellen Gyu-Seok Han und San-Jin Choi die Sozialpsychologie des
menschlichen Umgangs vor. Ein wichtiger Aspekt ist, dass menschliche Kontakte in Korea nicht in
erster Linie auf gegenseitiger Sympathie beruhen. Vielmehr bilden eine gemeinsame Herkunft oder
der Besuch derselben Universität die Basis eines engeren Kontaktes. Koreaner trennen scharf
zwischen den Menschen, die sie kennen („wir“) und den anderen („sie“). Diejenigen, die nicht zum
eigenen Umfeld gehören, werden als Konkurrenten angesehen. Im Gegensatz dazu wird die
Beziehung zur eigenen Gruppe intensiv gepflegt.
Zur Wahrung der Harmonie werden konfliktreiche Themen bewusst gemieden („damit hören wir
besser auf“, S. 67). Außerdem wird hervorgehoben, dass individuelle Beziehungen zwischen den
einzelnen untereinander eher eine untergeordnete Rolle spielen. Wichtiger ist die Beziehung innerhalb
der Gruppe als Ganzes. Hier zeigt sich auch ein Unterschied zur japanischen Gruppenkultur. In dieser
gründet sich ein Gruppengefühl auf die gemeinsame Aktivität, während koreanische Gruppen in erster
Linie in der persönlichen Beziehung zwischen Gruppenmitgliedern ihre Grundlage sehen. Darüber
hinaus ist für Koreaner ein Unterschied zwischen wahrem Denken und äußerem Verhalten
kennzeichnend. Diese Methode, die als eine Form der Höflichkeit verstanden werden muss, ist für
Ausländer, aber auch für viele Koreaner, schwer anzuwenden und zu verstehen. Die Autoren
verdeutlichen dies daran, dass Koreaner bei einem Besuch von Freunden auf die entsprechende
Frage stets antworten, schon gegessen zu haben, um dem anderen keine Umstände zu bereiten.
Im letzten Beitrag schildert Su-Jin Shin die Familie der koreanischen Gesellschaft. Auch hier spiegelt
sich die in den bereits genannten Aufsätzen erwähnte Gruppenkultur wider. Ein koreanisches
Familienmitglied fühlt sich nicht als Individuum, sondern als Repräsentant der Familie. So wird auch
das Fehlverhalten eines Menschen stets auf die gesamte Familie projiziert. Jedes Individuum ist sich
seiner Einflussnahme auf den gesellschaftlichen Status der Familie bewusst. Folglich bemühen sich
die Kinder von Anfang an, in der Schule gute Leistungen zu erbringen, um später eine renommierte
Universität besuchen zu können. Ihr Ehrgeiz wird also vor allem durch das Ansehen der Familie und
den möglichen Verlust des guten Rufes vorangetrieben. Der Autor macht darauf aufmerksam, dass
junge Menschen aufgrund dieses Drucks ihre Persönlichkeit nicht frei entfalten können und folglich
auch im Erwachsenenalter nicht ein selbständiges Leben zu führen imstande sind.
Daneben ist die traditionelle Rolle der Frauen hervorzuheben. Diese opfern sich nach der Heirat oft für
die Familie auf. Das Ausbleiben eines Sohnes führt bei Frauen gar zu psychischen Störungen.
Augrund der schwachen Position der Frau und der Aufgabe ihrer eigenen Individualität spricht der
Autor von einem Teufelskreis, den Frauen oft durch eine fanatische Zuneigung zu ihren Kindern zu
kompensieren versuchen.
4. Kritische Stellungnahme
Der Herausgeberin Woon-Jung Chei ist es eindrucksvoll gelungen, durch die Zusammenstellung der
vorgestellten Aufsätze einen äußerst interessanten Einblick in die Besonderheiten der koreanischen
Kultur zu offerieren. Die Tatsache, dass es sich bei den Verfassern um koreanische Professoren
handelt, die sich nicht scheuen, auch die Schattenseite ihrer eigenen Kultur aufzuzeigen, macht das
Buch besonders authentisch.
Obwohl das Buch aus fünf separaten Beiträgen besteht, ist aufgrund immer wiederkehrender
Elemente ein innerer Zusammenhang deutlich zu erkennen. Das Phänomen der Gruppenkultur findet
sich an vielen Stellen und zieht sich damit wie ein „roter Faden“ durch das gesamte Buch. Die große
Bedeutung des Alkohols wird dem Leser z.B. nicht nur in dem diesem Thema gewidmeten Aufsatz
deutlich, sondern kommt auch im Rahmen der Beschreibung religiöser Zeremonien zum Ausdruck.
