Jinusean,
Solid
Solid is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being liquid, gas, and plasma). The molecules in a solid are closely packed together and contain the least amount of kinetic energy. A solid is characterized by structur ...
,
Deux Deux and D'eux means "of them" or "about them" while also being the number "two" in French.
*2 (number), the natural number following 1 and preceding 3
**Two (disambiguation)
*Folie à deux, a rare psychiatric syndrome
Geography
* Deux Montagne ...
,
1TYM
1TYM (Korean: 원타임, pronounced as "One Time") was a four-member South Korean group. They were Teddy Park (also known as Park Hong-jun), Oh Jinhwan, Song Baekyoung, and Danny Im (also known as Im Taebin).
History
In the late 1990s, YG CE ...
and
Drunken Tiger
Drunken Tiger () was a Korean hip hop group that debuted in 1999 and has since released several albums and won numerous awards. They are known as pioneers of Korean hip-hop who helped bring the genre into the mainstream.
The group's original lin ...
.
In 1995, South Korean record producer
Lee Soo-man
Lee Soo-man (, born 18 June 1952) is a South Korean business executive and record producer who is best known for being the founder of SM Entertainment, a multinational South Korean entertainment company based in Seoul. He has also been referred ...
, who was educated in the U.S. and was exposed to the trends in American music, founded the entertainment company
SM Entertainment
SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies where it was established in 1995 by record executive and record producer Lee Soo-man. The company h ...
. Former Seo Taiji & Boys' member
Yang Hyun-suk
Yang Hyun-suk (born January 9, 1970) is a South Korean music executive, rapper, dancer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame as a member of Seo Taiji and Boys during the 1990s. After the group disbanded, he founded and became the Ex ...
formed
YG Entertainment
YG Entertainment Inc. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production comp ...
in 1996, and
Park Jin-young
Park Jin-young (Hangul: 박진영; born December 13, 1971), also known by his stage names J. Y. Park and The Asiansoul or the initials JYP, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, record producer, record executive, and reality television show ju ...
established
JYP Entertainment
JYP Entertainment Corporation () is a South Korean multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate founded in 1997 by J. Y. Park. It is one of the largest entertainment companies in South Korea, and operates as a record label, tale ...
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
Candy, also called sweets (British English) or lollies (Australian English, New Zealand English), is a confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, called ''sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, i ...
" 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
Sechs Kies (pronounced as ; ko, 젝스키스) is a first generation South Korean boy band. Making their debut on April 15, 1997, they are one of the first K-pop idol groups, credited with pioneering the idol scene and fandom culture. The grou ...
,
S.E.S.,
Fin.K.L
Fin.K.L ( ko, 핑클) is a South Korean girl group formed by DSP Media in 1998 consisting of members Lee Hyori, Ock Joo-hyun, Lee Jin, and Sung Yu-ri. Fin.K.L was one of the most popular K-pop groups of the late 1990s and early 2000s, alongsi ...
,
NRG,
Baby Vox
Baby V.O.X ( ko, 베이비복스) was a South Korean K-pop group formed in 1997, whose final and best-known line-up consisted of Kim E-Z, Lee Hee-jin, Kan Mi-youn, Shim Eun-jin, and Yoon Eun-hye. They are considered one of the most prom ...
,
Diva
Diva (; ) is the Latin word for a goddess. It has often been used to refer to a celebrated woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, theatre, cinema, fashion and popular music. If referring to an actress, the meaning of ''diva'' is cl ...
,
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
Idol or Idols may refer to:
Religion and philosophy
* Cult image, a neutral term for a man-made object that is worshipped or venerated for the deity, spirit or demon that it embodies or represents
* Murti, a point of focus for devotion or medit ...
business model used in
J-pop
J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the ...
, 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
Underground music is music with practices perceived as outside, or somehow opposed to, mainstream popular music culture. Underground music is intimately tied to popular music culture as a whole, so there are important tensions within underground ...
clubs and
punk rock bands such as
Crying Nut
Crying Nut () is a punk band from South Korea. They are often credited as being pioneers of the Korean punk and indie rock scenes.
The group began performing in 1995 in the Hongdae club scene in Seoul. They released their debut album, '' Speed U ...
