Add this because on the previous article where Korea Herald try to investigate the korean wave in Indonesia, my comment also added on the article... :)

March 4, 2008
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 18th in a series of essays by a select group of foreign scholars and journalists looking at the spread of Korean pop culture in Southeast Asian countries and beyond. - Ed.
While visiting South Korea with a tour group from Singapore, our bus took a break at a rest stop somewhere along the eastern coast of the Peninsula. As we were purchasing snacks, a middle-aged sales staff asked in Korean if we were Koreans.
We replied in Korean that we were not local. Then he asked if we were from China. We told him that we were from Singapore, to which he replied with a smile, "Wow! That's far!"
Whereas East Asian travelers have traditionally formed the bulk of tourists, the popularity of Korean popular culture in Southeast Asia, particularly television dramas, has increased tourists' arrivals from this region. It also raises the question of the absorption of Korean culture, and in particular, its popular cultural products.
It would seem hard to believe that cultural exposure to South Korea has been relatively recent in Singapore, given that Korean television dramas are now aired almost nightly in prime-time television slots.
Historically, the presence of Koreans in Southeast Asia had not been visibly significant compared to the Japanese and Chinese. For the older pre-1945 generation of Singaporeans, Koreans were almost singularly associated with those serving Japanese military auxiliaries, particularly during the three and a half years of Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945.
Chaebol were first established in the new Republic of Singapore in the 1970s to assist in the construction of its physical infrastructure. Thus, Koreans were typically associated with male construction workers and engineers.
During the 1980s, the images became those of angry but highly organized male students and workers in headbands clashing with rows of riot police. Meanwhile, Singaporeans were also occasionally fed propaganda advertisements in national newspapers from the North Korean Embassy in the republic.
Hence, the Korean presence in Singapore has largely been culturally ambiguous and skewed toward the male gender, where the Korean Peninsula was only about politics, economics and men.
In contrast, popular culture productions from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan - whether films, television dramas, cartoons or toys - have become part of the everyday lives of Singaporeans. In general, the pervasiveness of these productions can be attributed to the decreasing reliance on local official media stations for entertainment choices as VCRs became commonplace from the early 1980s. Many ethnic Chinese Singaporeans were also familiar with both Cantonese and Mandarin.
In addition, the transnational Chinese media networks between Southeast Asia and Hong Kong and Taiwan were well-established by as early as the beginning of the 20th century, permitting a faster and smoother flow of cultural products.
While Japanese language and culture had been relatively alien to the region, this did not pose a significant barrier to the consumption of its products, particularly by the late 1970s, which coincided with the ascendancy of the country as a major economic player on the world stage. From anime and J-pop for children and teenagers to family-centered soap operas, Japanese popular culture managed to gain a following from a broad spectrum.
Last on the scene was Hollywood, where the spread of English as the main medium of instruction in schools from the 1970s made American popular culture more easily accessible to the local market.
Only independent Korean films such as "Green Fish" were screened during the annual Singapore International Film Festival. In 2000, the Korean drama "Autumn Tale" starring Won Bin, Song Hae-gyo and Song Seung-heon was screened in Singapore for the first time and was so well-received that television stations were inundated with calls and e-mails requesting a re-run. "Winter Sonata" the following year secured the K-drama craze.
Interestingly, the consumption of Korean popular culture in Singapore in its early phases mainly followed the trends in China and Taiwan. When K-dramas first became popular in Singapore, retailers imported Korean drama box-sets from China and Taiwan for sale in Singapore. These products typically carried their own Chinese titles and synopses and were dubbed over in Mandarin. Because these versions were in VCD instead of DVD format, costs were kept low.
Consumption of these products were, consequently, based not on the ability to speak Korean, but to speak or read Mandarin. The screening of Korean dramas on the Chinese-language channels, often dubbed over in Mandarin, also reinforced the notion that Korean products were of interest only to the ethnic Chinese majority which makes up 75 percent of the population. Malays and Indians (mostly Tamils) comprise 15 percent and 6 percent. In fact, Korean television dramas were so closely identified with Mandarin that they were used to encourage an interest in the learning of Mandarin rather than Korean.
There have been several shifts since 2000, in particular with respect to language. The recognition of the popularity of K-dramas amongst non-Chinese Singaporeans, as well as the popularity of Korean television serials in Malaysia, has resulted in the belated import of K-dramas with English, Mandarin and Malay subtitles. The increased choices of subtitles has in turn made such productions more readily accessible to more non-ethnic Chinese consumers in Singapore, principally the ethnic Malay and Tamil Singaporeans.
For ethnic Chinese audiences, the themes and formats of most Korean historical dramas are not alien. In fact, the references of these dramas and films to the various Chinese dynasties have given Chinese Singaporean audiences rudimentary yardsticks to understand the Korean contexts.
Linguistic translation alone, however, would not have commanded such an extensive following in K-dramas in Singapore. The main appeal of K-dramas lies in their ability to platform a highly modern and urbane lifestyle without, at the same time, disregarding the focus on the familial responsibilities and issues.
Moreover, the romantic pursuits in these productions are also comparatively more sexually restrained and conservative than Hollywood and even Japanese and Taiwanese television dramas. Along with the emphasis on more formal attire in their productions, K-dramas have also struck a chord with Malay Muslim female audiences who are less comfortable with content baring too much "sex and flesh."
Overall, we suspect from our anecdotal experiences as students in Korean-language schools, observations in DVD retail outlets and our participation in a conducted tour to South Korea that Korean popular culture in Singapore is mostly consumed by women. Even advertisements by the Korean tourism authorities feature mostly metrosexual-like Korean men against the picturesque backdrops familiar to viewers of K-dramas.
Aside from the appeal of these well-refined male images, one other possible reason for the gendered or feminized consumption of Korean popular culture has been the portrayal of women in K-dramas as more active personalities, rather than cardboard beauties. For the female protagonists of these scripts, although seeking Mr. Right may have been imperative, behind the love stories are more constant struggles to establish their careers and provide and care for their families.
A greater variety in subtitles has in turn made such productions more readily accessible to more non-ethnic Chinese consumers in Singapore. An interesting trend is therefore the expansion of the fan base of Korean popular culture, particularly among the Malay population.
There are now Muslim eateries selling Korean-style food such as bibimbap and Korean noodles. There are also increasing numbers of ethnic Malays, particularly women interested in Korean dramas, visiting South Korea. In their colorful headscarves and with their intimate knowledge of K-dramas, these Malay Singaporean women form a base of fans not commonly imagined by the Korean public, but who are an important part of the diverse body of K-pop fans.
