#hallyu wave

[enchantingmirage]

I've Made My Own Community!

BIPOC KPOP Fans | Tumblr Communities

If you'd like to join, then please let me know in the replies!

[schrodingers-hoarding-problem]

something something the disconnect of korean & mixed korean people living elsewhere and their relationship with their culture in a time where korean is ‘trendy’

[camilorico]

The K-Pop Scene Starting from Seoul, South Korea

We all have heard of the country, South Korea, as well as its capital, Seoul. Seoul is a city with vibrant districts and incredible street food, but most importantly to us, the birthplace of the K-pop music scene. If you don’t know what K-pop is, K-pop means Korean pop music, so it is mainstream music in South Korea, but since the 1990s, due to what is called the Hallyu Wave, or the Korean Wave, K-pop started to become popular all over the world. 

Some of the first K-pop groups to pioneer the genre include the group “Seo Taiji and the Boys” who performed on TV for the first time on April 11 of 1992. They were the first group to introduce rap into K-pop, which became a staple in K-pop groups and songs. In fact, there are positions in K-pop groups specifically just for rapping parts of their songs. “Seo Taiji and the Boys” influence led to the formation of the now notoriously top 3 K-pop entertainment companies, SM Entertainment (in 1995), JYP Entertainment (in 1997), and YG Entertainment (in 1998) - all based in Seoul. These 3 companies have been dominating the K-pop entertainment market for the past 2 decades and are recognized by any and every person in South Korea and just any global K-pop fan. 

However interestingly enough, “Seo Taiji and the Boys” would not even be really considered the first K-pop group established. The place holder of that title would be “H.O.T”, which debuted in 1996. Their song “Candy” is a well-known hit that truly started what K-pop culture is today, and as you will see while watching their performance, how different it seems to be from the performance of “Seo Taiji and the Boys”.

It is more childlike, upbeat, and just overall light-hearted, giving off “pretty boy” vibes, while the former gave off more “bad boy” vibes. We can compare this to popular K-pop hits like “Gee” by SNSD, “Call Me Baby" by EXO, and “TT" by Twice. 

These 3 groups all debuted and made music in different years, and they are listed in chronological order from their debuts. So from watching these, it must be obvious that there is an apparent consistent pattern of an upbeat, energetic vibe to K-pop. Some distinctive features of K-pop are the rigorous and perfectly in-sync choreographies and the typically bright-colored, eye-catching outfits in their music videos and performances. Like I had also previously mentioned, there are designated roles in K-pop groups such as the rapper, the lead singer, the lead dancer, etc. 

Although I have been talking about the upbeat, bright, and cheerful side of K-pop that every fan would know and love, there is definitely a dark side to the K-pop scene as well. As it is well known, nothing is perfect. And although these K-pop groups are made to look perfect with their in-sync choreographies and lovely vocals all while giving a great big smile, there is an entirely toxic culture behind these performances. These K-pop stars are constantly on strict schedules practicing their performances for hours daily with very little free time for their friends and family, are on a strict diet constantly watching their weight, and they also have to face harsh scrutiny from the general public. This does a lot to their mental health, and in fact, K-pop artist Jonghyun from group SHINEE had committed suicide in 2017, and 2 famous female K-pop artists, Sulli from group F(x) and Goo Hara from KARA had also committed suicide in 2019 due to their mental health issues. 

A Korean culture critic, Kim Heon-Sik, commented on these issues saying, “Since then, people started perceiving those struggles, especially regarding mental pain from hate comments, as a real issue and vocalizing a public dialogue. Another factor is that the level of workload and stress that K-pop idols face today is much more intense than before. Now they have to entertain fans not only in Korea but all around the world. Due to the development of social media, there's even platforms that offer one-on-one chatroom services with idol stars. That's a large load of emotional labor.” These idols are put under a lot of pressure to maintain a certain image, which is specifically a happy friendly image, which can definitely be unnatural at times to constantly put on, because as humans our emotions simply do not work like that and we will have good days and bad days.

