2017

Relationship between Korean

Culture and Hallyu

Nadya Novarizka Mawuntu

1706067
 INTRODUCTION

In 2012, Korean singer PSY and his amusing dance moves became a
phenomenon in various locations around the world. PSY “Gangnam Style”
video has attracted more than 2.9 billion YouTube views and recognized as
the most liked video on YouTube by Guinness World Records. By the end of
2012, this song was nominated and won a lot of international awards;
American Music Awards and MTV Europe Music Awards; and became the
king of music charts all over the world including United Kingdom, Australia,
Canada and Italy. By this phenomenon, international audiences newly
discovered the cultural aspects of South Korea. However, the first Korean
cultural wave was initiated far back then.

Over the last decade, Korean popular culture has spread contagiously
throughout the world. The term “Korean wave” or called “Hallyu” has been
used to describe the rising popularity of Korean popular culture. As we
briefly sketched using the case of PSY, Hallyu has evolved dramatically.
Furthermore, it has been drawing up a cross-national identity for the
consumers of Korean popular culture.

The report will analyzes the evolution of Hallyu, the way its soft power
has grown and the relationship between Korean Culture and Hallyu.

1706067 | Relationship between Korean Culture and Hallyu

1. The Evolution of Hallyu

Kim Gu, Excerpt from Baekbeomilji, March 1st, 1948

Kim Gu is the leader of Korean independence movement. In the end

of his autobiography, he mentioned about Korean culture as a form of
Korean soft power. His writing was the background and the first step of
the Korean cultural wave. Korean cultural wave commonly called as
Hallyu. Word “Hallyu” itself was first introduced by Beijing journalist in the
end of 1999. He was very surprised at the speed of the fast-growing
popularity of Korean culture.
, The popularity of South Korean culture by media products started
since the early 1990s. It started with the popular drama series A Wish
upon a Star in 1997 and Winter Sonata in the early of 2000. These
popular drama series were exported and dubbed into other Asian
countries.
After affected millions of people by their K-Dramas, Korean music
industries also show a fantastic growth not only in the Asian population
but also increasingly gaining western fans. In 2011, S.M. Entertainment
held a two days concert in Paris, 14.000 tickets were sold out and drew
fans from all over Europe.
Korea exported their pop culture products in many forms, including
drama series, music, movies, foods, games, fashions etc.

1706067 | Relationship between Korean Culture and Hallyu

Geographically, the impact was focused on Japan, China then it
expanded its popularity over other Southeast Asian countries, Vietnam,
Thailand, Philippines, and Indonesia and became a regional
phenomenon. As we can see from the Paris concert and the YouTube
view numbers, Hallyu is expanding their popularity all over the world.
Social media and Internet have been effected the evolution of Hallyu.
High speed Internet service, mobile devices and along with the fast
growth of social media such as Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and
Facebook are effecting the evolution of Hallyu in the way of the Korean
cultures are presented, consumed and distributed. In this digital era, our
world is connected via the Internet, the evolution and expansion of Hallyu
is predicted to be greater and more enormous.

K-Culture

1706067 | Relationship between Korean Culture and Hallyu

2. From Love of Hallyu to Love of Korean Culture
From their personal interests to their official activities, we know that
everything that Hallyu stars do will get International attention. Hallyu fans
watch Korean movies and K-Dramas, they listen and dance to Korean
music. Even, they learn the lyrics. Their interest does not stop there.
They develop a real interest in Korean culture in general. Moreover, now
our world is connected by the internet. Hallyu will become more
influential because Korea will introduce more cultural product refer to
recent trends over the years.
Since 2000, beside the K-Dramas and K-Pop, Korea’s traditional

food also steal the world’s attention. The first is Kimchi (김치)Korean spicy

dish made of fermented cabbage. Then, Gochujang (고추장) Korean hot

chili pepper paste and Ramyeon (라면) Korean instant noodles.

Source: https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/gochujang

But, despite the successful Hallyu phenomenon, Korea still has a lot
of country’s cultural aside that still not noted by the world. Korean

calligraphy, Korean colorful traditional costumes Hanbok (한복), Korean

1706067 | Relationship between Korean Culture and Hallyu

 tea ceremonies, beautiful traditional houses Hanok (한옥) and classical

Korean music are sure to spark interest among non-Korean tourists.

Source: http://www.antiquealive.com/Blogs/Dado_Korean_Tea_Ceremony.html

When you go to Seoul, capital city of South Korea, you will come
across an elegant alley line with an old stone wall that surrounds a
palace. As you walk down this ancient street, you will notice futuristic
buildings such as the Dongdaemun Design Plaza. Seoul has an
interesting mix of the present and past, it makes Seoul so special and
unique. K-Culture is defines by its colorful traditions and modern
sensibilities, and it has now become an integral part of Hallyu movement.

3. Impacts of Hallyu
Recently, Hallyu steals the international attentions and become the
world phenomenon. Therefore today, Hallyu marketing is a widely used
as the marketing tool among Korean companies. Korean fashion brands,
cosmetics, food and electronics companies raise the K-pop stars as the
representative cultural ambassadors of their companies. Surprisingly it
makes huge impacts. Hallyu increase the positive image of Korea and
Korean products and automatically increase the Korean company sales.

1706067 | Relationship between Korean Culture and Hallyu

 CONCLUSION
Hallyu is the common word for Korean wave, a great popularity of
Korean pop cultures. Hallyu has been consistently grown since the early
of 1990s. The first Korean wave Hallyu 1.0 focused on media contents
(K-Dramas and movies). Next, Hallyu 2.0 had more concerned in K-Pop
and K-Stars. And Hallyu 3.0 expanded more about culture, fashion and
technologies / K-Culture.
As the result of the Hallyu, South Korea gains successes in many
sectors. For example is tourism sector. In the recent years, the number
of foreigners’ tourists who visited South Korea are more than doubled.
Most of them visit the popular places where K-Dramas took place.
Namsan Seoul Tower, Nami Island and Jeju Island are the most popular
place to visit.
More impressive than the wave itself was that the world also learned
about Korean Culture through the Hallyu. It was amazing because
people who welcoming the Hallyu were very attracted to Korean culture,
as well as singers and their favorite actors or actress in K-Dramas,
Hallyu fans all around the world wanted to Visit and learn Korean
Cultures.

1706067 | Relationship between Korean Culture and Hallyu

REFERENCES:

Kim Bok-rae, Prof. 2015. Past, Present and Future of Hallyu (Korean
Wave). Andong national University.

Kim Jeongmee. 2014. Reading Asian Television Drama. New York: I.B
Tauris & Co LTd

Kim Min Sun, Kim Do Kyun. 2011. Hallyu: Influence of Korean Popular
Culture in Asia and Beyond. Seoul: 서울대학교출판부

Lee Sangjoon. 2015. Hallyu 2.0: The Korean Wave in the Age of Social
Media. University of Michigan Press

http://globe-one.com/power-of-culture-hallyu-the-korean-wave-4636/

http://koreaherald.kr/view.php?ud=20131126000866

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Wave

1706067 | Relationship between Korean Culture and Hallyu