by Y’s U Youngsan University (President Gu-wook Bu) held an online and offline international seminar focusing on K-pop, centered on BTS, at Do Gwang-heon, Haeundae Campus, on the afternoon of the 29th.
With the theme of ‘The cultural essence of K-Culture, centered on BTS,’ this seminar aims to analyze the world-leading K-Culture and BTS syndrome to recognize the spirit of the new era and effectively prepare for the future. Will be. About 80 domestic and foreign scholars and officials participated in the international seminar on this day, reflecting the high interest in K-Culture, K-POP, and BTS.
The seminar started with a keynote presentation under ‘K-Culture and the Intelligent Society’ by Gu-Wook Bu, President of Youngsan University, followed by presentations and discussions in three sessions.
During the keynote presentation, the vice president said, “The passage where BTS questions themselves through their ‘Love Yourself’ album is reminiscent of Socrates and Plato’s ‘Know Thyself’ aphorism.” “In the West, It is significant that Plato’s philosophical value, which has been pushed to the margins as far as research and interest in the world philosophical circle is concerned, is cited in Korean popular songs.”
In addition, the Vice-Chancellor said, “In the lyrics of the Beatles songs, the verses of Lao-tzu Dao-qing are cited, and in the song Let it be, Lao-tzu’s philosophy of innocence and nature seems to be embedded. It has to be seen that it is already in-depth fusion in popular culture and is moving towards the development stage of dialectical fusion,” he said.
In the first session that followed, Professor Byun Jae-Gil of the Department of Beauty Arts at Youngsan University gave a presentation on the theme of ‘The Beatles and BTS (Social and Cultural Context).’ Professor Byun explained, “The Beatles and BTS represent transnational pop culture as boy bands that have grown based on the fandoms of ‘Beatlemania’ and ‘Army’ with the characteristics of popular culture of the times.”
The second session was conducted by Professor Yoo Hwa-Jeong of the Acting and Performing Arts Department at Youngsan University. Professor Yoo took as the theme ‘Implicit meaning of BTS songs in the context of the 4th industrial revolution’.
Professor Yoo said, “BTS’s album ‘Love Yourself’ series depicts the process of loving and parting and contains the narrative of eventually falling in love with oneself. It is showing similar aspects to the process of practicing Platonic philosophy.” He added, “Just as Plato said, ‘Travel has no end and is for our lives,’ BTS is also patiently practicing the journey to find wisdom.”
In the last session, Professor CedarBough T. Saeji of Pusan National University gave a presentation on ‘K-pop transformation of Korean traditional culture.’ Seiji Cedarbow, taking K-pop singers BTS and Psy as examples, introduces people worldwide through filming locations for broadcasts and music videos they appeared in (Gyeongbokgung Palace, Folk Village, etc.) or traditional instruments used for performances (Taepyeongso, Gayageum, etc.) Interestingly, it analyzed the background of people’s interest in Korean traditions and culture.
Meanwhile, starting with this international seminar, Youngsan University plans to look into the essence of K-Contents in the future and continue research and discussion on the reasons why Hallyu culture has been in the spotlight worldwide.
