The article mentioned that Hallyu exists in the context of national, economic and increasingly cultural competition. It shows Korea’s competitors, China and Japan, how to structure and promote their own cultural industries. Compared to China and Japan, I think Korea does a better job of promoting their own cultural industries and has influenced my life. The article said that Hallyu has the power to move minds, bodies, and wallet across the region, and I completely agree.  Kim mentioned that Korean dramas and movies were part of the old Korean wave and K-pop has become the new Korean wave. My mom is an example of someone who was influenced by the old Korean wave When I was little, my mom would non-stop watch this Korean drama called My Lovely Sam Soon, and it was the only show my mom would watch over and over again. Like many other Korean dramas, Sam Soon was a show targeted toward women with a very cute love story and handsome male lead. Asian audiences love this show because they found the show more relatable than western shows.  

On the other hand, I am an example who is influenced by the new Korean wave, K-pop. I started listening to K-pop when I was in middle school in China, and I was a huge fan of all the idol groups (Super Junior, Girls Generation, Shinee, f(x)) from SM Entertainment. Because of K-pop, I started buying snacks from Korea, going to Korean restaurants, using Korean beauty products, buying clothes from Korean websites, and traveling to Korea multiple times. These things did not change even after I moved to the United States. I proved that “hallyu has the power to move minds, bodies and wallet” (Kim).

The article mentions that like the Korean wave is based on K-pop, the Japanese wave is based on anime and the Chinese wave is based on its history. It also pointed out that China’s cultural and creative industries are still not mature enough to compete with Korea and Japan. It is disappointing to hear, but I have to admit that it is true. For me, I grew up watching anime and listening to K-pop. As I grew older and moved to the United States, I wanted to watch more Chinese shows to stay updated with current trends in China. However, all the mainstream Chinese video websites and music websites are only available for viewers and listeners in China. I often have to go through illegal websites to watch those contents, and I think because of illegal downloading and difficulty accessing content inside and outside of China makes it hard for China to grow its own cultural wave.