Hallyu

Hallyu (한류/韓流), or the Korean Wave, is a phenominon of the unprecedentedly skyrocketing popularity of South Korean culture since the late 1990s.

First driven by the spread of K-dramas televised across East and Southeast Asia during its initial stages, the Korean Wave evolved from a regional development into a global phenomenon due to the proliferation of Korean pop (K-pop) music videos on YouTube.

Currently, the spread of Hallyu, the Korean Wave, to other regions of the world is most visibly seen among teenagers and young adults in every corner of the world - not only Asia and the Middle East but also Latin America, Europe and Africa.

Key words
Hallyu, Korean Wave, K-pop, K-drama, Korean games (MMORPG), YouTube

Hallyu Attractions on Timeline
After the success of 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, things Korean were easily acceptable to foreigners. They appeared in the form of film, television drama, pop song, food and so on.

In the 1990s: Exotic
Taking advantage of this trend, the Korean government was interested in exporting Korean culture in line with the efforts of many large business conglomerates (Chaebols, 재벌/財閥).

In 1997-98, the Asian financial crisis triggered a turning point in the development of the Korean Wave as major conglomerates started to shift their focus away from manufacturing plagued by heavy loss to the emerging entertainment sector with no factory chimney. In 1999, the first big-budget film "Shiri" (쉬리) was released into cinemas and it became a mega hit (대박) in Korea, suprassing the popularity achieved by the Hollywood blockbuster "Titanic".

World star Michael Jackson was invited to the inaugural ceremony of newly elected President Kim Dae Jung in February 1998. Several months later, Korea's restriction of cultural imports from its former colonial ruler Japan was finally lifted. Worried about the impending "onslaught" of Japanese movies, comics and J-pop, the Korean government increased its budget in cultural sector, and allowed hundreds of colleges and universities to set up culture and entertainment departments. This led to the development of an elaborate training and export system which the South Korean music industry now labels as "cultural technology".

Around New Millenium: Funny
Towards the turn of the 21st century, East Asian countries experienced a growth in the popularity of Korean dramas and pop songs. In 2000, the K-Pop singer BoA took off her musical career with SM Entertainment and two years later, her album "Listen to My Heart" became the first album by a Korean musician to sell a million copies in Japan.

Other musicians and artists joined the new kind of stream. After many years of hard training, nice looking boys and girls singing and dancing rose on the stage. For example, H.O.T. (1996, High-five Of Teenagers), Shinhwa (1998, 신화/神話 meaning legend), god (1999, Groove Over Dose 지오디), S.E.S.(1997), Fin.K.L (1998, Fine Killing Liberty 핑클), and other idol groups attracted audiences at home and abroad.

The spread of Korean popular culture began with the broadcast of several Korean TV dramas in China. In November 1999, China's state-controlled daily newspaper, the Beijing Youth Daily, published an article acknowledging the "zeal of Chinese audiences for Korean TV dramas and pop songs".

A few months later in February 2000, SM Entertainment's boyband H.O.T. became the first modern K-pop music artist to give an overseas performance with a sold-out concert in the Chinese capital of Beijing.

Overcoming Taiwanese syndrome: Meteor Garden
Despite the early success of the Korean Wave, there was an equally noticeable growth in cultural imports from Taiwan, which is also one of the Four Asian Tigers. The spread of Taiwanese popular culture occurred slightly earlier, before the Hallyu was known in Asia. In 2001, the Taiwanese drama "Meteor Garden" (유성화원/流星花園), based on the Japanese manga, was released and soon attracted audiences from all over the region. It became the most-watched drama series in Philippine television history, garnered over 10 million daily viewers in Manila alone, and catapulted the male protagonists from the Taiwanese boyband F4 to overnight fame. In 2002, a BBC journalist described the members of F4 as previously unknown actors who have "provoked hysteria across Asia" as a result of the success of "Meteor Garden". The popularity of "Meteor Garden" (an adaptation of the Japanese manga series "Boys Over Flowers") can be attributed to these two factors:

Explicit attention to female sexual desires - Departing from conventional dramas that tend to eroticize the female body, "Meteor Garden" markets the sexual attraction of the male actors (as played out by the Taiwanese idol group F4), giving women a certain freedom of sexual expression.

As a result of the success of "Meteor Garden", its sequel "Meteor Garden II" was gradually released into many Asian countries as well, before the source material was later adapted by networks in Japan, South Korea, and China respectively. The Korean Broadcasting System's adaptation of the series was renamed "Boys Over Flowers" (꽃보다 남자) based on a much earlier Japanese manga series of the same name.

2002 World Cup: Be the Reds
In 2002, contrary to the general expectation, the Korean World Cup team rose to the semi-final. The red waves of "Be the Reds" (붉은악마) Korean supporters in front of Seoul City Hall spellbound the world audiences of a series of big World Cup matches via television. They were impressed by Korean youngsters' enthusiastic but orderly manner.

