The year when everybody’s nobody became somebody

When the YouTube craze sent out shock waves this year there was no chance that it would miss the most wired country in the world. Dozens of new Korean-based Websites for sharing video appeared in the country, creating a new and vibrant Internet culture that has allowed ordinary people to become global stars for about as long as it takes to download their biographies using high-speed cable.

From UCC Storyzine and UCC Q, made by giant portals Daum and Freechal, to smaller video-sharing sites including Pullshot Pullbbang, Mgoon, Diodeo and Pandora TV, the year 2006 has been the most significant year so far for “user-created content,” or UCC, and Korea has helped lead the way.
Daum portal provided a list of the most impressive Daum UCC videos based upon the number of times they were viewed, comments made on the site and the social impact they had.
The first on the list is the “Genius Guitarist Lim Jeong-hyun,” a 23-year-old college student playing a rock music arrangement of Pachelbel’s Canon in D on his electric guitar. The clip later appeared on YouTube making the guitarist, initially known only as “funtwo,” an immediate world-star. His video has so far been viewed over 8 million times around the world.
The second went to “Special Park Ji-sung,” a compilation of video clips showing the soccer star playing for the South Korean national team and Manchester United.

“The Deadly Triangle of College Entrance System” came in third because the clips in question produced thousands of replies nationwide. The video consists of news about high school students committing suicide due to falling grades and shows the desperate situation college entrance exam-takers say they have been in this year. The three points that make the deadly triangle are school grades, the College Scholastic Ability Test and the college essay test, according to the video.
Parodies of celebrities and hit blockbusters are also a favorite on video-sharing Websites.
Director Bong Joon-ho’s “The Host” was parodied by a group of young amateur producers who entitled their clip “Gaemul,” which is a parody of the movie’s Korean title “Goemul.” The short clip features a coarsely sketched version of the mutant tadpole bouncing around the Han River bank terrorizing the Seoul residents screaming “Oh My God” in exaggerated English.
Another target was Ayumi, an ethnic Korean singer, raised in Japan, who did a Korean language remake of a tune by Japanese singer Koda Kumi in a skimpy outfit. Ayumi became an easy victim for Internet users who impersonated her provocative moves as well as her inaccurate Korean pronunciation in the song “Cutie Honey.”
“UCC users are rapidly growing in numbers,” said a staff from the Daum’s promoting team. “We expect that number will continue to rise sharply next year.”

by Lee Min-a