The NYT’s Korea Booster Club president Norimitsu Onishi discusses the influence of Korean pop culture (and beyond) in the Middle Kingdom:
From clothes to hairstyle, music to television dramas, South Korea has been defining the tastes of many Chinese and other Asians for the past half decade. As part of what the Chinese call the Korean Wave of pop culture, a television drama about a royal cook, "The Jewel in the Palace," is garnering record ratings throughout Asia, and Rain, a 23-year-old singer from Seoul, drew more than 40,000 fans to a sold-out concert at a sports stadium here in October.
But South Korea’s "soft power" also extends to the material and spiritual spheres. Samsung’s cellphones and televisions are symbols of a coveted consumerism for many Chinese. Christianity, in the evangelical form championed by Korean missionaries deployed throughout China, is finding Chinese converts despite Beijing’s efforts to rein in the spread of the religion. South Korea acts as a filter for Western values, experts say, making them more palatable to Chinese and other Asians.
For a country that has been influenced by other cultures, especially China but also Japan and America, South Korea finds itself at a turning point in its new role as exporter.
Onishi’s pieces are usually quite interesting, and this is no exception. Be sure to read the rest on your own.
59 Comments
“South Korean missionaries are bringing Christianity with an Asian face.” They’re also bringing in Western culture and consumerism with an Asian face, and it’s not Japan’s face, so that probably makes it more palatable. Korea should ride the wave while it can, because China will copy Korea and soon develop domestic substitutes and its own pop culture will take off–which is how Korea did it.
Yes, only the blind can ignore Korea (the ROK’s) cultural influence in Asia. As Japan captured the interest so many Asians seeking to modernize their countries in the 19th Century, Korea’s success in economics, cultural exports, and democratic development has inevitably done the same in the the late 20th Century. Koreans have rightfully earned their place in the sun. That they did it with some at times considerable help in no way diminishes their own considerable accomplishments.
Lirelou is right, it is a considerable accomplishment–Korean culture I think is much more acceptable to a lot of Asian countries because it was never an invader, it modernized quickly, became a democracy by throwing off military dictatorships and still retains (outwardly anyway) the confucian values other Asians rescognize and respect, even if they themselves don’t practice them. China is definitely using Korea as a benchmark, to the point that it will probably have competitive replacements for most Korean consumer goods within 15 years, and will develop its pop culture along lines like Korea, offsetting the latter’s influence in that regard.
it would be interesting to travel back to korea in the current climate. if only to discuss the so-called korean wave with the scores of friends and co-workers who inundated me with wave after wave of criticism and scorn for the so-called american wave of the 80’s and 90’s.
they, in their infinite wisdom, were always at the ready with indictments of american films, soap operas, food, music, clothing, and other “bad influences” on the pure, original, and otherwise virgin-like korean culture. they could not contain their anger at the “cultural imperialism” of the low-class americans and longed for the days of old before the western “invasion.”
to boot, they linked this american cultural invasion with any and all of korea’s social problems. rising crime, sexual openness, teenage rebellion, increasing obesity, drug use. you name the korean problem, and there was always a nike, a mcdonalds, a jerry bruckheimer, or a madonna at fault.
all of this of course, was done against the korean will. it had nothing to do with the popularity of american culture, but rather with the strength of the american government and the weakness and victimhood inherent in the korean government. they had no choice, you see. uncle sam forced the culture down their throats, holding a proverbial gun to korean consumers heads in a devious effort to make korea into a little america.
and where are we now? if those same critics of the american cultural machine had an ounce of consistency or a shred of intellectual honesty, they would be similarly critical of the korean wave, which is infiltrating not only china, but the rest of southeast asia. they would cry for the poor victims of vietnam, china, japan, and others who suffer the same wounds from the korean cultural invasion that the poor koreans did at the hands of the americans.
but no. instead they and the cheerleaders in the korean media beat their chests and tout hallyu’s success, more than happy to be cultural invaders while conveniently forgetting the sad song of the victim they were singing just moments earlier. how sweet it is to see the shoe on the other foot, and watch the so-called victims relish their role of victimizer without a second thought.