In the same way, the Korean male actors attracted female audiences from Japan. For example, the K-Drama "Winter Sonata" (2002, 겨울연가) became the first of its kind to equal the success of "Meteor Garden", attracting a cult following in Asia with sales of Winter Sonata-related products such as DVD sets and novels surpassing US$3.5 million in Japan. Other K-Dramas released in subsequent years, such as "Dae Jang Geum" (2003-04, 대장금/大長今) and "Full House" (2004), also saw comparable levels of success.

Since 2002, television programming trends in Southeast Asia began to undergo a drastic change as TV series from South Korea and Taiwan filled the slot originally reserved for Hollywood movies during prime time. Although Korean made dramas with fun and values gradually overtook those from Taiwan, much of Asia still had their eyes focused on Taiwanese bands such as F4, S.H.E and Fahrenheit. The breakthrough for K-pop came with the debut of Super Junior (2005), TVXQ (2004 Tong Vfang Xien Qi, 동방신기/東方神起), SS501 (2005), Big Bang (2006, 빅뱅), the Girls' Generation (2007, 소녀시대/少女時代) and SHINee (2008, 샤이니), the first hailed by the BBC as a household name in the region.

Meanwhile, the popularity of Korean TV dramas continued to spread across the Asian continent, with many Korean male actors portrayed as sweet, romantic, sensitive but also "totally ripped" and good looking.

Worldwide financial crisis: Sympathetic
In the midst of worldwide financial crisis, most of common people sought a shelter of convenience and safety. They needed strong but gentle friends and comforters in the late 2000s.

In this regard, many Taiwanese music acts could no longer catch up with their K-pop counterparts. Although a number of Taiwanese bands such as F4 and Fahrenheit continued to retain a small but loyal fan base in Asia, teenagers and young adults from all over the world were much more receptive to K-pop bands such as Big Bang and Super Junior, both of whom have managed to attract a huge number of fans from South America, parts of Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and to a smaller extent, the Western world (particularly among immigrants with an Asian, Middle Easten, African, or Eastern European background).

Fuelled by the increased global interest in K-pop songs, several K-pop singers decided to expand their music careers by releasing English language-studio albums in the hope of reaching out to Western music markets. However, such attempts did not succeed. Even more glaringly, the K-pop singers BoA and Seven both returned to South Korea after their U.S. music careers struggled to gain traction.

In the United States, the spread of Korean pop culture remained confined to immigrant hubs where large numbers of Korean Americans reside, such as Los Angeles and New York City.

However, the spread of Hallyu continued to reach countries outside North America. The TV series "Jumong" and "Dae Jang Geum" turned out to be particularly well received by audiences in the Muslim world, attaining over 80 percent viewership ratings in Iran.

In Eastern Europe, the initial spread of Hallyu was also driven by TV series and dramas, with one screening of "Jumong" attracting over 800,000 viewers from Romania. In the Indian state of Manipur where Bollywood movies were banned by separatists, consumers gradually turned their attention to Korean entertainment products.

2011 - present: Global fandom
Over in the West, the spread of the Korean Wave caught on after the widespread proliferation of social media networks had found its place in everyday life. This gave a huge push to the K-pop genre as the traditional reluctance of radio DJs to broadcast foreign language songs became irrelevant because the video sharing platform YouTube offered young consumers a convenient outlet to listen to any genre of music in any language they wished.

By the end of 2011, the total number of YouTube views generated by K-pop videos had surpassed the 1 billion mark, tripling from 800 million in the previous year to more than 2.3 billion while spurred on by huge growths in Europe and the Middle East. The globalization of Hallyu was accelerated by the mega-hit Psy’s Gangnam Style music video on YouTube. This time, the U.S. and European markets were no exception to the global fandom of Korean artists. In this regard, the Billboard has published K-pop chart making such emerging K-pop bands as 2AM (2008), f(x) (2009), Sistar (2010) and so on known to audiences worldwide.

In the meantime, Japan continues to provide an efficient showcase for K-pop musicians. In 2013 alone, TVXQ, Big Bang, KARA (2007) and 2PM (2008) have successfully performed large-scale recitals at Tokyo and across the country.

Prospects
Once K-dramas and K-pops turned out to be successful worldwide, Koreans are confident other cultural works - games, food, movies and even sports - could be hailed by world audiences and consumers. To our surprise, there is a long list of candidates by genre or sector:
 * K-games (MMORPG): NEXON's "NEXUS: The Kingdom of the Winds" (바람의 나라), NCSoft's "Lineage" (리니지) and Gravity's "Ragnarok Online" (라그나로크 온라인)
 * Hallyu cuisine: bibimbap, Michael Jackson's favorite Korean food, Samgyeopsal (grilled pork belly BBQ)
 * Korea's King singer (가왕/歌王): Cho Yong-Pil's "Hello" and "Bounce"
 * Korean movies: Park Chan-Wook's "JSA" (공동경비구역) and "Old Boy"; Kim Ki-Deok's "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring"; Bong Jun-Ho's "Memories of Murder" (살인의 추억), "The Host" (괴물) and "Snowpiercer" (설국열차)
 * Korean sports: figure skating champion Kim Yuna and floor exercise contender Sohn Yeon-Jae.

