Hallyu: For some, a dream maker, and others, a heart breaker

K-campus

Published: 03 Dec. 2022, 07:00 Updated: 03 Mar. 2023, 18:12

Hallyu: For some, a dream maker, and others, a heart breaker

Ludovica Lucanto, a 31-year-old graduate student at Korea University from Italy [LUDOVICA LUCANTO]

For Ludovica Lucanto, a 31-year-old Italian graduate student at Korea University, K-pop was her savior.

“I experienced a sad and depressing period in my life when I could not even get out of bed,” said Lucanto. "During the desperation, K-pop helped me overcome the sad moments and motivate me to be a better and happier person.”

Leaving everything and everyone behind in Italy and moving to the opposite side of the world was not an easy task for Lucanto. But when she finally regained the drive to take control of her life after dealing with her depression, studying in Korea became one of her immediate goals.

“K-pop has a strong impact on me, and it continues to hold a special place in my life, especially after what I have been through,” she said.

Hallyu, or the Korean wave, may not be a temporary boom, but rather a generational phenomenon that has been affecting peoples' decisions that may take their lives in totally different directions. While the word Hallyu first stemmed from Korean dramas of the early 2000s like “Jewel in the Palace” (2003), the overall attraction to foreigners has been widening in recent years.

K-pop is definitely one of the major axes of Hallyu's mega-popularity lately.

“K-pop changed my way of liking my own voice,” said Ana Lucia Teves La Rosa, 28, who came to Korea from Peru as an exchange student at Kongju National University in 2014.

According to Teves La Rosa, her love for K-pop brought her passion for singing to a whole new level. Before knowing K-pop, she considered herself to be a typical singer with a moderately powerful voice who liked to do covers imitating the vocal style of the original singers of the songs.

But seeing how K-pop songs uniquely divide up the parts for groups with multiple members based on their different vocal capacities, she said it pushed her to make her own version of the songs and appropriate the songs sung with her own voice.

Ana Lucia Teves La Rosa at the Kongju Got Talent Singing Competition [ANA LUCIA TEVES ROSA]

“I am not worrying about if the singer sings it this way or another, as I am more free,” said Teves La Rosa, adding that K-pop has made her feel more comfortable in every version of herself.

She joined the 2017 K-pop World Festival Changwon as a representative of South America and won the Audience Favorite Award after a two-week training program with K-pop vocal coaches.

For some students, Hallyu has made them change their majors, and even career goals.

“I was an economics major in high school, but changed to media and communication for my graduate studies,” said Oumaima Latrech, a 22-year-old student from Morocco who has only been in Korea for a little over a month for her Korean language program at Chonnam National University in Gwangju. Latrech is set to start her master’s program at Ewha Women’s University.

Latrech said K-pop has helped her figure out what her career goal is. Through her love for K-pop, she became keen on learning more about the Korean media landscape up close.

“My goal in life is to serve as the connecting bridge between the media industries of Morocco and Korea,” said Latrech.

Oumaima Latrech, a 22-year-old student from Morocco, takes a photo with a K-pop boy band N.tic. [OUMAIMA LATRECH]

However, Latrech said Korean culture did not entirely meet her expectations. Many international students like Latrech say they feel disappointment, limitations and even discrimination the deeper they dive into Korean culture.

“We have unfortunately witnessed events that happened within the K-pop industry such as suicide, and this reflected the Korean society as a culture of extreme competition,” said Latrech.

“Unlike Western countries, mental health-related topics are less discussed in Korea and could still be seen as a taboo or sign of weakness to some.”

Daniel Alejandro Manrique Enciso graduates from Seoul National University. [DANIEL ALEJANDRO MANRIQUE ENCISO]

Daniel Alejandro Manrique Enciso, a 29-year-old master’s student at Yonsei University, said he used to portray Korea as a “too perfect” country. That perception, however, has changed over time.

“There is a common trend that Koreans follow in terms of clothing, makeup, food and even life goals, and this lacks individuality in the society,” Enciso said.

Enciso first fell into Korean culture through television series. Then the soundtrack of the Korean dramas he watched eventually led to his enjoyment of Korean music.

“Though I am an avid fan of Korean dramas, I cannot help but still recognize the continuous patriarchy as well as gender roles portrayed in Korean media.

“Korean content portrays a fantasy of Korea, but there are bad aspects as well — just like any other country,” he said.

Zarina Nam from Kazakhstan studied for her bachelor’s degree at Kongju National University. [ZARINA NAM]

Zarina Nam, who studied for her bachelor’s degree at Kongju National University, suffered from loneliness after failing to build any close relationships with Korean students on campus.

"Korean dramas often portray a fun and easy-going campus life, so I did not think making friends in Korea would be a problem," Nam said. “But I realized things are more complicated than I thought."

Nam said she heard many Korean students talking behind her back due to the grade evaluation system at Korean universities. In many universities in Korea, international students are given scores based on an absolute grading system, while Korean students' scores are based on a relative grading system.

In the absolute grading system, grades are given according to the performance of individual students. But in relative grading, grades are given based on a comparison of how all the other students scored.

“Many Koreans wanted to become closer with us, foreigners, only to look cool,” Nam said. “It seems like making friends with Koreans had a limit, and it was difficult to develop closer relationships and find people I can trust.”

Nam even once decided to live in share house lodging facilities that also provide meals, called hasuk, during winter vacation. Nam got the idea from the Korean drama "Reply 1994" (2013), as it showed how a share house serves as a place to meet a family-like community and eat meals together.

“But when I was living there, there were no interactions and only kimchi and boiled eggs were available,” Nam said.

BY STUDENT REPORTER ISABELLE PIA SISON [kjd.kcampus@joongang.co.kr]