The Dong-A Ilbo reports that the Korean Wave is battering American shores, with Korean dramas, films and music becoming increasingly popular among Asian Americans. The paper says that with Chinese and Japanese-language cable stations in the United States running more Korean dramas, the number of Korean drama fans in that country have greatly increased, particularly in major cities with large Asian populations like LA and New York.
For example, AM Music, located on 32nd Street in New York’s Koreatown, has sold out its supply of the DVD box set of “My Name is Kim Sam-soon,” despite its 110 U.S. dollar price tag and the fact that only 30 percent of the shop’s clientele is Korean. The owner of the shop said that while Asian Americans still make up the bulk of customers, many more young Hispanic buyers are showing interest in Korean music and DVDs.
The Korean Wave is slowly spreading from Asian Americans to non-Asian Americans, the Dong-A claims. With demand for the DVD set of “My Name is Kim Sam-soon” exploding in the United States, the producers have begun work on subtitling the DVDs in English.
At Chinese and Japanese video shops, Korean dramas and films are the most popular items. At one Chinese video shop in a Chinese neighborhood in Flushing, Queens, Korean dramas and films account for half of the shop’s sales. The number of pirated copies of Korean dramas and films from Hong Kong and China is also on the rise.
The Los Angeles office of the Korea National Tourism Organization (KNTO) has put together a special tour package–targeted particularly for Chinese Americans–of the film sets of the popular drama “Daejanggeum” for July. According to the KNTO, Chinese Americans have shown much interest in the package.
Likewise, half of the filmgoers who attend the New York Korean Cultural Service’s semimonthly Korean film screenings are non-Koreans. The head of the service said that popular Korean films attract so much interest that it’s hard to get a seat without purchasing tickets in advance. He also said the film discussion periods that follow the screenings reveal a fairly deep understanding of Korean films.
And, of course, there are a growing number of Koreans in Hollywood, with “Lost” stars Daniel Dae Kim and Kim Yoon-jin. In particular, Daniel Dae Kim was selected No. 5 in People magazine’s list of the sexiest men alive in 2005.
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32 Comments
And how many sets did Am Music stock? How many were sold to customers who weren’t in the Korean 30%. What other (non-Korean) merchandise do they stock that might explain their customer base make-up?
This is such wishful thinking that after you gag you feel embarrassed for its perpetrators.
Are Swiss newspapers filled with stories about chocolate sales in San Diego as proof of —- what exactly?
Pathetic.
That used to be Little Korea and the neighborhood in Flushing, Queens was Koreatown. Now it looks like people are calling 32nd st. in Manhattan Koreatown. Wonder why that changed.
Nothing changed. That area is actully called “Korea Way”, according to the sign. It’s about 1 block long, hardly a “Koreatown” like Flushing. And distribution of such videos is specifically limited to people who frequent the area who are Koreans.
Since the article implies that the Kim Sam-soon DVD set has not been subtitled in English, I can’t imagine that many of the buyers are non-Korean speakers. But more power to them — nothing wrong at all with greater availability of Korean cultural products to a wider audience.
Being a resident of an unprotected coast in America, I’ve just spent the last 16 hours surrounding my house with sandbags. I’m determined to avoid being battered by waves of pouting Korean actresses and Korean girly-men who alternate between screaming at the top of their lungs and making the “heart” sign with their arms over their heads.
As the Korean media is not known for exaggeration, I’d suggest any of my coastal compatriots take their own protective measures before they’re knee deep in Samsoon.
Actually,
Korean Melodrama is quite popular in Asia. It’s getting popular in the West as well, but, I really don’t know just how much. Most major American cities carry a free Korean Channel which helps alot as well as Asian cable channels which prefers to play alot of K-Dramas.
I must admit, I am addicted to it. “Jewel in the Palace,” which is wildly popular in Asia may be the best drama ever made. High praise, even coming from me.
If you don’t know too much about it, I would suggest these for your veiwing pleasure:
K-Drama:
“Winter Sonata,” “Autumn Tales,” “Jewel in the Palace,” and “Emperor of the Sea.”
Movies:
“My Sassy Girl, “Windstruck,” “My Little Bride,” “Memories of Murder,” and “Oldboy.”
Here’s a K-Drama Fan Club in Chicago:
http://deiner.proboards48.com/
Whenever I hear about Korean pop-culture items becoming “popular in the west,” I can’t shake the feeling that they’re simply talking about Kor-ams, and maybe a smattering of other Asian-Americans. Sure, they’re Americans, but hardly a broad cross-section of the general public.