I’m glad to see Korean cultural exports doing well in China. However, I do expect a backlash because the Chinese are very “flavor of the month” trendy like Koreans are. TV dramas air two to four times a week and rarely stay on the air more than six months. The Chinese are eating up Korean wave, but they will grow tired of it after awhile and reject Korean movies and hairstyles as foreign. If a serious political dispute arises between China and Korea, this will hasten the trend. Korea’s application to add the holiday of Dano as a UNESCO World Heritage aroused possessiveness from young Chinese, who complained that Korea was stealing China’s holiday of Duanwu. Fortunately, the Dano/Duanwu controversy didn’t inspire any boycotts.
Well, once you get into it, there’s so many levels of irony in all this. A lot of “Korean” pop culture is a neutered variation on Western pop culture, like the “rap” music minus poverty and violence. But “Western” culture is itself a synthesis of influences from everywhere. At this point, the notion of an indigenous culture looks like a myth anyway.
Also, Koreans were heavily influenced by Chinese culture for centuries, so any complaints by them about “cultural imperialism” are myopic.
There’s nothing particularly “Korean” about the pop singer Rain or Yonsama, they’re both a pastiche of stereotypes like “sensitive guy” and “teen heartthrob” that marketers all over the world know how to manipulate–that’s why China will eventually catch up and manufacture its own pop idols.
Just hope that there won’t be any Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell of China in the future.
Here’s a similar story with some digs at Japan thrown in:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/.....inment-hed
“Japanese were very good at the analog era, because they are good at following steps,” said Professor Kang Chul Keun, director of the Hallyu Academy at Seoul’s Chung Ang University, which teaches the business and analysis of the culture trade. “But this is now the digital era, which requires dynamism and creativity, and Koreans hold clear superiority.”
Um, I think that’s what is known as “believing your own hype.”
I would like to see a better environment for teaching music in Korea; one that focuses upon quality. There are many excellent and accomplished classical artists from Korea — some who are amongst my personal world favorites — but other areas of the arts and music are neglected and need much more support. It is very sad when I hear or see a weak Korean musician or dancer, only to discover that he/she is actually *teaching* students!
“this is now the digital era, which requires dynamism and creativity, and Koreans hold clear superiority.”
–Professor Kang Chul Keun, director of the Hallyu Academy at Seoul’s Chung Ang University
Has this guy actually listened to any Korean music or looked at any Korean film or art, so much of both of which is at best derivative, if not blatantly imitative, of Western models? Perhaps he has, but is just ignorant of the sources - a rather telling illustration of the quality of Korean scholarship
^ then i guess it’s quite ironic that so many korean films are being bought by american companies? ^_~
I wonder if Professor Kang owns a Dong-a Prime dictionary. The entry for ?? includes this example sentence: It is generally thought that the Japanese are a nation of imitators who lack originality. If my memory serves me correctly, Korea has a trade deficit with Japan owing to “invisible” technology imports used in the manufacture of Korean products.
The problem with the Korean music industry is that it’s a mass marketed factory assembly line by-products. The hit pop songs come for short period of time and goes away just as quickly like wind. Old songs (which would be considered timeless classics in the west) are not treasured because they simply are considered old. And in Korea, old means it’s useless. A second problem is that there are no music or culture available in Korea for those who aren’t under 25 years of age or who aren’t over 50 years old. After you hit the ripe old age of 30, there really aren’t too many alternatives. Every year, pop groups get younger and younger. And now it’s not too unusual to see artists young as 13 to 16 year olds. When these same gals and guys hit 25, they’re over the hill and not marketable. Usually they end up going into acting. Even if they can’t act, because it’s all about looking sexy, it’s not a problem.
I guess that’s because there isn’t much of a album buying market full of mature people who are into enjoying music. Older adults don’t have too much time expanding their cultural horizon because it’s normal to “work” 12 to 16 hour days, and get drunk on soju.
I have to say, it wouldn’t suprise me if chosun or korea times or any other Korean media ran this kind of piece. But why are the NY Times and Chicago Tribune writing stories about this? And you don’t think Korean reporters in Chosun, KT, and others aren’t reading those same pieces and aren’t getting their heads big and chests puffed? Now all they’re going to do for the next 6 months is to write stories about NY Times and Chicago Tribune articles about Hanryu that’s sweeping Asia off its feet. Thanks alot, NY Times and Chicago Tribune.
