K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of
popular music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Funk ...
originating in
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
as part of
South Korean culture.
It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as
pop
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Pop music, a musical genre Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop!, a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Albums
* ''Pop'' (G ...
,
hip hop,
R&B,
experimental,
rock,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...
,
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...
,
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the ...
,
electronic dance,
folk,
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whil ...
,
disco, and
classical on top of its
traditional Korean music
Korea refers to music from the Korean peninsula ranging from prehistoric times to the division of Korea into South and North in 1945. It includes court music, folk music, poetic songs, and religious music used in shamanistic and Buddhist tradit ...
roots.
The term "K-pop" became popular in the 2000s, especially in the international context. The Korean term for domestic pop music is ''gayo'' (), which is still widely used within South Korea. While "K-pop" can refer to all
popular music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Funk ...
or
pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describ ...
from South Korea, it is colloquially often used in a ''narrower'' sense for any Korean music and artists associated with the entertainment and
idol industry in the country, regardless of the genre.
The more modern form of the genre, originally termed "rap dance", emerged with the formation of the hip hop
boy band
A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Ma ...
Seo Taiji and Boys
() was a South Korean music group active from 1992 to 1996. The three members of the boy band, Seo Taiji, Yang Hyun-suk and Lee Juno, experimented with many different genres of popular Western music. Seo Taiji and Boys was highly successful ...
, in 1992. Their experimentation with different styles and genres of music and integration of foreign musical elements helped reshape and modernize South Korea's contemporary music scene.
Modern
K-pop "idol" culture began in the 1990s, as K-pop idol music grew into a
subculture that amassed enormous fandoms of teenagers and young adults. After a slump in early idol music, from 2003,
TVXQ
TVXQ (stylized as TVXQ!), an initialism for Tong Vfang Xien Qi (), is a South Korean male Pop music, pop duo consisting of Yunho, U-Know Yunho and Changmin, Max Changmin. They are known as in Japanese releases, and are sometimes referred to as ...
and
BoA started a new generation of K-pop idols that broke the music genre into the neighboring Japanese market and continue to popularize K-pop internationally today. With the advent of online
social networking service
A social networking service or SNS (sometimes called a social networking site) is an online platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interests, ac ...
s and
South Korean TV shows, the current spread of K-pop and South Korean entertainment, known as the
Korean Wave, is seen not only in
East Asia
East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...
and
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
, but also in
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
,
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
,
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...
,
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...
,
Southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number ...
and
East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the histori ...
, the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
and throughout the
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania. , gaining an international audience.
In 2018, K-pop experienced significant growth and became a "power player", marking a 17.9% increase in revenue growth. As of 2019, Korean popular music is ranked at number six among the top ten music markets worldwide according to the
International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's "Global Music Report 2019", with
BTS and
Blackpink cited as artists leading the market growth. In 2020, K-pop experienced a record-breaking year when it experienced a 44.8% growth and positioned itself as the fastest-growing major market of the year.
Etymology
The first known use of the term K-pop occurred on
''Billboard'' in the October 9, 1999 edition at the end of an article titled "S. Korea To Allow Some Japanese Live Acts" by Cho Hyun-jin, then a Korea correspondent for the magazine, which used it as a broad term for South Korean pop music. Cho himself, however, is not sure if he coined the term, since some articles stated that the word 'K-pop' was already being used by music industry insiders, even though he had never heard it personally.
Characteristics
Audiovisual content
Although K-pop generally refers to South Korean popular music and the associated industry, some consider it to be an all-encompassing genre exhibiting a wide spectrum of musical and visual elements.
The French
Institut national de l'audiovisuel defines K-pop as a "fusion of synthesized music, sharp dance routines and fashionable, colorful outfits."
Songs typically consist of one or a mixture of
pop
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Pop music, a musical genre Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop!, a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Albums
* ''Pop'' (G ...
,
rock,
hip hop,
R&B, and
electronic music
Electronic music is a Music genre, genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or electronics, circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromech ...
genres.
Systematic training of artists
South Korean management agencies offer binding contracts to potential artists, sometimes at a young age. Trainees live together in a regulated environment and spend many hours a day learning how to sing, dance, speak foreign languages, and gain other skills in preparation for their debut. This "robotic" system of training is often criticized by Western media outlets.
In 2012, ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' reported that the cost of training one
Korean idol
An idol () refers to a type of celebrity working in the field of K-pop in fandom culture in South Korea, either as a member of a group or as a solo act. K-pop idols are characterized by the highly manufactured star system that they are produced by ...
under
SM Entertainment averaged US$3 million.
Hybrid genre and transnational values
K-pop is a cultural product that features "values, identity and meanings that go beyond their strictly commercial value." It is characterized by a mixture of modern Western sounds and African-American influences (including sounds from Hip-hop, R&B, Jazz, black pop, soul, funk, techno, disco, house, and
Afrobeats) with a Korean aspect of performance (including synchronized dance moves, formation changes and the so-called "point choreography" consisting of hooking and repetitive key movements). It has been remarked that there is a "vision of modernization" inherent in Korean pop culture. For some, the transnational values of K-pop are responsible for its success. A commentator at the
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...
has said that "contemporary Korean pop culture is built on ... transnational flows ... taking place across, beyond, and outside national and institutional boundaries." Some examples of the transnational values inherent in K-pop that may appeal to those from different ethnic, national, and religious backgrounds include a dedication to high-quality output and presentation of idols, as well as their work ethic and polite social demeanor, made possible by the training period.
Use of English phrases
Modern K-pop is marked by its use of English phrases. Jin Dal Yong of ''Popular Music and Society '' wrote that the usage may be influenced by "Korean-Americans and/or Koreans who studied in the U.S.
hotake full advantage of their English fluency and cultural resources that are not found commonly among those who were raised and educated in Korea."
Korean pop music from singers or groups who are Korean-American such as
Fly to the Sky
Fly to the Sky ( ko, 플라이 투 더 스카이) is a South Korean R&B duo consisting of Brian Joo and Hwanhee. Initially marketed as K-pop idols, the duo later developed a more mature image and became one of the most popular R&B groups in So ...
,
g.o.d, Rich,
Yoo Seung-jun, and
Drunken Tiger has both American style and English lyrics. These Korean-American singers' music has a different style from common Korean music, which attracts the interest of young people.
Increasingly, foreign songwriters and producers are employed to work on songs for K-pop idols, such as
will.i.am and
Sean Garrett. Foreign musicians, including rappers such as
Akon,
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
,
Ludacris, and
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, ...
, have also featured on K-pop songs.
Entertainment companies help to expand K-pop to other parts of the world through a number of different methods. Singers need to use English since the companies want to occupy markets in the other parts of Asia, which enables them to open the Western market in the end. Most K-pop singers learn English because it is a common language in the world of music, but some singers also learn other foreign languages such as Japanese to approach the Japanese market.
Similarly, increasing numbers of K-pop bands use English names rather than Korean ones. This allows songs and artists to be marketed to a wider audience around the world.
However, the use of English has not guaranteed the popularity of K-pop in the North American market. For some commentators, the reason for this is because the genre can be seen as a distilled version of Western music, making it difficult for K-pop to find acceptance in these markets.
Furthermore, Western audiences tend to place emphasis on authenticity and individual expression in music, which the idol system can be seen as suppressing.
According to Elaine W. Chun's research, even though
hybridity Hybridity, in its most basic sense, refers to mixture. The term originates from biology and was subsequently employed in linguistics and in racial theory in the nineteenth century. Young, Robert. ''Colonial Desire: Hybridity in Theory, Culture and R ...
appears more and more often in K-pop, and sometimes may even make fans admire K-pop stars more because it is fresh, new and interesting, it is hard to change those who believe in a perfect ideal for pure linguistic. This means that the original form of language is still difficult to alter.
Artist names, song titles, and lyrics have exhibited significant growth in the usage of English words. No singers in the top fifty charts in 1990 had English in their names: people who worked in the Korean music industry viewed using Korean names as standard. In 1995, most popular singers such as
Kim Gun-mo, Park Mi-kyung,
Park Jin-young,
Lee Seung-chul, and
Byun Jin-sub
Byun Jin-sub (; born May 19, 1966) is a South Korean singer.
Discography
Studio albums
*
References
External links
*
1966 births
Living people
Blues singers
Grand Prize Seoul Music Award recipients
South Korean male singers
S ...
still used Korean names, but fourteen of the singers and groups in the top fifty used English names, including
DJ DOC,
015B, Piano, and
Solid. After the 1997 financial crisis, the government stopped censoring English lyrics and Korea started to have a boom in English. Since the late 1990s, English usage in singers' names, song titles, and lyrics has grown quickly. Seventeen singers in the top fifty charts used English names in 2000, and thirty-one did so in 2005. In 2010, forty-one singers used English names among the top fifty songs, but usually, three or four singers and groups had more than one or two songs on the chart simultaneously. Korean names (e.g.
Baek Ji-young,
Seo In-young, and
Huh Gak
Huh Gak (; born November 15, 1984) is a South Korean singer. He rose to fame after winning the 2010 Mnet talent competition series '' Superstar K 2,'' during which he became known as "the Korean Paul Potts."
Early life and education
Huh Gak ...
) are seen less frequently, and many K-pop singers have English names (e.g.
IU,
Sistar,
T-ara,
GD & TOP,
Beast
Beast most often refers to:
* Non-human animal
* Monster
Beast or Beasts may also refer to:
Bible
* Beast (Revelation), two beasts described in the Book of Revelation
Computing and gaming
* Beast (card game), English name of historical Fren ...
, and
After School). Notably, until the early 1990s, musicians with English names would
transliterate them into
hangul
The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The ...
, but now singers would use English names written with the
Roman alphabet.
In 1995, the percentage of song titles using English in the top 50 charts was 8%. This fluctuated between 30% in 2000, 18% in 2005, and 44% in 2010. An example of a Korean song with a large proportion of English lyrics is
Kara's "
Jumping," which was released at the same time in both Korea and Japan to much success.
Criticism of hybrid identity
There have been critical responses in South Korea regarding the identity of the genre since its ascendance. Some of the notable music critics in the region have criticized K-pop as "an industrial label mainly designed to promote the national brand in the global market from the beginning" and argued that it was "not formed spontaneously as a pop culture but created with the orchestrated plan led by the government with commercial considerations" although in fact "the genre has practically no ties with traditional Korean identity." There is also the perspective that the name of the genre was derived from
J-pop.
K-pop has at times faced criticisms from journalists who perceive the music to be formulaic and unoriginal.
Some K-Pop groups have been accused of plagiarizing Western music acts as well as other musical acts. In addition, K-pop has been criticized for
its reliance on English phrases, with critics dubbing the use of English in titles "meaningless."
K-pop groups have been regularly accused of
cultural appropriation
Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate fro ...
of cultures such as
African-American culture, especially due to the frequent use of cornrows and bandanas in idol groups' on-stage styling. K-Pop groups have also been accused of appropriating
Native American and
Indian cultures. However, debate exists about whether the borrowing of cultural elements from cultures outside of Korea indeed constitutes cultural appropriation, or if this cultural appropriation is negative at all. Scholar Crystal S. Anderson writes that "appropriating elements of a culture by taking them out of their original context and using them in a completely different way does not automatically constitute negative cultural appropriation."
Marketing
Many agencies have presented new idol groups to an audience through a "debut showcase" which consists of online marketing and television broadcast promotions as opposed to radio.
Groups are given a name and a "concept" along with a marketing hook. These concepts are the type of visual and musical theme that idol groups utilize during their debut or comeback. Concepts can change between debuts and fans often distinguish between boy group concepts and girl group concepts. Concepts can also be divided between general concepts and theme concepts, such as cute or fantasy. New idol groups will often debut with a concept well known to the market to secure a successful debut. Sometimes sub-units or sub-groups are formed among existing members. Two example subgroups are
Super Junior-K.R.Y.
Super Junior-K.R.Y. is the first sub-unit of South Korean boy band Super Junior, formed in 2006. it is composed the three main vocalists of Super Junior, Yesung, Ryeowook, and Kyuhyun.
History
During the year 2006, Kyuhyun, Ryeowook and Yesun ...
, which consists of
Super Junior members
Kyuhyun,
Ryeowook, and
Yesung, and
Super Junior-M, which became one of the best-selling K-pop subgroups in China.
Online marketing includes music videos posted to YouTube in order to reach a worldwide audience.