Das Vorliegen einzelner Beiträge ermöglicht es dem Leser außerdem, direkt in ein für ihn besonders
interessantes Thema einzusteigen.
Ein weiterer positiver Aspekt ist, dass die gesellschaftlichen Phänomene oft anhand konkreter
Alltagsbeispiele illustriert werden. Im Rahmen der Darstellung der durch die Gruppenkultur bedingten
Konfliktvermeidung zur Wahrung der Harmonie wird z.B. auf ein fehlendes Diskussionsverhalten in
Universitäten hingewiesen. Auch an vielen anderen Stellen werden Auswirkungen der kulturellen
Unterschiede dargelegt, die den Leser in Erstauen versetzen. So wird geschildert, dass aus der
großen Bedeutung der Beziehung innerhalb einer Gruppe ein beschränkter Nutzen offizieller
Strukturen und Kommunikationswege in koreanischen Organisationen resultiert. Der Leser wird auf
die Wichtigkeit persönlicher Beziehungen hingewiesen, die den Zugang zu inoffiziellen
Kommunikationskanälen eröffnen und für die Erledigung vieler Dinge unabdingbar sind.
Durch den wiederholt angestellten Vergleich der koreanischen mit der amerikanischen Kultur wird
kulturellen Unterschieden zusätzlich Ausdruck verliehen („der Kreis der menschlichen Kontakte ist bei
Koreanern viel enger als bei Amerikanern“, S. 73).
Die Autoren verstehen es, auf geschickte Weise geschichtliche Hintergründe aufzugreifen. Somit wird
dem Leser die Entstehung mancher kultureller Eigenarten verständlich gemacht. Hier ist vor allem die
herausragende Bedeutung der Rangordnung zu nennen, die auf den Konfuzianismus zurückzuführen
ist.
Obwohl die Aufsätze von Professoren verfasst wurden, für die sachliche Informationsvermittlung im
Vordergrund steht, gelingt es, den Leser hin und wieder zum Lachen zu bringen. Zuweilen bedienen
sie sich amüsanter Beispiele, die die Lektüre kurzweilig werden lassen. Der Relevanz der in Korea
herrschenden Trinkkultur, die jedem Gruppenmitglied das Trinken sozusagen gebietet, wird durch das
Zitat eines Werbespruchs Ausdruck verliehen („Heute möchte ich mit den anderen zu Boden sinken“,
S. 37).
Kritisch anzumerken ist, dass an manchen Stellen auf eine Erklärung koreanischer Begriffe gänzlich
verzichtet wird. Im ersten Beitrag des Buches werden koreanische Spiele erwähnt, deren Inhalte sich
dem Leser mangels Erläuterung seitens des Autors leider nicht erschließen. Somit wird dem
ausländischen Leser die Besonderheit der Spielkultur Koreas nicht deutlich vermittelt. Diese Kritik
bezieht sich jedoch nur auf den besagten Aufsatz. Die fehlende Erklärung mag darauf zurückzuführen
sein, dass es sich hier um eine Übersetzung handelt und der koreanische Autor vordergründig
vermutlich eine einheimische Leserschaft zu erreichen beabsichtigte. Insgesamt vermag dieser
Einwand aber nicht die Eignung des gesamten Buches für die Vorbereitung auf einen
Auslandsaufenthalt in Korea zu mindern.
5. Empfehlung der Lektüre
Abschließend möchte ich festhalten, dass mir das Buch „Aspekte der koreanischen Kultur und
Gesellschaft“ einen äußerst interessanten Einblick in eine völlig fremde und zum Teil auch erstaunlich
andersartige Kultur verschaffen konnte. Meine Erwartungen an dieses Buch wurden insoweit erfüllt.
Ich kann die Lektüre trotz angeführter Kritik jedem, der einen Auslandsaufenthalt in Korea plant, nur
empfehlen, da ich überzeugt davon bin, dass die Auseinandersetzung mit den hier angeführten
kulturellen Unterschieden verschiedenster Bereiche den Zugang zu dieser fremden Kultur erleichtert.
Dieser Eintrag wurde am Montag, 19. Juni 2006 um 12:46 erstellt und ist abgelegt unter Deutsch,
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2 Antworten zu ““Aspekte der koreanischen Kultur und Gesellschaft” herausgegeben von Woon-Jung
Chei”
horlitzchristian sagt:
25. Juni 2006 um 17:42
Kommentar zur Rezension von Kathrin Heyne
Die Rezension von Kathrin Heyne über das von Woon-Jung Chei zusammengestellte Buch „Aspekte
der koreanischen Kultur und Gesellschaft“, enthält alle Informationen die für einen potentiellen Käufer
von Interesse sein können. Sie weist eine sehr klare Struktur auf, die es dem Leser ermöglicht direkt
zu den Informationen zu gelangen die ihn Interessieren.