Koreans great at classical music? I guess, although generally I find them rather lacking in “guts” (technically great, but not that extra oomph of understanding or creativity).
An example of this (in my opinion) is how rarely Koreans know anything about classical music from the 20th century. It’s all Bach, Brahams and Beethoven. I’m no expert, and when I know more about Arvo Part or Gorecki or whoever than a professional, there is something seriously wrong.
Similarly, where are the underground bands? Where are the crossover bands connecting underground to mainstream music? Japan has a pretty developed music scene of all different genres, but Korea has precious little outside of ballads and dance-pop (and what they call R&B).
Why the pride in being a cultural exporter when you are exporting crap?
“then i guess it’s quite ironic that so many korean films are being bought by american companies?” Yes, it’s doubly ironic, because they’re buying rights to movies that are themselves rehashes of American and European films.
Some of the best movies in Korea are ones Hollywood can’t or won’t touch, such as Im Kwon-Taek’s or Kim Ki-duk’s. They have the personal imprint that can’t be duplicated, and the kind of cultural insights (not “pop” culture though) that doesn’t translate into Hollywood box office.
The music scene in Korea is fairly shallow, but it has a few great lesser-known musicians. Two of my favorites: Kim Mok-kyong, an excellent blues guitarist who plays in clubs around Taehangno sometimes, and Hwang Byung-ki, who plays contemporary music on the kayageum.
It’s always hit-and-miss when you go to clubs in Seoul…I’ve heard halfway decent rock or punk, but any night of the week in L.A. I could hear a dozen bands that would put them under the table.
The mainstream pop music here is so horrible it’s funny. What’s up with that organ grinder dancing monkey synthesizer track that they put on every song?
Frankly, I’ve never been much interested in the Korean music scene (except to look at some of the female pop stars). My interest in the so-called “Korean Wave” has always been movies and, to a lesser degree, television.
It is too bad that Korea’s music scene lacks creativity, but I think it’s a matter of time. For many years, up until the 1990s, would-be artists were stifled by a number of factors, including government censorship. It takes a while to build up the foundation.
The music business is tough anywhere, but especially so in Korea. In America, good indy bands can make a living by touring colleges, playing small/medium sized clubs around the country, and selling albums as they go. But on the peninsula, colleges only bring in bands for their once-yearly festivals; there aren’t many clubs, and playing them is extremely non-lucrative; and no one buys CD’s. The only way to make money, therefore, is to go commercial. That means getting your songs into movies or dramas, or plugging your sound into the formulaic corporate socket.
My band has played a lot of gigs in Hongdae, and is in the midst of producing a single album. I’ve met some good musicians along the way, but almost all of them say that music is just a hobby. Those who are trying to make a career of it, by and large, are still getting handouts from mommy and daddy (which works in Korea, where living at home ’til you’re married and getting fed and clothed by your parents is the norm).
One band that bucked the trend is “Nell,” who played Hongdae shows almost nightly before hitting it big and releasing two pretty solid (if heavily Radiohead/Coldplay-influenced) albums. But they’re the rare, indy-band-gone-mainstream exception in an otherwise barren musical landscape. My hope is that this will change, but the simple economic facts keep me pessimistic.
I don’t know too much about the music scene, but I was pleased to come across a few good jazz players recently. Quite pleasantly surprised at the skill and maturity level. I’m not sure how big the scene is overall, though I expect it’s smaller than the scene in large Japanese cities or in most North American cities. It does seem that things are changing for the better, though.
Well, what they call Korean pop culture is in fact Koreanized American culture. In fact, one of the reasons Korean pop singers use ‘English’ is to give the impression that they are more international (ie. western). So, I would say that Korean pop culture is catching on China is not only because it isn’t Japanese, but because it’s a safer, more social acceptable, substitute for American culture.
What’s so interesting to me is that many folks in the West STILL think Koreans are backwards country folks who are stuck in an eternal episode of Sanford & Son when it comes to what they wear.
Besides having some of the hottest women I’ve ever seen floating about, Korean subways sometimes look like a fashion show, given how cool some of the people look.
I went to Japan recently and not only did the chyks look less hot, people didn’t dress as well, either.