However I think that if we are put under constant surveillance and the slightest mistake can ruin your career, which constantly happens. For example, a female member, Jennie, from the K-pop group “BlackPink” was discovered to be dating a member, Kai from K-pop group “Exo”, and dating scandals are a big no-no to the general public, so this had a lot of backlash toward the two K-pop stars and definitely would not have benefited their mental health.  Thankfully, because this was a more recent scandal in 2019, the times have changed and the general public has seemed to become more understanding toward K-pop stars, as an article from Koreaboo (K-pop news website) states, "A lot of fans also expressed their concern about haters that could give Jennie and Kai a hard time." This is referring to the hate that some hardcore "fans" will display toward their K-pop idols for doing something out of their "image" and they lose members of their fanbase because of that, which is unfair because obviously, they are just people.

Overall, the K-pop scene has greatly evolved in such a short span of time, only dating back to the 1990s, and it has created such an impact on the world and continues to do so. We can see such a prominent example from K-pop group “BTS”, who is well-known everywhere by people who don’t even know a single thing about K-pop. It is very interesting because South Korea itself is such a small country and doesn’t even physically take up its entirety of the country (since it shares half with North Korea), and the capital itself, Seoul is small in size compared to NYC and Los Angeles, but it is such a bustling city with so much going on, producing so much music. I am also happy to see how the K-pop culture has evolved in a more positive light with regards to mental health because we are shedding more light on how difficult it is performing in the K-pop genre for the performers. I am looking forward to seeing only progress in the future for the K-pop scene with its constantly growing global audience.

[ronjawalkinaround]

Hallyu! The Korean Wave

Exhibition review, V&A museum

On until 25 June, 2023

"Cultural identities come from somewhere, they have histories. But, like everything which is historical, they undergo constant transformation. Far from being eternally fixed in some essential past, they are subjects of the continuous “play” of history, culture and power." - Stuart Hall, 1996 (Questions of Cultural Identity).

 This play of history and influences in the Korean (in this case, mostly South Korean) popular culture is an essential aspect of describing this culture. Its sudden spread across the world, namely Hallyu, is what the exhibition in V&A museum leads you through. Relationships with the cultures of Japan and America and changing influence spheres in Korea are presented in a way that does not feel like a boring history lesson, more like a well-illustrated and immersive one. The generational differences are to be seen and appreciated through the presentation of the changing trends, the confrontation of the 19th century manuscripts, and recent popular K-pop clips. Visitors are welcomed to the exhibition with Gangnam Style (song by PSY, 2012) and then guided through a timeline that ends with the most current trends again. The old prints and gadgets are followed by costumes, music, scenes from the tragically beautiful Korean cinema (like Oldboy, 2003), and even a rebuilt room from a movie – a bathroom from Parasite (2019). One of the main points of the exhibition, as explained by the curator Rosalie Kim, is to "talk to both types of visitors (meaning the old and new generations) and bridge the gap". Looking through the eyes of a young European visitor, this has been executed well, although it may seem that the exhibition is not for people who know the culture, it targets mostly foreign (UK) people who want to get acquainted and dive just a little deeper into the Korean world. Although the arrangement of some objects could be clearer at times, the evolution of Korean history and culture, and their impact on one another are portrayed thoroughly and playfully though the vibrant installations, moving images and artefacts of Hallyu. 

Thank you for your attention, now go see Peppermint Candy.

[an-onyx-void]

I'm watching "King the Land" and my only thought is "wow, Korea must be trying to encourage folks into the hospitality industry."

God, I know far too much about the Korean government and the usage of Korean media...

[moutheyes]

umbrella scene in let free the curse of taekwondo

so at the start of ep 2, juyeong bombards dohoe with a bunch of questions, which establishes how removed from pop culture juyeong is. he doesn't use cyworld (a popular blogging platform at the time), and he hasn't seen temptation of wolves. the dialogue is a direct continuation from the scene at the very end of ep 1 where juyeong meets dohoe at school and lifts up the umbrella, and i gasped because i realized it was a direct tribute to one of the most famous shots from that movie.

for those who weren't around during the earlier hallyu wave days, temptation of wolves was released in 2004, and it was not a Good movie, per se, but it had all of the classic melodrama tropes you'd associate with the era: love triangle between a country girl who moves to seoul and is immediately caught up between two rivals, but one of them has A Secret! (actually he has a few, trust me they are increasingly ridiculous), there is a ton of ugly-crying, maybe some birth secrets get revealed, and no one is really satisfied with the ending.

but anyway, the following shot is the first time you see one of the main male leads, and it had the entire country by the throat (it for sure made me obsessed with kang dongwon for a good few years...):

now compare it to this shot of juyeong from let free the curse of taekwondo! i was so delighted!!