.
The
1997 Asian financial crisis
The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998– ...
prompted South Korean entertainers to look for new markets: H.O.T. released a Mandarin-language album
and
Diva
Diva (; ) is the Latin word for a goddess. It has often been used to refer to a celebrated woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, theatre, cinema, fashion and popular music. If referring to an actress, the meaning of ''diva'' is cl ...
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
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...
''. 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 defi ...
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 Eco ...
'' 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 f ...
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 duo consisting of U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin. They are known as in Japanese releases, and are sometimes referred to as DBSK, an abbreviation of ...
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
SS501 is a South Korean boy band consisting of five members: Kim Hyun-joong, Heo Young-saeng, Kim Kyu-jong, Park Jung-min and Kim Hyung-jun. They debuted in 2005 with the EP ''Warning'', which included their first number one song, "Never A ...
(2005),
Super Junior
Super Junior (; stylized in all caps), also known as SJ or SuJu, is a South Korean boy band formed by Lee Soo-man, the founder of SM Entertainment in 2005. They are also dubbed by the media as the "King of Hallyu Wave" due to their promine ...
(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 the ...
(2006),
Wonder Girls
Wonder Girls () was a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment. The group debuted in February 2007 with the single "Irony" and 5 members: Yeeun, Sunye, Sunmi, Hyuna and Sohee. After Hyuna's departure in July, Yubin was added into th ...
(2007),
Girls' Generation
Girls' Generation (), also known as SNSD, is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. Originally a nine-piece ensembl ...
(2007),
Kara
Kara or KARA may refer to:
Geography Localities
* Kara, Chad, a sub-prefecture
* Kára, Hungary, a village
* Kara, Uttar Pradesh, India, a township
* Kara, Iran, a village in Lorestan Province
* Kara, Republic of Dagestan, a rural locality in Da ...
(2007),
Shinee
Shinee ( ; ko, 샤이니, Syaini; ja, シャイニー, Shainī; stylized as SHINee) is a South Korean boy band formed by SM Entertainment in 2008. The group's musical impact in their native country has earned them numerous accolades and th ...
(2008),
2NE1
2NE1 (, ) was a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment, which was active between 2009 and 2016. The group was composed of four members: Bom, CL, Dara, and Minzy. Known for breaking typical stereotypes of K-pop, musical experiment ...
(2009),
4Minute
4Minute (, often stylized as 4MINUTE) was a South Korean girl group formed in 2009 by Cube Entertainment. The members of the group were Son Ji-hyun, Nam Ji-hyun, Heo Ga-yoon, Jeon Ji-yoon, Hyuna, Kim Hyuna and Kwon So-hyun. The group was known ...
(2009),
T-ara
T-ara (; ko, 티아라) are a South Korean girl group formed by MBK Entertainment in 2009, consists of four members: Qri, Eunjung, Hyomin and Jiyeon. T-ara's career is marked by hook-heavy dance-pop music, a result of their close partners ...
(2009),
f(x) (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
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
in South Korea. BoA became the first K-pop singer to reach No. 1 on the Japanese
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...
music chart
A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often ...
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
Park Jae-sang (, ; born December 31, 1977), known professionally as Psy (stylized in all caps as PSY) (; ; ), is a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Psy is known domestically for his humorous videos and stage per ...
's "
Gangnam Style
"Gangnam Style" ( ko, 강남스타일, ) is a K-pop song by South Korean rapper Psy, released on July 15, 2012, by YG Entertainment as the lead single of his sixth studio album, ''Psy 6 (Six Rules), Part 1'' (''Ssai Yukgap Part 1''). The term ...
" Gangnam Style (music video), music video 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 (BTS 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 Koreatown, Manhattan, New York City, hosting numerous concerts in the city as well as being home to K-Pop musicians. The musical ''KPOP (musical), KPOP'' opened Off-Broadway in 2017 and moved to Broadway (theater), Broadway in 2022.
Industry
Agencies
K-pop has spawned an entire industry encompassing music production 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
SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies where it was established in 1995 by record executive and record producer Lee Soo-man. The company h ...