Prior to the actual video, the group releases teaser photos and trailers. Promotional cycles of subsequent singles are called comebacks even when the musician or group in question did not go on hiatus.
Dance
Dance is an integral part of K-pop. When combining multiple singers, the singers often switch their positions while singing and dancing by making prompt movements in synchrony, a strategy called "formation changing" ().
The K-pop
choreography () often includes the so-called "point dance" (), referring to a dance made up of hooking and repetitive movements within the choreography that matches the characteristics of the lyrics of the song.
Super Junior's "
Sorry Sorry" and
Brown Eyed Girls' "
Abracadabra" are examples of songs with notable "point" choreography. To choreograph a dance for a song requires the writers to take the tempo into account.
According to Ellen Kim, a Los Angeles dancer and choreographer, a fan's ability to do the same steps must also be considered. Consequently, K-pop choreographers have to simplify movements.
The training and preparation necessary for K-pop idols to succeed in the industry and dance successfully are intense. Training centers like Seoul's Def Dance Skool develop the dance skills of youth in order to give them a shot at becoming an idol.
Physical training is one of the largest focuses at the school, as much of a student's schedule is based around dance and exercise.
The entertainment labels are highly selective, so few make it to fame. Students at the school must dedicate their lives to the mastery of dance in order to prepare for the vigorous routines performed by K-pop groups. This, of course, means that the training must continue if they are signed. Companies house much larger training centers for those who are chosen.
An interview with K-pop choreographer
Rino Nakasone lends insight into the process of creating routines. According to Nakasone, her focus is to make dance routines that are flattering for the dancers but also complementary to the music.
Her ideas are submitted to the entertainment company as video recordings done by professional dancers.
Nakasone mentions that the company and the K-pop artists themselves have input on a song's choreography.
Choreographer May J. Lee gives another perspective, telling that her choreography often starts out as expressing the feeling or the meaning of the lyrics.
What starts out as small movements turns into a full dance that is better able to portray the message of the song.
Fashion
The emergence of
Seo Taiji and Boys
() was a South Korean music group active from 1992 to 1996. The three members of the boy band, Seo Taiji, Yang Hyun-suk and Lee Juno, experimented with many different genres of popular Western music. Seo Taiji and Boys was highly successful ...
in 1992 paved the way for the development of contemporary K-pop groups.
The group revolutionized the Korean music scene by incorporating
rap and American
hip-hop conventions into their music. This adoption of Western style extended to the fashions worn by the boy band: the members adopted a hip-hop aesthetic.
Seo and bandmates' outfits for the promotional cycle of "
I Know" () included vibrant streetwear such as oversized T-shirts and sweatshirts,
windbreaker
A windbreaker, or a windcheater, is a thin fabric jacket designed to resist wind chill and light rain, making it a lighter version of the jacket. It is usually of lightweight construction and characteristically made of a synthetic material. A ...
s, overalls worn with one strap, overalls worn with one pant leg rolled up, and American sports team jerseys. Accessories included baseball caps worn backwards,
bucket hats, and
do-rags.
As K-pop "was born of post-Seo trends,"
many acts that followed Seo Taiji and Boys adopted the same fashion style.
Deux and
DJ DOC can also be seen wearing on-trend hip-hop fashions such as
sagging baggy pants, sportswear, and
bandanas in their performances. With Korean popular music transforming into youth-dominated media, manufactured teenage idol groups began debuting in the mid and late 1990s,
wearing coordinated costumes that reflected the popular fashion trends among youth at the time. Hip-hop fashion, considered the most popular style in the late '90s, remained, with idol groups
H.O.T.
H.O.T. (; pronounced "H. O. T.", acronym for Highfive Of Teenagers) was a South Korean boy band that was created by SM Entertainment in 1996. They are considered to be the first K-pop ''idol group'' and their successful formula became the model ...
and
Sechs Kies wearing the style for their debut songs. The use of accessories elevated the idol's style from everyday fashion to performance costume, like ski goggles (worn either around the head or neck), headphones worn around the neck, and oversized gloves worn to accentuate choreography moves were widely used. H.O.T.'s 1996 hit "
Candy" exemplifies the level of coordination taken into account for idol's costumes, as each member wore a designated color and accessorized with face paint, fuzzy oversized mittens, visors, bucket hats, and earmuffs, and used stuffed animals, backpacks, and messenger bags as props.
While male idol groups' costumes were constructed with similar color schemes, fabrics, and styles, the outfits worn by each member still maintained individuality.
On the other hand, female idol groups of the '90s wore homogeneous costumes, often styled identically.
The costumes for female idols during their early promotions often focused on portraying an innocent, youthful image.
S.E.S.'s debut in 1997, "
('Cause) I'm Your Girl
"('Cause) I'm Your Girl" (Korean language, Korean: 아임 유어 걸) is the debut single by South Korean girl group S.E.S. (group), S.E.S., released via SM Entertainment on November 1, 1997, as part of the group's debut studio album ''I'm Your G ...
", and
Baby Vox's second album 1998 hit, "
Ya Ya Ya," featured the girls dressed in white outfits, "
To My Boyfriend" by
Fin.K.L shows idols in pink schoolgirl costumes, and "One" and "End" of Chakra presented Hindu and African style costumes. To portray a natural and somewhat saccharine image, the accessories were limited to large bows, pompom hair ornaments and hair bands. With the maturation of female idol groups and the removal of bubblegum pop in the late 1990s, the sets of female idol groups focused on following the fashion trends of the time, many of which were revealing pieces. The latest promotions of the girl groups Baby Vox and
Jewelry
Jewellery (British English, UK) or jewelry (American English, U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be at ...
exemplify these trends of hot pants, micro-miniskirts, crop tops, peasant blouses, transparent garments and blouses on the upper part of the torso.
As K-pop became a modern hybrid of Western and Asian cultures starting from the late 2000s, fashion trends within K-pop reflected diversity and distinction as well. Fashion trends from the late 2000s to early 2010s can largely be categorized under the following:
*Street: focuses on individuality; features bright colors, mix-and-match styling, graphic prints, and sports brands such as Adidas and Reebok.
* Retro: aims to bring back "nostalgia" from the 1960s to 1980s; features dot prints and detailed patterns. Common clothing items include denim jackets, boot-cut pants, wide pants, hair bands, scarves, and sunglasses.
* Sexy: highlights femininity and masculinity; features revealing outfits made of satin, lace, fur, and leather. Common clothing items include mini skirts, corsets, net stockings, high heels, sleeveless vests, and see-through shirts.
*Black & White: emphasizes modern and chic, symbolizes elegance and charisma, mostly applied to formal wear.
* Futurism: commonly worn with electronic and hip-hop genres; features popping color items, metallic details and prints; promotes a futuristic outlook.
K-pop has a significant influence on fashion in Asia, where trends started by idols are followed by young audiences.
Some idols have established status as fashion icons, such as
G-Dragon
Kwon Ji-yong (; born August 18, 1988), also known by his stage name G-Dragon (지드래곤), is a South Korean rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur and fashion designer, known as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, K ...
and
CL, who has repeatedly worked with fashion designer
Jeremy Scott, being labeled his "muse."
According to professor Ingyu Oh, "K-pop emphasizes thin, tall, and feminine looks with adolescent or sometimes very cute facial expressions, regardless of whether they're male or female singers."
Government support
The
South Korean government has acknowledged benefits to the country's export sector as a result of the
Korean Wave (it was estimated in 2011 that a US$100 increase in the export of cultural products resulted in a US$412 increase in exports of other consumer goods including food, clothes, cosmetics and IT products) and thus have subsidized certain endeavours. Government initiatives to expand the popularity of K-pop are mostly undertaken by the
Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which is responsible for the worldwide establishment of
Korean Cultural Centers. South Korean embassies and consulates have also organized K-pop concerts outside the country, and the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The enti ...
regularly invites overseas
K-pop fans to attend the annual
K-Pop World Festival in South Korea.
In addition to reaping economic benefits from the popularity of K-pop, the South Korean government has been taking advantage of the influence of K-pop in diplomacy. In an age of mass communication,
soft power
In politics (and particularly in international politics), soft power is the ability to co-opt rather than coerce (contrast hard power). In other words, soft power involves shaping the preferences of others through appeal and attraction. A de ...
(pursuing one's goals by persuading stakeholders using cultural and ideological power) is regarded as a more effective and pragmatic diplomatic tactic than the traditional diplomatic strategy
hard power (obtaining what one wants from stakeholders through direct intimidation such as military threat and economic sanctions). Cultural diplomacy through K-pop is a form of soft power.
An example of the South Korean government effort in diplomacy through K-pop is the
Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA), a K-pop music award ceremony.
Park Geun-hye
Park Geun-hye (; ; often in English ; born 2 February 1952) is a South Korean politician who served as the 11th president of South Korea from 2013 to 2017, until she was impeached and convicted on related corruption charges.
Park was the f ...
(the Korean president at the time) delivered the opening statement at the
2014 MAMA, which was held in Hong Kong and sponsored by the Korean Small and Medium Business Administration (SMBA). This event was considered a deliberate endeavor by the Korean government to support Korean cultural industries in order to strengthen the nation's international reputation and political influence.
Another example of cultural diplomacy is K-pop performances in North Korea. Prior to 2005, South Korean pop singers occasionally gave performances in North Korea. After an interval of more than a decade, approximately 190 South Korean performers, including well-known musicians
Red Velvet,
Lee Sun-hee,
Cho Yong-pil, and
Yoon Do-hyun, performed in Pyongyang, North Korea, on March 31 and April 3, 2018.
Kim Jong-un was present in the audience.
History
Origins of Korean popular music
The history of Korean popular music can be traced back to 1885 when an American missionary,
Henry Appenzeller
Rev. Henry Gerhard Appenzeller (February 6, 1858 – June 11, 1902) was a Methodist missionary. He and four other missionaries, including Horace N. Allen, Horace G. Underwood, William B. Scranton, and Mary F. Scranton introduced Protestant Christi ...
, began teaching American and British folk songs at a school. These songs were called ''changga'' (), and they were typically based on a popular Western melody sung with Korean lyrics. For example, the song "Oh My Darling, Clementine" became known as ''Simcheongga'' ().
[Not to be confused with the ]pansori
''Pansori'' () is a Korean genre of musical storytelling performed by a singing, singer and a Pansori gosu, drummer.
The term ''pansori'' is derived from the Korean words ''pan'' (Hangul: 판) and ''sori'' (Hangul: 소리), the latter of which ...
story of the same name. During the
Japanese rule (1910–1945), the popularity of ''changga'' songs rose as Koreans expressed their feelings against Japanese oppression through music. One of the most popular songs was ''Huimangga'' (). The Japanese confiscated the existing ''changga'' collections and published lyrics books of their own.
[''K-Pop: A New Force in Pop Music'', pp. 47–79]
K-pop was represented by H.O.T in the early days, and it was mostly fanatical, flashy, and showed the rebellious psychology of young people in the emotional aspects. Most of the songs are relatively fast-paced and have a strong sense of rhythm, which is suitable for dancing. They often sing and dance when they perform, and the choreography urbanance is a very important factor in popularity. The first known Korean pop album was ''I Pungjin Sewol'' (), by Park Chae-seon and Lee Ryu-saek in 1925, which contained popular songs translated from Japanese. The first pop song written by a Korean composer is thought to be ''Nakhwayusu'' () sung by Lee Jeong-suk in 1929.
In the mid-1920s, Japanese composer
Masao Koga mixed traditional Korean music with Gospel music that American Evangelists introduced in the 1870s. This type of music became known as
Enka in Japan, and later in Korea developed into
Trot ().
1940s–1960s: Arrival of Western culture
After the
Korean Peninsula
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...
was partitioned into North and South following its liberation in 1945 from
Japanese occupation,
Western culture
image:Da Vinci Vitruve Luc Viatour.jpg, Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions, human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise '' ...
was introduced into South Korea on a small scale, with a few Western-styled bars and clubs playing Western music. After the
Korean War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Korean War
, partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict
, image = Korean War Montage 2.png
, image_size = 300px
, caption = Clockwise from top: ...
(1950–1953) U.S. troops remained in South Korea, causing American and world culture to spread in South Korea and Western music to gradually become more accepted. Prominent figures of American entertainment like
Nat King Cole,
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
and
Louis Armstrong held
USO shows in South Korea for the U.S. Army.
