Hallyu (korean wave) and future driving
Development reasons and future vision considerations
[Questions]
- Why are people crazy about K-Pop bands and Korean TV shows?
- Why have people started to notice and gravitate towards Korean content recently? (Since Korea has been producing quality products for decades.)
[Answer] First, people were already aware of Korea. It was not simply a sudden appearance of Korean content that drew attention, but Korea has been producing/exporting content for a while now. Companies have been actively making efforts to export them by using various tools such as intellectual property rights and platforms. Based on basic content capabilities and export efforts, people around the world have begun to recognize Korea and the content it produces.
Currently, Korean content has been shared and accepted worldwide after the success of entertainers such as BTS. Also, nominations for film awards in movies such as Parasite. I would like to say that Korean content has been officially recognized the attention of people around the world after the nomination.
Second, in Korea, which is a fiercely competitive society, entertainment companies continue to compete with each other, which betters their products such as image making and training ability to nurture performers.
Korean content goes beyond well-made products and is recognized as quality content that holds future value. Social interest drives people to consume. A prime example of this is that K-content does not stop at production, but provides people with a lot to see and enjoy, and creates consumption so that people around the world can participate in K-Pop and be enthusiastic.
[Questions]
(2) Is that a temporary phenomenon? Or is it more of a culture shift or demands of times?
[Answer] Provide your cultural perspective on this. The Korean content wave is likely to continue. We have already seen some Korean content temporarily rise. Like "Gangnam Style, Wonder Girls". And now, I think that temporary content is continuously occurring more frequently.
As a social phenomenon, this wave of Korea (Korean Wave) was able to form a consensus. One of the reasons this was possible is that since 2019, the world is experiencing a common phenomenon caused by the Coronavirus. Mask wearing, disease problems, social risks, economic problems, inflation, etc.
I think that the way K-contents contained social elements at this time stimulated a consensus around the world. In addition to these social factors, technical factors such as YouTube, Netflix, OTT services and social media contributed to lowering the cultural barriers for Korean content to enter the world for those who experienced the same phenomenon at the same time.
As a result, I believe that the competencies that Korean content companies have accumulated over the years have been combined with social, technological, and cultural factors, resulting in explosive synergy.
[Questions]
Is it more or less their storytelling or creativeness? Do you think there are any specific view points? What is a distinct point about Korean touch?
[Answer] Creativity is important when creating content. In addition to creativity, K-content includes a lot of storytelling to create consensus. For example, a music video for the entertainment industry is not simply pretty and cool, but is a comprehensive creation that contains the technology of the future industry and a story in it. It contains more than just image-making of K-pop stars
Korea puts various elements together in the content and uses future technology to bind the participants.
<original version : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRXZj0DzXIA>
From this point of view, the characteristic of Korea is that it is not only sophisticated and creative in creating the product itself, but also contains a story and a systematic system that uses many platforms to engage (belonging) people.
[Questions]
They have stinging satire such as widening gap between rich and poor in society.
Do you think it helped them succeed and how? Do you think it was the commonality the people around world as well and they felt the same way?
[Answer] Movies, dramas, and even animations reflect society and culture. Two of the most successful contents in Korea (Parasite and Minari) are satirizing situations that many people can experience in society by inserting cinematic elements.
In the past, the rich were portrayed as evil, but what is shown in “Parasite, Minari” is focused on the social status gap. The reason these two films were nominated and received high praise for their work was because they well expressed the social problems that people living in modern society feel most often.
Also, after the award for the movie "Parasite", it is known that about 60% of the audience are Millennials and Generation Z between the ages of 18 and 34. The statistics of audiences for this Parasite movie indicates how much empathy and awareness millennials and Generation Z are experiencing have about the social environment and the status gap. People around the world have different cultural and social backgrounds and factors depending on their environment.
So, even if you see the same thing, you can have a different opinion depending on the society and culture of the country. However, since the issue of status gap is a common problem and dissatisfaction that can be seen in most countries, it is easy to form a consensus.
[Questions]
It's can be contagious and can be seen on MEMES in the street and on Youtube.
The people started to look for another Korean series in the NETFLIX and even they are starting to try Korean food and whatever related to Korea. Is that a normal phenomenon and how do you think about this? Is there any specific aspect? (sociology of work)
[Answer] Koreans have a very high YouTube activity ratio compared to their population. According to one survey, 6 out of 10 people want to monetize YouTube, and they want to create and distribute content. Statistically, the more content you distribute (more exposed), the greater the number of people who interact with it. And frequent exposure leads to increased awareness of the content, which creates a positive response. As various genres of Korean content are formed and spread as MEMEs by many people, more people have fun, empathize with, and understand that.
Also, because of all the different platforms available, people from all over the world can easily access Korean MEMEs and imitate things that they can enjoy.
I think this is a natural form of cultural sharing brought about by technology.
Culturally, assuming that the culture of one's own country is the mainstream and the culture of another country is the subculture, people all over the world participate in the desired subculture through one of the many social media platforms.
Therefore, satisfying the needs that cannot be fulfilled through their mainstream culture, They can freely express their opinions or beliefs about subcultures through social media channels, and by sharing them, they have a strong sense of belonging or bonding. This social phenomenon encourages people from different cultural countries to imitate, share, and contagious content, contributing to and building a global fandom.
Rf : http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20191021000876
[Questions]
(6) Now that we know K-Pop, K-films, Webtoons, kids shows and tech-driven content (immersive content) are gaining popularity around the world. What’s next?
[Answer] The next success factor lies in how well Korean webtoons, kids, education, and technology-driven content can be combined with society. And the next task would be to find out whether Korean companies with strong content can permeate into the social environment of other countries. What we knew about BTS, Parasite, Minari, Squid Game, etc., were not only screened in Korea. In addition, Naver's metaverse platform JAPETO has over 200 million global users.
This proves that successful masterpieces do not have to be successful only in Korea. Well-crafted content should fit the current social and cultural needs, but you also need to consider whether your content can bring social impact and positive waves in other countries. The film industry and the entertainment sector have secured and built distribution networks to bring players around the world to get their current results. I’m interested in how the next successful Korean content sector is trying to pave the way.
[Questions]
[Answer] Advances in technology have accelerated and changed culture, industry, and the economy. In the meantime, society has been focusing on the development of technology and engaging in various forms of social, economic, and material consumption. However, in the past, the advancement of technology (acceleration to technology) was emphasized after COVID-19 people started to focus on the essential life of human beings.
Currently, society is proposing/applying measures to solve various social problems. In this environment, I hope that K-content will focus on how well K-content can be incorporated into users amid various social problems, perception changes, and cultural changes. In creating content, what kind of society is your content trying to penetrate, and what social problems can you solve? How can you make your content circulate to users, and can you reinforce a positive impact on society through your content? You need to think about it. If you focus on content that positively contributes to the continuously changing society and culture, your content will sympathize with people of the present age, expand communication, and increase the value.