,
YG Entertainment
YG Entertainment Inc. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production comp ...
and
JYP Entertainment
JYP Entertainment Corporation () is a South Korean multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate founded in 1997 by J. Y. Park. It is one of the largest entertainment companies in South Korea, and operates as a record label, tale ...
, often referred to as the 'Big Three.'
These record labels also function as representative Talent agent, 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 became the first distributor of K-pop on ITunes Store, 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 (magazine), Billboard'', the Korean music industry grossed nearly US$3.4 billion—a 27.8% increase on the previous year—and was recognized by ''Time (magazine), Time'' 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, ''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 (group), Exo became the third K-pop act to enter the Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200 that year after
2NE1
2NE1 (, ) was a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment, which was active between 2009 and 2016. The group was composed of four members: Bom, CL, Dara, and Minzy. Known for breaking typical stereotypes of K-pop, musical experiment ...
,
Girls' Generation
Girls' Generation (), also known as SNSD, is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. Originally a nine-piece ensembl ...
and
Wonder Girls
Wonder Girls () was a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment. The group debuted in February 2007 with the single "Irony" and 5 members: Yeeun, Sunye, Sunmi, Hyuna and Sohee. After Hyuna's departure in July, Yubin was added into th ...
were the first K-Pop act to chart on Billboard 200.
In October 2016,
BTS's album ''Wings (BTS album), Wings'' 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.
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 units (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
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...
'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
Park Jae-sang (, ; born December 31, 1977), known professionally as Psy (stylized in all caps as PSY) (; ; ), is a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Psy is known domestically for his humorous videos and stage per ...
'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 (BTS 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
Blackpink (, commonly stylized in all caps or as BLɅϽKPIИK) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment, consisting of members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa. The group debuted in August 2016 with their single album '' Square ...
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 (Blackpink and Selena Gomez song), Ice Cream 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
Lee Soo-man (, born 18 June 1952) is a South Korean business executive and record producer who is best known for being the founder of SM Entertainment, a multinational South Korean entertainment company based in Seoul. He has also been referred ...
, founder of S.M. Entertainment, as part of a concept labelled "cultural technology." ''The Verge'' described this as an "extreme" system of artist management. According to the CEO of Universal Music Group, Universal Music'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 (South Korean TV series), 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
YG Entertainment Inc. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production comp ...
's ''WIN: Who Is Next'', which formed boy group Winner (band), Winner, and its follow-up ''MIX&MATCH'', which formed iKon;
JYP Entertainment
JYP Entertainment Corporation () is a South Korean multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate founded in 1997 by J. Y. Park. It is one of the largest entertainment companies in South Korea, and operates as a record label, tale ...
's ''Sixteen (TV series), 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 (South Korean band), Pentagon; Mnet (TV channel), Mnet's ''Produce 101'', which formed girl groups I.O.I and Iz*One and boy groups Wanna One and X1 (band), X1;
Duble Kick Entertainment's ''Finding Momo Land'', which formed girl group Momoland; Mnet's ''Idol School (2017 TV series), 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 (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 (magazine), Time'' 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'', "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 duo consisting of U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin. They are known as in Japanese releases, and are sometimes referred to as DBSK, an abbreviation of ...
and a
Super Junior
Super Junior (; stylized in all caps), also known as SJ or SuJu, is a South Korean boy band formed by Lee Soo-man, the founder of SM Entertainment in 2005. They are also dubbed by the media as the "King of Hallyu Wave" due to their promine ...
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 (law), 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 (rapper), Suga 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 Jong-hyun (singer), 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, added to calls for reform.
Culture
K-pop artists are frequently referred to as South Korean idol, 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
SS501 is a South Korean boy band consisting of five members: Kim Hyun-joong, Heo Young-saeng, Kim Kyu-jong, Park Jung-min and Kim Hyung-jun. They debuted in 2005 with the EP ''Warning'', which included their first number one song, "Never A ...
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 (British newspaper), Metro'' 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 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 duo consisting of U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin. They are known as in Japanese releases, and are sometimes referred to as DBSK, an abbreviation of ...
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 the ...