Als besonders gelungen empfand ich die Zusammenfassung. Sie geht hierbei nicht nur auf den
gesamten Inhalt des Buches ein, sondern gibt an einigen Stellen einen detaillierten Einblick in das
Buch. Ihre kritische Stellungnahme ist sehr sachlich und die von ihr Angesprochenen Punkte sind
ausreichend erklärt und lassen sich gut nachvollziehen. Sie scheut es nicht offen auf die ihr negativ
aufgefallenen Aspekte aufmerksam zu machen. Als ebenfalls positiv empfand ich ihre Art sich
Auszudrücken. Die gesamte Rezension ist sehr kompakt verfasst und versucht an keiner Stelle durch
unnötige Füllwörter mehr Länge zu erreichen. Kathrin gelingt es mit wenigen Worten sehr viele
Informationen zu liefern.
Diese Lektüre scheint nicht in erster Linie für Touristen geeignet. Sie scheint viel eher Interessant für
Leute zu sein, die sich mit den kulturellen Unterschieden zwischen Okzident und Asien beschäftigen.
Dieser Punkt wird dadurch unterstützt, dass die Einzelnen Aufsätze von koreanischen Professoren
verfasst wurden.
Kathrin schafft es mit ihrer Rezension „Lust auf mehr“ zu wecken.
henrichsenfabian sagt:
25. Juni 2006
Kommentar zur Rezension von Kathrin Heyne
Mit der Rezension zu „Aspekte der koreanischen Kultur und Geschichte“ von Woon-Jung Chei, gelingt
es Kathrin Heyne dem Leser einen sehr guten und runden Überblick über das Werk zu verschaffen.
Ihre Bibliographischen Angaben geben kurze prägnante Infos zur Autorin und zur Entstehung des
Werkes. In der Anmerkung der Rezensentin, auch auf Nachfrage bei der Autorin keine weiteren
Informationen zu den Verfassern der einzelnen Aufsätze bekommen zu haben, wird ihr Engagement
deutlich, nicht „nur“ eine Rezension zu schreiben, sondern umfassende Informationen zu finden und
diese dem Leser zugänglich zu machen.
Heynes Einleitung, welche einer persönlichen Motivation gleicht und eher ungewöhnlich für eine
Rezension ist, hinterlässt beim Leser einen sehr sympathischen Eindruck. Ihre inhaltliche
Zusammenfassung scheint lückenlos und vermittelt den bereits erwähnten runden Überblick. In den
eineinhalb Seiten schafft es die Rezensentin nicht nur das Werk zusammenzufassen, sondern auch
sehr interessante Informationen über Korea zu vermitteln. So erfährt der Leser über die extreme
Ausprägung des Alkoholkonsums und auch schon ein Stück weit ihren Hintergrund. Ausführungen
über den Vorrang des Konfuzianismus erklären die Wichtigkeit der Rangordnung bei den Koreanern.
Die Dominanz der gemeinsamen Herkunft über gegenseitige Sympathie als Basis von menschlichen
Kontakten erscheint dem westlich geprägten Bild doch sehr befremdlich und lässt den Unterschied der
Kulturen deutlich werden. Auch die Beschreibung der Gruppenkultur, der Familie und der traditionellen
Rolle der Frau geben dem Leser gute Einblicke in den koreanischen „way of life“. Nur der Punkt der
Bedeutung der Spielkultur ist beim Lesen ein wenig schwer verständlich und Beispiele für solche
Spiele wären hierbei wünschenswert. Jedoch erfährt man kurz drauf in der kritischen Stellungnahme,
dass dieser Punkt wegen mangelnder Übersetzung auch in dem Buch nicht klar wird, so dass auch
hier der Rezensentin kein Vorwurf zu machen ist.
Einige der kritischen Stellungnahmen von Kathrin Heyne kann der Leser gut wegen ihrer
hervorragenden Zusammenfassung des Inhaltes nachvollziehen, so zum Beispiel das Phänomen der
Gruppenkultur, das sich wie ein „roter Faden“ durch das Buch, wie auch die Zusammenfassung zieht.
Ihre einzige Kritik am Werk gleicht der bereits angesprochenen Kritik, die dem Leser bei der
Zusammenfassung im Bezug auf die Ausführungen zur Spielkultur auffällt.
