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Contents

List of Tables ix

Introduction 1 Yasue Kuwahara

Part I Production

1 Hallyu as a Government Construct: Th e Korean Wave in the Context of Economic and Social Development 13 John Walsh

2 Transformations of the Korean Media Industry by the Korean Wave: Th e Perspective of Glocalization 33 Hyejung Ju

3 Th e Politics of the Dancing Body: Racialized and Gendered Femininity in Korean Pop 53 Chuyun Oh

Part II Glocalization

4 My Sassy Girl Goes around the World 85 Jennifer Jung-Kim

5 “Gangnam Style” as Format: When a Localized Korean Song Meets a Global Audience 101 Claire Seungeun Lee and Yasue Kuwahara

6 Th at’s My Man! Overlapping Masculinities in Korean Popular Music 117 Crystal S. Anderson

7 Th e S(e)oul of Hip-Hop: Locating Space and Identity in Korean Rap 133 Myoung-Sun Song



viii CONTENTS

8 A Cultural Imperialistic Homecoming: Th e Korean Wave Reaches the United States 149 Sherri L. Ter Molen

Part III Consumption

9 Winter Sonata and Yonsama, Ideal Love, and Masculinity: Nostalgic Desire and Colonial Memory 191 Young Eun Chae

10 Hanryu : Korean Popular Culture in Japan 213 Yasue Kuwahara

Appendix A: Questionnaire Questions 223

Appendix B 225

Notes on Contributors 231

Index 233



THE KOREAN WAVE Copyright © Yasue Kuwahara, 2014.

All rights reserved.

First published in 2014 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States— a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

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ISBN: 978–1–137–35027–5

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The Korean wave : Korean popular culture in global context / edited by Yasue Kuwahara.

p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–1–137–35027–5 (alk. paper) 1. Popular culture—Korea (South) 2. Mass media and culture—Korea

(South) 3. Cultural industries—Korea (South) 4. Korea (South)—Civilization—21st century. I. Kuwahara, Yasue.

DS923.23.K58 2014 306.095195—dc23 2013033935

A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.

Design by Newgen Knowledge Works (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.

First edition: February 2014

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1



Introduction

Yasue Kuwahara

Starting in Asia in the 1990s, the Korean Wave has become a world-wide phenomenon in recent years as attested by the phenomenal suc-

cess of PSY’s “Gangnam Style” in 2012. Coined by the Chinese press, the Korean Wave refers to the popularity of Korean popular culture outside of South Korea. 1 This book analyzes the Korean Wave in order to answer the questions: (1) What makes it so appealing to the global audience? and (2) What does the success of Korean popular culture imply in terms of the hegemonic relationships that have existed among the countries? The book also examines the role of popular culture as a means of national as well as international economic policies. To a casual observer, the Korean Wave may not seem so remarkable in that it reflects the widespread pop-ularity of Japanese popular culture during the 2000s, including anime, video games, and sushi. However, there exist significant differences between the two, for, first, the Korean Wave was begun and has been pro-moted as an official policy of the Korean government to revive the coun-try’s economy. As such, popular culture products are tailored to appeal to the widest possible audience beyond the national and regional bound-aries. Second, Korean popular culture owes its worldwide success largely to the coming of the digital age in that, in addition to the established routes, products are presented, distributed, and consumed through the Internet and social media by both entertainment agencies and enthusi-astic fans. Additionally, the study of the appeal of Korean popular cul-ture reveals the postcolonial relationship between Asia and the West, the issue of “glocalization” of culture, including cultural adoption and adaption, race/gender issues, cultural consumption, and the changes brought to South Korea by the Korean Wave. These issues are addressed in the essays written by scholars and researchers in diverse academic fields. The book consists of three thematic sections: (1) production—the government policies and the industries that produce Korean popular culture products; (2) glocalization—reception, adaptation, and effects of



2 YASUE KUWAHARA

Korean popular culture in other countries as well as South Korea; and (3) consumption—the fan base and the implications of the popularity of Korean popular culture in the global context.

Since the end of the twentieth century, popular culture products have increasingly become important in South Korean economy. In the face of the financial crisis of 1998 that resulted in a 7 percent loss in GNP, then President Kim Dae-jung issued the Presidential Proclamation on Culture that subsequently established the Korea Institute of Design Promotion as well as the Korea Creative Content Agency and also gave priority to the cultural industries in the government budget. In 2005, the govern-ment started giving a large amount of grants to various organizations that introduced Korean popular culture to other countries. 2 The relation-ship between the public sector and private sector that gave impetus to the Korean Wave finds its root in the 1960s when the rapid industrialization and modernization of Korea began. John Walsh traces the development of this important, yet intricate and constantly changing relationship between the two in “ Hallyu as a Government Construct.” According to Walsh, Hallyu is the latest phase of this relationship in that the conditions for its development were put in place by the state and its agencies while private sector corporations and individuals have taken advantage of those conditions in inventive and sometimes unexpected ways. Once again, they have worked together to promote a joint brand, Brand Korea, across different products and sectors. The purpose, development, and nature of Hallyu is examined as a deliberately fostered manifestation of economic development that has resulted from a distinctive form of industry policy. Hallyu began with the successful showing of Korean television dramas in China. Hyejung Ju discusses how the Korean Wave demonstrates the rise of non-Western players in the media sphere as well as a potent glocaliz-ing culture and medium by tracing the evolution of the Korean television industry from a marginal entity to a major player in the international entertainment market with focus on dramas that started the Korean Wave. In the early phase of the Korean Wave, the Korean star marketing system, which was similar to the Hollywood star system, opened the door to the Asian television market for the Korean television industry. Well-known and popular actors and actresses were the best marketing tools and thus were used in pre-broadcast promotion tours in order to create a “planned boom” for a new drama. While the demand for Korean drama thus increased, they were still regarded as cheap alternatives to expensive US and Japanese counterparts during the initial phase. An unexpected success of Winter Sonata in Japan in 2003, however, changed this and moved the Korean television industry to the new phase during which it has extended its reach to an increased number of Asian markets and



INTRODUCTION 3

also began to get top ratings in those markets. Both Korean stations and foreign stations that purchased Korean dramas used “windowing,” the one-source, multiuse marketing strategy, in order to increase profit. As a result, copyright became an important issue. Ju’s discussion on copyrights makes clear the business side of the Korean Wave. The most recent phase of the evolution of the Korean television industry is characterized by the rise of independent producers and joint ventures with foreign entities in order to defray the rising cost of production. As the countries beyond Asia began to show Korean dramas, localized content had to be univer-salized in order to appeal to the global audience. Korean networks and independent production companies began to develop a specialized global marketing system. On the other hand, the importers of Korean dramas also worked to make them appeal to the local audience by finding the best format to market, dub, reedit, and so on. It is the mutual effort of export-ers and importers that has made Korean drama globally successful.