The second important shift in the consumption of Korean popular culture here has also been the greater desire for "authenticity." Whereas the Mandarin-dubbed versions were preferred in the past, people now seek dual-sound versions with Korean and Chinese soundtracks. With greater exposure to Korean popular culture, audiences in Singapore want to listen to the original Korea vocalization, which they feel provides greater coherence with the acting and hence allows for more pleasurable and "authentic" viewing.
The growth in the popularity of the Korean language also means that television dramas are used as tools of language acquisition and learning, resulting in the demand for dual-sound versions. The demand for such products continues despite the cheaper Chinese-dubbed versions that are exported from China.
Popular culture diplomacy: Possibilities and limitations
In Singapore, increased familiarity with Korean popular culture encourages greater interactions between Singaporeans and Korean residents in the republic beyond the confines of short-term tourist visits. Interest in learning Korean has spurred the growth of language centers offering Korean-language instruction, which was in the past mainly confined to the Singapore Korean School. Today, private schools such as the NUS Extension work with Korean universities to offer two- to three-month scholarships for the study of Korean.
The formalization of student exchanges between Korean and Singaporean universities has also become an interesting feature in the past two to three years. Aside from traditional fan clubs, Korean cultural clubs such as the Korean Cultural Society set up in the Nanyang Technological University also offer the increased possibility for social interaction between Korean and Singaporean students.
Cultural flows are also present in the estimated 6,500 Korean students in local and international schools in Singapore, a number that has seen a significant jump in the recent years. The education market in Singapore has drawn many South Korean students whose parents are attracted by the safe environment, the relative proximity to Korea and the strength of the multilingual education here.
It is widely perceived that because Singapore is an Asian society, it would be a more suitable environment for younger school-going children. South Korean students in local schools typically study English and Mandarin, or English, Mandarin and/or Korean in the international schools.
As English is the medium of instruction in Singaporean schools, education here is regarded as good preparation for the much-desired entry to American universities or for better job prospects in South Korea where these students would be equipped with English, Chinese and Korean language skills.
It is hoped that the presence of these South Korean students would serve as cultural ambassadors in building more sustained socio-cultural relations.
Limits to popular culture consumption
Although many Singaporeans have become interesting in traveling to Korea, long-term or in-depth cultural exchange is limited by language barriers.
Despite the interest in the Korean language since 2000, only the Korean School in Singapore offers advanced Korean-language classes. There is currently no department for Korean studies in all of the tertiary institutions in Singapore, unlike the more well-established Chinese and Japanese studies department. Where Korean is offered, this is at the basic level.
Consequently, without advanced Korean-language training, it becomes difficult for Singaporeans to seek long-term employment or to pursue studies in South Korea. The lack of an in-depth understanding of Korean culture and history also limits the range of movies made available and consumed by local audiences. In the case of "Taegeukgi" (2004), it was the presence of lead actors Won Bin and Jang Dong-gun - known through television serials - instead of the subject of the Korean War that attracted audiences here.
Efforts to ensure the long-term cultural possibilities of "popular culture diplomacy" should therefore include the improved availability of training in the Korean language, particularly beyond the basic levels of instruction.
In particular, funding for Singaporeans who wish to further their interest in the Korean language and culture is crucial in ensuring that both students and working adults who study Korean and progress well are encouraged to seek further training which allows them to transform a "hobby" into a long-term career possibility. Although Korean-language scholarships are currently offered here, this covers only tuition fees and not living expenses.
Furthermore, while longer-term cultural exchanges are offered through the local universities, focusing primarily on funding university-level training exclusively would exclude a substantial number of adult learners who may become very good at the language but who become hindered by the lack of language-training opportunities.
Ensuring that the interest in Korean culture continues beyond Hallyu, therefore, requires the quick and concerted response to the interest in Korean-language learning and the important and belated opening of a Korean studies department or institute.
In the meantime, the prevalence of Korean popular culture outside the Korean Peninsula has served as an inspiring example to Singapore. Sharing the legacy of the post-war "dragon economies," local media have been pondering whether a similar phenomenon is possible for the city-state.
Given the fact that the "tiny red dot" (a derogatory nickname given to Singapore by a former Indonesian president) is now considered a model of development for many postcolonial Third World countries, this envy of the Korean Wave is indeed ironic. Nonetheless, the projection of South Korea's soft power has shown to Singaporeans that one does not need to be in the center of the world to be popular.
By Kelly Fu and Liew Kai Khiun
Kelly Fu is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Goldsmith College, University of London, while Dr. Liew Kai Khiun is a postdoctoral fellow at the Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore. They can be contacted at richard_88@pacific.net.sg and liewkk56@hotmail.com - Ed.
Source: Korea Herald

[THE HIGH TIDE OF THE KOREAN WAVE(17)] Korean dramas carve a niche in Japan

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 17th in a series of essays by a select group of foreign scholars and journalists looking at the spread of Korean pop culture in Southeast Asian countries and beyond. - Ed.
The full force of the Korean Wave hit Japan in 2004. Four years later, the phenomenon known here as "hanryu" has succeeded in creating a comfortable niche for itself in the Japanese TV and music world.
In November, 2004, the initial frenzy clogged Narita Airport, as thousands of Bae Yong-joon fans flocked to welcome him to Japan, ten people were injured as the crowd outside his Tokyo hotel scrambled to get a peek at him. Today, the hanryu boom has evolved into a calmer, sustained and widespread interest in Korean pop culture that has increased the Japanese public's desire to better understand the customs, lifestyle and cuisine of their closest neighbor.
Of course, not everyone has rushed to ride the Korean Wave, but it has succeeded in widening the perceptions and perspectives of many. Here on the northern island of Hokkaido, where Korean TV dramas are especially popular, signs of the hanryu presence are everywhere. Ladies gently jostle each other out of the way to get at the wide array of hanryu magazines at the local bookstore, and TV commercials remind us that the new "Winter Sonata II" and "Spring Waltz" pachinko (pinball) machines will be out soon. At the local music store, a large box containing a 30-centimeter Kwon Sang-woo doll decked out in the priestly robes he wore in the movie "Love So Divine" is propped up against shelves full of Korean drama theme music collectors' boxes and DVDs from John-Hoon and Rain.