So hinterlässt die Rezension von Kathrin Heyne aufgrund ihres Sachgehalts einen sehr positiven
Eindruck von Woon-Jung Cheis „Aspekte der koreanischen Kultur und Geschichte“ und aufgrund ihrer
persönlichen Note einen sehr sympathischen Eindruck von der Rezensentin.
Fabian Henrichsen
http://www.news.de/technik/4146/in-korea-sind-gamer-echte-stars/1/
30.07.2009
In Korea sind Gamer echte Stars
Mandy Hannemann
Mit der Eröffnung der Games Convention Online hält nicht nur das Spielefieber Einzug in Leipzig.
Auch ein Hauch fernöstliche Lebensart wird nicht fehlen. Denn Partner der neuen Spielemesse ist
Korea - und dort werden Gamer bewundert.
Bei den Koreanern gehören Videospiele zur Alltagskultur.
Wer auf Korea schaut, blickt auf eine Geschichte politischer Teilung. Zugleich aber auf eine Welt, die
Gegensätze verbindet. Tradition und Moderne zeichnen sich in nur wenigen Ländern so stark
gegeneinander ab und sind zugleich so eng verbunden. Inmitten moderner Großstädte finden sich
altehrwürdige Tempelanlagen, werden Jahrhunderte alte Bräuche in einem Hightechleben gepflegt.
Nicht zuletzt sind die Koreaner ein geselliges Volk - und damit prädestiniert für eine Kultur, die in
Deutschland mit hochgezogenen Augenbrauen skeptisch beäugt wird: Videospiele. Spielen gehört in
Korea zur Kultur. Dabei verkrümmeln sich die vorrangig jungen Zocker nicht in den heimischen vier
Wänden.
Ihre Treffpunkte sind die gut 30.000 Internetcafés, so genannte PC Bangs, an jeder Straßenecke zu
finden und rund um die Uhr geöffnet. Hier treffen sich die Zocker regelmäßig, aber nicht nur um in
virtuellen Welten gegeneinander anzutreten, sondern auch, um miteinander zu quatschen. Doch nicht
nur das macht die Koreaner zur Spielenation.
Anders als in Deutschland verfügen dort mehr als 80 Prozent aller Haushalte über einen
Breitbandinternetanschluss. Unzählige Firmen haben sich auf Onlinespiele spezialisiert und locken
damit fast 20 Millionen Männer und Frauen hinter die Monitore. Ein Ende der Begeisterung ist in dem
48 Millionen Einwohner zählenden Land kaum abzusehen. Spielen ist hier Alltagsgewohnheit. Zudem
ist Korea international Marktführer im Bereich der Onlinespiele.
Das hat nicht zuletzt etwas mit dem Geschäftsmodell zu tun. Zahlreiche Spieleentwicklungen zielen
darauf ab, möglichst viele Spieler zu akquirieren. Das funktioniert nicht, wenn sich die Spieler nur
allein in den kreativen Welten der Spieleschöpfer tummeln können. Also setzen die Unternehmen auf
Multiplayerkonzepte - in der Basisausstattung kostenfrei im Netz spielbar. Wer seinen virtuellen
Vertreter allerdings mit besonderen Eigenschaften oder herausragenden Fähigkeiten ausstatten will,
vor allem um gegenüber anderen aufzufallen, der investiert Geld in so genannte In-Game-Items,
bezahlt also für virtuelle Objekte.
Dieses Modell verfolgen inzwischen auch deutsche Anbieter von Onlinespielen. Der Markt wächst
ordentlich, doch nicht so schnell wie in Korea. Woran aber liegt das? Ein Stück weit mag die Ursache
sein, dass virtuelles Zocken hierzulande meist hinter verschlossenen Türen stattfindet. Zudem tun sich
heutige Eltern- und Großelterngenerationen schwer damit, ihren Zugang zum Computer zu finden.
Ganz anders die Koreaner, denn die haben ihre Affinität zum digitalen Zeitgeist schon mit der
Muttermilch eingesogen. Das hat mit der IT-Infrastruktur des ostasiatischen Landes zu tun, die viel
früher und deutlich flächenübergreifender ausgebaut wurde als in Deutschland. Damit konnten sich
die Koreaner deutlich früher dem digitalen Wandel anpassen.
In Korea flutet die Begeisterung für virtuellen Welten aber auch über die Fernsehschirme der Nation.
Während in Deutschland vor allem die Negativbeispiele der Computerspielkultur in den Mittelpunkt
des Interesses gerückt werden, gehören Videospiele in dem ostasiatischen Land zum gängigen
Nachrichtenthema. Videospielkultur hat sich in Korea professionalisiert, ist richtiger Sport, genauer
gesagt eSport, geworden. Zahlreiche Wettbewerbe gibt es, die sogar live im Fernsehen übertragen
werden - eigens dafür gibt es drei Fernsehsender.