I loved the show My Name is Kim Samsoon. It was very funny and I enjoyed it alot. If you be a little bit open minded, there’s actually some very good K dramas. I was actually very surprised by the acting of Daniel Henny. He was a model, but he has a natural acting ability - a very talented guy.
Dunno why they call that part of Manhattan K Town as if Koreans lived there. It’s more like they work there: every single deli I’ve seen between the 20s and the higher 30s is owned by Koreans, ditto for groceries, and the mid-30s, at least on the West side, are packed with K bozos manning currency exchange parlors and other shady places like massage parlors, noraebangs and K-style billiard parlors. I say bozos, because there’s a lot of them actually in the streets, not in the shops, standing outside or sitting in cars, like two-bit wiseguys wannabes. Except they’re in the wrong neighbourhood, of course. Canal street is a bit lower than that
this article is surely wishful thinking and needs to be fisked by someone with a little analytical skill.
this is a ridiculous statement. it’s a video shop owned by some chinese, on a chinese looking street but rents dvds to all of the koreans there. flushing is middle class ny koreatown.
WTF? this is new york city where it’s hard to get a seat at any screenings and discussions be they korean, japanese or martian. likewise, folks at the screenings know why they’re there and are ready to analyze.
The Village Voice gives good reviews to most Korean movies, and I’ve heard some non-Koreans like some of the dramas (subtitled). Like Judge Judy said, foreign movie screenings in NYC (L.A., Chicago, Seattle, etc.)are usually well attended regardless of what’s playing.
None of this is to take away from Korean dramas or whatever, it’s the media in Korea, with its stunning, hyperventilating naivety, that needs to get some perspective.
i know lots of people here in the states who love watching Korean dramas. however, all but…two? are asian-american. and the two do work on East Asia. this ranks up there with Chosun Ilbo’s recent article (that i am far to lazy to link) about kimchi becoming popular in the States. most people i know who don’t have asian ethnic backgrounds don’t know the difference between korean food and chinese.
I like to look at hard numbers. Lets see what they have to say:
Korean Film Exports to North America (unit: USD)
2000 13,000
2001 1,234,600
2002 695,500
2003 4,486,000
2004 2,900,000
Source: Korean Film Council
What does this mean?
The numbers tell us that this a very immature and volatile market. The sudden huge jump from 13,000 to over one million in 2001, and continued revenue in the millions with the exception of 2002 was obviously achieved on the strength of the recent Korean wave phenomenon.
In my experience, retail stores that sell Korean movie DVDs tend to fall into two broad categories: (1)Korean owned mom and pop shops located in communities with large Asian populations that cater almost exclusively to Koreans, (2) fringe places like “Kim’s Underground” in bohemian neighborhoods like the East Village staffed by snobby, indifferent part-time college students with tatoos and nose piercings with dreams of grandeur of becoming the next Quentin Tarantino. None of these outlets target a broad “mainstream” clientele. I have seen fairly well stocked Korean movie selections in Chinese operated shops in Chinatown, but they tend to be problematic as well. These places assume that you own a dvd player with a decoder that can play Region 3 discs. If you dont have one of those, then you can only watch your movie on a computer.
I dont know if it is entirely possible to market Korean movies in NA in a mainstream sense but I dont think existing businesses do a good job in selling and marketing Korean movies even in a niche sense. There is definitely a good product to sell but the distribution is inadequate and sketchy. Korean-own Korean-only shops limit themselves to the Korean clientele, they rarely try to reach beyond their comfort zone in trying to attract a more diversified clientele. Fobby, Korean fluent, less than or equal to 1.5 G Kyopos tend to be pretty well informed about the latest happenings in Korean pop culture but more assimilated, English speaking Kyopos are pretty much in the dark about that stuff.
I think this retail space is an untapped market that has future growth potential. I would sure like to see a place with a knowledgeable staff that caters to someone like me. The English speaking Kyopo market is the stepping stone to a broader, diversified customer base.
I think the main problem has to do with close-mindedness of American people who don’t like reading subtitles or the idea that foreign movies or dramas aren’t any good.
Americans generally think rest of the world really doesn’t exist unless it hits them in the face like 9/11. Then, they wonder “what happened?”
Korean art movies has won it’s fair share of film awards in European film festivals where Hollywood films are often considered subpar. These days, most film critics would agree that Asian art films are far superior to Hollywood crap. As always, it’s the Europeans who are leading the way in recognizing the rise of Asian films.
If you look at various sites english fan sites dedicated to K-Dramas, most of the people on those boards aren’t Asian. There’s a trend there that some of you guys are missing out on.