Hey Adso, good luck with your group–let us know when/where you’re playing next time.
The jazz scene here is just OK–it doesn’t remotely compare with L.A., NY, or Tokyo, but that’s because it’s difficult to get good musicians to do shows here. The local guys are not bad, just a bit too much on technique over feeling.
Anyway, there’s always pansori–amazing music!
’sooner or later, the chinese will develop their own products..’
i agree one hundred percent. the koreans can’t hope to sustain the wave they’re now riding. it has to have an end. however, i see the wave becoming a constant flow disguised as yet another entertainment choice for the people of asia.
‘koreans don’t care about old music.’
that’s very true. so imagine my surprise when i stumbled onto a website(lptown.com) that has old korean RECORDS selling kim chu ja’s ‘wolnam-eso tora-on kim sangsa’ for $350!
my list of great korean singers:
1. bae ho
2. cho yong pil
3. yun shi nae
4. kim su chol
5. kim gon mo
6. hwang gum shim (serious)
7. hyon in (serious)
8. yohaeng sketchi
9. lee mi ja
10. so tae ji
btw, for you old farts who can remember that female group ‘unbangul jamae’, i have some sad news. i read in the paper that the older singer of the duo passed away due to cancer. just fyi.
lastly, i’m changing my monniker to ‘Pawi Kirogi’. for a few posts, i’ll put ‘nulji’ by the side as a reminder. please be advised.
I’ve always wondered among the numerous puff pieces on Hanryu/kanryu/hanliu. How specifically Korean are the tv, music, and movie exports? With the exception of period soap operas and movies, practically nothing in the “Korea Wave” strikes me as uniquely Korean in the same sense that the bhangra music and bollywood films of India are unmistakeably Indian, or that the art of Frida Kahlo is unmistakeably Mexican. I always figured that the occasional popularity of Korean soaps and pop music has to do with the Asian love for bland, schmaltzy singers and more filial and parentally oriented story lines in soaps. I think it’s more of a love of blandness and conservatism that makes Korean music and TV popular outside of Korea, rather than any particular fascination with the Koreanness therein. Of course, this doesn’t really apply to Korean movies, which are often shocking by any reasonable standard, but I think many of these noirish Korean films are not popular outside Korea or even in Korea.
Bottom line: in Korean television, all the drama happens before characters sleep together (or even kiss, for that matter); in America it all happens after.
Well, seeing as how this thread is getting music centered…
Korea had a *great* music scene, back in the 1970s. A lot of amazing music was made, from folk to rock to whatever. It was relevant and gutsy.
Which is why Hongdae and the rest of the non-mainstream is so perplexing to me. Sure, you have Nell, Jaurim, Deli Spice and a few others. But few people care about it, and there is very little “in-between music” in Korea… you are either a Hongdae footnote or you are mainstream.
If Canada can have a live music scene with 30 million people, in the shadow of the United States, why cannot Korea? If Japan, Iceland and Mongolia all have good live music scenes, why can’t Korea?
If music is part of the Korea Wave, why is it all some of the worst pap ever made? Why are Korean movie companies clamoring to get Japanese composers for their soundtracks?
(My pet theory… this is Korea’s 1980s we’re living through).
>Bottom line: in Korean television, all the drama
>happens before characters sleep together
>(or even kiss, for that matter);
>in America it all happens after.
In my favorite American movies, it happens during.
Anyone know what the Bubble Sisters have been up to lately?
If Canada can have a live music scene with 30 million people, in the shadow of the United States, why cannot Korea? If Japan, Iceland and Mongolia all have good live music scenes, why can’t Korea?
So many things in Korea are adversely affected by the utter lack of college towns in Korea. The music scene included, apparently.
“In fact, one of the reasons Korean pop singers use ‘English’ is to give the impression that they are more international (ie. western). ”
^ Really. I always thought they were following the trend done in Japanese music/Jpop. Japanese songs use English words/phrases here and there.
I did a post a couple of months back about a backlash to the “Korean Wave” in China. There are quite a few articles in China talking about Korean “soft power”, and how things like TV shows can be “charismatic missiles and identification aircraft carriers”. That and having Confucianism sold back to them in a Korean box.