Entsprechende Versuche hat es auch in Deutschland gegeben. Etwa mit dem seit 1998 aktiven
Internetsender Giga, dessen Aus nach der Übernahme durch das Pay-TV-Unternehmen Premiere
(jetzt Sky) Anfang dieses Jahres verkündet wurde.
Der eSport in Deutschland beweist hingegen längeren Atem. So gibt es etwa im Rahmen der World
Cyber Games eine deutsche Nationalmannschaft. Dafür aber keinen kristallklaren Sieger in Sachen
digitalem Nationalsport. In Korea ist das das Strategiespiel StarCraft, dem sich mehr als fünf Millionen
Koreaner widmen.
Dieser hohen Beteiligung ist es auch zuzurechnen, dass die eSport-Spitzenspieler in Korea echte
Stars sind - und mindestens genauso von jungen Mädchen und Frauen angehimmelt werden, wie in
Deutschland die Hollywoodgrößen Brad Pitt und George Clooney. Das Jahresgehalt der Gamer ist
zwar nicht so hoch, wie das der Schauspieler, mit bis zu 100.000 US-Dollar aber durchaus ansehnlich.
Angesichts dieser Begeisterung ist auf dem koreanischen Spielemarkt kaum eine rasche Trendwende
zu erwarten, insbesondere bei den Onlinespielen. Im Gegenteil. Die Spiele werden immer besser,
immer bunter und ständig fluten neue auf den Markt. Das wird auch der deutsche Markt in den
kommenden Jahren spüren. Denn mit der Games Convention Online öffnet sich für die koreanischen
Spielehersteller der europäische Markt noch stärker als bislang. Deutsche Spieleunternehmen wie die
inlandischen Marktführer Gameforge und Bigpoint haben den Trend bereits erkannt.
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/computer/24/420text/
09.10.2007 08:58 Uhr
Computerspiele: Ein Sport wie jeder andere?
Der elektronische Sport möchte anerkannt werden wie Skateboarden und American Football. Dazu
fehlt es aber an Transparenz, Zuschauerfreundlichkeit und einheitlichen Regeln.
Von J. Schmieder, Seattle
Emotion und Konzentration liegen beim eSport eng beieinander. (Foto: AP)
Jae Yoon Ma lässt seine Hand über das Keyboard gleiten, seine Finger bewegen sich wie Tentakel
eines Tintenfisches. Er blickt konzentriert auf den Bildschirm, ab und zu hebt er eine Augenbraue. Der
Koreaner ist zweifacher Weltmeister im Computerspiel Starcraft und gilt als unschlagbar - bis
vergangenen Sonntag zumindest. Dann wurde er im Finale der World Cyber Games in Seattle von
seinem chinesischen Gegner besiegt.
Das Faszinierende an Jae sind die Statistiken, die es über ihn gibt – und die seine Fans – und davon
gibt es zahlreiche in Seattle - auswendig kennen. Sechs aktive Befehle pro Sekunde kann Jae in
seinen Computer eingeben. 360 pro Minute. Da manche Befehle mehr als nur einmal auf Keyboard
tippen bedeutet, hämmert er bis zu 500 Mal pro Minute auf Maus und Tastatur ein. Das schafft die
beste Sekretärin nicht.
Computerspielen ist Sport. Es erfordert Konzentration, Fingerfertigkeit und eine perfekte Hand-AugenKoordination. Dazu taktisches Verständnis. Im Finale beim virtuellen Fußball etwa besiegte Daniel
Schellhase seinen Gegner mit dessen eigenen Waffen. „Er hat auf Konter gespielt, weil der Spanier
Probleme hat, das Spiel zu machen“, sagt sein Zwillingsbruder Dennis, Mitglied der Hall of Fame, der
Ruhmeshalle des Computersports.
Man kann elektronischen Sport (eSport) getrost mit anderen Sportarten vergleichen. Wohl auch
deshalb fand das Finale der World Cyber Games im Qwest Field statt, dem Footballstadion der
Seattle Seahawks. Schade nur, dass eSport auch die negativen Elemente anderer Sportarten
übernimmt.
Es war beim Spiel Counterstrike, als das koreanische Team protestierte, dass sich die norwegischen
Spieler während der Begegnung illegal bewegt hätten. Das Problem dabei: Die Fortbewegungsart –
das so genannte Russenducken – ist im Spiel Counterstrike üblich. Nur bei den World Cyber Games
ist sie verboten. Die Videoaufzeichnung wurde analysiert, die Schiedsrichter diskutierten. Ergebnis:
Die Koreaner verwendeten den illegalen Befehl öfter als ihre Gegner.