In Hokkaido, five to six Korean TV series are shown each week on terrestrial TV, mostly on weekday mornings and mostly without Japanese dubbing. Not only have many Japanese TV viewers discovered they love Korean dramas, but they have found that they are just as happy watching them in the vernacular with subtitles. That would have been utterly unimaginable even a few years ago - an indication of the amazing effect the hanryu boom has had. Add in the plethora of dramas offered on Japan's dozens of satellite TV channels, and those of us who have never been to Korea could easily spend everyday there vicariously, if we like.
Nor is the exchange all one way. While Japanese TV tourists flock to Seoul, several Korean dramas have featured Hokkaido locales. This February and March, director Kim Jin-min has been in the port town of Otaru filming a new TV drama starring Lee Dong-wook and Oh Yean-su that will air on MBC in May. Otaru is hoping it will be good for local tourism, too.
The big question, of course, is just why has the hanryu boom been so successful? Mutual profit, timing and quality seem to be the answers. The entertainment industries in both countries quickly recognized the lucrative potential of the pop culture exchanges, and have actively promoted them. It would be difficult to even try to estimate the reverberating economic impact of all the hanryu spin-off industries, from publications and tourism to language study and licensing.
The cross-cultural entertainment world influences are now so great, it's hard to imagine that this all took off just four years ago with one memorable TV drama - "Winter Sonata," starring Bae Yong-joon and Choi Ji-woo. NHK, the national public broadcaster, decided to try it Saturdays at 11:10 p.m. in a time slot usually reserved for U.S. and British fare. Like all the Korean dramas shown on NHK since, it was broadcast with Japanese voiceovers. Japanese TV viewers, especially middle-aged women, quickly were carried away by the sensitive love story. Soon, glasses and wool scarves were fashion statements. Yong-sama, as he affectionately became known, was being carved in ice at the Sapporo Snow Festival, and tours to the filming locations became all the rage. NHK quickly followed up with "Beautiful Days," "All In," "Spring Waltz," and the historical dramas "Damo" and the very popular "Daejanggum," which NHK also later ran in animated form for the kids. Asian dramas have occupied the Saturday 11 p.m. time slot ever since. Those desperate for "Desperate Housewives" or "ER" now have to wait until 1 a.m. As an added bonus for those who stay up even later, "Himawari" with Lee Byung-hun airs at 1:50 a.m.
The historical dramas and lighter Korean romantic comedies broadcast on satellite TV and available for sale or rental on DVD have insured that hanryu fans now include both sexes and all age groups. The appetite of the most dedicated fans has become insatiable, and has stimulated interest in Korean movies, music, musicals and tourism.
A Hanryu Cinema Festival featuring 14 films, mostly starring actors who are familiar to Japanese TV fans, is running again this year in Tokyo and Osaka from March to May. (Check http://www.cinemart.co.jp/han-fes2008). The spring 2008 travel brochures ad
vertising Korean destinations are offering tickets to the popular musicals "Nanta (Cooking)" and "Jump," besides promoting all-in sights Jeju, "Daejanggum" locales and dining experiences and, for the die-hard Bae Yong-joon fans, a Yong-sama "mo ichido" (once again) tour that even includes his college campus. JTB also sponsored special tours to the open sets used in "Jumong" in February and March. And the list of Korean actors and musicians coming to Japan for concert tours, fan meetings, dinner shows or to release albums here grows longer by the day. March promises Big Bang concerts and the release of the first "SG Wanna Be + Japan" album.
The desire for ever more information on the activities of Korean entertainers has led many big-name Tokyo publishers to issue an impressive array of hanryu magazines, directories and the glossy photo-heavy, magazine-style books known in Japan as "mooks." Those who want even quicker access to the Korean entertainment scene news can get up-to-the-minute bulletins on their cell phones.
With all the dramas and information now available, Japanese hanryu enthusiasts are becoming increasingly knowledgeable. The latest directory of Korean stars includes the profiles of 780 actors, directors and scriptwriters. Truly dedicated hanryu fans can even test themselves on how much trivia they have amassed.
"Kentei" (proficiency tests) in all sorts of subjects, from languages to local history, are popular in Japan, and the first introductory-level "hanryu kente" (a project done in conjunction with JTB) is currently underway. Those who pay for and successfully complete the test on-line will receive certificates of proficiency and be eligible for special TV tours to Korea. An intermediate-level exam is already planned for May. Those who think they have watched enough Korean dramas to qualify may want to try the mini-test at http://www.k-x.jp, with sample multiple-choice questions like: Amnesia is a recurring theme in Korean dramas. Select the drama which did not deal with this theme.
Few fans take their fascination to this level, but even occasional and casual TV viewers will recognize the names of the stars of those first few NHK series - Bae Yong-joon, Choi Ji-woo, Lee Byung-hun, Ryu Shi-won and Lee Young-ae - and their works - "Winter Sonata," "Daejanggum," "Stairway to Heaven," "Beautiful Days," and "Hotelier" - which top a list of the most popular Korean dramas in Japan, according to a survey of 1,600 Japanese, mainly women in their 30s, done in 2007 by the TV Asahi program SMAStation. Hosted by SMAP's Shingo Katori, the program unfortunately has had to compete with these dramas in the Saturday, 11 p.m. time slot. And even Japanese TV scripts have begun to recognize the hanryu presence as a part of the modern 21st century Japanese lifestyle. In the recent Japanese TV series "Hatachi no Koibito," the heroine's colleague is a devoted Lee Byung-hun fan who reads hanryu magazines on her breaks, and rushes off from work to attend his fan meetings.
This brings us to the second important aspect of the hanryu success: the timing was right. Had the Korean Wave arrived five or 10 years sooner, when Japan's own TV dramas were at their peak and bringing in average ratings of over 30 percent, the hanryu boom might have faced a more difficult challenge. But, for the last few years, Japanese dramas have been weathering a considerable slump. Although two dozen series are launched each quarter, it has become extremely difficult for most to get anywhere near 15 percent ratings, and few top that figure. Only dramas starring SMAP's Takuya Kimura have been consistently capable of climbing up over the 30 percent mark in the new century. Irritating or inconclusive endings, predictable dialogue and a trend away from serious romances have discouraged viewers, and created a vacuum that the quality Korean products have very conveniently filled. Serious drama fans have taken refuge in the parallel hanryu world with its overall high quality, straightforward and sincere style, freer expression of emotions and romantic leading men.
Hanryu dramas might even be able to help enliven the Japanese prime time lineup, now heavy with variety shows and trivia quizzes, if given a chance, but foreign TV series have been unable to significantly break through into the 8-11 p.m. market. Since 1990, I can recall only one foreign drama that was able to crack that barrier to be welcomed into the Japanese prime time schedule - "The X Files" in 1995.