China’s Korean Trend War
Korea, some academics like to say, is more Confucianist than the Confucianists. So the way Korean media packages “Asian values” (i.e., Confucian values of filial piety and all that good stuff) is something Korea is in an especially good position to do.
Koreans are backwards country folks who are stuck in an eternal episode of Sanford & Son when it comes to what they wear.
I ask you how that’s NOT stylin’?
LAMONT 4 EVAH!
Frankly speaking, I am interested in exporting some South Korean cultures to parts of Asia, the Chinese market seems really promising. One of my brother’s friends living in Orange County made a small fortune trading in various cultures before moving into the cultural futures market. Now he’s sitting pretty in a Malibu bungalow living sweet.
Perhaps Mrs Marmot could act as a distributor for South Korean cultures in Mongol.
Kimbob, you are SO dead on acurate. You just don’t know HOW dead on your comments are. Yours is the most insightful comment in a very long time.
Haisan, you should really listen to Park Kun Woo, a truly great classical pianist who is Korean. His rendition of Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit is more French than the French and Park is one of the few pianist to remind me of the great Robert Casadesus.
Enough said.
Michael, you are almost dead wrong on Jazz in Korea. All the decent Korean Jazz musicians leave Korea because they can not get any good sidemen here in Korea and the club gigs pay no money. I know several players and they all have the same problem and end up staying in the states and Europe since no one can really step to a higher level of music here in Korea. The general level of Jazz musicians in Korea is at the high school level in the states. Most are not serious or real about the music but the more successful mediocre players end up teaching students in a local university. What they teach is beyond my comprehension, considering how poorly they play.
My hypothesis is that Korea’s drinking culture smothers its live music scene. Koreans like to do 3 things when they booze: sit, eat, and talk. All three become difficult at a loud concert. As a result, most concertgoers pay 10,000 won to see a few bands play, then head off to eat their sam-gyup-sal and down their liquor. Club owners lose out on the substantial beverage revenue that their counterparts in the U.S. and Europe (and Japan? Never been, so I don’t know) are raking in. In the end, there’s less cash for the musicians. The only concerts that are lucrative are the laughable pop star merry-go-rounds where everyone sings or lip-syncs to pre-recorded tracks. It’s repulsive.
If video killed the radio star, then soju killed the Korean rock star.
I assume you mean Paik Kun Woo. I’m not overly familiar with his stuff, and one person does not represent a nation, but from what I’ve heard, he is pretty good.
But I’m more of a Evgeny Kissin kind of guy.
Korea’s drinking culture did not stop the country from having a great music scene in the 60s and 70s.
At a guess, the video game culture is not helping… putting high school kids in front of computer monitors instead of guitars.
R.Elgin, maybe many or most of the jazz players here are at a low level, but I’ve heard a few that I thought were quite good, for example, a piano player named Lee Ju Young, a saxophone player, last name Im, and a trumpet player, who I don’t remember his name. I’ve also heard a guitar player that plays quite tastefully and a couple of good bass players (most of these players I heard at All That Jazz in Itaewon).
Admittedly, I don’t know about the US, but in Canada, these players would definitely not be at a high school level. They wouldn’t be the best players around, but they would fit into local scenes quite nicely, I believe.
I’m no fan of the TV dramas, boy bands and quasi hip-hop that constitutes the Korean Wave, but I celebrate these legitimate ROK successes.
Onishi’s article sits in contrast with the Jan 1 editorial of the Chosun, usually a big booster of the Wave:
“Yet today, only two of the Northeast Asian nations that were not so long ago vying to emerge from their historic backwater are competing at the center of world history. China is bracing itself to provide a counterbalance to the U.S., and Japan envisages a policy of reining in China’s regional hegemony in alliance with America. The U.S., meanwhile, has embraced Japan to employ a dual strategy of restraining and cooperating with China.
What the three powers have in common is that Korea hardly figures on their map.
….. No matter that we have progressed in leaps and bounds, we have been erased from their minds. A mere 15 years ago, Deng Xiaoping told his people to learn from South Korea; now China barely gives us a second thought.”
Even allowing for the Chosun’s habitual use of any issue, real or fabricated, to beat up on the Roh administration, I wonder how much of Korea’s soft power is squandered by the muddleheadedness of its current leadership?
