A reader kindly gave me the head’s up on this interesting piece on the “Korean Wave” by the NYT’s Norimitsu Onishi. Read it on your own, but here’s just a sample:
Here in one of the first corners of Asia hit by the “Korean Wave” of cultural exports, a television series about a royal cook, “A Jewel in the Palace,” proved so popular that it is now used to advertise South Korea on the Taipei subway. A huge hit in Mongolia, the drama also fueled a boom in tourists from Hong Kong visiting South Korea.
A weepy love story, “Winter Sonata,” became the rage in Uzbekistan after driving the Japanese into a frenzy last year. In Thailand and Malaysia, people devoured “A Tale of Autumn,” and Vietnamese were glued to “Lovers in Paris.” In China, South Korean dramas are sold, and pirated, everywhere, and the young adopt the clothing and hairstyles made cool by South Korean stars.
South Korea, historically more worried about fending off cultural domination by China and Japan than spreading its own culture abroad, is emerging as the pop culture leader of Asia. From well-packaged television dramas to slick movies, from pop music to online games, South Korean companies and stars are increasingly defining what the disparate people in East Asia watch, listen to and play.
Some might find this of particular note:
There have been unintended effects too. Copies of South Korean dramas and music are being increasingly smuggled from China into North Korea. One popular drama in the Communist North was “All In,” the true story of a South Korean gambler who went to Las Vegas with only $18 and became a millionaire.
North Korean women began copying the hairstyle of its lead actress, Song Hae Kyo, prompting the authorities there to crack down on “untidy” hair, said Kim Yang Rae, director general of the Korean Foundation for Asian Culture Exchange.
In mid-June, a 20-year-old North Korean soldier, Yi Yong Su, defected across the demilitarized zone into the town of Chorwon in central South Korea. The private said he had grown to admire and yearn for South Korea after watching its television programs, South Korean military officials told reporters.
As to be expected, the NYT piece seems to be getting noticed in the Korean press as well — personally, I like the graphic from the Kyunghyang Shinmun’s piece on it.
According to Ehwa University professor Yi O-ryong, however, the Korean Wave must overcome what he calls its “parochial” character to go mainstream:
“To become the global mainstream, the Korean Wave must die,???? says Yi O-ryong, an honorary professor at Ehwa Woman’s University. ????As Korean digital technology spreads around the world, it also causes social and civilizational phenomena. But rather than trying to prolong the Korean Wave, we must create a new Hallyu based on universal and natural values — a sort of digital Oriental Wave.”
The rest of the piece makes for an interesting read.
22 Comments
Just curious, where did this term “Korean Wave” come from? Is this another example of some bad marketing slogan? It gives me the finger nails scraping on chalkboard sound feeling everytime I read the headline “Korean Wave”.
I believe that it is a term coined by the Korean media. Yeah it could have been alot better, I find myself uncontiously rolling my eyes everytime I hear it despite being happy for Korea that its media is so popular in other parts of the world after having admired Japanese media for so long.
Would you prefer tsunami? Or would that be lacking in taste?
My impression has been that it’s a term originating in China (???ζ??), because it just doesn’t look or sound like a term that Koreans would coin out of Chinese characters.
Ok, let’s see what Google has to say… Here’s a report (pdf) by Samsung Economic Research Institute on the prospects of using hallyu in marketing, which says that the Chinese press started using ???ζ?? in 1999, and in early 2000 with the HOT concert in China it became known in Korea.
The following is from Munhwa Ilbo, Jan 21, 2000:
??°?????€?°?? ?Έ?·ζ???± ??΄?Έ?? ??Έ?Έ°
[??Έ???Ό?³΄]2000-01-21 03?? 20??΄ 889??? ??Έ?
??°??? ??€???? ??? ??Έ?³????? ?²?????Έ?° ?Ό?‘??€. ????Ά?° ??Ό???????Ό?‘ ?????? ?????Έ?°?? ?Έ????΄?²???? ???°???΄ ???????° ?????΄ ?€?? ?²???Έ??¨ ?± ?????????Ά????? ??°??? ?°????€??? ??Ό?°?° ?????§?³? ?????€.??Έ??΄?΄?Ά?? ???·Ό ??€???? ??? ??΄?Έ????? ?°?²??? ????΄ ????Ή?€ ??????? ?Ή?±΄?ͺ¨ ?± ???????Έ ?°????€??? ?????Έ?³‘??? ?????΄ ?€????΄ ??Ό?³Έ??΄,3?°?§ ?²?????Ό?‘ ?Ά??Έ ???‘?????Έ ???°???? ?????????€?³? ?°??????€.