Still, the hanryu phenomenon has become secure enough in its niche that it has been able to make some dents in the barrier in two ways: Japanese remakes of Korean hits, and appearances by Korean stars in Japanese dramas. In 2006, Tokio's Tomoya Nagase starred in a successful remake of "My Boss, My Hero," a Korean comedy about a gangster who goes back to high school which was among the top ten-rated Japanese TV dramas that year. A Japanese remake of "Hotelier" was less successful, even though it featured a cameo guest appearance by Bae Yong-joon. SMAP's Tsuyoshi Kusanagi and actress Reina Tanaka will appear in "Ryokiteki na Kanojo," a remake of the 2001 hit Korean movie "My Sassy Girl" beginning in April, 2008.

Korean stars who have tried acting in Japanese dramas have faced a bigger challenge. Choi Ji-woo starred in "Rondo" in 2006 and Ryu Shi-won co-starred with Japan's top actress Yukie Nakama in "Joshi Deka (Lady Detective)" in 2007, but the latter reached only 54th place in the year's drama rankings. Both series met with only moderate success, in part because the Korean stars were not given ample opportunity to display their talents.
While hanryu fans in Japan might idolize the Korean stars, and rush to their fan club meetings, what they are really buying is the whole Korean drama package - the excellent camera work, the passion, the direction, the perkier dialogue and plots, the detail regarding fashion, and the beautiful background music that make them a distinctly Korean commodity. Thus, Korean stars might want to think twice before accepting roles in Japanese series.
Korean actors who want to try their hand at Japanese dramas may find it educational, but it is also a career choice fraught with peril. Their popularity on the archipelago may be more secure if they continue to star in domestic Korean dramas with export value, and only pop across the sea for periodic personal appearance tours, rather than getting caught up in the sluggish continuing-drama-series market in Japan.
Although Ryu Shi-won's week-long guest appearance on the 2007 NHK morning serial "DonDon Hare" significantly helped spike ratings for that series, just look at what he faced in one romantic scene with Yukie Nakama in "Joshi Deka:" In the scene where she is so distraught that she hasn't eaten all day, what does the script call for - a kiss, a hug, empathy, sympathy? Not even some concerned and caring Korean drama-style wrist yanking (which makes one wonder if repetitive strain injury is an occupational hazard for Korean actresses who have to rehearse scenes like that all day).
No, Ryu Shi-won has to tell her to close her eyes. Then he leans over and pinches her nose while shoving a morsel of food into her mouth. Ridiculously unromantic and a waste of his talents. And the Japanese networks wonder why their drama ratings are plummeting, while the public craves serious romances. As long as Korean dramas continue to fill this void, the hanryu boom should continue to be a lucrative niche industry in Japan.
The next bounce will no doubt come from "Taewangsasingi," starring Bae Yong-joon. Already running on NHK's satellite channel, it will be broadcast in NHK's lucky Saturday 11:10 p.m. terrestrial time slot from April 5. Japanese actor Masato Hagiwara, whose own career got a boost when he did the Japanese voiceovers for Yong-sama in "Winter Sonata," will be back to give voice to the hero again.
For now, it looks like the hanryu TV boom is here to stay and will continue to bring the peninsula and the archipelago closer together through couch-potato diplomacy.
By Kathleen Morikawa 2008.03.03

[THE HIGH TIDE OF THE KOREAN WAVE(16)] Korean Wave a washout on Australian shores

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 16th in a series of essays by a select group of foreign scholars and journalists looking at the spread of Korean pop culture in Southeast Asian countries and beyond. - Ed.
Across Asia, and especially in Japan, the Korean Wave seems formidable. Korean popular culture has flooded international markets. The Korean Wave was so-named because of this widespread influence. In Australia, however, this influence didn't have the same impact. Instead of flooding mainstream Australian culture, the Korean Wave adopted an alter-ego as kitsch, niche and underground.
The risk of assessing the Korean Wave in Australia is that it lends itself to overstatement. With the proliferation of Samsung mobile phones and zippy Hyundai cars, it is hard to tell where mindless material consumption ends and the conscious adoption of Korean culture begins.
Although not infiltrating the mainstream, the Korean Wave has not been without a home since crossing the Pacific Ocean to Australia. Communities of ethnic Koreans living in Australia have clutched at the veneer of their homeland. For these Korean-Australian diaspora communities, Hallyu is the proof that Korea is developing into a global and prosperous country, and it is enjoying the ride.
The greatest obstacle for Korea's cultural dispersion in Australia is, in crude terms, 8,000 kilometers. This plight of proximity is particularly Australian, as the country has no land borders for cultural osmosis. Different cultural and historical backgrounds compound with language barriers and geography to obstruct the reception of the Korean Wave in Australia.
K-pop: A long way to the top
Lecturer Dr. Hee-Eun Lee tells a story about a student in a media studies class he taught at the University of Iowa. A student was in the torment of trying to decide what topic to research for her final class assignment. She decided to write about MTV Asia. Lee suggested that this may be a good way to look at how indigenous music interacts with global repertoires.
The student, puzzled, paused for a while then with an air of innocence asked, "But is there any indigenous popular music, rather than traditional music in Asia?" "Well," he replied, "I have shown you some video clips from Asia, don't you remember?" Hesitantly she nodded. "I do. But wasn't that just a local performance of global music, I mean, American music?"
There are a number of troubling aspects to this story. More than ever, music is not what Lee calls a "single primary text" but a marriage of sound, words and images. This is particularly true of music television such as MTV. MTV Asia is somewhat of a Trojan horse that provides a very Euro-American keyhole through which cultural products are packaged and viewed.
If MTV were a mathematician, it would be infamous, a genius even, renowned for producing some of the most successful cultural formulas of the 21st century. Successful, yes. Original, authentic, progressive? Perhaps not. Not anymore anyway. These formulas represent a culture that spits out new products designed to imitate products that were successful in the past. Perhaps the academic Gitlin got it right with his claim that "the safest, easiest formula is that nothing succeeds like success."
In this sense, it is easy to understand the confusion of Dr. Lee's student.
Australian audiences, though not by any means a unified entity, are that student in many ways. The "lucky country's" cultural gaze is firmly set upon our colonizer, Britain, but more significantly the United States. Australians acutely and critically view Korean cultural products through these Euro-American frames.
Korean-Australian Jenny Lee, a Korean pop fan, identifies this as the main reason the wave simply hasn't impacted Australia in the way that it has its Asian neighbors.
