K-pop's Rise to Globalism

This week's class topic is The Rise of Globalism. So this post would be about The Rise of K-pop and its role in globalizing Korea. It is a little bit serious topic, but it is good for your additional knowledge... Enjoy this post and come back for the next one!

In the past 60 years, Korea had been undergoing a lot of changes. While Korea officially became an independent country in 1945, the struggle of Korea and Koreans did not stop there. The Korean war, the 1997 crisis, the list just goes on. But now, when foreigners talk about Korea, the words that would first pop out to our minds probably are Samsung, Hyundai, Kimchi, or Psy.


                     Psy's 2012 mega-hit 'Gangnam Style' (source: www.soompi.com)

Psy, with his 2012 hit single "Gangnam Style" shook the world with his "horse dance" craze. Even though he remains the most well known K-pop artist in the world so far, he was not the first act to start the K-pop wave globalization.

K-pop, which emerged in the early 2000s, has been "replacing" J-pop's place as Asia's center of pop music. The very first emergence of the Korean Wave was actually right after the 1997 IMF crisis in Korea. The Korean Government which was ambitious in bringing back the economical power of South Korea tried to exploit new markets for its products and also to diversify the range of products exported. And as Koreans realized that their culture can be marketed just like cars and electronic devices, K-pop was aggressively promoted all across the Asia, especially East and Southeast Asia.

H.O.T, along with other first generation k-pop idols were the first ones who spread the kpop awareness among East Asian countries such as Japan and China. The next generations idols such as Super Junior and Girls' Generation were the ones who made Korean pop music the new Asian craze.

The Korean Wave is more than just a cultural idea. As K-pop becomes more globalized, the income also increases, at a rapid pace. As the table below shows, from 2008 to 2012 the exports of K-pop had increased by more than 14 times. Although compared to other industries' export it might not be much, this is not a small amount of money. Also, the number of YouTube views had increased from 800 million to 7.0 billion just in two years! Of course Psy is responsible for about one-third of that number, but it is still a huge improvement.

source: en.wikipedia.org

So, by listening to K-pop and attending your favorite oppas' concert, you are indirectly supporting Korea's economy? Maybe, maybe not, but hey, keep listening to K-pop!

References:

1. The Journey of Cultural Globalization in Korean Pop Music, Tom Dixton, 2011

2. cynicalkpop.wordpress.com

3. English Wikipedia - K-pop

Irfan Rulianto