Recently, the center of global attention given to Korean popular cul-ture has shifted from television dramas to music. Known as “The Second Wave,” this phenomenon is led by pop idol bands and singers who are trained by professional agencies in order to appeal to not only the domes-tic but also the international audiences. Chuyun Oh analyzes the music videos by Girls’ Generation, one of the most popular K-pop bands, in order to find out how the band’s performances in the videos not only reveal the ways in which gender ideology in South Korea has been constructed but also disrupt the submissive status as colonized and “silenced” Oriental Other. Western viewers often criticize K-pop performers’ hybrid identi-ties, commenting that K-pop is a mere imitation of American culture. Oh’s analysis, however, reveals that Girls’ Generation’s hybridized per-formance is not a postcolonial mimicry because mimicry is only possible in relation to true authenticity, but the true “origin” is already racialized by the white supremacy. The categories of Westernization, Asianness, and postcolonial mimicry fail to frame Girls’ Generation’s hybridized iden-tity, which demonstrates the incommensurability of Asian performance in the Western-centered paradigm. Oh terms this “multicultural mutant Koreaness” in order to decompose the imperial circulation and to consider performance authenticity as a fluid contemporary identity instead of an inherently fixed essence. This is an issue addressed in the next section.

Perhaps because of their historical relationship and perhaps because of their geographic proximity, South Korea and Japan are often compared and contrasted. Popular culture is no exception. Interestingly, while the global success of Japanese popular culture is often attributed to their conscious effort to universalize products—what Koichi Iwabuchi terms “culturally odorless products” 3 —Korean popular culture is emphasized



4 YASUE KUWAHARA

by its hybridity. That is, even though Korean popular culture products are intended and produced for international consumption, their appeal in the global market is mainly due to their “Koreanness” (i.e., Brand Korea). At the same time, as the chapters in part I demonstrate, they are necessarily localized in content and format to adjust to the needs and demands of local markets. Thus, glocalization becomes an inevitable issue in analyz-ing the Korean Wave. The chapters in part II consider this from various viewpoints. First, Jennifer Jung-Kim examines the success and failures surrounding the movie My Sassy Girl in the global market. In the early 1990s, Hollywood movies began to lose a foothold in Korea as the domes-tic film industry, aided by the policy support of the government and the financial support of chaebols (a family-controlled industrial conglomerate in South Korea), began to produce high-quality movies and thus started drawing the audience to domestic films. Today, Korean films are not only successful in the domestic market but are also attracting the atten-tion of movie fans all over the world. 4 My Sassy Girl , a romantic comedy directed by Kwak Jae-yong, was one of the early films that became suc-cessful internationally. Released in 2001, the film sold 4,852,845 tickets in its ten-week run, making it the second highest-grossing film of the year with $26 m illion in proceeds. 5 It was also a huge hit throughout Asia, including Hong Kong (with $1.7 million in box office revenues), Japan (with $4.3 million), China, and Taiwan. 6 The film was not only popular among the audiences but also received awards at various film festivals. Due to such tremendous success, My Sassy Girl was remade in Japan, India, China, and the United States, but none of the remakes came even close to the success of the original film. Jung-Kim attributes this failure to a different mindset of the audience toward remakes. While the audience viewed the original My Sassy Girl as a foreign film, they were more critical of the domestically produced remakes. That is, while people are willing to accept unfamiliar aspects of a foreign film at face value, they have higher expectations of locally produced products to be relevant to their own cul-ture. My Sassy Girl is thus an interesting case study of glocalization.

Singer PSY’s 2012 mega hit “Gangnam Style” represents the current state of the Korean Wave in many ways as discussed by Claire Seungeun Lee and Yasue Kuwahara. Gangnam refers to the area south of the Han River in the city of Seoul that is commonly regarded as the wealthy sec-tion of town. The song criticizes Gangnam girls who are rich, materi-alistic, and full of vanity. Because such a perception of Gangnam was not known outside of South Korea, it was undoubtedly a localized song targeted at the domestic audience. Nevertheless, it spread like wildfire all over the world; PSY was on NBC Today Show two months after its release, the accompanying music video became the most watched video



INTRODUCTION 5

on YouTube in four months and reached a billion views in six months. 7 Such an instant success was made possible by the combined development of social media, particularly YouTube, which, as the user-created content “platform,” functioned as a “network” between the song and consumers. Indeed, both “Gangnam Style” and the Korean Wave owe their success partly to this platform. Until recently, the success of K-pop and Korean television drama has been more or less confined to the global Asian com-munities, but now they have become a global phenomenon extending their reach to Europe and North America. The exposure through social media has made Korean popular culture products known beyond the national boundaries. Moreover, “Gangnam Style” spawned a variety of parodies that not only replaced Gangnam with specific geographic locations but also were about occupations, current events, etc. Thus, “Gangnam Style” showcases a new mode of production and consumption in the digital age. With the development of social media, consumers are given opportuni-ties to be producers and disseminators of information. The success of “Gangnam Style” also shows that, contrary to the general opinion that a product must possess universal values to appeal globally, the original locally targeted content can be adapted globally.