"The reason they (Korean artists) haven't appealed to Westerners is because their style, mostly hip-hop and RNB influenced, is similar to singers already existing in American pop," she said.
This was never more apparent than upon Rain's successful Rain's Coming world tour last year. Rain declared a war of attrition on Korea's neighbors and on both American and Australia as well.
Yes, it "RAINed" in drought-stricken Australia last year. The Korean pop heartthrob arrived at Sydney's international airport to 150 screaming fans.
At his Sydney press conference at the Stamford Plaza Hotel, Rain stood in front of a patchwork quit of logos and looked glamorous next to a live koala. A media monkey holding a live koala, it made the whole press conference look more like a zoo.
This aside, 23-year-old Australian Senah Han was in the audience for his much-anticipated performance at Acer Arena in Sydney. He warmed the crowd with schooled English and provided a light show that made the aurora appear amateurish.
"The concert was more performance-based. They used a lot of special stage effects such as lights, smoke, water and I know lots of people were very impressed by that," she said. But Han wasn't convinced. "I can't say that I really got into it," she continues. "But everyone in the audience was very mildly entertained, including myself."
Han wasn't the only one "mildly entertained." The Western press likened Rain to a Michael Jackson mimic in both style and costume. The New York Times conceded, "Rain seems like a nice guy, but he doesn't have the tormented charisma of Jackson." He simply did not generate any new trend that could upstage American performances.
"Seeing him onstage was like watching old MTV videos dubbed into Korean," the New York Times continued. It didn't end there. They drove the knife in with: "Rain sounded like a nostalgia act," a criticism targeting the absence of originality in his music style.
At the heart of such criticism is something inherent to rock scholarship, that music is political, subversive and in the eyes of some, endangers moral order. Many of these ideas are born from that great German, Theodor M. Adorno, who made a distinction between good popular music that is authentic to "a person, an idea, a feeling, a shared experience," and bad popular music that is unauthentic. "It expresses nothing," Adorno claims.
These notions of authenticity are deeply entrenched in Australian music culture. The Australian popular music scene still fails to escape the mythology of live music that reached its peak in the 1980s.
These mythologies require that the auditory experience is authenticated by live performance. The louder, wilder and bloodier the live show, the more authentic the group. For the author Martin Stokes, such an event "evokes and organizes collective memories and present experiences of place with an intensity, power and simplicity unmatched by any other social activity."
There is a lot of nostalgia concerning these mythologies of live music, particularly when conversing with any scruffy, long-haired, leathery skinned, has-been from the 1980s who likens the pub circuits to more of a battlefield. AC/DC, Midnight Oil and Cold Chisel, the darlings of the Australian pub rock scene, are the first to testify to this.
An Adelaide hotel, The Largs Pier, was the battlefield where Aussie rocker Jimmy Barnes cut his teeth with his band Cold Chisel. Stripper and bourbon references aside, Barnes claims, "It was like a wild west town. That was where we started, the crowd sort of adopted us, and the ones who made it through the night without getting killed came back the next night and brought their mates for protection."
In analyzing such phenomena, Dr. Shane Homan, an academic and drummer, argues that the live pub remained "the cornerstone of, and it was believed, the reason for, global attention and a source of national pride."
Although the nature of this live music mythology has amalgamated from its 1980s heyday, the main hangover of pub scene, and no doubt there were many, is a remaining sentiment requiring groups to prove, and indeed earn their worth, authenticity, and credibility. In some scenes this remains a precursor to global success.
Indeed there is a sort of trench ideology at play too; that is, the bigger the sacrifice the bigger the glory. This is at the heart of the quintessential Aussie battler ideal, a fair go for all, and an authenticity that comes from being the underdog that is still deeply embedded in the Australian social psyche.
Undoubtedly, this accounts for a deep cynicism within some Australian audiences in the reception of high-production super shows by Korean stars such as Rain.
For now, it seems, Australia prefers the drought.
Hallyu at home in some young Aussie hearts
Although the Korean Wave hasn't had the reaction in Australia that it has experienced on a large scale from its Asian neighbors, it has found homes in the hearts some young Australians. Senah Han, 23, has always called Sydney home, and in many ways she is the quintessential Aussie youth. But in many ways she isn't.
Before graduating from high school in 2002, Han enjoyed movies, music and television dramas with a Korean flavor.
"I was always up to date and in with Korean pop culture but not as much anymore. I think it has to do with the people I hang around," Han said. "The school I went to had many international Korean students. I got to learn from them."
It seems the Korean Wave entered the psyche of Australian youth hidden in the suitcases of international students. However, Han worries that Korean students can't spread the culture on their own since the Korean communities she grew up near tend to keep their national culture to themselves.
Strathfield, in the inner-west of Sydney, has a concentrated community of Koreans. Han went to school in Strathfield and still lives near the area. "Strathfield is a hotspot for Koreans, like a Korea Town. Strathfield has Korean grocers, video stores, hairdressers, music stores, book stores, comic books, PC rooms and more. It's hard to miss (Korean culture) if you're there," she said.
A self-confessed lover of Korean popular culture, Han has observed a gradual proliferation of the Korean Wave in Australia. But is the wave gaining momentum in Australia?
"I think it is, the World Cup really helped. I think that the process is much slower than it should be because the Korean businesspeople in Australia only tend to target Korean groups," Han said.
Han has made it her mission to spread the word. "I have many friends and colleagues that were introduced to Korean food and movies by me and were surprised with how much they enjoyed Korean culture," she said.
"There are many non-Koreans that have really become educated about Korean pop culture but many still don't have a clue what it's all about."
The conventional channels through which culture filters into Australia do not run directly from Korea. There is no Korean television content on Australian TVs. "Winter Sonata," the 2002 KBS drama series heralded as the love child of Hallyu, is virtually unheard of in Australia.
Language is the most obvious barrier between Australian and Korean television sets. But there are obstacles that subtitles or dubbing cannot overcome. The Confucian relationships between characters, the hierarchies and themes of filial piety do not easily translate for an Australian audience as with other nations in the region.
Take a quick look at Australia's most successful long-term television export, "Neighbours," and the disparity is clear. Characters run away from home, discuss sex and contraception, ignore parental expectations, engage in homosexual relationships from time to time and true love is almost never forever. The British love "Neighbours" as if it is their own, but it is doubtful it would be a success in Korea.
There is no Australian equivalent of "Winter Sonata" with its soft hues and melodramatic soundtrack. Australian narratives are not delivered with the sentimentality and romance found in Korean drama.