These visits prompted attention from the Korean public. In 1957, the American Forces Korea Network radio started its broadcast, spreading the popularity of Western music. American music started influencing Korean music, as
pentatony was gradually replaced by
heptachords and popular songs started to be modeled after American ones.
[''K-Pop: A New Force in Pop Music'', pp. 50–54]
In the 1960s, the development of
LP record
The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and ...
s and improvements in recording technology led to the pursuit of diverse voice tones.
Open auditions were also held to recruit musicians to perform at the U.S. army clubs. Since South Korea was impoverished after the Korean War, skilled Korean singers regarded performing for the U.S. troops as a good means to earn money. Many singers sang for the American troops, usually in dedicated clubs, the number of which rose to 264. They performed various genres like country music, blues, jazz and rock & roll. The
South Korean economy started blooming and popular music followed the trend, spread by the first commercial radio stations.
Korean cinema also began to develop and Korean musicians began performing to wider audiences.
When
Beatlemania reached the shores of Korea the first local rock bands appeared, the first of which is said to be
Add4, a band founded in 1962. The first talent contest for rock bands in Seoul was organized in 1968.
Some Korean singers gained international popularity. In 1959,
the Kim Sisters went to Las Vegas and became the first Korean artist to release an album in the U.S. pop market. Their cover of "Charlie Brown" reached No.7 on the Billboard Single Chart. The Kim Sisters also appeared on TV programs and radio programs and held tours in the U.S. and Europe. They made 25 appearances on
The Ed Sullivan Show—more than American stars like
Patti Page and Louis Armstrong (who appeared 18 times each).
The Kim Sisters,
Yoon Bok-hee and
Patti Kim were the first singers to debut in such countries as Vietnam and the United States. The Kim Sisters became the first Korean group to release an album in the United States. They also performed in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...
. 's 1961 song "The Boy in The Yellow Shirt" was covered by French singer
Yvette Giraud and was also popular in Japan.
In the 1960s, the Korean artists such as
Shin Joong-hyun, and Patti Kim who previously performed for the U.S. army clubs reached out to the Korean public. In the mid-1960s, due to the influence of the legendary British group
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...
, there was a rise of "group sound" in South Korea, for example, Add4 and the . Add4, Korea's first rock group, was formed by Shin Joong-hyun in 1962 and produced Korea's first rock song, "The Woman in the Rain," which is a form of light rock reminiscent of the early Beatles. Shin Joong-hyun was so instrumental in the development of Korean rock music that he is regarded as the "godfather of Korean rock" in South Korea.
During this period, with the rise of Western pop music and Korean rock music, trot was no longer predominant in South Korea. However, trot singers like
Lee Mi-ja still managed to attract a certain level of popularity, with famous songs like "Camellia Lady" ().
During the 1950s and 60s, Western pop music, Korean rock music, and trot co-existed in South Korea.
Late 1960s and 1970s: Hippie and folk influences
At the end of the 1960s Korean pop music underwent another transformation. More and more musicians were university students and graduates who were heavily influenced by American culture and lifestyle (including the
hippie
A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...
movement of the 1960s) and made lighthearted music unlike their predecessors, who were influenced by war and Japanese oppression.
The younger generation opposed the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
as much as American hippies did, which resulted in the Korean government banning songs with more liberal lyrics. In spite of this, folk-influenced pop remained popular among the youth, and local television channel
MBC organized a music contest for university students in 1977. This was the foundation of several modern music festivals.
[''K-Pop: A New Force in Pop Music'', pp. 54–57] The younger generation born after the 1950s had grown up under the U.S. influence and preferred the U.S. lifestyle, giving rise to the "youth culture" which was expressed through long hair, jeans, acoustic guitars and folk music. The folk music of that time is made up of melodies sung plainly, with the singing accompanied by a guitar or two. A majority of the folk music at that time was initiated by elite university students and those who graduated from prestigious schools. Like the activists of the U.S. student movement, they turned to folk music as the preferred music of politicized youth, who staged demonstrations against the authoritarian government. In turn, the government banned folk music due to its association with the students' anti-government movements. In the 1970s, the
Park Chung-hee
Park Chung-hee (, ; 14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the dictator of South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979; ruling as an unelected military strongman from 1961 ...
government banned American pop music and Korean rock music for their association with sex and drugs. Shin Joong-hyun, the "godfather of Korean rock music," was imprisoned in 1975 due to a marijuana scandal. In order to bolster its anti-Japanese credentials, the government also banned trot songs because of its "Japanese style" () given the influence of Japanese enka songs on trot. However, President Park actually embraced trot.
One of the leading figures of the era was
Han Dae-soo, who was raised in the United States and influenced by
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
,
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...
and
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
. Han's song ''Mul jom juso'' () became iconic among young people in Korea. His daring performances and unique singing style often shocked the public and later he was banned from performing in Korea. Han moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
and pursued his musical career there, only returning to his home country in the 1990s.
Other notable singers of the period include
Song Chang-sik,
Cho Young-nam
Jo Young-nam (, hanja:趙英男; born April 2, 1945) is a South Korean singer-songwriter and painter, writer, and television personality. He became very popular as soon as he debuted as a singer in 1968. Jo married actress Youn Yuh-jung
You ...
and
Yang Hee-eun.
In the 1970s,
DJs also started to become popular.
1980s: The era of ballads
The 1980s saw the rise of
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
singers after 's 1985 album "You’re Too Far Away to Get Close to" () sold more than 300,000 copies. Other popular ballad singers included
Lee Moon-se (이문세) and
Byun Jin-sub
Byun Jin-sub (; born May 19, 1966) is a South Korean singer.
Discography
Studio albums
*
References
External links
*
1966 births
Living people
Blues singers
Grand Prize Seoul Music Award recipients
South Korean male singers
S ...
(변진섭), nicknamed the "Prince of Ballads". One of the most sought-after ballad composers of the era was
Lee Young-hoon (이영훈), whose songs were compiled into a modern musical in 2011 titled ''
Gwanghwamun Yeonga'' ().
[''K-Pop: A New Force in Pop Music'', pp. 60–61]
The Asia Music Forum was launched in 1980, with representatives from five different Asian countries competing in the event. Korean singer
Cho Yong-pil won first place and went on to have a successful career, performing in Hong Kong and Japan. His first album ''Chang bakkui yeoja'' () was a hit and he became the first Korean singer to take to the stage at
Carnegie Hall in New York. Cho's musical repertoire included rock, dance, trot and folk-pop.
Despite his early association with rock music as an electric guitarist in a rock band, Cho Yong-pil's initial popularity came from his trot songs which were popular in both South Korea and Japan. For example, in 1976, his trot song, "Please Return to Pusan Port" () was a great hit. Despite the temporary setback due to his involvement in a marijuana incident in 1977, he managed to bounce back with the song "The Woman Outside the Window" which reached a record-breaking sales of 1 million in 1980. In 1988, he sang "Seoul Seoul Seoul" in three languages (Korean, English and Japanese) to celebrate the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.
1990s: Development of modern K-pop
In the 1990s, Korean pop musicians incorporated partially
Europop and mostly
American popular music styles such as
hip hop,
rock,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...
, and
electronic dance in their music.
In 1992 the emergence of
Seo Taiji & Boys
() was a South Korean music group active from 1992 to 1996. The three members of the boy band, Seo Taiji, Yang Hyun-suk and Lee Juno, experimented with many different genres of popular Western music. Seo Taiji and Boys was highly successful ...
marked a revolutionary moment in the history of K-pop. The trio debuted on
MBC's talent show with their song "
I Know" () and got the lowest rating from the jury;
[''K-Pop: A New Force in Pop Music'', pp. 63–66] however, the song and album of the same name became so successful that it paved the way for other songs of the same format. The song's success was attributed to its
new jack swing-inspired beats and memorable chorus, as well as innovative lyrics which dealt with the problems of Korean society. Their footsteps were followed by a wave of successful hip hop and R&B artists like
Yoo Seung-jun,
Jinusean,
Solid,
Deux,
1TYM and
Drunken Tiger.
In 1995, South Korean record producer
Lee Soo-man, who was educated in the U.S. and was exposed to the trends in American music, founded the entertainment company
SM Entertainment. Former Seo Taiji & Boys' member
Yang Hyun-suk formed
YG Entertainment in 1996, and
Park Jin-young established
JYP Entertainment in 1997.
The huge popularity of Seo Taiji & Boys among teenagers shifted the focus of the Korean music industry to teen-centred pop music.
Idol bands of young boys or girls were formed to cater to a growing teenage audience.
H.O.T. was one of the first idol boybands, debuting in 1996 after rigorous training encompassing not only singing and dancing skills but also etiquette, attitude, language and the ability to deal with the media.
The song "
Candy" sung by H.O.T. presented a softer and gentler form of pop music with upbeat and cheerful melodies accompanied by energetic dance steps – a formula adopted by many subsequent idol groups. The group was a huge success and the fans copied the group's hairstyle and fashion. Merchandise affiliated with the group ranging from candy to perfume were sold as well. Their success was followed by that of young boys and girls idol groups like
Sechs Kies,
S.E.S.,
Fin.K.L,
NRG,
Baby Vox,
Diva,
Shinhwa and
g.o.d, which also became popular among the younger generation.
During the late 90s, talent agencies began to market K-pop stars by implementing an
idol business model used in
J-pop, where talents are selected and trained to appeal to a global audience through formal lessons or through residency programs.
They are trained via an extensive and intensive process that includes physical and language training (a program sometimes called abusive), and they are selected for height as well, being much taller on average than their Japanese counterparts. As for looks, "K-pop emphasizes thin, tall, and feminine looks with
adolescent or sometimes very cute facial expressions, regardless of whether they’re male or female singers," according to sociology professor Ingyu Oh.
Over time, Korean-American artists have become successful due to their fluency. These efforts increase the marketability of K-pop while also increasing South Korean soft power, which has become an important part of official policy.
The 1990s saw a reactionary movement against mainstream popular culture with the rise of illegal
underground music clubs and
punk rock bands such as
Crying Nut.
The
1997 Asian financial crisis prompted South Korean entertainers to look for new markets: H.O.T. released a Mandarin-language album
and
Diva released an English-language album in Taiwan.
21st century: Rise of ''Hallyu''
K-pop's increasing popularity forms part of ''Hallyu'', or the
Korean Wave: the popularity of South Korean culture in other countries. K-pop is increasingly making appearances on Western charts such as ''
Billboard''. The development of online social media has been a vital tool for the Korean music industry in reaching a wider audience. As part of the Korean Wave, K-pop has been embraced by the South Korean government as a tool for projecting South Korea's
soft power
In politics (and particularly in international politics), soft power is the ability to co-opt rather than coerce (contrast hard power). In other words, soft power involves shaping the preferences of others through appeal and attraction. A de ...
abroad, particularly towards overseas youth. In August 2014, the prominent British news magazine ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econ ...
'' dubbed Korean pop culture "Asia’s foremost trendsetter."
By the beginning of the 21st century, the K-pop market had slumped and early K-pop idol groups that had seen success in the 90's were on the decline. H.O.T. disbanded in 2001, while other groups like Sechs Kies, S.E.S., Fin.K.L, Shinhwa, and g.o.d became inactive by 2005. Solo singers like
BoA and
Rain
Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water ...
grew in success. However, the success of the boy band
TVXQ
TVXQ (stylized as TVXQ!), an initialism for Tong Vfang Xien Qi (), is a South Korean male Pop music, pop duo consisting of Yunho, U-Know Yunho and Changmin, Max Changmin. They are known as in Japanese releases, and are sometimes referred to as ...
after its debut in 2003 marked the resurgence of idol groups to Korean entertainment and the growth of K-pop as part of ''Hallyu''. The birth of second-generation K-pop was followed with the successful debuts of
SS501 (2005),
Super Junior (2005),
Big Bang
The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from t ...
(2006),
Wonder Girls (2007),
Girls' Generation (2007),
Kara (2007),
Shinee (2008),
2NE1 (2009),
4Minute (2009),
T-ara (2009),
f(x)
F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''.
Hist ...
(2009), and
After School (2009).
During the beginning of the 21st century, K-pop idols began receiving success elsewhere in Asia: in 2002, Baby Vox's single "Coincidence" () became popular in many Asian countries after it was released and promoted during the
World Cup in South Korea. BoA became the first K-pop singer to reach No. 1 on the Japanese
Oricon music chart and shortly afterwards, Rain had a sold-out concert to an audience of 40,000 fans in Beijing.
