Last Friday, CNN, reported that the Korean pop culture has become the Hollywood of the East, where its entertainment market coveted by millions of fans stretch from Japan to Indonesia. 

Since Korea’s success began as an entertainment exporter in the late 1990s, its music, television dramas, movies and video games have become popular among young people across Asia, a phenomenon often known as “Hallyu” or the Korean Wave. 

According to the CNN, the government has also backed the expansion of the country’s culture industry abroad, seeing it as a vehicle for soft power tool to boost Korea’s reputation in the region.

According to Sung Tae-Ho, a senior manager for the content business office at the Korean Broadcasting System, part of the reason why the country’s culture industry is so successful abroad stems from the fact that the content is high quality and cheap.

Furthermore, a professor at Sripatum University in Bangkok told the CNN on how the popularity of Korea’s entertainment industry is influencing the younger generation in Thailand.

“They start watching Korean drama on television and then after that come the pop songs from boy bands. All of it has influence in Thailand.”

“After that, they become fans of everything Korean -- Korean food, Korean culture. Many of my students can even speak Korean because of the entertainment.”

According to CNN, the professor even has one student who is obsessed with the Korea’s pop-culture that she has renamed herself “Mee-so,” which means “smile” in Korean. “After she finishes her degree, she will further her education in Korea, and she has a Korean boyfriend right now,” he said. 

Overall, in 2009, Korea exported nearly $3 billion in entertainment, more than double the 2002 exports, stated an article on MK daily, CNN reported.

“Many young people are just crazy like this, Younger generations want everything Korean,” said Professor Duangchinda.

By Moon Ye-bin (yebinm@heraldcorp.com)

Intern reporter
Edited by Paul Kerry