?€????΄ ?²???? ???????(??ζ??) ?‘ ???‘? ?½???????????? ????????±??? ?????????²??,?????????? ???????΄???, ?Ώ¨??? ?????????, ?²???΄?Ή??³???€??? ???²??? ? ?± 12?³‘??΄ ????‘?????Ό??°, ?€????΄ ?????????Έ FM???? ?°??‘??Έ ??????Έ???? ??€? ???????΄ ??????? ?§‘?????€. ????‘??³‘?€?? ?ͺ¨?? ?·Έ?°? ??????Έ???? ??€???? ????΄ ?°??‘??Ό ??Έ?Έ°??Ό ???????? ?²???΄??€.
[...]
And from Seoul Sinmun Jan 20, 2000:
??€?°??? ??΄?Έ????? ?°?² ??Έ??Ά?? ??±·?³? ?????
[????Έ?????Έ]2000-01-20 05?? 32??΄ 917???
[...]
???????(??ζ??)-Song From Korea???Ό?³? ??΄??? ?Ά??Έ ?€????΄ ???°?????? ????????± ?Ή?????? ????Ή?€ ? Ή???§? ????½ ??????? ?Ώ¨ ??Ό?Έ°????³΄ ?²???΄?Ή??³???€ ???±???? ??????????? ?????Έ?³‘??? ??€?????€.???????°??΄???????????€??Έ ???§? ?°???? ?????????? ?³??Ό?³‘???΄ ?????Ό?³‘ ?????€??? ????€.??Ό?³Έ??΄ ???°??? ??Έ?????€???΄??€ ??°??? ????§? ? ????Ό ?± ????΄?°???? ?°??³΄?·?????Έ?ͺ¨?? ?± ??Ό?³Έ?°?????Ό ?°Έ???????¨ ?‘? ??€????Ό,?????΄???°??? ????Ή?€??΄?????° ?°??????? ?Ή?±΄?ͺ¨?° ?Ά??Έ ?Έ°?‘΄??? ?????΄? Έ?????Ό ??Ά?????€.
[...]
Well, this shows just once again how important part of Korean language the Chinese characters continue to be…
I was in Beijing last weekend asking about this. A couple people explained that han liu was originally a fairly standard term meaning something akin to “cool wave” with the original han being a homonym of sorts - something other than ?? but still pronounced ‘han’. Then they came to use ?? to describe the trend of Korean movies etc.
I’ll bet that “Korean wave” sounds better in Korean.
I?ll bet that ?Korean wave?? sounds better in Korean. Hallyu. Short for Hallyud?.
In Chinese ??ζ?? means “cold snap” or “cold current”… It has the same exact pronunciation as ???ζ??, which could be “korean current” or an abbreviation for ?????½ (korea) ζ???‘ (popular).
Several years back, my BIL who worked (and still works) in Tokyo kept telling his Japanese friends that his sister married an ethnic Korean.
I wondered what the big deal was as he kept bringing it up in conversations.
Only later did I understand this in context of “Kanryu.” This was something of a surprise as I was reared in a different context of the Japanese view of ethnic Koreans.
As a side note, whenever I am in Japan and hanging out with my BIL, Japanese waiters and other service people always speak to me (in Japanese) first. My Anglo BIL will then rattle off (”HELLO!”) in perfect Japanese, but he’s completely ignored!
Finally, after realizing that my Japanese isn’t so hot, the dejected folks reluctantly talk to my highly exasperated BIL.
It’s hilarious everytime I experience it.
hahaha… it took me awhile to figure out wheat BIL stood for. I apologize for the rather obnoxious “ree ppul” I put on your op ed post. I have rather severe mood swings.
I still don’t get what BIL stands for
BIL = brother-in-law.
In this case, my wife’s older brother.
Geeze, there was so much potentional for jokes on this “BIL”
“brothas in love”
“bitches in lust”
…
You just had to close it down, didn’t you?!
I do know that the term ??ζ?? was being using in Japanese media when Winter Sonata became big there 2~3 years ago. I have no idea if it was in use in China first, but the meaning seems pretty clear, since the word?ζ???‘ is used in Japanese to mean popular or fashionable. The English language Japanese press was also using the term ‘Korean Wave’ as a translation for the term a couple of years ago.
ζ???‘ is a fad or something fashionable in Korean, isn’t it?
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