Dr. Marc Brennan, a lecturer on media and communications at the University of Sydney, is less hasty to blame cultural difference for the absence of Korean dramas on Australian television.
"Our historical alignment with the U.K. and the U.S. doesn't so much mean that we aren't interested in Asian culture, just that there aren't as many opportunities for it to permeate into our media. The U.S. television industry, for example, has a strong hold on the networks here (in Australia)," Brennan said.
The question of space for international content on Australian television sets is pertinent. American content is imported in "bundles." One show is chosen for purchase and sold as a package of 10, crowding the airtime with American content.
"This impinges on the possibility of importing content from other nations," Brennan said.
But missing out on "Winter Sonata" in Australia hasn't dampened Han's enthusiasm for Korean pop culture. Since graduating from high school she still enjoys some Korean pop culture.
"I am aware of the new popular music through karaoke and occasionally I rent DVDs from the Korean DVD place. I watch either scary or funny Korean movies," she said. Maybe onetime she'll rent the DVD box set of "Winter Sonata."
By Caddie Brain and Elizabeth Moorhead 2008.02.28

[THE HIGH TIDE OF THE KOREAN WAVE(15)] The Korean Wave: Shining star or black hole?

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 15th in a series of essays by a select group of foreign scholars and journalists looking at the spread of Korean pop culture in Southeast Asian countries and beyond. - Ed.
Not only to my friends but to most people, working as a foreigner making dramas in Korea's entertainment industry sounds like a dream come true.
The idea of meeting celebrities and basking in the light of fame is attractive to most of us. However, the other side of the coin is not that bright. Looking to the future, I worry about the Korean Wave, also known as "Hallyu."
Apparently it has spread further, to reached new shores recently, including the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. But to realize the weakening of its source in Korea, and the critical decline in its major markets in Southeast Asia, you do not need to be a genius. Attentive observation of domestic and international markets reveals its current state.
I do not agree with those who say the Korean Wave is a passing fad, and is already fading away. Anybody who knows the basics of economics will admit that the global economy generally shows a transition from a knowledge-based economy to a content-based one.
In the 1970s, the global economy was based on manufacturing and production. In the 80s, it took a form based on know-how and information. In the 90s, communication and networks were the traction engines of the world economy.
Peter Drucker, a legendary political economist of the 20th century, who was often called the world's most influential business consultant, said: "The success and failure of each country will be decided by the cultural industries in the 21st century. The final battleground is the cultural industry."
He also added, "The best way to predict the future is to create it." No doubt Korea is aware of these facts, and its giant economy will continue to produce quality cultural content.
Still, questions remain regarding the Korean Wave and its source. If we say it is generated by the Korean cultural industry, we need a definition for that industry.
It can take different names. In the U.S. the cultural industry is referred to as the "entertainment industry," and consists of basic elements with extra fields, such as sports management.
The U.K. calls it the "creative industry." Here, in addition to basic elements, architecture is also included in the category.
What about Korean content provided by the Korean Wave? Most people, including foreigners, perceive it to be limited to Korean dramas, movies and popular music. Usually, sectors such as the gaming industry, animation, mobile content and the character business - a merchandising industry which uses mascots such as Hello Kitty or Miffy - are overlooked.
As a close observer, I still do not know whether advertising, print media or even fashion is included in the definition of the Korean Wave. This shallow perception is one of the most important reasons why the Korean Wave is faltering. This can be prevented only by organizational and formal administration.
In the United States, entertainment industries are supported by the central or district governments. In the United Kingdom, creative industries are looked after by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. But in Korea, regulations and promotion policies are almost non-existent. Individual organizations cannot provide precise data and statistics. On the contrary, foreign statistics show the importance of concrete strategies.
According to PriceWaterhouseCoopers' Global Entertainment and Media Outlook report, released in 2006, the worldwide market for cultural content is worth $1.6 trillion. Korea spends only $32 billion, which is a tiny 2.2 percent of the global market share. U.S. enjoys 44 percent alone. The Korean Wave might be still expanding, but statistics show its growth rate has dropped from 88 percent in 2004 to 30 percent in 2005. The Korean film industry's growth rate fell from 7.3 percent in 2004 to 1.8 percent in 2005. The music industry plunged to 1.2 percent in 2005 from 3.4 percent in 2004.
Surfing the internet, one can scarcely find news about Korean online game exports or the character business.
Instead you can find tons of news - hundreds of articles -about exported TV dramas and movies. In a country with a fashion-obsessed and celebrity-based media, you might predict that the Korean Wave consists of only TV dramas, movies and popular music.
However, according to PWC 2006 figures, the worldwide broadcasting business has growth of only 7 percent, and cinema has just 3 percent growth, whereas the internet and online game industries show growth of 17 percent.
In 2006, the online game industry had a global market worth of $74 billion. Korea had a 38 percent market share - $28 billion, ranking first in the world. This is almost 20 times larger than Korea's share in the global cultural content market.
The total cultural content Korea exported through the Korean Wave in 2006 was valued at $1.2 billion. Online game exports for the same year were $564 million - 47 percent of Korea's entire cultural exports.
In the case of Europe, although 10 percent of Korean movies are exported into the continent, there is almost nothing to talk about, as regards Korean dramas. However, the character business sends 25 percent of their exports to Europe and the animation industry sends 12 percent of its exports there.
These numbers show that there should be a shift in Korea's strategy regarding the Korean Wave and its inner elements. Focus, promotion policies, support and regulation should change drastically. This vital and inevitable change should be made as soon as possible to keep the Korean Wave alive.
Turkey as a case study
In general, experts say the Korean Wave started in the 1990's.
In the case of Turkey, it is a totally different story. The first Korean Wave hit Turkey centuries ago.
Turks and Koreans lived as neighbors in the past and Koreans still remember Turkish people as the "Dongol nation." Both Korean and the Turkish language belong to the same Ural-Altaic language family. Even after their migration to their current land, the Turkish people remained interested in their old brother nation.
In Istanbul, if you visit the magnificent Suleymania Mosque and its ancient library, you will find books, hundreds of years old, about Korean culture, hanbok fashion in the early Joseon Dynasty (1392 - 1910), or Korean cuisine.
A Turkey expert, my life-long teacher Prof. Lee Hee-soo from Hanyang University, once told me that in those times, it took only a couple of months for Korean hanbok and its other fashion trends to reach Turkey via the amazing Silk Road.
He added, laughing, "Cultural exchange through the Korean Wave in the past was much greater and way faster than it is now."