‘there’s nothing uniqely korean about the korea wave…’
really? you mean mongols are making korean soaps and the like?
‘like bollywood movies…’
could you tell us more about the ‘bolly wave’?
‘and frida’s paintings…’
your comparing paintings to making television shows? there’s nothing uniquely mexican about mexican soaps. that’s why they did so well in places like russia and israel.
the korea basher is in a tizzy over the korea wave. makes him go all limp. he’ll do whatever it takes to get back to an ejaculatory state. po, po, korea basher. po, po, PO, korea basher. what will he do?
A new name for Nulji, but the same snotty attitude, one that is far too juvenile for someone old enough to know the great Korean singers you listed earlier.
And the same bad habit of misquoting people in order to (try to) make a point.
The record will show that Michael wrote that there was “nothing uniquely Korean” about Rain or Yonsama.
let me claer this up real quick:
my comments were not directed at michael as i consider him to be a resonable chap. my comments were directed to jyce.
and slim, are you going to tell me you actually know who bae ho and hyon in are?
R.Elgin, check what I said, the jazz scene in Korea doesn’t remotely stack up to L.A., NYC or elsewhere. And that’s OK, there’s no jazz scene to speak of in a lot of places. I think it’s because as I said, the top players rarely come here. A franchise of the jazz club Blue Note was supposed to open in Seoul, they’ve been talking about it for 10 years now, and I haven’t heard anything about it lately. There just seems to be no market here.
There’s some good players here, but like I said they are too hung up on technique and reproducing what others did.
When I said there was “nothing uniquely Korean” about Rain or Yonsama, that meant at that level of “popness” all cultural traits flatten out and get generic. To me it’s the same with Namie Amuro or Ickey Martin or Titney Spheres, all plastic….
In music the really distinctive Korean sound is pansori, percussion and kayageum, which the gov’t should support and use in “branding” Korea. This music is the equal of gamelan or flamenco, and people would start to see the country as having something distinct and interesting.
Bollywood films often have the hero die and be reincarnated several times. The influence of Hindu culture is obvious, and bollywood movies are one of the great examples in which a relatively poor non-European culture has adopted a European technology and made it its own (compare this with the lack of such cultural adaptability in Muslim countries). The same goes for bhangra music, which mixes traditional Indian music and instruments with modern ones.
As far as a Bollywave, Indian song and dance movies have been established as a genre outside of India for so long that it barely needs comment. I know personally that many non-hindu, non-Indian fans in Southeast Asia eagerly consume Indian movies.
Given this, one might ask just what is Korean about Korean movies or pop music other than in the very trivial sense that it is made by Koreans or performed in the Korean language? Does it, like bhangra, draw on native cultural traditions? Does it use native instruments? Other than the language, is it readily distinguishable from something produced in another country?
The answer is (excepting period pieces) no.
Why always complain about the shortcomings of Korean culture or Korean wave, Korean entertainments are of high quality and are being enjoyed by the rest of the world. That’s what important!
At least in Japan, the Korean Wave is limited, and it is definitely not the main stream for the 20 year olds.
http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/ne.....319K2.html
The impression had by most in Japan is that it was a forcibly created wave by the media for selling the “Japan-Korean Friendship Year 2005″. If the media didn’t try to jam it down people’s throat, I think it’d have had bettter acceptance.
Snow, not to brag, but I could smoke the players you mention any day of the week and many people here would not be able to tell the difference; sad but true. I’ve heard better players in Toronto too.
Listen to Kwack Yoon Chan (piano) to hear a good player who is not hanging around Korea to do gigs any more. He can play.
Michael, there was a “Blue Note” in Kangnam but it closed after two and a half months (?). There were not enough people coming in who were willing to pay 80,000 won per set. There is just not enough support for Jazz in Korea yet.
They were trying to get L.A./NY cover charges in a country that hardly knows anything about jazz? Stooopid.
SM entertainment! If you think Korea has what it takes invest in this company.
I have 8090 shares.
PS> go BoA!
Sign. Frankly, the less said about “Korean” music and entertainment culture the better. It’s really an embarrassment. A mediocre copy of US Hip Hop and J-Pop. Sad.