South Korean culture was influenced by American culture like other Asian countries, particularly after World War II. Chapters 6–8 in part II examine the hybrid nature of Korean popular culture. Crystal S. Anderson considers transnational hybrid masculinity through the analysis of cul-tural production of TVXQ. Male K-pop idol groups such as TVXQ repre-sent overlapping masculinities, where male idols represent several modes of masculinity in a way that reflects both South Korean and African American cultural elements. These hybrid masculinities retain elements of the cultures that inform them, and international fans recognize those cultural elements. Ultimately, such overlapping masculinities counter discourses that limit modes of Asian masculinity. Anderson’s analysis thus adds new dimensions to the scholarly discussion around Korean masculinities by centralizing ethnically informed masculinities and proffering the notion of overlapping, rather than exclusionary, mascu-linities. Anderson also focuses on the influence of African American cul-ture on K-pop groups. It is interesting to note that the idol-making system employed by Korean entertainment agencies resembles the training sys-tem used by Motown in 1959. Another product of African American cul-ture, rap music, which began in the 1970s as the music of de-franchised youth in South Bronx, has achieved an international success, including in South Korea. While idol bands such as Girls’ Generation and Super Junior lead the international appeal of K-pop, hip-hop music has signifi-cantly increased its appeal to Korean youth in recent years with the rise of



6 YASUE KUWAHARA

domestic bands, such as Leesang and Big Bang. Myoung-Sun Song exam-ines the appeal of hip-hop music in the Korean context through the analy-sis of song lyrics and performances by Korean artists. Often regarded as the music of African Americans, the authenticity of hip-hop outside of America has been questioned. Korean artists do not merely appropriate blackness but (re)translate, (re)build, and (re)negotiate the space of hip-hop outside of America. Through this process, they are able to claim a part of the hip-hop culture that is not necessarily Black but an exten-sion of the notion of a global race consciousness. Korean hip-hop artists, through their lyrics and performance, are able to continuously question, challenge, and communicate their identities, and this communication becomes both the local and global areas of individual as well as collective consciousness narrative(s). Finally, Sherri Ter Molen shows multidirec-tional cultural flow of the postcolonial world through her examination of the relationship between South Korea and the United States since the end of WWII. After decades of US cultural imperialism during which media flowed in a one-way direction from the United States to Korea, there is now a contraflow of Korean media entering the United States. Interestingly, in recent years, original and remakes of Korean films have been shown in mainstream US theaters, and Korean pop songs have appeared on US music charts. Through the examination of the relation-ships between US cultural imperialism, the development and spread of the Korean Wave, and the American consumption of Korean popular culture, Ter Molen discusses that the Korean Wave’s hybridity, by com-bining Korean and American elements, ironically makes Korean popu-lar culture easier for US audiences to digest since they recognize their own culture embedded in these foreign products. The rising popularity of Korean popular culture in the United States demands particular atten-tion in light of the more than 65-year-old economic, military, and politi-cal ties between these two nations, including the 2012 ratification of the Korea–US Free Trade Agreement.

Part III of the book focuses on consumption of Korean popular culture around the globe. Young Eun Chae examines the popularity of Winter Sonata that opened the door to non-Chinese-speaking Asian countries for the Korean Wave and established its star, Bae Yong-joon, as an inter-national heartthrob. Winter Sonata is an archetypical melodrama that features familiar tropes, including the fate of first love, extramarital affairs, secrets surrounding birth, a series of accidents, terminal diseases, and amnesia, among others. While these tropes make the drama predict-able, the complete predictability paradoxically endorses active reading by the viewers. Chae analyzes how Winter Sonata sanctions the audience



INTRODUCTION 7

members across the borders to reflect their fantasy for primitive moder-nity and nostalgic longing for the past where the morals and ideals of culture were intact. Furthermore, she discusses the psychological effect the extreme popularity of the drama in Japan created among Koreans. The enormous popularity of Winter Sonata and Bae provided Koreans with an opportunity to reexamine and reflect upon South Korea’s trou-bling relationship with Japan and the critical position Japan occupies for the formation of national identity. Given their intricate relationship with Japan stemming from the history of colonial occupation, Koreans experi-enced an ironic sense of satisfaction, facing the Japanese who were eager to learn their language and visit their country. Winter Sonata unquestion-ably ushered in the Korean Wave in Japan. While the appeal of Korean television dramas was limited largely to middle-aged women, the intro-duction of K-pop in the late 2000s extended the appeal of Korean popular culture, called Hanryu in Japan, to teenagers. When actor Jang Geun-suk made a television commercial for a Korean fermented alcoholic drink, makgeolli , in 2011, the Hanryu boom seemed to achieve its peak, which has continued till this day. On the other hand, it is known that some of the actors and actresses who are enormously popular among the Japanese fans are not equally liked by Koreans. Also, the images of actors presented in Japanese magazines are different from those Koreans are familiar with. Yasue Kuwahara considers why such discrepancy exists based on a questionnaire survey undertaken in South Korea and Japan. The results of the survey show that (1) the Hanryu boom has not spread as widely as it is commonly believed in Japan and (2) Hanryu functions as a fun house mirror to the Japanese in that the Japanese are attracted to Hanryu because it shows them who they are and what their society is about.

