Final Reflection
Since the early 90s, people started to see a trend of development in entertaining industries. This trend was called Hallyu, or the Korean Wave. Through Hallyu, South Korea was and is able to deliver Korean images and Korean values not only to its own citizen, but also to the world. In order to reach the purposes of Hallyu, South Korea produces a wide range of Korean products to advertise its culture. In the earliest stage of Hallyu, films were the main contents in entertaining industries that were popular among Korean people. Later on, Korean dramas became a Korean cultural symbol that was well-known by the world. For example, Winter Sonata was one of the most successful Korean dramas, because it was popular in South Korea and many other countries in Asia. It was not only broadcasted in South Korea, but also broadcasted by broadcasting stations in Asian countries, such as China and Japan. Starting from around 2010, the main contents of Hallyu were no longer only films and Korean dramas; Korean pop music, which is known as K-pop, was leading the Korean Wave to a higher stage. This stage is also called Hallyu 2.0 by some group of people. Besides Korean films, Korean dramas, and K-pop, there are in fact a lot of other forms of cultural products that are exported to the world by South Korea. For example, Korean cosmetics have really good reputation in Asia. Also, Korean food is very popular around the world and Korean restaurants can be easily found in any big cities in the world.
The medium in which South Korea uses to deliver its cultural contents is very noticeable. For Korean films, they are played in cinemas when they are first released. Even though most of the films can be watched online at home, cinemas are the primary medium for Korean films, because films are always released in cinemas first. For Korean dramas, television is the major medium, at least within the boundary of South Korea. People in South Korea are able to watch the newest Korean dramas on television. However, for those who live outside of South Korea, the medium to access to Korean dramas is primary Internet. People living outside of South Korea are able to watch the newest Korean dramas on websites that primarily provide Korean dramas, and there are a lot of those kinds of websites. Surprisingly, many new Korean dramas are also uploaded to YouTube by some people, and this really make it even more accessible for those who are living outside of South Korea. For K-pop, the primary medium is music files, which allow people to listen online or download them into their smartphones and listen to them whenever they want. Music videos are also medium for K-pop, which can be watched and listened online or on television. Among the cultural products that I mention above, internet tends to be the most effective medium to deliver Korean popular culture to the world. Accessing to internet nowadays is not an issue for people who live in the city; and they tend to be very open-minded to internet contents. This means people are open-minded to Korean cultural contents on the internet, as internet is very accessible.
South Korea’s popular culture is able to travel across national boundaries, either because of the cultural similarities, or because of the uniqueness of South Korea’s culture. In Asian countries, audience might find cultural similarities in South Korea’s cultural products. For example, even though South Korea has its own strong characteristics and styles in Korean dramas, audience in other Asian countries might also find cultural similarities in those Korean dramas. This shortens the gap of cultural differences between the audience’s country and South Korea. Therefore, Asian audience will be more likely to accept and love Korean dramas. In western countries that have minimal shared culture with South Korea, audience will like South Korea’s popular culture because of its uniqueness. Since they have never known or experienced much of Korean culture, when they see and experience it, if the cultural shocks do not make them hate Korean culture, then they are likely to like Korean culture. The unique feeling and experience about a complete new culture generally generates interests in a person, and makes the culture more acceptable to that person.
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- ASPA 3970: Popular Culture in East Asia Jiajun Chen