[''K-Pop: A New Force in Pop Music'', pp. 67–71] In 2003, Baby Vox topped the Chinese music charts with their Chinese single "I'm Still Loving You" from their third album ''Devotion'', the first idol group to do so, creating a huge fanbase in China. They also charted in various music charts in Thailand. TVXQ marked the rise of K-pop boy bands in Japan. In 2008, their single "
Purple Line" made TVXQ the first foreign boy band and second Korean artist after BoA to top the Oricon music chart.
Since the mid-2000s, a huge portion of the
East Asian music market has been dominated by K-pop. In 2008, South Korea's cultural exports (including television dramas and computer games) rose to US$2 billion, maintaining an annual growth rate of over 10%. That year, Japan accounted for almost 68% of all K-pop export revenues, ahead of China (11.2%) and the United States (2.1%). The sale of concert tickets proved to be a lucrative business; TVXQ's
Tohoshinki Live Tour in Japan sold over 850,000 tickets at an average cost of US$109 each, generating a total of US$92.6 million in revenues.
Elsewhere in the world, the genre has rapidly grown in success, especially after
Psy's "
Gangnam Style"
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...
was the first YouTube video to reach one billion views, achieving widespread coverage in mainstream media. As of December 2020, the video has 3.9 billion views. Several failed attempts have been made by entertainment companies to break into the English-language market, including BoA, Wonder Girls, Girls' Generation, and
CL.
BTS won Top Social Artist at the
2017 Billboard Music Awards in 2017, making them the first K-pop group to win a BBMA. Their performance of the song
"DNA" at the
American Music Awards, the first AMA performance by a K-pop group, also led to the song peaking at number 67 on the Billboard Hot 100. The following year, BTS became the first K-pop group to reach number 1 on the Billboard 200 with ''
Love Yourself: Tear.'' The K-Pop industry is active in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
, hosting numerous concerts in the city as well as being home to K-Pop musicians. The musical ''
KPOP'' opened
Off-Broadway in 2017 and moved to
Broadway in 2022.
Industry
Agencies
K-pop has spawned an entire industry encompassing
music production
A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...
houses,
event management companies,
music distributors, and other merchandise and service providers. The three biggest companies in terms of sales and revenue are
SM Entertainment,
YG Entertainment and
JYP Entertainment, often referred to as the 'Big Three.'
These
record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the prod ...
s also function as representative
agencies for their artists. They are responsible for recruiting, financing, training, and marketing new artists as well as managing their musical activities and public relations. Currently, the agency with the greatest market share is S.M. Entertainment.
In 2011, together with Star J Entertainment, AM Entertainment, and Key East, the Big Three companies founded the joint management company United Asia Management.
Sales and market value
In 2009,
DFSB Kollective
DFSB Kollective is a South Korean agency specializing in the distribution of K-pop songs worldwide.
Overview
According to Canadian Music Week, DFSB Kollective was responsible for organizing the first sold-out K-Pop concert tour in the United S ...
became the first distributor of K-pop on
iTunes.
In 2011, 1,100 albums were released in South Korea. The hip-hop genre had the most representation, at two-thirds of the total albums.
One-third of the albums were from a variety of other genres, including rock, modern folk, and crossover.
In 2012, the average cost of obtaining a K-pop song in South Korea amounted to US$0.10 for a single download, or $0.002 when streamed online. In the first half of 2012, according to ''
Billboard'', the Korean music industry grossed nearly US$3.4 billion—a 27.8% increase on the previous year—and was recognized by ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
'' magazine as "South Korea's Greatest Export."
Please refer to table below for a look at a 2.1 billion increase in sales for the Korean music industry, from 2014 to 2018.
Record charts
Korean record charts include the
Gaon Digital Chart and the ''Billboard''
K-pop Hot 100. Some K-pop records have appeared on the
Oricon Albums Chart of Japan and the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 of the United States.
In 2009, singer
Hwangbo entered the European music industry for a short period when she released the single R2song, reaching # 1 on the world's largest dance music site JunoDowload, being successful in the United Kingdom, Europe, as well as Korea; becoming the first Asian artist to achieve it.
In May 2014,
Exo became the third K-pop act to enter the
''Billboard'' 200 that year after
2NE1,
Girls' Generation and
Wonder Girls were the first K-Pop act to chart on Billboard 200.
In October 2016,
BTS's album ''
Wings
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is exp ...
'' becomes the first Korean album to chart in the
UK Album Charts, reaching #62,
and the highest-charting and best selling K-pop album in the
Billboard 200
The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artist ...
.
In February 2017, BTS landed their fourth album ''You Never Walk Alone'' at #61 on the Billboard 200.
In September 2017, BTS landed at #14 on the UK Album Charts with their new album, ''
Love Yourself: Her''. ''
Love Yourself: Tear'' debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 135,000
album-equivalent unit
The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to tradit ...
s (including 100,000 pure album sales), becoming BTS' highest-charting and first number one album in the US, the first K-pop album to top the US albums chart, and the highest-charting album by an Asian act. "Fake Love" peaked at number ten on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 that same week, becoming the band's highest reaching song on the chart as well as their first in the top ten. Overall, only twenty non-English songs have reached the top ten, with "Fake Love" being the first for a K-Pop group. The single also debuted at number seven on
Billboard's
Streaming Songs chart with 27.4 million streams earned in the week ending May 24, giving BTS its first top ten on the chart and making "Fake Love" the first K-pop song to land on top ten since
Psy's "Hangover" feat.
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, ...
in 2014. In August 2020, their song "
Dynamite" topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in its opening week, becoming the group's first number-one single in the US and their fourth top-10 entry. BTS became the first K-pop act in Hot 100 history to debut at number one.
In June 2018, YG Entertainment's girl group
Blackpink became the first K-pop girl group to hit within the top 50 of Billboard 200 album chart; their first mini-album ''SQUARE UP'' debuted at No. 40. Their title song "Ddu Du Ddu Du" charted at No. 55 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it the highest-charting song and the first full Korean-language song by a K-pop girl group. Since then, they have beaten their own record with
Ice Cream
Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...
peaking at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Trainee system
By convention in modern K-pop, trainees go through a rigorous training system for an undetermined amount of time before debut. This method was popularized by
Lee Soo-man, founder of S.M. Entertainment, as part of a concept labelled "
cultural technology." ''
The Verge
''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts.
The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media' ...
'' described this as an "extreme" system of artist management. According to the CEO of
Universal Music
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
's Southeast Asian branch, the Korean idol trainee system is unique in the world.
[''K-Pop: A New Force in Pop Music'', p. 39]
Because of the training period, which can last for many years, and the significant amount of investment that agencies put towards their trainees, the industry is very serious about launching new artists. Trainees may enter an agency through auditions or be scouted, and once recruited are given accommodation and classes (commonly singing, dancing, rapping, and foreign languages such as Mandarin, English and Japanese) while they prepare for debut. Young trainees sometimes attend school at the same time. There is no age limit to become a trainee and no limit to the duration one can spend as a trainee.
Television
The Korean music industry has spawned numerous related reality TV shows, including
talent shows such as ''
Superstar K'' and ''
K-pop Star'', specialist rap competition ''
Show Me the Money'' and its female counterpart ''
Unpretty Rapstar,'' and many 'survival' shows, which commonly pit trainees against each other in order to form a new idol group. Examples of survival shows include
Jellyfish Entertainment's ''MyDOL'', which formed boy group
VIXX;
YG Entertainment's ''WIN: Who Is Next'', which formed boy group
Winner, and its follow-up ''MIX&MATCH'', which formed
iKon;
JYP Entertainment's ''
Sixteen'', which formed girl group
Twice;
Starship Entertainment's ''No.Mercy'', which formed boy group
Monsta X;
Cube Entertainment's ''Pentagon Maker'', which formed boy group
Pentagon
In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek language, Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is ...
;
Mnet's ''
Produce 101'', which formed girl groups
I.O.I and
Iz*One and boy groups
Wanna One and
X1;
Duble Kick Entertainment
Duble Sidekick () is a South Korean music producer and songwriting duo consisting of lyricist Park Jang-geun and composer Mikey (also known as Chancellor and formerly a member of One Way). The duo was formed in 2010, and rose to fame after produ ...
's ''Finding Momo Land'', which formed girl group
Momoland; Mnet's ''
Idol School,'' which formed girl group
Fromis 9; Belift Lab's ''
I-Land'', which formed boy group
Enhypen; MBC's ''
My Teenage Girl'', which formed girl group
Classy; and Mnet’s ''
Girls Planet 999'', which formed girl group
Kep1er. The rise in these shows, which often involves larger agencies contracting smaller agencies' trainees into project groups and taking a larger portion of the revenues, has led to criticisms over the former monopolizing the industry.
Criticism of industry practices
Corruption
In 2002, ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
'' magazine reported that Korean television producers such as Hwang Yong-woo and Kim Jong-jin had been arrested for "accepting under-the-table payments guaranteeing TV appearances to aspiring singers and musicians" in a bid to tackle "systemic corruption in South Korea's music business." Companies investigated included
SidusHQ and
S.M. Entertainment.
Exploitation and poor living conditions
K-pop management companies have also been criticized for exploitation of idols through overwork and restrictive contracts, described as "
slave contracts" in a ''
BBC'' report.
According to ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...
'', "Korea's entertainment business is notoriously improvisational and unregulated. In-demand K-pop stars – many of whom are teenage 'idols' – have been known to rehearse and perform without sleep."
In July 2009, S.M. Entertainment was taken to court by
TVXQ
TVXQ (stylized as TVXQ!), an initialism for Tong Vfang Xien Qi (), is a South Korean male Pop music, pop duo consisting of Yunho, U-Know Yunho and Changmin, Max Changmin. They are known as in Japanese releases, and are sometimes referred to as ...
and a
Super Junior member, who alleged that their working conditions had led to adverse health effects. The court decision in the TVXQ lawsuit determined their contract with S.M. Entertainment
void, and resultantly the Fair Trade Commission released contract templates to regulate industry conditions.
In 2014, South Korea passed a law to regulate its music industry, protecting idols aged under 19 from unhealthy labor practices and overtly sexualized performances and guaranteeing them "the basic rights to learn, rest and sleep."
Failure to comply with these regulations may lead to the equivalent of a US$10,000 fine.
Industry professionals such as SM Entertainment's CEO Kim Young-min have defended the system, arguing that individuals trained within the system are "no different than typical middle or high school kids, who go to after-school programs to cram for college entrance exams." Kim has also argued that there is a need to consider the expenses incurred by the company during the trainee period, including "facilities, equipment, costumes, and virtually everything the trainees need."
On March 7, 2017, the South Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) passed new regulations in order to protect trainee idols from unfair terms and working conditions. Prior to these regulations, trainee idols at eight idol agencies were not permitted to seek contracts at any other agency while at training. Moreover, agencies were able to terminate a trainee contract at any time for any reason. The Fair Trade Commission states that they believe these changes will "result in a more just contract culture within the entertainment industry between trainee and agency." The Ministry of Culture applied these regulations to all existing agencies throughout 2018.
Some of the concerns raised by the idol agencies over these regulations include the risk of a trainee at one agency going undercover at another agency to receive training with the other agency. This introduces the further risk that the idol agencies must take in training new idols. Trainees train for 3 years on average and the agencies support these trainees with various training programs during this duration, resulting in each trainee being a very large investment for the agency.
Sexualization and sexual exploitation
The industry has been criticized for the sexualization of both male and female idols, with the sexualization of minors in particular being of concern.
Critics such as James Turnbull of the Korean Pop Culture blog The Grand Narrative have argued young female idols are especially susceptible to pressures to wear revealing clothing or dance provocatively.
However, compared to western popular music, K-pop has little sex, drugs, or aggressive behavior and has a much more parent-friendly branding.
Mental health
Some K-pop artists have suggested that the uncertainty and pressures of their jobs as entertainers may be detrimental to their mental health. According to musician
Park Kyung of
Block B, "There are many people who debuted with no sense of self yet, and they come to realize later that every move and every word they say is being observed so they become cautious and lose their freedom."
In an interview with
Yonhap,
Suga
Suga may refer to:
* Suga, Iran, a village in Qazvin Province, Iran
* Suga language, a language of Cameroon
* Suga (rapper) (born 1993), South Korean rapper, songwriter, and record producer
* ''Suga'' (EP), 2020 EP by Megan Thee Stallion
* ''Su ...
of BTS talked about his own mental health, and said, "Anxiety and loneliness seem to be with me for life…Emotions are so different in every situation and every moment, so I think to agonise every moment is what life is."