Man diskutierte weiter, dann erschienen Männer in Anzügen. Auf ihren Akkreditierungen war das Wort
„Sponsor“ zu lesen, man unterhielt sich auf koreanisch. Neues Ergebnis: Die Koreaner erhalten noch
eine Chance, das Spiel wurde wiederholt. „Ein handfester Skandal“, sagt David Abel, Redakteur der
Computersport-Seite readmore.de.
Der Turnierdirektor rechtfertigte die Entscheidung mit der Begründung, dass die Schiedsrichter einen
Fehler gemacht hätten und man der Fairness halber noch eine Runde spielen wolle. Ein fader
Beigeschmack bleibt und irgendwie erinnerte die Szene ans Boxen, wo sportliche Entscheidungen
auch außerhalb des Rings getroffen werden.
Der Vorfall bei den World Cyber Games zeigt die Probleme, mit denen sich die Computersportbranche
seit Jahren herumschlagen muss. Man will als Sportart anerkannt werden – und muss deshalb gegen
negative Auswirkungen kämpfen.
Da gibt es die Titel-Vielfalt wie beim Boxen, inkompetente Kampfrichter wie beim Eiskunstlaufen und
betrügende Sportler, wie man sie vom Radsport kennt. In jedem Land gibt es mehrere Ligen, die
miteinander konkurrieren. Die Spieler sind derzeit indifferent – sie spielen einfach dort, wo es am
meisten Ruhm und Preisgeld gibt.
Es bräuchte einen einheitlichen Verband, der die verschiedenen Interessen regelt und unter einen Hut
bringt. Man mag beim Fußball die Fifa oder das Internationale Olympische Komitee in vielen Punkten
kritisieren. Aber es herrscht keine Unsicherheit wie bei den Computerspielen.
Vielleicht ist die Branche noch zu jung, um einen Weltverband einfordern zu können oder eine alles
umfassende Weltmeisterschaft. Vielleicht entwickelt sich eSport auch von selbst, wenn unretable und
unorganisierte Ligen verschwinden. Wie beim Pokern, wo es zahlreiche Turniere, Online-Spiele und
Versionen gibt - aber am Ende die World Series of Poker als größtes Turnier mit dem höchsten
Preisgeld als das wichtigste gilt und der Gewinner des Main Event sich Weltmeister nennen darf. Die
World Cyber Games kommen dem Poker-Turnier in Las Vegas schon sehr nahe.
Freilich mosern Spieler und eSport-Journalisten an jeder einzelnen Liga herum und denken, sie hätten
das Patentrezept für die ideale Computersport-Organisation. Ihnen sei gesagt: Keine Sportart ist
perfekt – auch keine virtuelle.
http://iamkoream.com/the-book-of-daniel/
The Book of Daniel
September 30th, 2009
By Michelle Woo
One of the travails of working on a hospital drama, as Daniel Henney has learned, is having to master
words like “hepatomegaly” and “serum ammonia.”
“If you say it fast, you get caught on the ‘M,’” he explains of the latter term, which, for those curious,
means ammonia in the blood. “Serum amom-ia. I got stuck, like, 30 times.”
Adopting new languages was never a forte of the 29-year-old actor, sitting on a patio table outside the
Hollywood set of CBS’ organ transplant series Three Rivers. Five years ago, shortly after moving to
South Korea, the only way he could remember the Korean greeting anyang haseo was by thinking of
the phrase, “Own your house, say oh!” Luckily, then, nobody really cared what he was saying, as long
as he kept flashing that adorably crooked smile and ending his sentences with a wink. The man, who
got by on bad mnemonic devices, was the country’s biggest star.
The story, no, the legend of Daniel Henney consists of a whirlwind of events that suggest he was
destined for a quick rise to fame. A Korean American model with a smoldering gaze and a body built
for Calvin Klein ads gets hired to do a commercial in Seoul, which leads him to a role on a new
television drama series, which becomes not just any drama series, but a shockingly popular one – in
Korea and abroad. (The translated title is My Name is Kim Sam Soon and 40 percent of television
viewers tuned in each week.) And just like that, he’s Henney The Heartthrob, one who can barely
leave his house without making ajumas squeal like schoolgirls and love-struck teens coo, “Opaaaaa!”
“It’s cool, it’s real cool,” Henney says of his icon-status. “But sometimes you just want to go out and
grab some orange juice. And that one time when you don’t shave and you look like crap is the time
you’ll be recognized. Then you’ll have 20 people taking pictures. It’s insane.”