(source post by @putterphubase, sorry i couldn't find it via gif search)

anyway i love this show, and i love how the first two eps took me back to the mid-2000s, which is when i first became interested in korean movies, dramas, etc. :')

[mishkakagehishka]

Waking up tomorrow to official art of Shu in a BDSM harness will fix me don't worry

[eirikswood]

They Killed Queen Min and Hacked Off Our Hair (Portrait as Joseon ancestor during 단발령 / Short Hair Ordinance of 1895)

All of our kin in Korea still have their heads shaved bare during their compulsory military service as young adults. Our grandfather's great-grandfathers' would have been the last generation to wear a 상투 sangtu, a standard-issue topknot that died by tantō blade alongside Queen Min and Korea's last unified, autonomous period (1392–1897). Perhaps uncoincidentally, the 丁髷 chonmage (Japanese topknot) went extinct a few years earlier with the Dampatsurei Edict of 1871 during the Meiji Restoration (there's always a J-wave ahead of a K-wave).

[1eos]

Like im not shading on them, genuinely WHO knows those boys besides Leo when he wants extra kids

yeah theyre honestly sweet but totally unremarkable. like truly a stock 4th gen boy group with the extra handicap of being the 'successors' of a group known for trailblazing w concepts 😭😭😭😭 and they couldnt even be vixx 2.0 bc only leo gave a fuck abt them like i will never forget going into the comments of that video where leo popped up as their coach and everyoneee was talking abt how handsome leo looked and someone was like 'guys i know you're excited to see leo thee stallion but can u please give some focus to our boys?' NO! we literally don't care!!! bring out their sexy adoptive mother!

[sanstropfremir]

i sent the flower ask, yeah i know dances were always made to go viral, i mean tiktok trend specifically as it being very bad and way too simple. even if you compare it to other newer girl groups whos main target is tiktok trends too, it feels like choreographers picked the simplest possible moves that dont even fit just so that it can be replicated by literally absolutely anyone within 2s

[rogueish]

Gwon Osang, "Untitled G-Dragon, A Space of No Name" (2015)

[seoul-bros]

Twenty Five Twenty One and the 1990s financial crisis in Korea

Timing is everything. A couple of days ago I was checking out the NME list of the 10 best Korean Dramas of 2022. I have seen all or part of six of the ten shows listed (highlighted in bold) but not their choice for No. 1.

10. Semantic Error, 9. Thirty Nine, 8. Our Blues, 7. Little Women, 6. Juvenile Justice, 5. Business Proposal, 4. My Liberation Notes, 3. Extraordinary Attorney Woo, 2. Pachinko (started not completed), 1. Twenty Five Twenty One

I remembered that a certain member of BTS had really enjoyed Twenty Five Twenty One.

Also, when asked to choose between Kim Taeri and Kim Ji-Yeon's characters in the drama, he selected Baek Yi-jin (Nam Joo Hyuk). Savvy choice and admirable lateral thinking.

I saw Episode One a couple of nights ago and was immediately struck by how well it recreates the late 90s on screen. In this episode, we hear about the affect of the IMF debt on the country, we see a film industry protest, and hear about the drive by government to get people to donate their gold as a means to pay off the country's debt.

Then yesterday I went to the V&A Exhibition Hallyu! The Korean Wave! and the section dedicated to the recent history of Korea included information on the 1990s financial crisis.

In the series Baek Yi Jin comes from a bankrupt chaebol family and Na Hee-do's mother has donated her dead husband's wedding ring to the gold drive.

It says a lot about the Korean people that they were willing to donate their own property in a bid to get their government out of debt.

It also speaks to their creativity and entrepreneurism that a whole high tech industry was born out of that crisis.

Eager to dig into the rest of the series and see how Na Hee-do gets on following her dream to become a successful fencer.

Post Date: 31/12/2022

[itachikun]

amazed to see song joongkis new tv show breaking record after record for highest viewership ratings!!!

[panicinthestudio]

From K-pop to skin care, art exhibit explores global influence of South Korean culture, July 25, 2024

From K-pop to skin care, South Korea has been at the cutting edge of cultural development internationally. As a new museum exhibition reveals, it didn’t happen overnight. Special correspondent Jared Bowen of GBH Boston reports. PBS NewsHour

[wayoftheghost]

this has got to stop…

this was fun as a buzzfeed quiz in like 2011 but i don’t need push notifications like this lmfao