One of my favorite ladies: Lee Young Ae,
http://groups.msn.com/LeeYoung.....forum.msnw
Origami, why characterize as a problem what is simply the preference of some people to watch movies or dramas that portray what they’re familiar with…as Koreans do every day? There’s a huge, huge audience for Spanish-language dramas from South America in the States…the movie “Crouching Tiger” won several Oscars….America is not as one-dimensional as you make it out to be.
I often read reviews of Asian movies in the L.A. Times, NY Times, Village Voice, etc. Europeans have no edge in “recognizing the rise of Asian films.” It’s true that subtitles are a pain to read, still, a good movie finds its audience in the States.
Michael, I don’t think the characterization is that far off. While in Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, Europe, you routinely find foreign-langauge films in mainstream theaters throughout the country, whereas this is simply not the case in the United States.
Perhaps it has changed dramatically since I graduated from college in the 1990s, but in Orange County (population 3 million) there was one artsy (i.e., non-mainstream) theater, in Newport Beach, that showed Japanese-language films occasionally. Alternatively, we could make the two-hour drive up to Los Angeles where one or two artsy theaters would play things like “Ran” or “Rhaposody in August” or what-not.
These things did better on video (now DVD) in terms of audience numbers, but it all speaks to a rather pathetic situation in the US.
As always, it’s the Europeans who are leading the way in recognizing the rise of Asian films.
I can corroborate that.
Korean Film Exports to (unit: USD)
Year Europe North America
2000 1,256,350 13,000
2001 1,566,412 1,234,600
2002 2,365,500 695,500
2003 5,724,000 4,486,000
2004 8,245,250 2,900,000
This is all the more amazing considering that Kyopo or Asian minority in most European nations are less than 1%. There is a significant difference between the US, even with its huge (relatively) Korean/Asian minority populations and Europe in terms of their consumption of Korean film. The Korean movie industry would do well to focus on promotion in the Euro market.
I find the representation of foreign movies in Seoul to be rather bleak compared to what was available in Los Angeles, granted movies are to L.A. what cars are to Detroit, but still…
My point to Origami was just that her/his one-dimensional characterization of Americans is far off the mark, and people everywhere gravitate toward entertainment that is familiar to them. Is the obvious preference by Koreans for Korean-made movies and dramas evidence of the close-mindedness of Korean people?
That said, there’s a big audience for non-Hollywood fare in the U.S., because not all Americans are as whitebread as that. She/he is trying to force a point that doesn’t match reality.
Don’t use O.C. as a baseline! The theater in Newport Beach you mentioned closed years ago, sorry.
Michael wrote:
I find the representation of foreign movies in Seoul to be rather bleak compared to what was available in Los Angeles, granted movies are to L.A. what cars are to Detroit, but still…
Well, this may be a quality versus quantity issue, as well. Roughly half of all Korean ticket sales are for movies NOT in Korean. But I believe only a tiny single-digit percentage of American ticket sales are for movies NOT in English.
On the other hand, as I think you were alluding to, the range of non-blockbuster foreign language films is not all that great here in Seoul. I don’t recall it being all that great in Los Angeles, though. Trust me, we tried.
My point to Origami was just that her/his one-dimensional characterization of Americans is far off the mark, and people everywhere gravitate toward entertainment that is familiar to them. Is the obvious preference by Koreans for Korean-made movies and dramas evidence of the close-mindedness of Korean people?
“The obvious preference for Korean-made movies”? A tremendous chunk of the market in Korea is for non-Korean movies; not so in the US for non-American movies. A Japanese or Chinese film (or even a French film) is more likely to do well in Korea than in the US.
That said, there’s a big audience for non-Hollywood fare in the U.S., because not all Americans are as whitebread as that. She/he is trying to force a point that doesn’t match reality.
Let’s see some numbers on ticket sales or video sales. I would like it to be higher than I think it is; maybe things have changed since I’ve been living here, but I do visit the West Coast quite frequently, and my impression (from driving by theaters or from talking with people there) doesn’t bear out what you’re saying. Nearly half the people I know saw Ammelie in the theaters here, for example, but quite a few people I visited with in Vegas at around the same time had not even heard of it (though it was referenced on SNL).
Don’t use O.C. as a baseline! The theater in Newport Beach you mentioned closed years ago, sorry.
That’s a damned shame. What was the name of it, I can’t recall.
Anyway, the fact that the one theater consistently showing arthouse films and foreign films CLOSED may make Orange County a poor “baseline,” but that underscores the point I was making.