The suicides of prominent K-pop musicians have drawn attention to industry pressures.
In 1996, singer Charles Park, also known as , died by suicide at the age of 19, before the release of his second album.
Kim Jonghyun, who had previously been open about his history of depression, also died by suicide in December 2017.
In the spring of 2018, a number of prominent Korean musicians participated in a free concert series to raise awareness of suicide prevention.
In 2019, the death of
Sulli of an apparent suicide, followed by the death of
Goo Hara, both who were subjected to
cyberbullying
Cyberbullying or cyberharassment is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Cyberbullying and cyberharassment are also known as online bullying. It has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers, as the digital ...
, added to calls for reform.
Culture
K-pop artists are frequently referred to as
idols or idol groups.
Groups usually have a leader, who is often the eldest or most experienced member and speaks for the group. The youngest group member is called the ''maknae'' (). The popular use of this term in Japan was influenced by boy group
SS501 when they expanded their activities in the country in 2007. Its Japanese translation ''man'ne'' () was often used to name the group's youngest member
Kim Hyung-jun in order to differentiate him from their leader with a similar name and spelling,
Kim Hyun-joong.
Industry-specific expressions
Appeal and fan base
Not all K-pop fans are young women; in 2018 ''
Metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban ...
'' magazine interviewed male adult K-pop fans of different nationalities, who talked about how following male pop groups and being part of their fandoms had helped them understand themselves and the concept of
masculinity
Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some behaviors ...
better.
Many fans travel overseas to see their idols on tour, and tourists commonly visit Korea from Japan and China to see K-pop concerts.
A K-pop tour group from Japan had more than 7,000 fans fly to Seoul to meet boy band
JYJ in 2012, and during JYJ's concert in Barcelona in 2011, fans from many parts of the world camped overnight to gain entrance. A 2011 survey conducted by the
Korean Culture and Information Service reported that there were over 3 million active members of ''Hallyu'' fan clubs.
An article by ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' indicated that K-pop's future staying power will be shaped by fans, whose online activities have evolved into "micro-businesses."
K-pop groups commonly have dedicated fan clubs with a collective name and sometimes an assigned colour, to which they will release merchandise. For example,
TVXQ
TVXQ (stylized as TVXQ!), an initialism for Tong Vfang Xien Qi (), is a South Korean male Pop music, pop duo consisting of Yunho, U-Know Yunho and Changmin, Max Changmin. They are known as in Japanese releases, and are sometimes referred to as ...
fans are known as 'Cassiopeia,' and their official colour is 'pearl red.' Some of the more popular groups have personalized light sticks for use at concerts; for example,
Big Bang
The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from t ...
fans hold yellow crown-shaped light sticks.
Fan clubs sometimes participate in charity events to support their idols, purchasing bags of '
fan rice' in order to show support. The rice bags are donated to those in need.
According to ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
'', for one of Big Bang's shows, 12.7 tons of rice were donated from 50 fan clubs around the world. There are businesses in Korea dedicated to shipping rice from farmers to the venues. Another way that fan clubs show their devotion is by sending lunch to idols during their schedules, and there are catering companies in South Korea specifically for this purpose.
A unique feature of K-pop fandom is the "fan chant". When an idol group releases a new song, chants, usually consisting of group members' names, are performed by live concert audiences during non-singing parts of songs.
Obsession
Some idols and idol groups have faced problems from obsessive fans who indulge in stalking or invasive behavior. These fans are known as
''sasaeng'' fans (), from the Korean word for 'private life,' which alludes to their penchant for invading the privacy of idols and members of idol groups. There have been accounts of extreme behaviors from fans trying to gain idols' attention.
Korean public officials recognize this as a unique but serious concern.
Some idols have reacted angrily towards ''sasaeng'' fans, for which they received backlash; including members of JYJ,
Super Junior member
Kim Hee-chul, and
Jang Keun-suk.
In response to the issue, a new law introduced in February 2016 in Korea saw the penalty for stalking rise to around US$17,000 as well as a possible two-year jail sentence.
Events
International tours
Conventions and music festivals
* 2003–present:
Korean Music Festival at the
Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles
* 2009–present: Philippine K-pop Convention
* 2011–present:
K-POP World Festival in South Korea
* 2012–present:
KCON in California
* 2015–present:
KCON in New York
* 2015–present:
KCON in Japan
Social media
Social media sites such as
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...
,
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
, and
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...
allow K-pop artists to reach a global audience and to communicate readily with their fans.
As global online music market revenue increased 19% from 2009 to 2014 with social media, music consumers around the world are more likely to be exposed to K-pop.
K-pop idol groups benefit from video-based social media such as YouTube since visual components such as dance and fashion are essential factors in their performance. The number of searches of "K-pop" on YouTube increased by a factor of 33 from 2004 to 2014. Through social media advertisement, Korean entertainment companies narrowed the cultural gap so K-pop could enter the global market and gain recognition among overseas consumers. The export of K-pop dramatically increased from US$13.9 million to US$204 million between 2007 and 2011.
Social media also changes the consumption patterns of K-pop music. Before the digital era, people would purchase and consume music products on an individual basis. Consumers now actively participate in sharing music products and advertising their favorite artists, which is advantageous for K-pop.
YouTube
Since K-pop started to spread its industry outside South Korea, K-pop artists have set notable records on YouTube. Of the 2.28 billion worldwide K-pop YouTube views in 2011, 240 million came from the United States, more than double the figure from 2010 (94 million). In December 2011, K-pop became the first country-specific genre of music to gain a homepage on YouTube.
In December 2012, Psy's music video for "Gangnam Style" became the first YouTube video to receive 1 billion views. In 2016 the music video for the song "
TT" by
Twice became the first video by a female Korean act with over 400 million YouTube views. On January 21, 2019, girl group
Blackpink's music video for "
Ddu-Du-Ddu-Du" became the highest viewed K-pop group music video on YouTube. On April 12, 2019, BTS' music video for "
Boy with Luv" set a record for the
most viewed online music video in the first 24 hours, garnering over 74 million views.
Twitter
Twitter has also been a significant social media platform for K-pop stars to get connections and promotions.
The viral song "Gangnam Style" gained popularity from mentions by prominent Twitter users.
Bang Si Hyuk, the producer of BTS, partially attributed the fast growth of their fanbase to social media such as Twitter. On November 13, 2017, BTS became the first South Korean act to reach 10 million followers on Twitter. In 2017, BTS was the most tweeted-about artist both in the United States and globally. Other K-pop groups, such as
Seventeen and
Monsta X, also appeared in the global top ten. Exo, a South Korean boyband, was the most followed celebrity to have entered Twitter in 2017. At the 2017, 2018, and 2019 Billboard Music Awards, BTS won the award for Top Social Media Artist based on Twitter voting by their fans. According to Sin Chang Seob, the CEO of Twitter Korea, the usage of Twitter by K-pop artists has increased Twitter's popularity among South Koreans.
Facebook
Many Korean entertainment companies use social media platforms, especially Facebook, to promote and communicate about their global auditions.
K-pop groups use Facebook pages to promote their music and other content to large numbers of fans. K-pop fans use Facebook to express their devotion, communicate with other members of the K-pop community, and consume K-pop content.
TikTok
Multiple entertainment companies use
TikTok to market and promote their artists' music. Many K-pop songs have gone viral on TikTok and some K-pop artists and their labels were contacted for possible collaborations. The "
Any Song" dance challenge by rapper
Zico got 400 million views in less than two months, and around 830,000 videos have been uploaded featuring the sound.
Popularity and impact
East Asia
Japan
Following the lifting of
WWII
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
-era restrictions imposed on exchanges and trade between Korea and Japan in the late 1990s, the first-generation girl group
S.E.S became the first Korean artists to debut in Japan in late 1998 and their first Japanese-language album
Reach Out in 1999. Young K-pop star
BoA had Japanese language training before her Korean debut and when she debuted in Japan in 2002, her Korean identity was inessential. Her music style and fluent Japanese led her to be considered a part of J-pop. BoA's debut Japanese album released in 2002, entitled ''
Listen to My Heart'', was the first album by a Korean singer to debut at the top of the Japanese Oricon Charts and become an RIAJ-certified "million-seller" in Japan. Since her Japanese debut, BoA has released
several albums, all of which have topped the Oricon Charts.
Following BoA's successful Japanese debut, K-pop group
TVXQ
TVXQ (stylized as TVXQ!), an initialism for Tong Vfang Xien Qi (), is a South Korean male Pop music, pop duo consisting of Yunho, U-Know Yunho and Changmin, Max Changmin. They are known as in Japanese releases, and are sometimes referred to as ...
(동방신기, known as ''Tōhōshinki'' in Japan) debuted in Japan in 2005 under a procedure similar to BoA's. TVXQ did not promote that they were Korean and their ballad-style songs fit well into J-pop's typical sound. TVXQ's
first and second albums released in Japan were minor successes, peaking on the Oricon Charts at twenty-five and ten respectively. However, on January 16, 2008, TVXQ reached the top of the Oricon Charts with their sixteenth Japanese single "
Purple Line." This made them the first Korean male group to have a number-one single in Japan. They have since had remarkable success with their comebacks. In 2018 they even beat the legendary Japanese band B'z by accumulating over 1.2 million people to their concerts. Since the start of the Korean Wave, the Japanese market has seen an influx of Korean pop acts such as
SS501,
Shinee,
Super Junior,
Big Bang
The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from t ...
,
Kara and
Girls' Generation. In 2011, it was reported that the total sales for K-pop artists' increased 22.3% between 2010 and 2011 in Japan. Some Korean artists were in the top 10 selling artists of the year in Japan.
As of 2019, several other K-pop groups have made their debut in the Japanese market including
Exo,
BTS,
Got7,
Seventeen,
iKon,
GFriend,
Astro,
Pentagon
In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek language, Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is ...
,
Twice,
Monsta X,
FT Island,
NCT 127 and
Blackpink. Many of these groups debut with Japanese versions of their recent Korean releases, then later release original Japanese songs. Many groups such as NCT 127, Twice, and Pentagon also include Japanese members that auditioned in Japan and were brought to Korea, or came to Korea in order to become a K-pop singer.
With tensions still remaining between Korea and Japan, the import of Korean popular culture has been met with different forms of resistance, in the form of the 'Anti-Korean Wave.' One demonstration against the Korean Wave with roughly 500 participants was broadcast on Japan's Fuji TV to an Internet audience of over 120,000. However, the chairman of the Presidential Council on National Branding cited this resistance as proof of "how successful Korean Wave is."
The Korean Wave has also affected the dreams and goals of Japanese people, as is shown by the increase of young Japanese people going to Korea to become K-pop stars.
China
The 1990s saw the rise of K-pop in China through groups like
H.O.T.
H.O.T. (; pronounced "H. O. T.", acronym for Highfive Of Teenagers) was a South Korean boy band that was created by SM Entertainment in 1996. They are considered to be the first K-pop ''idol group'' and their successful formula became the model ...
and
Sechs Kies—sparking China's investment in Korea's entertainment industry. K-pop artists have achieved considerable success in China since then: in 2005,
Rain
Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water ...
held a concert in Beijing with 40,000 attendees.
In 2010, the
Wonder Girls won an award for the highest digital sales for a foreign artist, with 5 million digital downloads, in the 5th annual China Mobile Wireless Music Awards. Most recently, China has become the South Korean entertainment industry's biggest market for exports. Twelve percent of
SM Entertainment's sales in 2015 went to China, and this number rose to 14.4 percent by the middle of 2016.
China has found that K-pop is a profitable investment.
According to Director of Communication for the Korea Economic Institute of America Jenna Gibson, sales for a certain shampoo brand rose by 630% after Super Junior endorsed it on a Chinese reality show.
K-pop's popularity has also led China's e-commerce company
Alibaba to buy roughly $30 million worth of SM Entertainment's shares in 2016 in order to help its expansion into the online music industry.
Legend Capital China has also invested in
BTS' label
BigHit Entertainment.
As of the beginning of 2017, China took up around 8-20 percent of major Korean entertainment companies' total sales.
Chinese entertainment companies have also claimed stakes in the industry, partially overseeing groups like
EXID and
T-ara or representing groups which include both Chinese and Korean members like
Uniq and
WJSN.