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 (magazine), Time'', 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 fan, ''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
Super Junior (; stylized in all caps), also known as SJ or SuJu, is a South Korean boy band formed by Lee Soo-man, the founder of SM Entertainment in 2005. They are also dubbed by the media as the "King of Hallyu Wave" due to their promine ...
member Kim Heechul, 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 (music festival), KCON in California
* 2015–present: KCON (music festival), KCON in New York
* 2015–present: KCON (music festival), KCON in Japan
Social media
Social media sites such as YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook 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 (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
Blackpink (, commonly stylized in all caps or as BLɅϽKPIИK) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment, consisting of members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa. The group debuted in August 2016 with their single album '' Square ...
's music video for "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du, 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 List of most-viewed online videos in the first 24 hours, 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 (South Korean band), 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 (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 World War II, WWII-era restrictions imposed on exchanges and trade between Korea and Japan in the late 1990s, the first-generation girl group S.E.S. (band), S.E.S became the first Korean artists to debut in Japan in late 1998 and their first Japanese-language album Reach Out (S.E.S. 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 (BoA album), 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 BoA discography, 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 duo consisting of U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin. They are known as in Japanese releases, and are sometimes referred to as DBSK, an abbreviation of ...
(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 TVXQ albums discography, 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
SS501 is a South Korean boy band consisting of five members: Kim Hyun-joong, Heo Young-saeng, Kim Kyu-jong, Park Jung-min and Kim Hyung-jun. They debuted in 2005 with the EP ''Warning'', which included their first number one song, "Never A ...
,
Shinee
Shinee ( ; ko, 샤이니, Syaini; ja, シャイニー, Shainī; stylized as SHINee) is a South Korean boy band formed by SM Entertainment in 2008. The group's musical impact in their native country has earned them numerous accolades and th ...
,
Super Junior
Super Junior (; stylized in all caps), also known as SJ or SuJu, is a South Korean boy band formed by Lee Soo-man, the founder of SM Entertainment in 2005. They are also dubbed by the media as the "King of Hallyu Wave" due to their promine ...
,
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 the ...
, Kara (South Korean group), Kara and
Girls' Generation
Girls' Generation (), also known as SNSD, is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. Originally a nine-piece ensembl ...
. 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 (group), Exo,
BTS, Got7, Seventeen (South Korean band), Seventeen, iKon, GFriend, Astro (South Korean band), Astro, Pentagon (South Korean band), Pentagon, Twice, Monsta X, F.T. Island, FT Island, NCT 127 and
Blackpink
Blackpink (, commonly stylized in all caps or as BLɅϽKPIИK) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment, consisting of members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa. The group debuted in August 2016 with their single album '' Square ...
. 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
Sechs Kies (pronounced as ; ko, 젝스키스) is a first generation South Korean boy band. Making their debut on April 15, 1997, they are one of the first K-pop idol groups, credited with pioneering the idol scene and fandom culture. The grou ...
—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 f ...
held a concert in Beijing with 40,000 attendees.
In 2010, the
Wonder Girls
Wonder Girls () was a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment. The group debuted in February 2007 with the single "Irony" and 5 members: Yeeun, Sunye, Sunmi, Hyuna and Sohee. After Hyuna's departure in July, Yubin was added into th ...
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
SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies where it was established in 1995 by record executive and record producer Lee Soo-man. The company h ...
'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 Group, 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 Big Hit Entertainment, 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
T-ara (; ko, 티아라) are a South Korean girl group formed by MBK Entertainment in 2009, consists of four members: Qri, Eunjung, Hyomin and Jiyeon. T-ara's career is marked by hook-heavy dance-pop music, a result of their close partners ...
or representing groups which include both Chinese and Korean members like Uniq (band), Uniq and Cosmic Girls, 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 (group), Exo-M and
Super Junior-M
Super Junior-M (stylized as SJ-M), an initialism for Super Junior-Mandarin, is a Chinese sub-unit of the South Korean boy band Super Junior. The sub-unit is the first international music group in the Chinese music industry to have members of bot ...