Next time you’re in the area, Kushibo, try the Laemmle theaters–they usually have an excellent selection of non-blockbuster foreign movies: http://www.laemmle.com/
Obviously the range of films shown in other parts of the country might be narrower, but idiotic blanket statements like “the main problem has to do with close-mindedness of American people,” says to me that Mr./Ms. Folded Paper is speaking out of their posterior.
The “Korean preference for Korean movies” bit was just to show it’s pointless to generalize like that. It seems like it would be hard to compare the Korean and American markets in the first place, since the former has its screen quota and overt nationalism by consumers, and for the latter movies are a very profitable export item and the population is as diverse as it gets. I think straight-up box office numbers would be misleading.
When I say there’s a big audience for non-Hollywood fare in the U.S., I mean there’s a diversity that Origami and some other commentors here can’t or won’t recognize, so I addressed that because I’m bored at work today
Speaking of “Amelie,” you might be interested in this somewhat old CS Monitor article–there’s maybe a lesson here for Korean filmmakers:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2001/1109/p13s1-almo.html
Next time you’re in the area, Kushibo, try the Laemmle theaters–they usually have an excellent selection of non-blockbuster foreign movies: http://www.laemmle.com/
Laemmle is usually where I went in Los Angeles. Apparently the Newport Beach theater I was talking about did NOT close down–it’s the Lido Theater (I think) and it’s now a Laemmle (I would have remembered before if it were a Laemmle).
There’s a Laemmle in Laguna Beach (for those from OC, this is no surprise, since Laguna is where OC’s art scene has long been centered), but it’s not exactly full of foreign-language films:
Capote (English), 1 showing
Match Point (English), 3 showings
Paradise Now (Arabic?), 1 showing PER WEEK (?)
Walk The Line (English), 2 showings
So this is South County’s single (?) arthouse theater, and it’s showing a single foreign language film maybe once (or twice?) a week.
Incidentally, I have heard and read about Paradise Now, in mainstream English-language media, so it’s a little disappointment that that kind of exposure can’t translate into substantial audiences.
Obviously the range of films shown in other parts of the country might be narrower,
If by “somewhat” you mean “a lot,” then I agree.
Los Angeles is the second largest city in America, and it is certainly a multi-ethnic metropolitan area, yet it’s able to sustain only a very small percentage of ticket sales and theater seats (and video/DVD sales) going to foreign-language films. I agree with you about the “blanket statement” being too blanket, but forget the Korea-versus-America contention for a minute: it’s a disappointing thing about America that people don’t want to watch TV shows, movies, etc., from other countries.
French movies and British and Japanese TV programs have to be re-made in Americanized form (though the presence of the original Japanese “Iron Chef” and shows like that are a positive sign) or else people won’t watch. It’s really disappointing that such a big, media-oriented country can be so, well, insular.
but idiotic blanket statements like “the main problem has to do with close-mindedness of American people,” says to me that Mr./Ms. Folded Paper is speaking out of their posterior.
I don’t know where Origami’s from, but I’ve heard quite a few Americans bemoan the exact same thing when it came to lack of popularity of foreign films. And I’ve also been told, on several occasions, something like, “I don’t want to see that… I hate reading subtitles.” Or, “I came to watch, not to read.” Or, “If I wanted to read something I’d stay home with a book.” (The person who said that doesn’t really read many books, either.) And these are college-educated people I’m talking about.
It seems like it would be hard to compare the Korean and American markets in the first place, since the former has its screen quota
But with or without the screen quota, foreign films are very popular here.
and overt nationalism by consumers,
I’m not sure I buy into that argument. Nationalism as a motivating consumer factor gets a bit overblown sometimes. It might affect ticket sales when there’s an appealing movie that hits nationalist buttons, but if the movie has little appeal other than the nationalism, how well would it do? I haven’t been checking the figures much lately, but Japanese films seem to have been doing reasonably well (there are an awful lot of Japanese movies on cable now).
and for the latter movies are a very profitable export item and the population is as diverse as it gets. I think straight-up box office numbers would be misleading.
The numbers don’t explain everything, but they still tell a story nonetheless: on the whole, the average American moviegoer doesn’t really care much at all for foreign films.
When I say there’s a big audience for non-Hollywood fare in the U.S., I mean there’s a diversity that Origami and some other commentors here can’t or won’t recognize, so I addressed that because I’m bored at work today
Look, I know it’s there. I was part of that consumer group (on several levels). But I don’t think that represents the norm by a long shot.
