by In the 21st century, the Korean Wave, which began to take off in earnest, is getting stronger.
The group BTS made a speech to the world at the UN General Assembly in September after posting six songs to the top of the Billboard chart since last year, and Netflix’s drama series ‘Squid Game’ is now in the middle of a global craze.
Recently, the Oxford English Dictionary has listed 26 words derived from Korean as new English. Most of them are related to Korean popular cultures, such as Hallyu (Korean Wave), older sister, older sister, older brother, trot, jackpot, cartoon, K-drama, and mukbang.
Among the newly added words in the dictionary, the compound word ‘K-‘ clearly reveals the current status of the Korean Wave. The Oxford Dictionary’s definition of ‘K-‘ is “an abbreviated word from K-wave.” Oxford said, “‘K-‘ started with K-Pop (1999) at the end of the 20th century, followed by K-Drama (2002), K-Beauty, K-Culture, K-Food, and K-Style. It forms a related noun,” he explained with examples.
Spice up the obvious story with a Korean twist
What is the secret of the global Hallyu cultural content wind through the eyes of a foreign cultural researcher?
American college students also seem interested in this, and the Stanford University Newspaper dealt with this issue through an interview with Dafna Zur, director of the East Asian Studies Center (Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures), who teaches Korean literature, film, and popular culture. Professor Jour said, “Because Korean cultural content is excellent,” and summarized its core as ’empathy’ with the audience and fans.
First of all, he analyzed the characteristics of Korean dramas, saying, “It has a good balance between predictability and originality.” Korean dramas often have predictable or apparent stories. For example, stories about a poor man who succeeds and becomes rich, a rich boy and a poor girl fall in love, and their children defy their parents’ wishes and find their way fall into this category. Here, a Korean twist is added as a seasoning. He said, “The characters are polite to adults, and children do not betray their filial piety to their parents.” He also added, “Korean drama scripts are full of humor. Of course, there are often dark twists, but Korean dramas draw viewers’ attention by expressing even the most ruthless rich people humanly.”
Talent, dance, and charisma are what made K-pop success
As for the secret to K-pop’s success, the idols’ musical talent, fantastic dancing skills, and tremendous charisma were cited as critical factors.
He said, “Idols not only practice and train hard, but they also know how to speak in front of the camera and how to communicate with their fans. It keeps the image clean, and the behavior is set to a very high standard.”
He analyzed that idols approach fans in a fun and kind way that seems sincere, and in return, fans are loyal to K-pop idols just like sports fans are loyal to their team, forming an ‘idol-fan dynamic.’ did. For example, idols communicate with their fans through a well-crafted communication platform, acknowledging their role in their success. And the fans fiercely protect the idol. Fans who are too obsessive, intentionally booking the same flight as the idol, will be expelled. “There is a powerful bond between the idol and the fans,” he said.
He pointed out that the success of BTS, which started as a relative underdog in the Korean entertainment industry due to the agency’s weak brand awareness, was primarily thanks to their talent and the passion and loyalty of fans called ‘Army.’
Hallyu fans want to know Korea in various fields.
After graduating from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel, Professor Zur (Korean name: Dahee Joo) began establishing a relationship with Korea when he came to Seoul to pick up a Taekwondo black belt in the early 1990s. He, who learned Korean at Yonsei Language School, said, “At the time, I knew very little about Korea, but today’s students grew up with Korean popular culture. There are too many to say,” he said.
He added that today’s students want to know Korea in popular culture and literature, film, politics, history, language, and other fields. They want to know how a small country lacking natural resources has formed a vast economy and gained influence in the cultural arena and how South Korea has prospered under the threat of a nuclear-armed North Korea. In his words, South Korea “is a country that holds the key to today’s economic, political and cultural enigma.”