, 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 Wu, Kris, Lu Han, Luhan, and Huang Zitao, 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, 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 North Korea#Government and politics, 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 Korean drama, 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, 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 Korean Demilitarized Zone, 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
Kim Jong-un (; , ; born 8 January 1982) is a North Korean politician who has been Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is a son of Kim Jong-il, who was North Korea's sec ...
has shown a liking for K-pop music. In 2018, Kim stated he was "deeply moved" after attending a two-hour concert in Pyongyang featuring South Korean performers such as singer
Cho Yong-pil
Cho Yong-pil (; born March 21, 1950) is a South Korean singer who is considered one of the most influential figures in Korean popular music. He debuted as a member of the rock band Atkins in 1968 and made his solo debut with the hit single "Co ...
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
2NE1 (, ) was a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment, which was active between 2009 and 2016. The group was composed of four members: Bom, CL, Dara, and Minzy. Known for breaking typical stereotypes of K-pop, musical experiment ...
,
BTS,
Girls' Generation
Girls' Generation (), also known as SNSD, is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. Originally a nine-piece ensembl ...
, Got7 and Exo (group), 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—Malaysian Malays, Malay, Malaysian Chinese, Chinese and Malaysian Indian, 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 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 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 (band), 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 Culture of Korea, Korean culture 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 (band), NCT, 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 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 (South Korean TV series), 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 Festival, 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 Korean Broadcasting System, 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 Indian state of Manipur, 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. 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, 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.
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 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 Korean Broadcasting System, 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's headquarters in Mountain View, California.
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 (Girls' Generation song), The 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 (South Korean singer), Tiffany, and Seohyun. The subgroup's debut EP, ''Twinkle (EP), Twinkle'', peaked at #126 on the Billboard 200. In May, SM Town, SMTown returned to California again with the SMTown Live World Tour III in Anaheim, California, Anaheim. In August, as part of their List of 2NE1 concert tours, New Evolution Global Tour, 2NE1 held their first American concert in the New York Metropolitan Area at the Prudential Center of Newark, New Jersey. 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
"Gangnam Style" ( ko, 강남스타일, ) is a K-pop song by South Korean rapper Psy, released on July 15, 2012, by YG Entertainment as the lead single of his sixth studio album, ''Psy 6 (Six Rules), Part 1'' (''Ssai Yukgap Part 1''). The term ...
" alongside
Psy
Park Jae-sang (, ; born December 31, 1977), known professionally as Psy (stylized in all caps as PSY) (; ; ), is a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Psy is known domestically for his humorous videos and stage per ...
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 (magazine), Billboard, one of America's most popular music magazines, launched Billboard K-Town, an online Column (periodical), column on its website that covered K-pop news, artists, concerts, and chart information.
In March of that year, F(x) (band), f(x) performed at the K-Pop Night Out at SXSW in Austin, Texas, alongside The Geeks (band), 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 Billboard Music Award for Top Social Artist, Top Social Artist Award at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards. 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 Billboard Music Award for Top Duo/Group, 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, making it the first Korean act to do so. Additionally, BTS's single "Fake Love (BTS song), Fake Love" debuted at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100, making them the second Korean artist to chart in the top ten.
On August 21, 2020, BTS' song Dynamite (BTS song), Dynamite debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it their first ever single to top the Billboard chart. Their next single, Life Goes On (BTS song), Life Goes On, also managed to top the Billboard Hot 100, 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 and Peru, respectively.
In 2011, the United Cube Concert was held in São Paulo, shortly after the second round of the first K-pop Cover Dance Festival, 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 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 Estadio Monumental "U", Explanada Sur del Estadio Monumental in Lima, some fans camped out for days in to see JYJ. In April, Caracol TV and Arirang (TV network), 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 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 experienced a surge in 2002 after Mexican governor, Arturo Montiel, Arturo Montiel Rojas, 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 ''Pump It Up (video game series), 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 (music festival), KCON. The two-day convention held on March 17–18 brought over 33,000 fans to Mexico City Arena, 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, Roh Moo Hyun visited Mexico for a meeting with Mexico's ex-president Vicente Fox, Vicente Fox Quesada. Around 30 Hallyu fan clubs held a "rally" asking Roh to bring actors Jang Dong-gun and Ahn Jae-wook 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 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 Music Festival. JYJ also performed in both Berlin and Barcelona. Big Bang flew to Belfast and won the Best Worldwide Act during the 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards, 2011 MTV EMAs in Northern Ireland.