Having Chinese members in K-pop groups is one way that Korean entertainment companies increase K-pop's marketability and appeal in China. Other strategies include giving Korean members Chinese-sounding names, releasing songs or whole albums in Chinese, and making subgroups with members that predominantly speak Mandarin
—like SM Entertainment's
Exo-M
Exo ( ko, 엑소; stylized in all caps) is a South Korean-Chinese boy band based in Seoul formed by SM Entertainment in 2011 and debuted in 2012. The group consists of nine members: Xiumin, Suho, Lay, Baekhyun, Chen, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai ...
and
Super Junior-M, which has had successful results on the Kuang Nan Record and CCR.
The K-pop industry's methods of producing idols have influenced the practices of Chinese entertainment companies, which aim to reproduce K-pop idols' success with their own stars so that Chinese entertainers can compete better globally. To achieve this, those companies have recruited K-pop industry experts, and some of these insiders have actively started moving into the Chinese music industry to capitalize on K-pop's increasing influence on market demands. Chinese reality show ''
Idol Producer'' further highlights K-pop's impact on China's entertainment scene: closely mirroring Korea's ''
Produce 101''.
A number of Chinese K-pop idols, such as Super Junior-M's
Han Geng and Exo-M's
Kris,
Luhan, and
Tao, have left their respective K-pop groups in order to pursue solo careers in China. However, lately, Korean entertainment companies have allowed their Chinese K-pop idols more freedom in pursuing solo work in China.
Got7's
Jackson Wang
Jackson Wang (; ko, 왕잭슨; born 28 March 1994) is a Hong Kong rapper, singer, dancer, record producer, fashion designer, and music video director. He is the founder of record label Team Wang and is the creative director and lead designer ...
, for example, has released several of his own songs in China and, in 2017, reached number one on Chinese music charts.
Additionally, the rise of K-pop has led to an increase in the number of Chinese tourists in South Korea—3.8 million more Chinese toured South Korea in 2016 than 2015 according to the
Union of International Associations. K-pop has also made China's youth find South Korean culture "cool", thus helping to facilitate greater understanding between Korea and China.
North Korea
Despite North Korea's traditionally strict
isolationism, K-pop has managed to reach a North Korean audience. While consumption of South Korean entertainment is punishable by death in North Korea, it has still become increasingly more available with the global rise of technology and the implementation of underground smuggling networks over the past decades.
The popular flash drive technology containing K-pop and
K-dramas was preceded by the use of DVDs burned with such content. Because North Korean law enforcement had figured out how to catch people consuming the media from DVDs, few people accessed K-pop and K-dramas.
Many North Koreans considered the risk too great, so it was not until the proliferation of the flash drive media type that watching the K-pop shows hit common homes. Utilizing the increasingly sophisticated smuggling networks, several thousands of USB drives and SD cards containing K-pop and K-dramas have been distributed and sold through care packages and the black market.
Some South Korean humanitarians have also deployed drones and balloons carrying these flash drives in order to make the media more accessible.
In fact, access to USB drives and SD cards exponentially rose from 26% to 81% in from 2010 to 2014 largely due to development in technology, with a large majority containing South Korean music and dramas. The expanding technology capabilities allowed the flash drives to be accessed by a wider North Korean audience. Flash drives that used to cost upwards of US$50, can now be purchased for under $10, making them more affordable and easier to send into North Korea.
The content on these USB drives and SD cards are then viewed by plugging the device into a
Notel
The Notel, also called NoteTel (a portmanteau of "notebook" and "television"), is a brand of portable media player made in China which is popular in North Korea. The device has USB and SD ports, can play DVDs and EVDs (enhanced versatile discs, whi ...
, a small portable media player.
Although this practice had originally begun with banned books and simple radios, there is now an even higher demand for South Korean media following the cultural phenomena of
hallyu.
Those near the border who choose to stay away from the banned media from flash drives often cannot escape it. Ever since the 1950s, both countries have blasted their own propaganda across the
DMZ: North Korea broadcasting anti-south propaganda and South Korea broadcasting Korean and world news as well as K-pop.
In 2004, both countries agreed to end the broadcasts. After an incident in 2015, South Korea resumed broadcasting anti-North news for four days, as well as in 2016, after North Korea tested its hydrogen bomb and has been broadcasting since. In April 2018, in preparation and out of respect for the meeting between North leader Kim Jong Un and South leader, Moon Jae In, the South Korean speakers ceased their broadcasts. These 11 loudspeakers can be heard up to into North Korean territory. This enables the broadcasts to influence possible defectors staying near the border as well as create bothersome propaganda that North Korean soldiers cannot escape.
The dissemination of K-pop and Korean media has been crucial in presenting the realities of North Korea to its citizens. By detailing the basic conditions of life in South Korea and introducing foreign ideologies, Korean media has aroused civil unrest amongst both citizens and elites concerning the disparities between living conditions inside and outside North Korea.
A defector explains that, when he escaped in 2012, only the wealthy families were the ones consuming the South Korean media because the costs of the flash drives and technology to use them were so high. Because most youths lacked the resources to afford the drives, most consumers of South Korean media before 2012 were the middle-aged elite who favored K-dramas over K-pop due to their more traditional behavior. The current high demand for Korean media continues to rise as now approximately 70% of North Koreans consume foreign media in their homes,
which accounts for the higher youth following of South Korean media today. One researcher at the
Korea Institute for National Unification claims to have never met a single defector who had not seen or listened to foreign media before entering South Korea. Yet experts remain wary that a cultural uprising will occur because of the media. Consuming South Korean media serves many purposes for North Koreans such as enjoyment and education, but few consider uprooting a totalitarian regime because of the cultures they've experienced through K-pop and K-dramas.
Even North Korean leader
Kim Jong-un has shown a liking for K-pop music. In 2018, Kim stated he was "deeply moved" after attending a two-hour concert in
Pyongyang
Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populat ...
featuring South Korean performers such as singer
Cho Yong-pil and the popular girl band
Red Velvet. This historic concert marks the first performance by South Korean artists attended by a North Korean leader in Pyongyang. The concert featuring over 150 South Korean artists, attended by 1500 North Korean elites, also displays growing relations between the North and the South. None of the song line ups, lyrics, or dance moves of the performers were asked to be changed by traditionalist North Korean officials. This acceptance of the K-pop genre and its content shows a stark contrast to Kim Jong Un's historically stringent policies on foreign media. The South Korean artists also performed alongside notable North Korean artists in the following week. Recordings of both performances have been made public to South Koreans, though no reports have been made of their release to the North Korean public. Despite all the previous events Kim Jong-un has changed his stance on K-pop since 2021 by referring to it as a "vicious cancer" and viewing it as a threat to North Korean society.
Taiwan
Despite sharing a similar past, the Taiwanese did not carry a positive sentiment towards South Korea after 1992, which is when South Korea broke off its diplomatic relationship with Taiwan in order to pursue one with mainland China. This changed in the early 2000s as the cultural dispersion of ''Hallyu'' has contributed to the reconstruction of South Korea's image among the Taiwanese. This change was partly prompted by the South Korean government, which wished to encourage goodwill between the two countries after the break of diplomacy. Many Taiwanese have since remarked that Korean popular music and Korean dramas have helped to foster a renewed interest and healthier relationship with South Korea.
Southeast Asia
Singapore
There is a thriving K-pop fanbase in Singapore, where idol groups, such as
2NE1,
BTS,
Girls' Generation,
Got7 and
Exo, often hold concert tour dates. The popularity of K-pop alongside Korean dramas has influenced the aesthetics image of Singaporeans. Korean-style "straight eyebrows" have become quite popular among many Singaporean females and males of Chinese, Malay and Indian descent. Singaporean beauty salons have seen an increase in the number of customers interested in getting Korean-style "straight eyebrows" and Korean-style haircuts in recent years. On August 5, 2017, Singapore hosted the 10th Music Bank World Tour, a concert spin-off of Music Bank, a popular weekly music programme by South Korean broadcaster KBS. This event proved the immense popularity of the ''Hallyu'' wave in Singapore.
Malaysia
In Malaysia, among the three main ethnic groups—
Malay,
Chinese and
Indian—many prefer to listen to music in their own languages, but K-pop and Korean movies and TV series have become popular among all three ethnic groups, which Malaysian firms have capitalized upon. The popularity of K-pop has also resulted in politicians bringing K-pop idols to the country in order to attract young voters.Malaysians have accepted the Korean Wave more rapidly and even more favorably, notably in the 2010s, despite the fact that it came to Malaysia later and that the first reaction there was relatively hostile compared to other nations. Approximately 80% of Malaysian respondents have begun learning the Korean language due to their keen interest in Korean culture. Malaysia is also seventh in the world for the quantity of travelers visiting Korea.
Indonesia
K-pop along with Korean TV series and movies has turned into popular culture, especially among the young generation of Indonesia. This trend can be observed in any major city in the country. K-pop has also influenced music in Indonesia. Popularity of Korean culture has increased continuously in Indonesia since the early 2000s, starting with the East Asian popular culture boom.
Philippines
Korean telenovelas were aired locally in the Philippines starting in 2003, marking a further expansion of the Hallyu wave. K-pop took longer to catch on; it gained popularity through the internet, and through Korean expatriate celebrities like
Sandara Park. Super Junior held a concert in the Philippines in 2010.
Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...
already had numerous contacts with South Korea in the past and even shared a similar political situation, notably the separation in half of both nations. Despite the tragedies of the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
, the country presently remains welcoming of the Korean influence on the Vietnamese population.
Vietnamese pop music, known as
V-pop, is heavily influenced by K-pop in terms of music production and music videos.
In 2015, the northern capital city of
Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi i ...
hosted the Music Bank World Tour. In the year of 2018, V Live and RBW Entertainment Vietnam launched special monthly mini-concerts called "V Heartbeat Live," inviting both V-pop and K-pop stars to perform, such as
Winner,
Momoland,
IKon,
Sunmi, and more. In the same year,
Park Ji-yeon collaborated with a Vietnamese singer, Soobin Hoàng Sơn, releasing Vietnamese and Korean versions of the single "Between Us." K-pop, and
Korean culture
The traditional culture of Korea is the shared cultural and historical heritage of Korea and southern Manchuria before the division of Korea in 1945. Manchuria refers to the ancient geographical and historical region in Northeast Asia, includ ...
in general, gained popularity mainly because of the Vietnamese youth.
South Korean entertainment companies are investing and searching for talent in Vietnam. For example, SM Entertainment announced plans for a Vietnamese sub-unit of the Korean boy group
NCT
NCT may stand for: Tests
* National Car Test, Ireland, a roadworthiness test for cars
* National Curriculum Tests, in the English education system
Organizations and companies
* Nashville Children's Theatre, the oldest professional children's thea ...
, which executive producer Lee Soo-man called "NCT-V," to promote V-pop globally. Lee also said that Vietnamese culture is extremely similar to Korean culture, which is favorable for both countries in terms of global expansion. In 2018, SM Entertainment hosted their annual Global Audition in Hanoi and
Ho Chi Minh City
, population_density_km2 = 4,292
, population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2
, population_demonym = Saigonese
, blank_name = GRP (Nominal)
, blank_info = 2019
, blank1_name = – Total
, blank1_ ...
for the first time ever.
Cube Entertainment held an audition session in 2018. On January 11–13 in 2019, Big Hit Entertainment established a joint venture with entertainment company
CJ E&M to host an audition called the "2019 Belift Global Audition." SBS also announced that popular variety show "
Running Man" will be getting a Vietnamese version. These are prime examples of ''hallyu'' and the rising popularity of K-pop in Vietnam.
South Asia
Bangladesh
Bangladeshi youths, especially teens, have shown great attraction to Korean pop music as they described such songs make them feel better. Starting from 2015, Bangladesh began to participate in an annual event called
K-Pop World Music Festival which started in 2011 by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The enti ...
of the Republic of Korea in cooperation with
The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS). The objective of the event is not only to bring the Hallyu fans all over the world to South Korea but also to bring people from different countries together in the name of culture.
India
In the
Northeast India
, native_name_lang = mni
, settlement_type =
, image_skyline =
, image_alt =
, image_caption =
, motto =
, image_map = Northeast india.png
, ...
n state of
Manipur
Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a States and territories of India, state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It ...