The second Korean Wave hit Turkey right after the Korean War. In addition to the wartime efforts, Turkey regularly sent troops to the Korean peninsula on peacekeeping missions. A total of 15,000 troops visited Korea during this long period. About 720 soldiers died here during the war but the rest took away their memories of Korea. Almost everyone around my age in Turkey has heard thousands of stories about Korea from their grandfathers. Even in the most remote countryside of Turkey, you may come upon a town grocery with a signboard reading "Koreli" which means "Korean." Most Korean War veterans are called by their nickname, "Koreli." You may guess how many times they tell stories about Korea.
In the capital of Turkey, Ankara, a memorial in the shape of a Korean Pagoda was erected for the soldiers of Korean War. The U.N. cemetery in Busan brings all Turks to tears. This, then is concrete evidence of the second Korean Wave.
The third wave hit Turkey in 1988. The Seoul Olympics drew enormous attention from the Turkish people because a Turkish athlete, Naim Suleymanoglu, one of the most distinguished lifters in the history of weightlifting, broke six world records in Seoul and became a hero in Turkey. After Korea, the 150 cm-Olympic- champion was called the "Pocket Hercules." We can say the modern picture of Korea was formed in the minds of Turkish people during the Seoul Olympics. Most of us erased the postwar images of Korea from our minds.
The fourth Korean Wave hit Turkey with a soccer ball. During the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, the semi-final match between Korea and Turkey transfixed both Koreans and Turks. 45 million here, 75 million there, all glued to TV screens; both nations watched a 90 minute advertisement for each country. Those scenes had a cultural marketing effect worth billions of dollars. When people saw their players with the other country's flags in their hands, everybody was transfixed. That day, Turkish flags waved in tune with the Korean Wave.
In 2005, then-president Roh Moo-hyun's visit to Turkey sparked more cultural exchange between Turkey and Korea. Arirang TV signed an agreement with Turkish state television station TRT, and Korean dramas began to be aired in Turkey.
The first Korean drama shown in Turkey was the "Emperor of the Sea." It was followed by "All In," which was recently telecast in TRT. It has a popular website and the leading actress Lee Young-ae has many fans already.
Unfortunately, Korean dramas are far from successful in the Turkish market. All of them have stayed out of the limelight. "Emperor of the Sea" received only 1.4 percent viewer ratings. After receiving viewer ratings of 70 percent in neighboring Iran, "Jewel in the Palace" entered the market ambitiously but the result thus far is disappointing. It recorded tiny ratings of 1.2 percent - even smaller than that of "Emperor of the Sea."
Korean dramas are usually aired during off-peak times, around 1:30 in the afternoon. There is no proper advertisement, and it seems TRT is using the dramas as fill-in programs.
Exported to more than 50 countries, for sure, "Jewel in the Palace" deserves more. But Turkish entertainment experts do not credit Korean dramas with much chance.
STV News Channel CEO Ahmet Boken says, "Although the picture quality and stories are way better, Korean soap operas are similar to Mexican dramas in their style. Turkish people are fed up with Cinderella stories. There is too much superficiality and overacting. In almost every episode, somebody dies, or at least gets terminally ill; good-looking girls get slapped in the face, and tears flow in rivers, and their good-looking partners cheat on them."
Unlike the stuttering dramas, Korean online games are the most successful representatives of the Korean Wave in Turkey. Public relations manager of Korean online game company K2 Network, Jeannie Hong says, "Turkey, with 5 million users, is our greatest market. In 2008 we are preparing to provide the market with games in Turkish as the second language choice after English."
After successfully obtaining 30 percent of the Turkish game market, K2 Network immediately opened an office in Turkey.
A Korean game, Silk Road Online, gathered 500,000 Turkish game fans, creating incredible turnover, charging $8.90 to $24.90 for each game package.
Another success story for the Korean Wave in Turkey is Korean cinema. In fact, extreme movies draw enormous attention in the Turkish market. Korean director Kim Ki-duk is maybe the best-known celebrity in whole of Turkey. Turkish people love his movies. Few people took notice of his movie "3-iron" in Korea, but it took Turkey by storm. It was heralded the best foreign movie in Turkey in 2005. People follow Kim and watch all of his work.
"Samaria" pulled thousands to the box office and Kim Ki-duk fans are now waiting for his latest work "Breath." Every year he is invited as an honorary guest to the largest international film festival in Turkey, the Antalya Film Festival.
Another talented director, Park Chan-wook, has a large fan base among Turkish movie-lovers. His movies with revenge themes in the background, such as "Old Boy" and "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance," were very successful in Turkey.
Once, the heart of every Turkish lover of Eastern movies belonged to Akira Kurosawa, a famous Japanese director. But nowadays Kim Ki-duk, Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon-ho, the director of "The Host," have stolen them from Kurosawa.
Extreme stories, unexpected endings, and mixed genres thrill Turkish viewers, and they love Korean movies. Recently, at the forum held for Korean Cinema, well-known movie critic Mithat Alan said, "Visual impact, black humor, mysticism, absurdity, and violence are all stunning ingredients present in Korean cinema, and it is exactly the right antidote for Turkish movie patients fed up with boring, dull movies."
After all, bright days are still ahead for the Korean Wave in Turkey.
As a brother from a fraternal country, I believe it is an obligation for us to do our best to facilitate ever more cultural exchange, and realize tangible results between the two countries in the near future. It is more than just lip service to swear to be brothers.
By Veyis Neo Toprak 2008.02.27

[THE HIGH TIDE OF THE KOREAN WAVE(14)] Korean Wave coming to Latin America
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 14th in a series of essays by a select group of foreign scholars and journalists looking at the spread of Korean pop culture in Southeast Asian countries and beyond. - Ed.
The Korean film "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring" by the director Kim Ki-duk received an astonishing response from Chilean audiences when it was screened here in 2005. Claudia, an aesthetics professor at my university, told her students to watch the movie and submit an essay about it. Nobody dared to explain theoretically the aesthetic value of the movie.
After this, another film by the same director, "3-Iron," was released, and Chilean newspaper reviewers praised the movie. The paper published at my university recommended the film, giving, as the main reason to watch it, "because it's Kim Ki-duk's movie." But it seemed to make no difference to the Chilean audience whether Kim Ki-duk was from Korea or somewhere else. It is not surprising to find oneself sitting in a theater watching his movie, and hearing someone say, "After all, Chinese culture is amazing."
