The World Association for Hallyu Studies (WAHS) is hosting the “1st World Congress for Hallyu” Oct. 18-19 in Seoul with the aim of investigating hallyu as a force that should be pursued as an academic study.

The association has invited a number of scholars, culture ministry officials and experts in the areas of Korean culture studies from 26 countries to speak on the latest developments of the Korean cultural wave and its impact on the global community.

“Hallyu has been catapulted into the world arena as a global cultural icon,” Park Gil-sung, president of WAHS, wrote in the welcoming message for the upcoming forum. “There now exists a wide variety of perspectives, approaches and ways of enjoying hallyu across the globe.” 

The WAHS, founded in January, is a nonprofit membership organization that is dedicated to the advancement of hallyu as a multidisciplinary field of study and is currently working on promoting hallyu studies in academia while promoting hallyu research at the university level.

“The time is mature enough to investigate the nature of hallyu as a global phenomenon, to further explore its commercial viability and to draw the world one step closer through its practices,” he said.

The congress aims to survey the latest theoretical understanding of hallyu through scholarly collaborations and seeks to research and share findings to further the understanding of hallyu and its key properties as well as exploiting the sociopolitical potential both locally and abroad.

“People might think of hallyu as simply dramas, idol stars and movies, but the fact that Korea can use this ‘culture’ and export it to other countries is something that deserves focus,” said professor Oh In-gyu, director of general affairs at WAHS. “Korea’s status and image as a soft power has become greater ― people living in Korea may not know the effect of hallyu, but overseas the influence of the Korean wave is great.”

“The term hallyu or Korean wave was not coined by Koreans,” Oh continued. “Many of the research and documents on hallyu are written by foreigners … and we didn’t understand why such an amazing cultural phenomenon in Korea was not being researched by Koreans.”

The event will kick off with an awards ceremony recognizing the winners of the WAHS’ first global student essay contest. This year’s grand prize went to Maysa Sameer of Palestine for her essay “Why did I Become a Fan of Hallyu?” Other prize winners include Argentina’s Alexia Heliana Bellones for “Ensayo Traducido,” Xena Levina Atmadja of Indonesia for “K-Pop Ring A Ding-Dong in My Head,” and Francisco Garcia Gonzalez from Mexico for “A Mexican Hallyu Experience.” Kim Sung-man also received a prize for “The Hallyu Impact (perspective from a gyopo).” 

Professor Keith Howard of the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies is the keynote speaker at the upcoming hallyu congress event. Howard is an ethnomusicologist whose primary field of interest is the history of music in Korea, including both traditional and contemporary music trends such as K-pop.

Along with Howard’s keynote address, the inaugural event will also consist of a wide range of presentations including: “Hallyu and Religious Philosophy,” “K-pop Dynamics,” “Hallyu and Global Cultural Community,” “Hallyu and Ethics” and more. The forum will also host a round table discussion by panel of policymakers including officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Korea Foundation and the Korea Creative Contents Agency who will discuss the topic of the “Sustainability of Hallyu.”

The 1st World Congress for Hallyu will take place on Oct. 18 and 19 at the Centennial Memorial Samsung Hall on the Korea University Anam Campus.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)