, where separatists have banned Bollywood movies, consumers have turned to Korean popular culture for their entertainment needs. The
BBC's correspondent Sanjoy Majumder reported that Korean entertainment products are mostly unlicensed copies smuggled in from neighbouring Burma, and are generally well received by the local population. This has led to the increasing use of Korean phrases in common parlance amongst the young people of Manipur.
In order to capitalize on the popularity of K-pop in Manipur, many hairdressing salons have offered "Korean-style" cuts based on the hairstyles of K-pop boy bands.
This wave of Korean popular culture is currently spreading from Manipur to the neighbouring state of
Nagaland
Nagaland () is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the ...
. K-pop is catching up in various other states of the country and K-pop festivals and competitions draw thousands of fans.
Nepal
In
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...
, K-pop gained popularity along with Korean dramas and films. K-pop has become influential in the Nepali music industry and K-pop music videos are often used as an accompaniment to Nepali music on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...
.
North America
In 2006, Rain held sold-out concerts in New York and Las Vegas as part of his
Rain's Coming World Tour.
In 2009, the Wonder Girls became the first K-pop artist to debut on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. They went on to join the
Jonas Brothers
The Jonas Brothers () are an American pop rock band. Formed in 2005, they gained popularity from their appearances on the Disney Channel television network. They consist of three brothers: Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas, and Nick Jonas. Raised i ...
on the
Jonas Brothers World Tour 2009. In 2010, they toured 20 cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and were named
House of Blues "Artist of the Month" for June.
In 2010, SM Entertainment held the
SMTown Live '10 World Tour with dates in Los Angeles, Paris, Tokyo, and New York. The same year, during the 8th Annual
Korean Music Festival, K-pop artists made their first appearances at the
Hollywood Bowl.
Notable K-pop concerts in the United States in 2011 include the
KBS Concert at the New York Korea Festival, the K-Pop Masters Concert in Las Vegas, and the Korean Music Wave in Google, which was held at
Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
's headquarters in
Mountain View, California
Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, it has a population of 82,376.
Mountain View was integral to the early history and growth of Silicon Valley, and is th ...
.
2012 marked a breakthrough year for K-pop in North America.
At the start of the year, Girls' Generation performed the English version of "
The Boys
Boys are young male humans.
Boys or The Boys may also refer to:
Film and television Films
* ''The Boys'' (1962 British film), a courtroom drama by Sidney J. Furie
* ''The Boys'' (1962 Finnish film), a war drama by Mikko Niskanen
* ''Boys'' ( ...
" on the late-night talk show ''The
Late Show with David Letterman'' and also on the daytime talk show ''
Live! with Kelly'', becoming the first Korean musical act to perform on these shows, and the first Korean act to perform on syndicated television in the United States. In the same year, the group formed their first sub-unit, entitled
Girls' Generation-TTS, or simply "TTS," composed of members
Taeyeon,
Tiffany
Tiffany may refer to:
People
* Tiffany (given name), list of people with this name
* Tiffany (surname), list of people with this surname
Known mononymously as "Tiffany":
* Tiffany Darwish, (born 1971), an American singer, songwriter, actress kn ...
, and
Seohyun. The subgroup's debut EP, ''
Twinkle'', peaked at #126 on the Billboard 200. In May,
SMTown
SM Town (stylized as SMTOWN) is a musical collective for the recording artists under South Korean entertainment company SM Entertainment.
SM Town artists have performed at the annual SM Town Live world tours since the SM Town Live '08 Asia to ...
returned to California again with the
SMTown Live World Tour III in
Anaheim
Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-mos ...
. In August, as part of their
New Evolution Global Tour, 2NE1 held their first American concert in the
New York Metropolitan Area
The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass, at , and one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. The vast metropolitan area ...
at the
Prudential Center of
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...
. In November, as part of their Alive Tour, Big Bang held their first solo concert in America, visiting the
Honda Center in Los Angeles and the
Prudential Center in Newark. The tickets sold out in only a few hours, and additional dates were added. On November 13, the American singer-songwriter
Madonna and backup dancers performed "
Gangnam Style" alongside
Psy during a concert at
Madison Square Garden in New York City. Psy later told reporters that his gig with Madonna had "topped his list of accomplishments."
On January 29, 2013,
Billboard, one of America's most popular music magazines, launched
Billboard K-Town, an online
column on its website that covered K-pop news, artists, concerts, and chart information.
In March of that year,
f(x)
F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''.
Hist ...
performed at the
K-Pop Night Out at SXSW
Korea Spotlight, originally named K-Pop Night Out at SXSW (KPNO), is an annual concert of South Korean artists held in the United States, organized by Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA). It started in 2013, and is a music showcase of the annu ...
in
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
, alongside
The Geeks, who represented Korean rock. f(x) was the first K-pop group ever to perform at SXSW.
Mnet hosted its Kcon event in NY and LA in July 2016.
In 2017, BTS was nominated for the
Top Social Artist Award at the 2017
Billboard Music Award
The ''Billboard'' Music Awards are honors given out annually by '' Billboard'', a publication covering the music business and a music popularity chart. The ''Billboard'' Music Awards show has been held annually since 1990, with the exception of ...
s. Their winning of the award marks the first time a Korean group has won a Billboard Award, and the second time a Korean artist has won the award, after Psy's win in 2013. BTS won the award at the 2017, 2018, and 2019 Billboard Music Awards, as well as
Top Duo/Group in 2019. They performed at the 2017
American Music Awards and the 2018 Billboard Music Awards, making them one of the first Korean groups to have performed at either awards show. BTS's album
Love Yourself: Tear reached #1 on the
Billboard 200
The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artist ...
, making it the first Korean act to do so. Additionally, BTS's single "
Fake Love" debuted at #10 on the
Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...
, making them the second Korean artist to chart in the top ten.
On August 21, 2020, BTS' song
Dynamite debuted at number 1 on the
Billboard Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...
, making it their first ever single to top the Billboard chart. Their next single,
Life Goes On, also managed to top the
chart upon release on November 20, 2020.
Latin America
Many idol groups have loyal fan bases in Latin America. Since 2009, about 260 fan clubs with a total of over 20,000 and 8,000 active members have been formed in
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...
and
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
, respectively.
In 2011, the United Cube Concert was held in
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...
, shortly after the second round of the first
K-Pop Cover Dance Festival was held in Brazil, with MBLAQ as judges.
In March 2012,
JYJ performed in Chile and Peru. When the group arrived at the
Jorge Chávez International Airport
Jorge Chávez International Airport (Aeropuerto Internacional Jorge Chávez) is Peru's main international and domestic airport. It is located in Callao, northwest from Lima Center, the nation's capital city and from the district of Mira ...
in Peru for the JYJ World Tour Concert, they were escorted by airport security officials through a private exit due to safety reasons concerning the large number of fans (over 3,000). At the
Explanada Sur del Estadio Monumental in Lima, some fans camped out for days in to see JYJ. In April,
Caracol TV and
Arirang TV jointly aired a K-pop reality show in
Colombia.
In September,
Junsu became the first K-pop idol to perform solo in Brazil and Mexico, after the Wonder Girls in
Monterrey
Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is ancho ...
in 2009.
The concerts sold out well in advance.
That year there were 70 K-pop fan clubs in Mexico, with at least 60,000 members altogether.
In January 2014,
Kim Hyung-jun performed in Peru, Chile, and Bolivia, becoming the first K-pop idol to perform in Bolivia. The tour proved his popularity in the continent as both fans and the media followed him everywhere he went, causing traffic on the roads and police to be called to maintain safety. Fans were also seen pitching their tents outside the concert venue for days before the actual concert.
Mexico
Korean media in
Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
experienced a surge in 2002 after Mexican governor,
Arturo Montiel Rojas
Arturo Montiel Rojas (born October 15, 1943) is a Mexican politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He was a governor of the State of México and a federal deputy.
Early life and education
Montiel is the son of Greg ...
, visited South Korea. From his trip, he brought Korean series, movies, and other programs to Mexico State's broadcasting channel:
Televisión Mexiquense (channel 34). Korean dramas exposed the Mexican public to Korean products and spurred interest in other aspects of Korean culture. K-pop began to gain ground in Mexico due to the series the music accompanied. Fans particularly sought out the music of soundtracks respective to Korean dramas that were broadcast.
However, K-pop's arrival to Mexico is also attributed to the influence of Japanese media in Mexico and the introduction of ''
PIU'' (''Pump It Up''). The comic convention, La Mole, commenced selling Japanese comics and music and later commenced to sell K-pop. PIUs combined gaming and dancing, introducing the Mexican youth to Korean gaming software and generating interest in Korean music.
K-pop's presence in Mexico can be outlined through the growing number of Korean music acts in the country. In recent years, the number of K-pop concerts in Mexico has risen and branched into other portions of the country. Idol groups, including Big Bang and
NU'EST, have visited Mexico through their respective world tours. JYJ's
Kim Junsu became the first Korean star to perform solo. His concert held in Mexico City sold out in advance. The
Music Bank World Tour also brought various acts to the Mexican public. Many of those groups covered widely known songs, such as Exo's cover of Sabor A Mi.
In 2017, Mexico also became the first Latin American country to host
KCON. The two-day convention held on March 17–18 brought over 33,000 fans to
Arena Ciudad de México.
Much like artists during Music Bank, idols covered Spanish songs.
The strength and large number of fan clubs have continuously helped promote and support K-pop across the country. Over 70 fan clubs dedicated to Korean music are present in Mexico, bringing together around 30,000 fans. Although many fan clubs were created around 2003, they achieved a public presence in 2005 when Korea's ex-president
Roh Moo Hyun visited Mexico for a meeting with Mexico's ex-president
Vicente Fox Quesada. Around 30 Hallyu fan clubs held a "rally" asking Roh to bring actors
Jang Dong-gun and
Ahn Jae-wook
Ahn Jae-wook (born September 12, 1971) is a South Korean actor and singer.
Career
Ahn Jae-wook spent most of his childhood in his hometown, the district of Donam-dong in Seoul, before graduating from Seoul Institute of the Arts, where he major ...
to their country.
Demonstrations have continued into recent years. On May 13, 2013, a large march was held in Mexico City's Zócalo. Called ''KPOP: Massive March K–Pop Mexico II'', it was the second mass march that brought together hundreds of avid K-Pop fans.
However, larger fan club organizations in Mexico receive indirect or direct support from Korean cultural programs. KOFICE (Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange) and the
Korean Cultural Center, Mexico City
The Korean Cultural Center, Mexico City (Spanish: Centro Cultural Coreano, Ciudad de México, hangul: 한국문화원,멕시코 시티), is a non-profit Korean language and cultural exchange center in Polanco, Mexico City. It is supported by the ...
often work in conjunction with fan clubs. These larger organizations contain multiple fan clubs within their structure. The three largest are MexiCorea, Hallyu Mexican Lovers, and HallyuMx. Both MexiCorea and Hallyu Mexican Lovers are supported by KOFICE while HallyuMx previously worked with the Korean Cultural Center and the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Mexico.
Europe
In 2010, both the SMTown Live '10 World Tour and the Super Junior
Super Show 4 Tour were held in Paris.
In February 2011,
Teen Top performed at the Sala Apolo concert hall in Barcelona. In May, Rain became the first K-pop artist to perform in Germany, during the
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
Music Festival.
JYJ also performed in both Berlin and Barcelona. Big Bang flew to
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingd ...
and won the Best Worldwide Act during the
2011 MTV EMAs in Northern Ireland.
In Poland, the K-pop Star Exhibition was held in the
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...
Korean Culture Center.
In February 2012,
Beast
Beast most often refers to:
* Non-human animal
* Monster
Beast or Beasts may also refer to:
Bible
* Beast (Revelation), two beasts described in the Book of Revelation
Computing and gaming
* Beast (card game), English name of historical Fren ...
held their
Beautiful Show in Berlin. According to the
Berliner Zeitung
The ''Berliner Zeitung'' (, ''Berlin Newspaper'') is a daily newspaper based in Berlin, Germany. Founded in East Germany in 1945, it is the only East German paper to achieve national prominence since reunification. It is published by Berliner ...
, many fans who attended were not just from Germany but also from neighbouring countries such as France and Switzerland. Also in February, the
Music Bank World Tour drew more than 10,000 fans to the
Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy. That year, artists such as Beast and
4Minute performed during the United Cube Concert in London, where the MBC Korean Culture Festival was also held. When Shinee arrived at the
London Heathrow Airport for a concert at the
Odeon West End in the same year, part of the airport became temporarily overrun by frenzied fans. The reservation system of the Odeon West End crashed for the first time one minute after ticket sales began as the concert drew an unexpectedly large response. At this time, Shinee also held a 30-minute performance at the
Abbey Road Studio. The ticket demand for this performance was so high that fashion magazine
Elle gave away forty tickets through a lottery, and the performance was also televised in Japan through six different channels.