For the moment, life is much quieter in Los Angeles, where Henney has been living for the past three
months. He’s a newcomer in Hollywood, and while his face is splashed across billboards for Three
Rivers, in which he plays a smooth-talking surgical resident, he’s not yet on the paparazzi radar, and
most Americans wouldn’t recognize his name. He has no entourage here except for his longtime
Korean manager Martin Chung, a man who rarely leaves his side. (“Do you need a jacket?” Chung
asks. “I’m fine – but thanks, sweetheart!” replies Henney, who then quips, “That’s my girlfriend.”)
Sipping a cup of coffee, Henney wears a tightly fitted gray T-shirt, distressed jeans and a newsboy
cap. He’s handsome and charming, and speaks with a gentleness that puts even jittery reporters at
ease. He says ever since he made his U.S. acting debut as villain Agent Zero in the summer
blockbuster X-Men Origins: Wolverine, things have felt surreal. “It’s overwhelming,” he says of the
magnitude of it all – the big casts, the stars, the productions. “I was on a studio lot staring at this mural
of The Simpsons, thinking, ‘Oh my God, it’s The Simpsons!’”
Still, when it comes to his work, he remains fiercely focused. He knows that in order to earn respect on
the American red carpet, it’s going to take more than perfectly shaped brows and a poreless
complexion. When asked how he landed the Three Rivers role, he says matter-of-factly: “I auditioned
my ass off.”
“They can’t just give it to someone because they think, oh, he’s a cute guy with a fan base in Korea,”
he says. “At the end of the day, if you can’t pull your weight on the screen, you’re not gonna go
anywhere.”
***
Movie and television stardom wasn’t something Henney gave much thought to growing up in Carson
City, a small farming town in Michigan. (Fun fact: He can milk a cow.) The son of a white father and a
Korean mother, the 6-foot-2 Henney was a standout high school basketball player with his eyes on
winning a college scholarship.
He succeeded, and went on to play ball at Michigan’s Albion and Alma colleges. But before earning a
degree, Henney decided to move to Chicago. On a whim, he tagged along with a friend to a go-see
modeling event, where he met an agent. “He asked if I’d be interested in making some money and I
said, ‘Yeah, I would. I’m broke as hell.’”
At 21, he started booking modeling gigs here and there, which were fun, but didn’t do much to change
the “broke as hell” problem. With a $14 a week budget, he survived on 50-cent muffins from 7-Eleven
and 89-cent bean burritos from Taco Bell. “I would split them up with a knife so I could ration them
throughout the week,” he says. What finally boosted Henney’s confidence – and bank account – was
landing a runway show put on by department store giant Marshall Fields. The gig paid $5,000. “That
was like millions!” he says.
From then on, Henney was in demand, striking poses on catwalks and in catalogues. His first
overseas job was for a gay sauna in Hong Kong. “I was cool with it, I understood it, I mean, this is
fashion,” he says. “But then the guy tried to get me to put on this thong and swim around in hot steamy
water. I said, ‘That’s not happening.’ I walked out, though I think I still have the thong.”
Modeling led to commercials throughout Asia, and Henney eventually became the poster boy for
products like beer, orange juice, cameras, cell phones and shaving cream. For many of the television
ads, he didn’t have to speak. All it took was a smile or wink or guzzle to make female viewers swoon.
One day, while filming a commercial in Korea, he met a manager who told him that a new drama was
in its casting stage, and that he might be a good fit for one of the roles. Henney agreed to meet the
director, who asked him about 20 questions – not one having to do with acting. Two weeks later, he
got the part. Not knowing much about the show, and of even greater concern, not knowing a word of
Korean, he was hesitant. He was living in New York City at the time, and was set on becoming an
actor in the United States. “I had to ask myself: Is this really what I want to do? I was focused on doing
it the hard way, taking acting classes and auditioning,” he says. But at age 25, with nothing much to
lose, he signed on, figuring “work is work.”
The show was My Name is Kim Sam Soon (called My Lovely Sam Soon on English DVDs), a 2005
Bridget Jones-esque melodrama about the plump, romance-challenged title character (played by Kim
Sun-ah). Henney was cast as Henry Kim, an American doctor who falls in love with his patient, Sam
Soon’s pretend-boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend (just go with it).
To prepare for the role, Henney was immersed in Korean language courses, which he loathed. He just
couldn’t pick up the words and phrases. So, he simply stopped going. He then wrote letters to the
president of the television network, begging them to let his character speak English. They eventually
agreed.
Kim Sam Soon was a runaway hit, and Henney was its biggest surprise. Viewers adored his sweet,
love-struck character, and didn’t mind the subtitles. Suddenly, Henney mania was in full force. “Korea
is a very extreme culture,” he explains. “They’ll jump on a trend like no country I’ve ever seen.