Speaking of “Amelie,” you might be interested in this somewhat old CS Monitor article–there’s maybe a lesson here for Korean filmmakers:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2001/1109/p13s1-almo.html
I think I went away with a different message from what you did: French directors are having to make movies in English in order to succeed. Also, French movies in the US took in a mere $17.5 million in ticket sales in 2001.
Speaking of “Amelie,” you might be interested in this somewhat old CS Monitor article–there’s maybe a lesson here for Korean filmmakers:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2001/1109/p13s1-almo.html
I just reread this and maybe we are on the same page: it seems the article in 2001 was overly optimistic about how well French films would do in the coming years.
By the way, a number of those obscure French films have shown up on cable TV here in Korea.
Nationalism as a motivating consumer factor gets a bit overblown sometimes.
I’m really starting to understand the race-card fatigue that you White folks have to go through back home. Really, no joke.
OK, OK, America is full of hicks who can’t stand subtitled movies by ferriners
That doesn’t jibe with me or anyone I know, but whatever. “Origami” said Americans were closed-minded about film fare, and my point was, no more so than Koreans. I don’t see a great embrace of foreign films in Korea vis-a-vis America.
On nationalism in the preference for Korean movies (what this has to do with “race-card fatigue” I have no idea), I was thinking of all the recent movies–”Typhoon,” “Welcome to Dongmakgol,” “Shilmido,” “Taeguki”–with overtly nationalist themes, which has obviously translated into box office success. So I still think nationalism is a bigger factor here.
Korean movies has it’s limits; but, if I had to guess, I think K-Drama’s are going to become very popular in America, along with BoA!
K-Drama’s are a perfect match for America’s Soccer Mom crowd.
http://boa-nation.com/
Well…contemporary dramas in Korea are pretty tame fare compared with “Desperate Housewives,” and the historical ones are too…historical. Ask Kushibo, Americans are blind to the wiles of hanryu
BOA likewise is fairly bland and imitative of Western pop singers, sorry. Someone like Park Jin-young had a better chance of crossing over because he understands the market, but it looks like he’s concentrating on producing now.
In the end, it’s a big world, as there’s really no need to seek validation in the U.S. As Sperwer said at the very beginning of the comments, it’s proof of what, exactly?
Patriotism at work?
Cinemas to Maintain Screen Quota Voluntarily
Korea’s leading movie theaters said Wednesday they will voluntarily continue showing Korean movies for 146 days a year despite a government decision to halve the official screen quota.
The announcement came after representatives of major theater chains including CJ CGV chief Park Dong-ho, Megabox CEO Kim Woo-taek and Lotte Cinema head Kim Gwang-seop met Culture Minister Chung Dong-chea and Uri Party chairman Chung Dong-young. It was organized by the government to listen to concerns of theaters in response to the decision to halve the quota.
“Theaters too can survive only when there are many good local movies being produced,” the CJ CGV president said. “So we’ve decided to maintain the screen quota to help the film industry grow.” The government slashed the quota last month to accommodate U.S. demands ahead of free-trade talks. (Chosun)
Slim to the rescue. Koreans overwhelmingly prefer Korean movies, to the point of “volunteering” to maintain the screen quota. Don’t talk to me about Americans being closed-minded about foreign films.
I put a question mark there because I’m not sure what was at work. I guess it could be fear of boycotts or other campaigns by the movie industry itself..
It would be intellectually lazy to put everything that is said, done or decided in Korea down to nationalism. But in a country where the patriotism meter is usually turned up to 11, it would be wrong to dismiss it outright as some here are wont to do.
I’m really starting to understand the race-card fatigue that you White folks have to go through back home. Really, no joke.
Better decades late than never, Bluejives. Now that US society has moved so far beyond racism that the race card has become nearly obsolete, hardly anyone but insecure Korean Americans take it seriously anymore.
Also a correction for Slim: “nationalism” is not the issue in Korea; it’s “race-ism” or “tribalism” (민족주의). Korea has not been a nation state very long and may continue to exist as a race long after it is reabsorbed by China in 100 years or so. Every once in a while we just jump on a new phrase - “nation” and “대한민국” and such - but it’s just code for “우리한국” which means our little extended tribal family.
The one thing you have to realize, however, is that, no matter how dysfunctional and fractional our little family is, this is not going to keep us from intermarrying and remaining self-absorbed. And this is the reason that we like to make up stories about how popular we are with the rest of the world. There need not be a shred of truth in such stories for us to believe them. It’s just part of the self-deception that we indulge ourselves in to continue to live in our little fantasy world. Just leave us alone and stop holding us up to analysis. We’re happy this way. Or at least that’s what we need to believe…