Ever since Psy hit the airwaves with Gangnam Style in 2012, South Korean culture has become a global phenomenon. K-pop has taken the world by storm and Korean films and TV series are topping Western charts. For a country that was previously quite insular, its culture is now one of its greatest exports. It even has a name, ‘hallyu‘, meaning ‘Korean wave’.
the ministry of k-culture
It all started in the mid-1990s. Hollywood had eclipsed the Korean movie industry in the country, and to recapture some of that revenue in the midst of a financial slump, a Ministry of Culture was created to develop its media sector. A cultural embargo with Japan, established in 1945 in reaction to the decades-long Japanese occupation of Korea, was suspended. This meant that Japanese media such as manga, game software and movies could be imported, and Korean media exported too. Later, in 2014, the government raised a $1 billion fund to nurture popular culture in Korea. Investment in the music sector alone reached over $580 billion in 2021.
k-can’t get enough
Government support kickstarted the Korean wave, but what really tipped the scales was social media. Unprecedented access awakened an appetite for all things Korean, starting in neighbouring countries. China developed a taste for K-drama, Japan went crazy for K-pop and India’s youth picked up cool Korean phrases. Then the K-wave moved further afield, conquering the West and challenging America’s dominance in popular entertainment.
Today, the world cannot seem to get enough of Korean culture. BTS and Blackpink are household names. Parasite won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2020, and Hellbound and Squid Game were the biggest series ever launches on Netflix. Beyond entertainment, K-beauty has seduced a global audience, sharing ancient skincare secrets updated for the modern age. Brands like Dr.Jart+, Venn and Erborian are offering luxury treatments perfectly adapted to the needs and desires of consumers.
a new brand of k-cool
Korean food has become widely available, too. Besides the sophistication of traditional dishes like kimchi and bulgogi, there is also a cruder side to the country’s culinary trends. Mukbang videos are going viral on YouTube, showing people eating vast amounts of food quickly. Popular mukbangers can attract millions of viewers and earn a lot of money. Park Seo-yeon is reported to make almost $9,000 a month with her shows.
Then there is Korean technology, fashion, literature and online games. Korea has built a cultural economy that is trending worldwide. By crafting its own brand of ‘cool’, it is opening Western eyes to Asian culture and enriching the diversity of mainstream entertainment.
K-Crazy about Korea
Hallyu, the trend of South Korean culture, has spread around the world. To find out more about this phenomenon, Speak Up spoke to Paul Wadey, the public relations officer for the Korean Cultural Centre in the UK. We asked him why there is such an appetite for Korean popular culture.
Paul Wadey (English accent): Korea is very accessible now. We live in a connected world. Through music, through film, through food, through language, through literature, Korea has become an important part of people’s lives. Literature won awards all across the world with Korean translations. TV programs and films have also won awards. And then you can’t go into a city without visiting a Korean restaurant and you might travel into that city and you might travel in a Korean car. And then you can get home and watch it on a Korean TV. So Korea is nowhere near as far away as it used to be.
the oxford diktionary
The popularity of Korean culture is encouraging people to learn more about the country, including its history and its language.
Paul Wadey: There is a growing trend to learn the Korean language. In the UK now, Korean studies is more commonly found at British universities —I think it’s about ten [of them] have a Korean department. The Oxford English Dictionary now has twenty-six Korean words added to them [it], ‘kimchi’ or ‘bulgogi’, or ‘hallyu’, just to name a couple.
ANCIENT k-culture
While much of the entertainment we see from Korea today is modern or even futuristic, Wadey explains that it is all rooted in ancient culture.
Paul Wadey: I would suggest that traditional Korean culture is incredibly important, but may not have been noticed as much by the mainstream media. But it has always been there. And what’s interesting is, if you look at Korean films or if you look at Korean cuisine or if you look at Korean literature, you can often see the heritage back to the tradition. Especially in Korean music, there’s a nod to that traditional past. Traditional Korean music goes back millennia and it’s in their DNA. So you may not have seen it or known it, but it was always there.
HIGH k-QUALITY
By combining modern media with ancient folklore, Korea is able to produce the high-quality movies and TV series that are capturing the world’s attention.
Paul Wadey: The last twenty years or so, Korea has been a producer of exceptionally good thrillers. What that tells you is that Korean producers and film directors and scriptwriters and actors and actresses are fantastic storytellers. That tradition of storytelling is an important part of Korean culture and so, yes, it’s there, but it’s seen through contemporary eyes. There have been films that touched on traditional elements of Korean culture, but I would celebrate Korea’s incredible ability to tell a good story.
skin k-care
So what will be the next big thing coming from Korea?
Paul Wadey: Korea’s skincare and cosmetics is [are] incredible. It’s the secret of makeup artists for decades now. And so Korean skincare, I think, is going to be big. But the biggest one by far is going to be electric vehicles. Hyundai have done so well in developing their electric vehicles. They’re at a point now where they’re affordable and reachable to the general public. Now Tesla was the groundbreaker but Tesla have never been affordable; they’ve been aspirational. Hyundai and Korea have made a series of electric vehicles that are reliable and affordable and good quality and I think that’s going to be the next big thing, I really do.