Chile's national broadcasting network TVN aired the Korean drama "Stairs to Heaven" beginning in March 2006. The network decided to air the show following the enthusiastic viewer response to earlier broadcasts on a cable channel owned by the same TV station.
One day, Francisca, one of the Korean culture class students, said to me: "Professor, my mom's watching an Asian drama 'Stairs to Heaven.' It is a Korean drama, right? She insists that it's Chinese."
A relatively larger number of Korean dramas were aired in Mexico. Dramas such as "Stars in My Heart" and "All about Eve" were shown in 2002, and "Winter Sonata" was broadcast in 2005, followed by "Henequen," a special documentary produced in commemoration of the 100 years of Korean immigration to Mexico. The 2006 broadcasts included "I'm Running," and "Four Sisters."
When former President Roh Moo-hyun visited Mexico in September 2005, enthusiastic fans of Korean actors like Jang Dong-geon and Ahn Jae-wook held rallies to try to get the stars to visit the country. This incident shows the fresh impact of Korean culture in one Latin American country.
A few years ago, Korean media reported that the so-called Korean Wave was also breaking on the shores of Latin America; as proof, there were examples of active fan clubs of Korean actors in Mexico. However, local media in Mexico did not show the interest in this phenomenon that some Koreans may have expected, and we must admit that most of the Korean dramas aired there were through regional broadcasting stations.
Korean culture gained recognition in South America when the film "The Way Home" was shown in Argentina and Chile a couple of years ago. Some Korean dramas were also telecast in Peru and Paraguay. Surely, there was room for Korean culture to be seen, but the phenomenon was as far from being a "Korean Wave" as the physical distance between Korea and Latin America.
This wave, however, is now on the verge of hitting Latin America. This year, TV Azteca, one of the main broadcasting stations in Mexico, decided to purchase two Korean dramas, "Jumong" and "All In."
Chilean students in my Korean culture class watch many contemporary Korean dramas on YouTube. They talk about shows such as "Gung," "Dalja! Spring," and "Misa." Students such as Natalia and Mariana like Korean boy bands, including Dong Bang Shin Ki and Sinhwa. Antonio asked me whether avatars were developed by Koreans. Paula said she came to know about Admiral Yi Soon-shin while playing a computer game, "Seven-year War." At the Korean Film Festival held at the Catholic University of Chile twice a year, the performances of Korean dance and Taekwondo have left a strong impression on Chileans.
Last year, Chile's National Museum of Contemporary Art held the Korean Contemporary Art exhibition called "Peppermint Candy" in response to the Chilean Contemporary Art exhibition held in Korea in 2006. Beatriz Bustos at Chile's Museum of Contemporary Art said that it was the best exhibition of 2007.
It is important to note that Latin Americans aren't apt to see what we Koreans want them to see and to understand. They like to see things with their own eyes and come to their own conclusions, even though sometimes it means they might focus on a fragmented piece of Korea's reality, and exaggerate it.
Director Kim Ki-duk's new movie "Time" was released in Chile a few months ago. Many Chileans might not know where Korea is or what Korean culture is like. But they have heard of director Kim many times. Many dailies and magazines write about his films whenever a new film comes along. Christina, a theology professor whom I expected an amazing film review from, said, "I like Kim's movie because of the beautiful visual image of Asia, but also because I don't have to bother reading the subtitles."
When Im Kwon-taek's "Seopyonje" was released here, many students said that they couldn't understand why a daughter had to go blind because of her father's passion for singing. Some of them interpreted the father's line "Sing beyond your rancor," as being too obsessive and macho.
Cesar, after watching the movie "Oh! Soojung," asked whether all Koreans consider a dark backstreet as a good place to kiss their lover. Sebastian, who watched "Joint Security Area," saw the subtitle saying "Take the dog meat. It's a health supplement." He later said that he came to believe that Koreans are dog meat regularly. Augustin, an arts professor, said, "Korean women seem to be aggressive and bossy. Is it common to see them beating their husbands, like they do in dramas?"
My colleague Claudia watches Korean dramas on YouTube, and even buys DVD titles of the shows. She says she can learn about the way Koreans think through these dramas. "Koreans seem to be overly romantic. And, in the end, their love always ends in tragedy."
When encountered with pictures of Korean pop icons, Chileans unanimously say that they all look alike or that they are too skinny and that they wear too much makeup. They also often say that the songs of popular girl bands sound exactly like Japanese ones and that the girls look like Japanese cartoon characters.
Central and South American countries cannot be taken as one entity. Except for some countries like Brazil, Surinam and Belize, where Portuguese, English or Dutch is spoken, most Central and South American countries speak Spanish. But it is important to know that they all have different accents and varieties in their lexicon.
"Stairs to Heaven" with subtitles written in Mexican Spanish seem rather odd to Chilean viewers. "The Way Home" translated into Argentine Spanish can be confusing to viewers in the rest of Central and South America.
In Latin America, the pressing need for the Korean Wave, in the minds of Koreans here, is that Korea must be get wider publicity. This means that the model of the Korean Wave which was successful in other countries cannot necessarily be repeated, and will not apply to all Latin American countries.
Dramas are often lengthy and they usually have some translation or purchasing problems. It is necessary to develop various cultural contents - for instance, films, music, dance, animation, taekwondo and even IT - and expand the methods which will work in Latin American countries. Dynamic performances such as samulnori and "Nanta," both of which are all about percussion, will surely fascinate Latin American audiences. It is also important to remember that exchanges can increase when Koreans also show interest in Latin American countries and their culture.
As a teacher of Korean studies, I often meet students who are interested in Korean dramas and pop songs. I was one day given a DVD of "Gung" with English subtitles, as well as a CD by "Shinhwa." Some students here even operate their own websites on Cyworld, a popular networking website based in Korea. However, these are not typical Chileans. But who knows? Some day, they might lead the growth of the Korean Wave in Chile, and spearhead its expansion in Latin America.
Korea's Culture Ministry defines the Middle East and Central and South America as "areas of potentiality" regarding the Korean Wave. In 2006, a Korean council opened in Buenos Aires so as to make Korean culture better-known in the country. It is my humble hope that this goal will be realized, and that I can see the Korean Wave happen in Latin America.
The ways to promote the potential energy of Korean culture depends on Koreans. It is important to promote Korea to Latin Americans who are still unfamiliar with the country. It is crucial to develop our cultural products, and brand them as "Made in Korea." The faraway land of Latin America will also be enriched by the Korean Wave, as long as we remember the simple, but challenging truth: "What's most Korean is what's most global."
By Min Won-jung 2008.02.26