In Poland, the K-pop Star Exhibition was held in the Warsaw Korean Culture Center.
In February 2012,
Beast held their Beautiful Show in Berlin. According to the Berliner Zeitung, 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
4Minute (, often stylized as 4MINUTE) was a South Korean girl group formed in 2009 by Cube Entertainment. The members of the group were Son Ji-hyun, Nam Ji-hyun, Heo Ga-yoon, Jeon Ji-yoon, Hyuna, Kim Hyuna and Kwon So-hyun. The group was known ...
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 Studios, Abbey Road Studio. The ticket demand for this performance was so high that fashion magazine Elle (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, 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 (singer), 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 (South Korean band), 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 (rapper), 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 (network provider), 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 (Exo song), 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'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 (group), Exo was invited to Dubai, United Arab Emirates for the Dubai Fountain Show. Their single "Power (Exo song), 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 Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. 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
The K-POP World Festival is an annual K-pop talent competition organized by South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the support of numerous government agencies. After going through a few preliminary rounds, fans of K-pop are invited by th ...
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
Blackpink (, commonly stylized in all caps or as BLɅϽKPIИK) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment, consisting of members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa. The group debuted in August 2016 with their single album '' Square ...
's Rosé (singer), Rosé, ZE:A's Kevin Kim, One Way (South Korean band), One Way's Peter Hyun, C-Clown's Rome, Stray Kids' Bang Chan and Felix, EvoL's Hayana, and Ledt, LEDapple's Hanbyul.
In 2011, the K-Pop Music Festival at the Stadium Australia, ANZ Stadium was held in Sydney, featuring Girls' Generation, TVXQ, Beast, Shinee, 4minute, Miss A, 2AM (band), 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, ARIA charts.
In May 2016, B.A.P held a concert in Auckland, becoming the first K-Pop group to perform in New Zealand.
KCON (music festival), 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 (South Korean band), Pentagon, Wanna One, Girl's Day, Cosmic Girls, Cosmic Girls (WJSN), Exo (group), Exo, SF9 (band), 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
4Minute (, often stylized as 4MINUTE) was a South Korean girl group formed in 2009 by Cube Entertainment. The members of the group were Son Ji-hyun, Nam Ji-hyun, Heo Ga-yoon, Jeon Ji-yoon, Hyuna, Kim Hyuna and Kwon So-hyun. The group was known ...
's single "HuH (4minute song), HuH" across the Korean Demilitarized Zone, 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 (Republic of Korea), 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
Girls' Generation (), also known as SNSD, is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. Originally a nine-piece ensembl ...
,
Wonder Girls
Wonder Girls () was a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment. The group debuted in February 2007 with the single "Irony" and 5 members: Yeeun, Sunye, Sunmi, Hyuna and Sohee. After Hyuna's departure in July, Yubin was added into th ...
,
After School,
Kara
Kara or KARA may refer to:
Geography Localities
* Kara, Chad, a sub-prefecture
* Kára, Hungary, a village
* Kara, Uttar Pradesh, India, a township
* Kara, Iran, a village in Lorestan Province
* Kara, Republic of Dagestan, a rural locality in Da ...
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 fi ...
performing the dance moves of "
Gangnam Style
"Gangnam Style" ( ko, 강남스타일, ) is a K-pop song by South Korean rapper Psy, released on July 15, 2012, by YG Entertainment as the lead single of his sixth studio album, ''Psy 6 (Six Rules), Part 1'' (''Ssai Yukgap Part 1''). The term ...
." The video labeled her as a "devoted" admirer of the Yusin 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, 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 (Korean Wave), Hallyu''."
A few months later, Secretary-General of the United Nations, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon delivered a speech in front of the National Assembly of South Korea, 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 United States Department of State, U.S. State Department 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 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, 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 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 defi ...
outside of the Western world. On the other hand, an article published by ''The Quietus'' 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."
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 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, 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 Korean 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 & Hangul
*
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
* South Korean music
* J-Pop (Japan)
* C-Pop (China)
* Taiwanese pop
* List of popular music genres
Notes
References
Bibliography
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*
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*
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{{Pop music
K-pop,
South Korean popular culture
Articles containing video clips
Pop music genres
Pop music by country
Popular music by country