Behind the Korean wave – Sim Younhee

Since the Korean drama “My Love from Another Star” became a big hit in China, a growing number of Chinese couples have been lining up for pre-wedding photo shoots with make-up and dresses styled on those worn by the main female character.

One agency which hosted a Running Man fan meeting rented a jet to escort members of the fan club. The bag carried by Yoo Jae-suk in Running Man has sold like hot cakes at Lejel, a leading home retail company in Indonesia.

These are all success stories of Hallyu – the Korean wave. The phenomenon is going global and expanding its reach beyond K-pop into various fields ranging from entertainment to fashion and beauty products.

Hallyu dates back to the end of the 1990s. China’s Youth Daily first coined the term Hallyu in 1999, meaning “Korean trends are coming in waves” after the huge success of the Korean drama What is Love in China.

The Korean drama craze was the first generation of Hallyu and peaked in 2004 when Dae Jang Geum became an international sensation and was exported to 64 countries.

Now we are witnessing the second generation of Hallyu.

K-pop idols, trained by major entertainment agencies, are sweeping across the world. It was Psy’s “Gangnam Style” that put Hallyu on the map.

In 2002, the music video achieved more than 500 million views within the first 100 days since its posting on YouTube and it has reached 25 billion views so far.

Hallyu is also referred to as “the revolution of 0.7%” since it was a miracle performed by Koreans, who make up only 0.7% of the global population.

Guy Sorman, a French culture critic, boasts that the US, France, Germany, Japan and Korea are the only countries that export both products and culture.

What makes Hallyu so appealing is that it has its presence at the centre of mainstream culture. Its secrets lie within the Korean tradition of appreciating the arts.

The Book of Wei, written in the 3rd century in China, records that Koreans love to dance and sing so much that groups of men and women get together to sing at night.

The strengths of Hallyu can be simply summarised as follows: originality, sophistication and universality.

Originality is shown through an exotic charm which differs from Western culture.

The Korean drama “Winter Sonata” was able to strike a chord with Japanese ladies because it revived a sense of innocence that had become rare in Japanese dramas. K-pop became a hit as people had grown tired of Western pop music.

Sophistication shines as K-pop stars dance in unison with pinpoint accuracy, electrifying an audience. Such perfect performance is the result of years of training.

They learn how to dance, sing, act and even to speak foreign languages. EXO, a group of nine, was created by such a Korean star-making process.

Under a long-term contract, members received intensive history and language courses. Even a Chinese member was included in the team to target the Chinese market.

Universality is seen through K-pop’s power to attract fans across the globe with its addictiveness. This is the result of thorough globalisation, refusal to settle for the small Korean market.

Hallyu is now evolving into K-beauty, K-fashion, K-food and more. Furthermore, Korean web dramas, games, and Korean style hip-hop are emerging as a new generation of Hallyu.

According to a survey conducted last year by the Korea Foundation for International Culture involving 6,500 respondents from 14 countries, the most popular Korean culture content was food (46.2%), followed by K-pop (39.0%), then fashion and beauty (35.8%).

Korean restaurants serving typical Korean food are attracting a constant stream of New Yorkers. Even a way of drinking alcohol, SoMaek, the combination of Soju (distilled rice liquor) and Maekju (beer), is quickly catching on.

Euny Hong, author of The Birth of Korean Cool, noted that people around the world are starting to recognise Korea as a fascinating country and have begun to purchase goods that represent Korean lifestyle. An increasing number of young people around the world are learning Korean language and history to better understand Korean culture and idol groups.

The Korean government estimates the 2014 economic dividend of Hallyu to have been around 17.3 trillion won. The figure is expected to grow this year to about 20 trillion won. Exports of Hallyu content amount to US$4.75 billion (RM19.42 billion).

Although Asia-Pacific markets import a major share of K-content (about US$3.69 billion), North America and Europe are importing increasingly more.

Hallyu is a sign of hope for the Korean economy, which has been mired in low growth.

The economic impact of My Love from Another Star was about US$3 billion. Even the term “Star-Nomics” was coined after the drama’s huge success.

Hallyu is booming in Indonesia as well. In a survey conducted by the same foundation of 400 Indonesian men and women, 46.5% of respondents picked K-pop as the most intimate image of Korea and 10% picked movies; 65.5% of respondents knew the word Hallyu and all but one of the respondents was aware of K-pop.

In response to this phenomenon, the Korean government has devised a strategy to spread Hallyu by choosing Indonesia as a gateway to Southeast Asia. As part of the plan, the government is trying to bolster its support for Hallyu by opening a Korea Creative Content Agency office in Indonesia, the first in Southeast Asia.

Unfortunately, however, on the question of Hallyu’s lifespan, the survey in Indonesia saw a whopping 57.8% answer that it would end within four years. Anti-Hallyu sentiment is looming in some countries including Japan and China. Such sentiment is partly out of fear that Hallyu will leave no place for these countries’ own culture.

However, some blame a lack of diversity, excessive commercialisation and a skewed sense of superiority for reasons for the growth of dissent with the charms of Hallyu.

Voices of caution state that if Hallyu is to continue and become a true global culture, the effort to respect and understand different cultures should precede it. The endeavour to share the true value and spirit of Korea is the only way for Hallyu to last. – Jakarta Globe, March 14, 2016.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.