The Korean Wave, more than Japanese popular culture of the 1980s, proves that the global cultural f low is no longer merely one way from the West to the rest of the world. It has shed light on various aspects of cultural exchange among nations. Contemporary Korean popular cul-ture is produced under the influence of the Western hegemony, such as American popular music and Hollywood films, and then transformed to appeal to the wider audience before being exported to neighboring Asian countries and beyond. As the demand for Korean popular cul-ture increases in these countries, the imported products are changed to meet the local taste and thus to maximize profits. Using the concept of “glocalization,” glocalized Korean popular culture was universalized and then glocalized again. Furthermore, with the rapid development of digital technology, traditional consumers of popular culture began to assume a more active role in that they not only consume the products



8 YASUE KUWAHARA

brought by mass media but also disseminate the information by starting fan websites for television dramas, covering the dances of their favorite musical groups, or creating parodies of the original music videos. While the combined development of digital technology and social media is undoubtedly a key to the global success of Korean popular culture, its appeal in the non-Western countries is often attributed to the portrayal of traditional values based on Confucianism in television dramas, movies, and even through the images of pop idols. As stated by Eun-young Jung, the Korean Wave is indeed multilayered and multidirectional in terms of its production, dissemination, consumption, and appeal. 8 For instance, it is interesting to note that, while the issue of glocalization is dealt with in most of the chapters in this book, the contributors view it differently, thus indicating the complexity of the issue. The Korean Wave has cer-tainly prompted the discourse on postcolonial global cultural f low. As Korean popular culture continues to widen its sphere of influence, it is an exciting time to join the discourse.

Notes

1 . The Korean Wave: A New Pop Culture Phenomenon (The Republic of Korea: Korean Culture and Information Service Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, 2011), 11.

2 . “South Korea’s Pop-Cultural Exports: Hallyu, Yeah!” The Economist , January 25, 2010, accessed March 29, 2012, http://www.economist.com/node/15385735 .

3 . Koichi Iwabuchi, Recentering Globalization: Popular Culture and Japanese Transnationalism (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2002).

4 . The Korean Wave , 79–89. 5 . Data from Korean Film Archive, accessed February 2, 2013, Koreanfilm.

org. 6 . Korean Film Council data cited in Sun Jung, Korean Masculinities and

Transcultural Consumption (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2011), 1; Jinhee Choi, The South Korean Film Renaissance: Local Hitmakers, Global Provocateurs (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2010), 85.

7 . “2012 Year in Review: Obsessions: #9 ‘Gangnam Style,’ ” Yahoo News , accessed July 31, 2013, http://news.yahoo.com/year-in-review-2012-obsessions-gangnam-style-001718949.html ; William Gruger, “Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style’ Video Hits 1 Billion Views, Unprecedented Milestone,” Billboard October 29–30, 2012, accessed July 31, 2013, http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/1483733/psys-gangnam-style-video-hits-1-billion-views-unprecedented-milestone .

8 . Eun-young Jung, “Transnational Korea: A Critical Assessment of the Korean Wave in Asia and the United States,” Southeast Review of Asian Studies 31 (2009): 69–80.



INTRODUCTION 9

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“2012 Year in Review: Obsessions: #9 ‘Gangnam Style.’” Yahoo News . Accessed July 31, 2013. http://news.yahoo.com/year-in-review-2012-obsessions-gangnam-style-001718949.html .

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Gruger, William. “Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style’ Video Hits 1 Billion Views, Unprec-edented Milestone.” Billboard October 29–30, 2012. Accessed July 31, 2013. http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/1483733/psys-gangnam-style-video-hits-1-billion-views-unprecedented-milestone .

Iwabuchi, Koichi. Recentering Globalization: Popular Culture and Japanese Transnationalism . Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2002.

Jung, Eun-young. “Transnational Korea: A Critical Assessment of the Korean Wave in Asia and the United States.” Southeast Review of Asian Studies 31 (2009): 69–80.

Korean Film Archive. Accessed February 2, 2013. Koreanfilm.org. Sun Jung, Korean Masculinities and Transcultural Consumption. Korean Film

Council data. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2011. “South Korea’s Pop-Cultural Exports: Hallyu, Yeah!” The Economist , January 25,

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Korean Culture and Information Service Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, 2011.



A Moment to Remember (2004), 156adaptation, 85, 87, 89, 90, 92, 94–7Africa, 191African American

culture, 118, 121–2, 128expressive culture, 123–4male performance, 122–3marching bands, 122musical traditions, 121soul music, 121see also under black

African Americans, 5–6, 58Africans, 66Ai Weiwei, 109America, 6, 89, 90, 106, 135–7, 141, 144.

See also the United StatesAmerican

audiences, 163, 165culture, 3, 5, 89, 90folk music, 121influence, 17media, 155, 158, 167popular culture, 152popular music, 7see also under US

Americanization, 54Americans, 149animation, 14, 18anime, 1, 165anti-American sentiment, 152, 164Appadurai, Arjun, 33, 56, 149, 158–9,

160, 162, 165artist, 133–42, 144–5, 218Asia, 4, 34–6, 38–9, 42, 46, 53, 85, 93,

106, 119, 121, 149, 157–8, 164–7, 197, 200, 202–3, 105–6

Asianbody, 54, 66–7cultures, 118, 197countries, 5–7, 40–1, 44, 90, 153,

197, 199, 201, 206fan, 37, 39, 192masculinity, 5, 58, 127media, 33, 47, 205men, 118, 127–8popular culture, 46, 223sexuality, 68television, 36–7women, 64, 68

Asian Americans, 55Asianness, 3, 65–6, 68Asians, 55, 64, 65audience, 138–9, 196, 199Australia, 37authenticity, 3, 6, 19, 56, 65–9, 134,

137, 139, 144Autumn in My Heart (2000), 193

Bae, Yong-joon, 6–7, 36–7, 44, 157, 191–2, 199–201, 204–5, 213–16

see also YonsamaBak, Seung. See DramaFeverBeenzino, 142–3Big Bang, 6, 214Big Mama, 121black

expressive culture, 122male performance, 122–3males, 123music, 121see also under African American

blackness, 136–7, 139, 144

Index



234 INDEX

BoA, 119Bollywood, 91–2, 95, 97boy bands, 35, 117Boys Over Flowers (2009), 162brand Korea, 2, 4, 20, 25Brazil, 42Britain, 151Broadcasting Act of Korea, 42Busan, 137

Canada, 37, 42, 53Caucasians, 64, 163CCTV (Chinese state television), 35CD, 40, 136, 158CGV at Madang, 160Cha, In-Pyo, 36chaebols, 4, 20, 155–6, 160Channel V, 14Cheongdam-Dong Alice (2012), 103Cheongdam-Dong Sarayo (I Live in