From the Wikipedian perspective, the growing acceptance of Korean pop culture as a valid form of entertainment in many parts of the world has prompted the Korean government to use Hallyu as a tool for soft power or another dimension of diplomacy.

First of all, the Korean Wave and Hallyu stars could be catalysts for the promotion of "Visit Korea" programs. In fact, some K-MICE programs are centered on such Hallyu events. For example, the Korea Tourism Organization provides Psy's Wiki Korea information to introduce unique facets of Korean culture.

Ultimately, the government hopes that the acceptance of Korean culture in foreign countries would be reciprocated by an embracement of foreign cultures among South Koreans, thus realizing the ideals of a bi-directional flow of culture, goods and ideas in order to achieve the following goals:
 * Promotion of pro-Korean sentiment and friendship
 * Reunification of Korea
 * Advancements in world peace and prosperity.

Backlash to Care about
Some cultural backlashes of Hallyu are often noticed in Japan and China. Anti-Korean attitudes may be rooted in historical hatreds and ethnic nationalism. Anti-Korean attitude also spiked when Kim Tae-Hee, a Korean actress, was selected to be on a Japanese TV soap opera in 2011.

As Hallyu arrives in the West, some are suspicious that South Korea could tap into Hallyu to achieve its political goals. Others have also noted similarities between the South Korean Ministry of Culture's support of the Korean Wave and the CIA's involvement in the Cultural Cold War with the former Soviet Union.

Legal issues
The more globally the Korean Wave spreads, the more frequently such legal issues as copyright, right to publicity, take place. Hallyu entertainers' performance and phonogram recorded on the stage are protected by the Copyright Act (저작권법/著作權法). Thus the entertainers have acquired the right of interactive transmission under the said Act. The previous Act on Phonograms, Videos and Games (음반, 비디오물 및 게임물에 관한 법률, which was officially repealed by the Act for the Promotion of Cinemas and Videos in 2006) gave way to the Copyright Act in terms of the right of performances on October 16, 2004 by Act No. 7233, which came into force on January 16, 2005. Article 64 (Performances, Phonograms, and Broadcasts Protected) Performances, phonograms and broadcasts satisfying any condition of any of the following Subparagraphs shall be protected as neighboring rights under this Act:
 * 1. Performances (실연/實演):
 * a. Performances conducted by nationals of the Republic of Korea (including legal persons established pursuant to the laws and regulations of the Republic of Korea, and foreign legal persons maintaining their principal offices in the Republic of Korea; hereinafter the same shall apply.);
 * b. Performances protected under the international treaties to which the Republic of Korea has acceded or which it has ratified;
 * c. Performances fixed in phonograms as referred to in Subparagraph 2; and
 * d. Performances transmitted by broadcasts as referred to in Subparagraph 3 (except those included in sound or visual recordings before transmission).
 * 2. Phonograms (음반/音盤):
 * a. Phonograms manufactured by nationals of the Republic of Korea;
 * b. Phonograms in which sounds have been fixed for the first time in the Republic of Korea;
 * c. Phonograms in which sounds have been fixed for the first time in a foreign country party to the treaties to which the Republic of Korea has acceded or which it has ratified and thus protected under such treaties; and
 * d. Phonograms protected in accordance with the treaties which the Republic of Korea has joined in or acceded to and of which producers are the nationals of the contracting parties of those treaties (including any legal person established pursuant to the laws and regulations of the contracting party and any legal person the main office of which is located in the contracting party).
 * 3. Broadcasts (방송/放送):
 * a. Broadcasts made by broadcasting organizations which are the nationals of the Republic of Korea;
 * b. Broadcasts made from broadcasting facilities located in the Republic of Korea; and
 * c. Broadcasts made by broadcasting organizations which are nationals of a foreign country party to treaties to which the Republic of Korea has acceded or which it has ratified, from broadcasting facilities located in such foreign country party, and thus protected under such treaties.

Article 65 (Relationship with Copyright)The Articles in this Chapter shall not to be construed to have effects on copyright. Article 2 (Definitions)
 * 10. “Interactive transmission” (전송/傳送) shall mean, among public transmission, making works, etc. available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access them from a place and at a time of their choosing, and shall include the transmissions that occur thereby;
 * 11. “Digital sound transmission” (디지털음성송신) shall mean, among public transmission, the transmission of sounds in the digital method which is commenced upon request of members of the public intended for simultaneous reception by the public, and shall exclude interactive transmissions;

In this connection, entertainment-specialized Korean lawyers are ready to help Hallyu stars.