The Hallyu Korean wave is not just here to stay — it's gaining momentum

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The Hallyu Korean wave is not just here to stay — it's gaining momentum

Lee Jung-jae, winner of the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for ″Squid Game,″ left, and Hwang Dong-hyuk, winner of the Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for ″Squid Game,″ pose for photos with their trophies in hand at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. [AP/YONHAP]

Lee Jung-jae, winner of the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for ″Squid Game,″ left, and Hwang Dong-hyuk, winner of the Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for ″Squid Game,″ pose for photos with their trophies in hand at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. [AP/YONHAP]

 
Three sisters attempt to win over one of the most powerful families in the world. An extraordinary rookie attorney with autism solves cases and crushes prejudices. Young mages in a fantastical country face their destinies. Two friends go on a journey to discover the truth behind UFOs and aliens. A young woman gets swept up in a relationship with a rich businessman as she tutors his children.
 
The five aforementioned scenarios — “Little Women,” “Extraordinary Attorney Woo,” “Alchemy of Souls,” “Glitch” and “Young Lady and Gentleman” — are Korean-language drama series produced by domestic production studios that sat in the non-English TV category of Netflix’s Global Top 10 chart from Oct. 10 to 16.
 
Such news, which would have beckoned oohs and aahs from the local audience a few years back, has become the new normal these days. Local media outlets now hardly bother to point out that five out of the 10 slots on Netflix’s weekly most-streamed chart were filled by local drama series.
 
 
Beginning of Hallyu

 
Local content, dubbed K-content, is certainly enjoying a heyday, boosted by the contemporary era of global streaming giants such as Netflix. The origin of K-content's popularity goes back some two decades ago with the boom of Hallyu. Hallyu, which literally translates to Korean wave, was initially coined by countries such as China, Japan and Taiwan in the mid '90s due to the sudden surge of popularity in Korean television series, the most iconic ones being “What is Love” (1991-92), “Winter Sonata” (2002) and “Jewel in the Palace” (2003).
 
 “Jewel in the Palace” (2003)  [MBC]

“Jewel in the Palace” (2003) [MBC]

 
The popularity of the latter even spread to the Middle East, while the cast of “Winter Sonata” such as Bae Yong-joon became international Hallyu stars, especially in Japan where the airport would be packed whenever he arrived due to the mass of fans coming to see him.
 
However, the Korean wave failed to crash upon the lofty shores of the West, and mainly resonated only within East Asian countries.
 
“It is true that Korean drama series [in the early 2000s] resonated within Asian countries due to the affiliated cultures,” said Prof. Jin Dal-yong from the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University said. “Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong are intricately linked through Confucian culture, which allowed Asian audiences to easily relate to the cultural context of the narratives, which is also labeled as ‘cultural proximity.’ Because their cultural, lingual, historical and geographical foundations are similar, each can easily assimilate to their neighboring countries.”
 
 “Winter Sonata” (2002) [KBS2]

“Winter Sonata” (2002) [KBS2]

 
Hallyu, however, was viewed as a temporary trend at the time — experts did not expect the wave would stay, much less grow.
 
“In the beginning of the Hallyu phenomenon, cultural and media experts from Asia viewed it to be a passing wave, with some even going so far as to argue that the trend was already over,” Prof. Sang-joon Lee of the department of visual studies at Lingnan University said. “Even Korean scholars questioned the sustainability of Hallyu because, then, the wave failed to attract attention outside of Asia, such as in North America or Europe.”
 
The next wave, called Hallyu 2.0, came with music, dominated by K-pop idols such as first- and second-generation K-pop idols such as Shinhwa, TVXQ, Girls’ Generation and Wonder Girls. YouTube further helped to propel K-pop forward, as seen by the “Gangnam Style” (2012) phenomenon by PSY.
 
"Descendants of the Sun" (2016) [KBS2]

"Descendants of the Sun" (2016) [KBS2]

 
Drama series such as “Coffee Prince” (2007), “My Love from the Star” (2013-14), “Descendants of the Sun” (2016), “Mr. Sunshine” (2018) and “My Mister” (2018), fronting Hallyu stars and K-pop celebrities such as Lee Byung-hun, Song Joong-ki, Song Hye-kyo, IU, Jeon Ji-hyun, Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Tae-ri, continued to entertain Asian audiences and mainly centered around fantastical and highly romanticized relationships between the protagonists — that is, until Bong Joon-ho shocked the world with “Parasite” (2019) through his unique portrayal of black humor and satire of class disparities and inequalities, articulately mirroring contemporary society’s capitalism.
 
 
Familiar yet strange: Hallyu 3.0



“Parasite” was only the tip of the iceberg of the next Korean wave rolling up: Hallyu 3.0.
 
“Happy to see a foreign language film win Best Picture for the first time at the Academy Awards,” tweeted Morgan Ortagus, former spokesperson for the United States Department of State after “Parasite” won four major awards at the Oscars in 2020. “Congratulations to the South Korean cast and creative team of ‘Parasite’ — your four Oscars were well deserved! The Korean wave has definitely arrived.”
 
Bong Joon-ho won four Oscars in 2020 including Best Picture for “Parasite” (2019). [AP/YONHAP]

Bong Joon-ho won four Oscars in 2020 including Best Picture for “Parasite” (2019). [AP/YONHAP]

 
The wave again crashed over the borders of the West with Netflix original series “Squid Game” (2021) as it became the most-watched TV series on Netflix — having been streamed 1.65 billion hours in 28 days since its release. The record from last September is yet to be broken.
 