Cheongdam-Dom) (2011), 103Chicago, 144, 159, 165Chile, 42China, 2, 4, 13, 17–18, 24, 35, 38, 42, 44,

53, 92, 109, 151–2, 157, 162, 167, 205–6

Chineseculture, 218fans, 37, 192immigrants, 127men, 127viewers, 201youth, 204

chogukjeok, 120Choi, Ji-woo, 193, 216choreography, 55, 57, 68, 117–18,

121–3, 137Chosen Nippo, 217Chosun Ilbo, 205Chosun dynasty, 22, 156CNN, 149Cold War, 17, 21colonial

history, 207memory, 191, 204–6past, 192, 205, 207

computer games, 14Confucian

heritage, 197patriarchy, 207tradition, 203values, 192, 218

Confucianism, 8, 54, 167, 198, 202Confucianist

background, 207socio-cultural values, 166

conglomerate, 4, 155conglomerate companies, 145coproduction, 46, 217copyright, 3, 38–9, 40–1, 43–4, 46,

108, 154, 162broadcast, 39–40digital content right, 40extra products. services right, 40, 44infringement, 108video-gram right, 40, 44

critical race theory, 55cultural

flow, 34hegemony, 19hybridity, 166hybridity theory, 150, 165hybridization, 93, 144imperialism, 6, 150, 168industries, 149, 154–5production, 13, 15, 25

Cultural Industry Bureau, 155culture, 1, 4–7, 15, 21, 34, 45, 47, 59,

65–7, 69, 93–4, 96–7, 118–20, 124, 128, 134–6, 144, 155, 161, 166

cuteness, 56, 63, 68

Dae Jang Geum (Jewel of the Palace) (2003), 22, 37–40, 156–7, 165–6

Daegu, 137, 141dance, 13, 55, 57DC Inside, 105Deepflow, 140Democratic People’s Republic of

Korea (DPPK), 151see also North Korea



INDEX 235

digitalage, 1, 5music, 121streaming service, 41technology, 7–8, 110

Digital Mobile Broadcasting (DMB), 40Dok, 2, 139–40Dong Bang Shin Gi, 213, 215–6, 218.

See also TVXQdrama, 7, 53, 156, 165, 199, 202DramaFever, 162–3, 165

Bak, Seung, 162Park, Suk, 162, 165

DVD, 38–40, 44, 85–6, 97, 158–9D-War (2007), 163

East Asia, 13, 15, 17, 20, 39, 45–6, 53, 59, 67, 150, 157, 191–2, 195, 201, 206

East Asiancountries, 24, 207culture, 54

East Asians, 59East Europe, 108East, the, 205–6E-Sens, 144ethnoscapes, 158, 160Europe, 5, 34, 42, 102, 106, 119, 191export, 36, 38, 42, 46, 153, 167exporter, 3

The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince (2007), 36, 162

Facebook, 137–8, 161Fana, 133, 143Far East, 152fashion, 14, 53, 118, 126, 191femininity, 54–6, 58–61, 63, 68–9, 90,

127, 207feminism, 63filial

duty, 198, 203piety, 127, 166, 197

financial crisisAsian, 341997, 20of 1998, 2, 216

film, 53, 119, 137, 154, 157, 160, 162, 191, 201

financescapes, 158, 160food, 13, 14, 153, 165foreign

content, 14, 34, 36control, 34, 36cultures, 157film, 4, 96–7, 163investors, 43–4market, 45–6media, 149–50, 167media firm, 43product, 6, 150programs, 37television networks, 39television station, 37, 39

formats, 104–5, 107–8, 110France, 53, 155, 167, 194–5, 218Fuji television network, 36, 213, 218Full House (2004), 39

Gangbuk, 101–2Gangnam, 4, 101–3, 109Gangnam Omma Ddarajapgi

(Cathcing Up with Gangnam Moms) (2007), 103

“Gangnam Style”, 1, 4–5, 67, 101–2, 104–11, 164–6

genba, 134, 138gender, 1, 53, 55, 62–4, 68–9, 90

ideology, 3, 57, 68roles, 87stereotypes, 91

The Gift, 166Girls’ Generation, 3, 5, 23–4, 53–65,

67–9, 119, 161, 214–16, 218“The Boys”, 53–7, 59, 61, 64, 68Genie, 60“Genie”, 61“Run Devil Run”, 60“I Got a Boy”, 65

Glandale (CA), 159global

Asian communities, 5, 102audience, 3, 45, 69, 102, 106, 118, 128



236 INDEX

global—Continuedcapitalism, 66, 153cultural flow, 7, 110, 149–50, 158cultural hegemony, 62culture, 46, 119–20, 128, 165, 167fans, 118–9, 121influence, 120market, 4, 62marketing system, 46phenomenon, 5, 102pop market, 65race consciousness, 137

globalization, 47, 87, 93, 102, 144, 164glocalization, 1, 4, 7–8, 34, 45–7, 62–3,

87, 90–3, 95–7Gnyeodeul Ooe Wanbyokhan Haru

(Their Perfect Day) (2013), 103Gong, Yu, 36The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008),

166Gwangju, 138

Hallyu, 2, 13–4, 18, 21–5, 53, 85, 93, 118–21, 128, 149–50, 154, 157–8, 160–8, 191, 216, 224, 227, 229

anti-Hallyu, 25see also the Korean Wave

Han River, 4, 101–3, 140Hangyure, 205Hanryu, 7, 213–8, 228

boom, 213–5, 218fans, 215

Happy Together, 121Haru: An Unforgettable Day in Korea,

161Hawaii, 159hegemonic

Eurocentric racial discourse, 56ideology, 195US culture, 161

hegemony, 7, 18, 68, 134heterogeneity, 94heterogenization, 54hip-hop, 5, 134, 139, 144–5

artist, 6, 135, 141

band, 218clubs, 140concerts, 138culture, 6, 135, 137, 142groups, 136music, 5, 136see also Korean hip-hop, Korean

hip-hop artists, Korean hip-hop scene, Korean rap

Hollywood, 19, 94, 96, 150, 154, 160, 163–5, 168

films, 7, 154, 167movies, 4star system, 38stars, 36, 154system, 38

homogenization, 54Hong Kong, 4, 37, 44, 85, 92, 167,

204–5, 207, 213, 216Hongdae, 133–5

hip-hop clubs, 138Hongik University, 133The Host (2006), 163Hulu, 163hybridity, 4, 6, 53–6, 62–3, 67–9, 93–4,