Whether it’s music or fashion or acting, you’re in or you’re out. I was very lucky to be a trend. Once
that show became popular, it was no longer a question of me being a foreigner. It was: He’s Daniel
Henney and he’s amazing. The whole country just automatically believes it.”
His success carved a new niche in Korea’s entertainment industry: romantic roles for mixed-race
Korean American men. (Various actors such as Dennis O’Neil and Ricky Lee Neely have both been
coined “the next Daniel Henney.”) After Kim Sam Soon, Henney snagged starring roles in other
Korean productions, including the television series Spring Waltz and the romantic comedy Seducing
Mr. Perfect. In 2007, Henney took on his first dramatic role in the film My Father, in which he played an
adoptee searching for his birth parents, only to find that the man believed to be his father was a
murderer on death row. That year, for his gripping performance, he swept all the major cinema awards
in the Best New Actor category.
“I’m definitely a Korean actor until the day I die,” declares Henney, who now understands the language
almost fully. “Korea gave me my career. Korea is where I made my mistakes, where I had my highs,
my lows, where I learned the ropes. If it weren’t for Korea, I wouldn’t be here.”
***
Henney knew he would eventually make his way back home. He’s very close with his parents, who still
live in Michigan, and always hoped they could one day watch him in an American movie theater. He
achieved that goal earlier than expected when he was selected, sans audition, for the cast of X-Men
Origins: Wolverine. Producers wanted a Korean actor, and Henney fit the bill. (On Wolverine star Hugh
Jackman: “He’s the nicest guy I’ve ever met. I have a man-crush on Hugh; it’s ridiculous.”)
Henney never thought he’d take on another television role since he’d been doing mostly films lately
and wanted to “keep that theme going.” But when he read the script for Three Rivers, he was struck by
the multi-dimensional character of Dr. David Lee. “He was me as I grew up in the States,” Henney
says. “He wasn’t a martial artist. He wasn’t a sidekick. He wasn’t only dating Asian girls. He’s strong,
handsome, intelligent, witty. He’s a playboy. I’m not necessarily a playboy, but I’m just saying – when’s
the last time you saw that played by an Asian on television?”
Set in a preeminent transplant hospital in Pittsburgh, Three Rivers, which premiered October 4, offers
a twist to the modern-day medical drama. Each episode centers around three stories based on the
organ donors, their recipients and the surgeons involved. Executive producer Carol Barbee (Judging
Amy, Swingtown) says she wanted someone “fresh” to play David, who wasn’t necessarily written to
be Asian American. Henney was perfect. “Daniel is comfortable with the sarcastic humor as well as
the heartfelt drama,” Barbee says. “He’s friendly, hard-working, just a lovely, lovely guy.”
Earlier this year, the cast sat in on a real-life heart transplant operation, which for Henney was “the
most incredible experience.” A 22-year-old kid had overdosed on heroine, granting a heart to a 44year-old heart disease patient who likely would have died two weeks later. “I watched everything,”
Henney says. “I watched them literally rip his heart out.”
Henney’s work schedule, which includes developing a sketch comedy show to pitch to the networks
and flying to Korea about once a month for various projects (he’ll go back and forth indefinitely), hasn’t
left much time for a personal life. On rare days off, he’s usually hanging out with his golden retriever
named Mango, driving around in his new black Jeep or house hunting. (For now, he’s staying in a
“beautiful little Spanish home” in Hancock Park.) He’s not dating anyone, but says, “I wish I was. I
think I’m gonna start. I don’t know how. It’s hard to find a girl who would stick around if I say, ‘Hey, I’m
gonna be gone for two months, is that cool?’” The type of girl he’s interested in: “Someone with a good
sense of humor, who’s game to go out and do anything, who doesn’t mind just hanging out and
drinking a beer.” (Sorry gals, we can’t give out his number – or give him yours.)
Within five years, he hopes to get married and settle down, in part to please his folks. “I want them to
have grandkids. And I like the idea of having someone for life.”
When reflecting upon his fairytale career, Henney frequently uses the word “lucky.” “I’m no dummy. I
know I’m so lucky. I just happened to be blessed with some sort of specific look that people seem to
find attractive.” But with that luck, he says, comes responsibility. Life is now about taking what he’s
been given and turning it into something bigger.
“I want to establish a role model for young Asian Americans to look up to and be proud of,” he says.
“We have an African American president. Times are changing. There’s no better time than now.”
Be sure to check out our exclusive video of Daniel Henney where we go on the set of Three Rivers!