With “Squid Game” on the frontline, Korean-language series such “Hellbound” (2021), “The King’s Affection” (2021), “All of Us Are Dead” (2022), “Vincenzo” (2021), “Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha,” (2021) “Twenty Five, Twenty One” (2022), “Business Proposal” (2022), and “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” populated the weekly most-streamed charts on Netflix, with some series dominating the charts for weeks at a time.
 
"Squid Game" (2021) [NETFLIX]

"Squid Game" (2021) [NETFLIX]

 
If “Parasite” and “Squid Game” highlighted social disparities and class hierarchies prevalent in capitalistic society, genres of the rest of the popular series vary from zombie horror to small town love stories.
 
Lee contends that the target audience for Netflix originals and content by Korean productions are different.
 
“Content invested in by global streaming services such as Netflix tend to be provocative, violent and speedy,” Lee said. “This is because they are targeting the Western market. But for Asia, historical fiction, rom-coms and makjang [Korean soap operas] storylines which were already popular for the last two decades or so are seeing more success with the neighboring audience. However, it will be more difficult to distinguish these two kinds of series, as crossover hits, such as ‘Extraordinary Attorney Woo,’ continue to be created.”
 
"Train to Busan" (2016) [NEW]

"Train to Busan" (2016) [NEW]

 
It is no secret that influential content creators in Korea were heavily influenced by Western films and series. Yeon Sang-ho, behind “Train to Busan” (2016) and “Hellbound” (2021), said at an exclusive interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily in 2019, that he grew up immersed in “MacGyver” (1985-92), “The Twilight Zone” (1959-64) and “The Incredible Hulk” (1978-82).
 
Hwang Dong-hyuk, the creator behind “Squid Game” revealed at a press interview that he grew up watching American films such as “The Deer Hunter” (1978) and “Once Upon a Time in America” (1984).
 
“In the past, the phrase ‘what is Korean is what is most global’ was used differently,” Prof. Seung-hoon Jeong of the department of film and electronic arts at California State University Long Beach said. “As a strategy to export local culture overseas, [local creators] emphasized exotic uniqueness and aesthetics rooted in traditional culture. In other words, the country promoted its culture from a self-Orientalist perspective. However, before Hallyu reached its prime, K-pop was already one step closer to completely absorbing Western pop, hip-hop and dance to adapt and reshape the genres which fit the local culture. From then on, we were no longer attached to finding what was deemed as our originality.”
 
"Kingdom" (2019-) [NETFLIX]

"Kingdom" (2019-) [NETFLIX]

 
Experts say that the critical factor behind the popularity of K-content is universalism regardless of genre, race or nationality when it comes to what the local creators attempt to convey to the global audience — especially among younger generations.
 
“It is what I label as ‘transnational proximity,’” Jin said. “Korean content today derives from the universal issues and problems at the heart of contemporary society. MZ generation are especially sensitive to topics about justice, fairness and inequalities. […] However, the difference between other foreign works which tackle similar topics is that the creators leave room for a message of hope and love as well, which MZ generation also reveres.”
 
 
Is it a passing wave?



According to experts: No. Hallyu and K-content is here to stay, thank you very much.
 
The skyrocketing global fandom K-content is receiving seems to have no limit, setting a precedent that no other Asian countries have reached before: After “Parasite,” Youn Yuh-jung became the first Korean actor and only the second Asian actor to win an Oscar for her performance in director Lee Issac Chung’s independent film “Minari” (2020). Then came “Squid Game,” which shot the entire cast and Hwang to stardom, ultimately becoming the first foreign language series to bag Best Director, for Hwang, and Best Actor, for Lee Jung-jae, at this year’s Emmys.
 
Youn Yuh-jung became the first Korean actor to win a best supporting actress Oscar for her performance in “Minari” (2020) last year. [AP/YONHAP]

Youn Yuh-jung became the first Korean actor to win a best supporting actress Oscar for her performance in “Minari” (2020) last year. [AP/YONHAP]

 
“In Asia, Korean content and culture are no longer considered merely a ‘wave,’” Lee said. “As I’m residing in Hong Kong, I see that the culture has already been deeply embedded in people’s lives, just like American TV series. For Asian young people, Korean dramas have become a sort of high-end brand, content which tells worthwhile stories and messages, or that's what my students have told me anyway. But it's an ongoing wave for North America and Europe, with endless possibilities for what’s to come.”
 
Jeong contends that K-content has yet to become mainstream in the United States, but it’s only a matter of time.
 
"Broker" (2022) [CJ ENM]

"Broker" (2022) [CJ ENM]

 
“In my department, although the students are aware of hits such as ‘Parasite,’ ‘Squid Game’ and ‘Train to Busan,’ they say they’ve registered for my Korean cinema class because they simply want to learn more about other Korean content,” Jeong said. “Since these are students majoring in film, I can’t say how much Korean content is resonating within the general public of the United States. Although Korean content has yet to become the mainstream in the country, I can say that it’s definitely a gold mine — you just have to reach out your hands.”
 
Lee compares the revival of Japanese manga and games within American blockbusters to the lasting sustainability of K-content.
 
"Decision to Leave" (2022) [CJ ENM]

"Decision to Leave" (2022) [CJ ENM]

 
“Films such as ‘Pacific Rim’ [2013], ‘Detective Pikachu’ [2019] and ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ [2020] all are adapted from Japanese animation series, games and manga,” Lee said. “Why are these films heavily invested in and created? It’s because the creators, producers and board of directors who influence the American film industry today are the generation mesmerized by Japanese pop culture between the '80s and '90s. They are summoning their favorite childhood characters to the screen. Then, what will happen in 10 to 15 years, when today’s generation, who is as equally as immersed in Korean culture, climbs up to the position to influence the future content industry? The sudden rising wave of Hallyu may wane eventually. But its sustainability will go longer than planned and we’ll have to see how it develops and grows.”

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]
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