120, 150, 166–7hybridization, 95, 136, 144Hyun Bin, 213Hyuna, 139Hyundai, 19, 160

identity, 6, 53, 65, 67, 133–5, 137, 139–45, 155, 198

hybrid, 67, 168Japanese, 165Korean, 20, 55, 65, 155Korean national identity, 192national identity, 7

ideoscapes, 158, 165Il Mare (2000), 163Illionaire Records, 139import, 153importer, 3, 38Incheon, 151independent production companies,

43–6



INDEX 237

India, 4, 90, 95Indian audience, 91–2Indonesia, 41, 157industry policy, 14–5intellectual property, 16, 20, 105, 108,

153international

audience, 1, 3fan, 5markets, 25, 43, 105relations, 20, 25

International Monetary Fund, 153internationalization, 18Internet, 1, 15, 40–1, 105, 162

censorship, 109drama, 161novel, 85, 92, 96

IP TV, 40Iran, 37Iris (2009), 36, 44, 215Israel, 37“Itaewon Freedom”, 103Iwabuchi, Koichi, 3, 90, 92, 204–7

Jan, Keun-suk, 58Jang, Dong-geon, 214Jang, Geun-suk, 213–16Japan, 2–4, 7, 18, 20, 24, 34, 37, 40, 42,

44–6, 85, 87–8, 120, 144, 151, 157, 162, 167, 191–3, 199–201, 203–7, 213–14, 216–18, 223–4, 227–9

Japaneseaudience, 205culture, 165, 204, 217, 224, 228–9drama, 166, 224, 228–9fans, 7, 39, 192, 204–5hip-hop, 144identity. See identitymedia, 157media industry, 45media market, 40media marketing, 38networks, 46popular culture, 1, 3, 7, 24, 45, 213popular culture products, 217

society, 192television, 213, 215, 218television drama, 203television network, 37–8viewers, 38women, 206, 214, 218

Japanese, the, 7, 17, 150, 152, 192, 213, 215–7, 224, 228–9

Ji, Jin-Hee, 37jimseungdol, 124, 126–7joint venture, 42–3, 45–6Joong Ang Ilbo, 159J-pop, 121, 218Jurassic Park Syndrome, 155JYP Entertainment, 53, 161, 164

Park, Jin Young, 161, 164

Kanryu, 213KARA, 119, 214, 215, 216, 218KBS (Korean Broadcasting System),

39, 41–2, 58, 156–7, 162, 199–200, 217

K-dramas, 120, 156–8, 160–3, 165–7, 218

Kim, Dae-jung, 2, 93, 158, 216Kim, Ho-sik, 85, 92Kim, Ji-woon, 163Kim, Tae-hee, 214–5Kim, Young-sam, 155KJH Production, 44kkonminam, 124–8knowledge-based society, 34–5Korea, 4, 6, 17–23, 34, 67, 85–6, 88,

90, 92, 95–6, 106, 118, 120, 135, 137–8, 141–2, 144–5, 149–57, 160, 162, 166–8, 192–6, 198–201, 204–6, 214–15, 217, 224, 227–9

Korea Creative Agency Japan Office, 215

Korea Creative Content Agency, 216Korea Daily, 159Korea Times, The, 163, 165Korean

actor, 157, 164, 306actors and actresses, 36, 223

see also under individual names



238 INDEX

Korean—Continuedartists, 6, 144, 152, 157, 164audience, 90, 92, 96, 135beauty products, 36broadcast industry, 39broadcast system, 45community, 159, 162cosmetics industryculture, 15, 18, 102, 118–21, 128,

165, 168, 204, 207, 214, 217–18, 224, 227, 228–9

culture industries, 149–50, 154, 156–7, 161

domestic audience, 201drama, 36–7, 39–41, 43, 45–6,

53, 102, 156, 158, 162, 203, 213

economy, 153, 155, 216ethnicity, 163fans, 193female, 62, 64film, 4, 6, 149, 155–6, 160, 163,

165, 167film industry, 154, 160food, 157–8, 224, 227–8government, 1, 15–6, 18–20, 34,

149, 154, 160–1hip-hop, 134–6, 144, 145hip-hop artists, 137–8hip-hop scene, 139identity See identitylanguage, 19, 58, 60, 121, 136, 158,

159, 168, 192, 205masculinity, 5, 58, 206media, 149, 157–160, 206–7media industry, 33–4, 39–40, 42–3,

45–7media system, 45men, 58, 59, 64, 68, 204, 206music, 35national brand, 160network station, 41, 46network television, 38, 42peninsula, 151people, 151, 155, 158pop culture, 54, 192, 205

pop music, 35, 150pop songs, 6, 149popular culture, 1–3, 5–8, 14,

23, 33, 42, 46, 85, 93–4, 119, 157–8, 160, 162, 204–5, 207, 213–15, 217

popular culture product, 4–5, 102, 120

popular music, 101, 117, 213popular songs, 103products, 13, 17, 53, 149, 162rap, 133, 144R&B groups, 121star system, 39television, 156television and music industry, 39television drama, 2–3, 5, 7, 35, 38,

42, 44, 196, 199, 204, 224–5, 227–8

television industry, 2–3, 145television networks, 36television programs, 35, 38values, 121viewers, 91Wave, 1–8, 13, 53–4, 85, 87, 93,