Also in 2012, Big Bang won the Best Fan category in the Italian
TRL Awards.
In March 2022, KPOP.FLEX took place at Deutsche Bank Park Stadium in
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...
, Germany. Over 65,000 fans attended from over 80 different countries.
Russia
K-pop also saw a surge in popularity in Russia. On September 6, 2011, 57 dance teams took part in the
K-pop Cover Dance Festival. During the second round of the competition, Shinee flew to Moscow as judges, also performing to Russian fans. The following year, Russian youths launched K-Plus, a Korean culture magazine, and the number of Russian K-pop fans was reported at 50,000.
On February 3, 2014,
Park Jung-min became the first ever Korean singer to hold a solo concert in Moscow. in club Moscow Hall 600 place with tour "Park Jung Min Reverso Tour."
B.A.P held concerts during their tour "Live On Earth 2016 World Tour" in Adrenaline Stadium and their tour "2017 World Tour 'Party Baby!'" in YotaSpace.
On June 6, 2018,
Got7 performed in the concert hall Adrenaline Stadium in Moscow for their concert tour "Eyes on You."
On October 7, 2018
Zico during concert tour "King Of the Zungle" performed at the club ГЛАВCLUB Green Concert in Moscow.
On December 8, 2018, on the MTV Russia channel, the project of the mobile operator
MTS, MTCamp, was launched (the acronym of their company name and the word amp and at the same time MTV Trainee Camp) the result of which is half a year should be the junior team from 5 members in the style of k-pop. The show is hosted by figure skater
Evgenia Medvedeva, a fan of the Korean version of Exo, Exo-K. The show collaborates with the production company
Avex Trax.
On July 15, Exo's "
Power" and BTS' "Fake Love" were played at the 2018 World Cup Final Match in Russia.
In 2022, the term "K pop" was included in the French dictionary ''Larousse''.
Middle East
K-pop has become increasingly popular across the Middle East over recent years, particularly among younger fans.
In July 2011, Israeli fans met South Korea's Ambassador to Israel, Ma Young-sam, and traveled to Paris for the SMTown Live '10 World Tour in Europe. According to Dr. Nissim Atmazgin, a professor of East Asian Studies at
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, "Many young people look at K-pop as culture capital—something that makes them stand out from the crowd." As of 2012, there are over 5,000 K-pop fans in Israel and 3,000 in the Palestinian territories. Some dedicated Israeli and Palestinian fans see themselves as "cultural missionaries" and actively introduce K-pop to their friends and relatives, further spreading the ''Hallyu'' wave within their communities.
In 2012, the number of fans in Turkey surpassed 100,000, reaching 150,000 in 2013.
ZE:A appeared for a fan meet-and-greet session in Dubai and a concert in Abu Dhabi. In Cairo, hundreds of fans went to the
Maadi Library
Maadi ( ar, المعادي / transliterated: ) is a leafy suburban district south of Cairo, Egypt, on the east bank of the Nile about upriver from downtown Cairo. The Nile at Maadi is parallelled by the Corniche, a waterfront promenade ...
's stage theater to see the final round of the K-POP Korean Song Festival, organized by the Korean Embassy.
In January 2018, boy group
Exo was invited to
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics ...
,
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at ...
for the Dubai Fountain Show. Their single "
Power" was the first K-pop song to be played at the fountain show. In 2019, boy band
BTS was invited to perform at
King Fahd International Stadium by
Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman
Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud ( ar, محمد بن سلمان آل سعود, translit=Muḥammad bin Salmān Āl Su‘ūd; born 31 August 1985), colloquially known by his initials MBS or MbS, is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. H ...
. They are the first boy band to play a solo stadium tour in Saudi Arabia.
Oceania
The K-pop Wave has led to the creation of a number of dance groups that perform dance covers of K-pop music and teach K-pop choreography. In the
K-Pop World Festival competition, AO Crew has represented Australia three times—in 2013, 2014, and 2016.
Also, another dance cover group, IMI Dance, was the opening show for the RapBeat Show in 2017.
Several dance studios provide classes that are based on K-pop choreography. Dance group Crave NV teaches a K-pop class every Saturday at their dance studio in New Zealand. A Sydney-based agency, The academy, began offering K-pop boot camps and other programs in 2016.
A number of K-pop idols have hailed from Oceania. Australian-Korean artists include
Blackpink's
Rosé
A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the skin contact metho ...
, ZE:A's Kevin Kim,
One Way's Peter Hyun,
C-Clown's Rome,
Stray Kids' Bang Chan and Felix,
EvoL Evol may refer to:
* ''Evol'' (Sonic Youth album), 1986
* ''Evol'' (Future album), 2016
* EvoL, South Korean girl group
* "E.V.O.L.", a song by Marina and the Diamonds
* ' Kamen Rider Evol', the main antagonist of a Japanese tokusatsu series, ...
's Hayana, and
LEDapple
Led Apple (; stylized as LEDApple) was a South Korean rock band formed by Starkim Entertainment in 2010. The band's final lineup consisted of Seo Youngjun (Jun), Lee Kyumin (Kei) and Kim Hyoseok (AKi)
The part "Led" in LEDApple stood for "Log ...
's Hanbyul.
In 2011, the K-Pop Music Festival at the
ANZ Stadium was held in Sydney, featuring Girls' Generation, TVXQ, Beast, Shinee, 4minute,
Miss A,
2AM, and MBLAQ. There was also demand for concerts from New Zealand.
In August 2012, NU'EST visited Sydney Harbour and the
University of New South Wales, as judges of a K-pop contest being held there. The following year, 4Minute were judges at the same contest in Sydney. In October, Psy toured Australia after his single "Gangnam Style" reached number one in Australia on the
ARIA charts
The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offic ...
.
In May 2016, B.A.P held a concert in Auckland, becoming the first K-Pop group to perform in New Zealand.
KCON, an annual K-pop music and cultural convention, was launched for the first time in Australia in September 2017. They are the seventh country to host KCON since 2012. It was held at Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney. The lineup for the event was
Pentagon
In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek language, Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is ...
,
Wanna One,
Girl's Day,
Cosmic Girls (WJSN),
Exo,
SF9,
Victon,
Monsta X, and
UP10TION.
Foreign relations
On May 25, 2010, South Korea responded to the alleged North Korean sinking of a navy ship by broadcasting
4Minute's single "
HuH Huh may refer to:
* Huh (disfluency), a non-lexical element in speech
* Huh (god) or Heh, an Egyptian deity
* ''huH'' (magazine), a defunct American magazine
* Huh (name) or Heo, a Korean family name
* "HuH" (song), a 2010 song by South Korean ...
" across the
DMZ. In response, North Korea affirmed its decision to "destroy" any speakers set up along the border. That year, ''
The Chosun Ilbo'' reported that the
Ministry of National Defense had considered setting up large TV screens across the border to broadcast music videos by several popular K-pop girl groups such as
Girls' Generation,
Wonder Girls,
After School,
Kara and 4Minute as part of "psychological warfare" against North Korea.
In September 2012, North Korea uploaded a video with a manipulated image of South Korean president
Park Geun-hye
Park Geun-hye (; ; often in English ; born 2 February 1952) is a South Korean politician who served as the 11th president of South Korea from 2013 to 2017, until she was impeached and convicted on related corruption charges.
Park was the f ...
performing the dance moves of "
Gangnam Style." The video labeled her as a "devoted" admirer of the
Yusin
The fourth Republic of Korea () was the government of South Korea from November 1972 to March 1981.
The Fourth republic was founded on the approval of the Yushin Constitution in the 1972 South Korean constitutional referendum, 1972 constitution ...
system of autocratic rule set up by her father,
Park Chung-hee
Park Chung-hee (, ; 14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the dictator of South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979; ruling as an unelected military strongman from 1961 ...
.
Since the early 2010s, several political leaders have acknowledged the global rise of Korean pop culture, most notably U.S. President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
, who made an official visit to South Korea in 2012 and mentioned the strong influences of social media networks, adding that it was "no wonder so many people around the world have caught the Korean wave, ''
Hallyu''."
A few months later,
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...
delivered a speech in front of the
National Assembly of South Korea
The National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, often shortened to the National Assembly in domestic English-language media, is the unicameral national legislature of South Korea. Elections to the National Assembly are held every four years. T ...
, where he noted South Korea's "great global success" in the fields of culture, sports and the arts, before pointing out that the Korean Wave was "making its mark on the world." This occurred a few days after
U.S. State Department
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...
spokeswoman
Victoria Nuland remarked in a daily press briefing that her daughter "loves Korean pop," which sparked a media frenzy in South Korea after a journalist from the country's publicly funded
Yonhap News Agency
Yonhap News Agency is a major South Korean news agency. It is based in Seoul, South Korea. Yonhap provides news articles, pictures and other information to newspapers, TV networks and other media in South Korea.
History
Yonhap (, , translit. ' ...
arranged an interview with Nuland and described Nuland's teenage daughter as "crazy about Korean music and dance."
In November 2012, the British
Minister of State for the
Foreign Office,
Hugo Swire, addressed a group of South Korean diplomats at the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...
, where he emphasized the close ties and mutual cooperation shaping
South Korea–United Kingdom relations and added: "As 'Gangnam Style' has demonstrated, your music is global too." In February 2013, the
Vice President of Peru,
Marisol Espinoza, gave an interview with South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, where she voiced her desire for more South Korean companies to invest in her country and named K-pop as "one of the main factors that made Peruvian people wanting to get to know South Korea more."
According to an article published by the international relations magazine ''
Foreign Policy'', the spread of Korean popular culture across Southeast Asia, parts of South America, and parts of the Middle East are illustrating how the gradual cessation of European
colonialism
Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their rel ...
is giving way and making room for unexpected
soft power
In politics (and particularly in international politics), soft power is the ability to co-opt rather than coerce (contrast hard power). In other words, soft power involves shaping the preferences of others through appeal and attraction. A de ...
outside of the Western world. On the other hand, an article published by ''
The Quietus
''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics.
Content
''The Quietu ...
'' magazine expressed concern that discussions about ''Hallyu'' as a form of soft power seems to bear a whiff of the "old Victorian fear of
Yellow Peril
The Yellow Peril (also the Yellow Terror and the Yellow Specter) is a racist, racial color terminology for race, color metaphor that depicts the peoples of East Asia, East and Southeast Asia as an existential danger to the Western world. As a ...
."
In August 2016, it was reported that China planned to ban Korean media broadcasts and K-pop idol promotions within the country in opposition to South Korea's defensive deployment of
THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) missiles.
The reportage of these planned regulatory measures caused an immediate negative impact on shares in Korean talent agencies, although stock prices later recovered.
On April 1, 2018,
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and ...
n leader
Kim Jong-Un watched a K-pop concert in Pyongyang.
See also
*
Contemporary culture of South Korea
*
Korean Wave (a.k.a. ''Hallyu'')
*
Korean language
Korean (South Korean: , ''hangugeo''; North Korean: , ''chosŏnmal'') is the native language for about 80 million people, mostly of Koreans, Korean descent. It is the official language, official and national language of both North Korea and So ...
&
Hangul
The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The ...
*
Korean idol
An idol () refers to a type of celebrity working in the field of K-pop in fandom culture in South Korea, either as a member of a group or as a solo act. K-pop idols are characterized by the highly manufactured star system that they are produced by ...
*
Korean hip hop
*
Korean rock
*
Korean ballad
*
Korean drama
*
Cinema of South Korea
*
List of K-pop artists
*
List of South Korean idol groups
*
List of South Korean boy bands
*
List of South Korean girl groups
*
List of South Korean co-ed groups
*
List of K-Pop concerts held outside Asia
*
Music industry of East Asia The music industry of East Asia, a region that includes Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea and Taiwan is a rapidly growing economic sector that is home to some of the world's largest music markets.
Mileston ...
*
South Korean music
*
J-Pop (
Japan)
*
C-Pop (
China)
*
Taiwanese pop
*
List of popular music genres
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
{{Pop music
South Korean popular culture
Articles containing video clips
Pop music genres
Pop music by country
Popular music by country