At least Boa’s cute - although she probably won’t age well.
Boa’s the one who is romantically involved with the manager old enough to be her father (possibly grandfather?) correct? I miss the old Korean Tabloid Crap archives. Bring back the archives soon Marmot!
R.elgin, wow, do you play around town? Anyway, I agree that there are some fine players in Toronto, but I certainly don’t think the players I mentioned would be at the skill level of a Canadian high schooler. The ones I mentioned can play quite tastefully, melodically, with nice lines. I think the best ones from here would fit into a local scene in a big Canadian city, not as the best players, but certainly as competent ones.
BTW, thanks for the tip on Kwak Yoon Chan, who I don’t know (I see he’s got an album on Bluenote, a definite plus). Do you know a New York player named Joey Calderazzo? My personal favorite who I am happy to give a plug for.
Ell, I totally agree with you. I wish the media in Korean and Japan would stop jamming the Korean wave down people’s throats. I think if they just promote it normally without getting all big-headed it would do even better and take out all the animosity that goes on. I hope Koreans would stop acting big-headed about all this and learn from the Japanese pop culture. I’m Korean and grew up with both Korean and Japanese culture and learned to appreciate both of them.
Many Koreans seem to forget the large number of influence Japanese culture has played in their lives. When I lived in Korea as a kid, I fell in love with Gundam, Miyazaki cartoons, Super Famicom, and bunch of Japanese things. A lot of Korean things are hugely impacted and influenced by Japan, and it grew and evolved where it can start churning out its own ideas and I hope one day it will just soley do it on her own. When I was in Korea the past summer, I noticed a large number of underground groups were on the rise with the younger generations, like in Japan in the 80s and 90s. It’s good to see a large number of young people veer away from the mainstream Korea pop and discover new ideals.
Snow, I would like to change a previous comment and suggest you check out ??? and her CD “Turning Point”. She is flat out playing better than Kwak; I just heard a cut off of his CD and it was outrageously pathetic — especially for a Blue Note release. I still can hardly believe they put *that* out.
I respect the heck out of Joey too; he is the man.
I do play occasionally in Seoul but R. Elgin is only my “nom de plume” and I’m not telling either.
For those of you who enjoy bashing Korea, or at least Korea’s Hallyu, its easy for you to do so but if you honestly do not like the Korean wave why ruin it for others. Some of you made some good points but many of you just wanted to bash Korea because your one of those people who just does that kind of thing. Korea may be turning out many Koreanized-American ideas but its also turning out some creative ideas of its own. It takes time, even for Japan and especially the United States. Do you honestly believe everything in America’s pop culture is unique to the U.S? If thats true, tell that to the British colonists and indian tribes, or the millions that came over on boats and waved to the Statue of Liberty on their way into New York’s harbour. Everyone has a right to their own opinions, just be honest and believe in things for what they are and not for what you think they are. Two more things God Bless America and DAE HAN DONG RIP MAHN SAE
my spelling might be a bit off there but those of you who are suppose to get it will.
Han-ryu is real and here to stay. Korea is making money from it and introducing its culture/entertainment to other countries. This is good. And while not all of the products are superb, some like Winter Sonata and Dae Jang Keum are crown jewels. Give them credit.
I decided to watch Dae Jang Keum because I heard from my Chinese friends how great it was. I know if a Chinese guy recommends something to me, that is Korean stuff, it is pretty good.
Albert Einstein pissed off his ex-wife and did some nasty things, but you gotta give credit to the great things he did. Same to some of the Han-ryu products.
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Is South Korea a “Confucian Society”?
A good piece in the NYT today on the Korean wave of popular culture that is washing over China of late:From clothes to hairstyle, music to television dramas, South Korea has been defining the tastes of many Chinese and
More on the NTYs Article.
The Marmots Hole has a good discussion going about the NYTs Article I mentioned yesterday . He of course took a different look at the article by focusing on the majority of it rather then one sentence like I did ( ), but the comments …
Seoul-Beijing Romance Exaggerated
HatTip to the Marmot’s Hole. Norimitsu Onishi of the New York Times wrote an interesting article on South Korea’s cultural influence in China, or the so-called Korean Wave. The article is an enjoyable read and Onishi undoubtedly has been one