102, 118–9, 149–50, 157–8, 167–8, 191, 205, 207, 224, 227, 229

women, 62youth, 5–6, 145

Korean American, 136, 159, 160rappers, 136

Korean Broadcast Act of 2000, 39, 42

Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS), 15

Korean Tourism Organization, 158, 161

Korean War, 152Koreanness, 3, 46, 54–6, 68, 204

see also multinational mutant Koreanness

Koreans, the, 7, 15, 22, 55, 103, 106, 109, 121, 155, 158, 159, 162, 167, 192, 206, 213–15, 217, 224, 228–9



INDEX 239

Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (KORUS-FTA), 6, 150, 153–4, 159, 161

K-pop, 3, 5, 7, 21, 53–6, 62–3, 67–9, 101–3, 105–6, 117–21, 124, 150, 156–8, 161, 164, 167, 191, 213, 215, 217–8, 224–5, 228

band, 3, 161boy idols, 58groups, 118, 126, 128, 218idol groups, 137idols, 139industry, 61, 63singer, 39, 164

Kwon, Sang Woo, 14

The Lake House, 95, 163The Last Godfather, 163The Last Stand, 163Latin America, 46Latin American countries, 153Lee, Byun-Hun, 36, 44, 215Lee, Myung-bak, 216Lee, Roy, 95Lee, Young-Ae, 36–7LG, 18, 160local, the, 6, 34, 47, 87, 93, 94

audience, 3, 34, 36, 40, 87, 89, 90, 94, 95, 96

culture, 54, 150, 165customs, 46market, 4, 42media, 45promotion, 36, 46taste, 7, 105television industry, 41television market, 41

Los Angeles, 144, 159, 160, 163Love Rain (2012), 58, 193lyrics, 134–7, 139–44, 166

Mainichi Shinbun, 217Malay, 108Malaysian

boyfriend, 157pop song, 157

manga, 18masculinity, 5, 58, 90, 117–20, 123–4,

126–8, 191–3, 201–2, 204, 206, 207

hegemonic masculinity, 127hybrid masculinity, 5metrosexual masculinity, 126overlapping masculinity, 5sartorial masculinity, 126transnational hybrid masculinity, 5white masculinity, 58see also Korean masculinity

mass media, 8, 59, 103Massively Multiplayer Online

Role Playing Games (MMORPGs), 16

MBC (Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation), 36–8, 42, 44, 157, 162

media, 6, 21, 34, 45, 126, 149mediascapes, 158, 162melodrama, 6, 92, 192, 194–7, 204, 206

Asian, 197Western, 197

Mexico, 37, 42Middle East, 106, 191military force, 21Minos, 141–2modernity, 7, 205modernization, 62, 205Monstar (2013), 22moral legibility, 194–5Motion Picture Association of Korea,

154Motown, 5, 166movies, 162, 224, 228–9MTV, 19, 67, 90, 164multinational

elements, 65mutant Koreanness, 3, 65, 69

mugukjeak, 120music, 3, 5–6, 53, 121, 134, 136, 137–8,

144–5, 154, 157, 162, 168music video, 3, 4, 53, 55–6, 59–60, 65,

118, 121, 124, 134,-5, 140–1, 163, 166



240 INDEX

My Lovely Kim Sam Soon (2005), 162My Sassy Girl, 4, 85–92, 94–7, 156

Gyeon-u, 86–7, 94Ma, Joe, 86, 92see also Ryokiteki na kanojo,

Ugly Aur PagliMy Sassy Girl, 2, 86, 92, 96Myanmar, 41

netizen funds, 156New Millennium Vision, 35New York, 135, 144, 159, 161–2NHK, 38–40, 44, 199–200, 217Ninja Assassin, 39, 164North America, 5, 34, 42, 102, 119,

162, 165North Korea, 61, 151Northeast Asia, 151–2nostalgia, 7, 201, 205, 218nostalgic

consumption, 206desire, 191, 204images, 204longing, 205memories, 192

Oldboy (2003), 156, 163online computer game industry, 16, 22Organization of Economic

Cooperation and Development (OECD), 13

Orient woman, 63–4Oriental, 3

cultures, 66Orientalism, 205sexual fantasies, 64stereotype, 66, 68womanhood, 62

Orientalness, 55

pal-ship-pal-man-won-sae-dae, 145Paradise Ranch (2011), 120Park, Jin Young. See JYP

EntertainmentPark, Seung. See DramaFeverPark, Sol-mi, 193

Park, Yong-ha, 193, 216parody, 5, 8, 86, 105–11patriarchal

desire, 61fantasy, 55, 59, 60, 68femininity, 68gender ideology, 61gender representation, 54hegemony, 66ideology, 56–7, 59, 207institution, 61society, 57, 61

patriarchy, 60performance, 3, 55–7, 134–6, 138–9, 144Philadelphia, 159Philippines, The, 41, 162, 167plastic surgery, 60, 65platform, 5, 16, 53, 55, 102, 107, 110, 160Poetry (2010), 156pop music, 14, 191popular culture, 1, 3, 7, 15, 21, 25, 34,

45–7, 93, 103, 149–50, 158, 166, 168, 216

popular music, 101, 119, 151, 224, 228–9postcolonial

critique, 63discourse, 55global cultural flow, 8hybridity and mimicry, 93identity, 68mimicry, 3, 62, 67–8relationship, 3world, 6

PSY, 1, 4, 67, 101, 103, 105, 107–9, 111, 164–5

Queen of Ambition (2013), 120

race, 1, 54–5, 62–6, 68–9, 134, 144racial

ethnic passing, 65hybridity, 55hierarchy, 63, 66, 67–8markers, 65passing, 56, 63, 65stereotypes, 55, 67



INDEX 241

racialization, 54Radio Hankook, 159Rain (Jung, Ji-hoon), 39, 161, 164,

166–7rap, 5, 134, 137, 120, 142–5, 157, 166

dance, 135music, 135see also hip-hop

RCA, 156remake, 4, 6, 85–7, 89–90, 94–7, 163republic of Korea (ROK), 151Riley, Teddy, 58, 61rock, 121, 134, 157, 166

music, 166rock’n’roll, 156ROH, Moo-hyun, 93Romania, 37romantic comedy, 86–8, 90, 94, 96Russia, 37, 191Ryokiteki na kanojo, 85, 87–8

Said, Edward, 68Samsung, 19, 155–6, 160, 161Samuel, Yan, 85, 89–90SBS (Seoul Broadcasting System), 42,

103, 162Scent of Summer (2003), 193Second Wave, The, 3, 53Secret Sunshine (2007), 156Seo Taeji (and the Boys), 135, 157,

166Seopyeonje (1993), 155Seoul, 4, 101–3, 109, 133, 135, 140–1,

145, 151, 156, 163–4, 195, 198, 200, 214

Seoul Olympics of 1988, 20sexiness, 63, 68sexuality, 54–5, 62, 69, 119Shim, Doobo, 93, 119, 121, 144Shim, Hyung-rae, 163Shin, Joong-hyun, 157, 166Shin, Nak-yun, 155SHINee, 119, 121, 161Shinhwa, 121Shiri (1999), 167Singapore, 44, 109, 157, 167, 204

S.M. Entertainment, 53–4, 60–2, 119, 121

Lee, Soo Man, 119, 121So, Ji-Sub, 36soap opera, 19, 206

American, 197Korean, 23Thai, 19

social media, 1, 5, 8, 22, 67, 102, 105, 110, 138, 144

soft power, 13, 18, 20–1, 54, 93Solid, 121Song, Seung-heon, 157Sorry and Love You (2004), 36South America, 34, 42South Asia, 46South Korea, 1–7, 24, 33, 101–2,

1–5, 1–8, 110, 121, 133–4, 141, 145, 151–3, 167, 195, 204–5, 214, 217

South Koreangovernment, 93popular culture, 93–4, 149, 168, 191

Southeast Asia, 15, 18, 21, 39, 216Soviet Union, 151Sparks, 36Speed Racer, 39, 164Spring Waltz (2006), 193Stairway to Heaven (2003), 14star marketing system, 2, 34, 36, 38star training system, 119Stars in My Heart (1997), 14stereotype, 63–4, 68–9, 87, 108–9,

127–8gender, 90

Strong Heart, 121Stuart Hall, 46sub-Saharan African countries, 153Sunshine Policy, 93Super, 7, 59Super Junior, 5, 121, 161Swings, 141

2002 FIFA World Cup, 20, 2172NE1, 2182PM, 119, 161, 214



242 INDEX

Tae Wang Sa Sin Gi (The Legend) (2007), 36, 44

Tae Won Entertainment, 44Takaoka, Sosuke, 24, 213, 218Taiwan, 4, 17, 24, 36–8, 42, 44, 59, 157,

165, 203, 205, 216Taxi, 121technoscapes, 158–60, 162television drama, 8, 14, 21, 119, 137,

149, 157, 199, 200–1, 206, 224, 228–9

television formats, 104–5television production companies, 36Thailand, 23, 24, 41, 44ting, 23Tokyo, 203transculturalism, 94transculturality, 93transculturation, 94transnationalism, 120TVXQ (DBSK, Tohoshinki), 5, 117–28,

213, 215–6, 218All About DBSK, 120Jung, Yunho, 117, 120, 122–5Shim, Changmin, 117, 120, 122–5Keep Your Head Down, 117, 121–2,

134–5, 128“Keep Your Head Down”, 121see also Dong Bang Shin Gi

Twitter, 137–8, 161

Ugly Aur Pagli, 85, 91–2, 95Khot, Sachin, 85

United States, 4, 6, 39, 42, 45–6, 53–5, 62, 64, 89, 90, 127, 149–54, 156, 158–68, 191, 194–6, 198–9, 202, 218

see also AmericaUptown and Drunken Tiger, 136US

Asian population, 163audience, 6, 67, 160, 166–8brand, 160cultural imperialism, 149–50, 167entertainment industries, 154

government, 154Korean population, 159media, 64, 150, 160, 165–6military, 152–3, 166military bases, 156pop, 67pop culture, 64, 66pop market, 54, 150, 154pop stars, 166popular culture, 157troops, 150–2, 158viewers, 67see also under American

video, 154, 161, 165video games, 1, 13, 16video-gram copyright, 40, 44video-on-demand (VOD), 40Vietnam, 41, 44, 158, 167

Wall Street Journal, The, 67WaWa, 135West, the, 7, 63–4, 66, 68–9, 87, 127,

205–6Western

audience, 55, 64beauty, 63countries, 53culture, 204dance beats, 165hegemony, 7music, 156pop, 119pop icons, 36society, 63–4women, 63

What is Love All About, 14, 35white

beauty, 65, 68music, 67supremacist patriarchy, 69supremacy, 3, 66–8viewers, 63

whiteness, 65–6, 69whites, 62, 64, 66–7



INDEX 243

whore-virgindichotomy, 60identity, 61

“windowing”, 3, 38–9Winter Sonata (2002), 2, 6–7, 37–40,

44, 157, 191–207, 213, 215–6Chuncheon, 195, 200, 203Jung, Yu-jin, 193–8, 200–3Kang, Jun-Sang, 192–201, 203Lee, Min-Hyung, 192–6, 198–9,

201, 3, 207Namiseom, 200Oh, Chae-lin, 193, 195–7Yoon, Seok-ho, 193, 200

Won Bin, 214

Wonder Girls, 161, 164, 166“2 Different Tears”, 164“Nobody”, 164, 166The Wonder Girls Movie, 164

World War II, 5, 6, 150–2, 217

YG Entertainment, 53, 107yin and yang, 197Yonsama, 157, 191–3, 200–7

syndrome, 192, 204, 206see also Bae, Yong-joon

Yoon, Seok-ho. See Winter SonataYoona, 58–9YouTube, 5, 25, 56, 64, 102, 105, 107,

110, 119, 121, 137–8, 162, 165


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