South Korea
In the beginning, South Korea was not a developed country. After the conflict between kingdoms and World War II, Korea became a poor and underdeveloped country. South Korea at that time then tried to rise to improve the image of the country by conducting various multilateral cooperation in the economic field. One of the steps in this effort is to conduct culture exchange with several countries. This culture exchange also aims to improve South Korea’s relations with other countries. This effort succeeded in bringing good progress to South Korea in the economic field and improving the country’s bad reputation in the past.
In the late 1900s, the South Korean government began taking steps to make the country’s culture an export commodity. This policy began with the spread of cultures such as K-Drama and K-Pop to China. The streaming of Korean dramas and music in China increased dramatically, making Korean fever a trend in China at that time. After that, success began to increase in 2010, where South Korean culture was no longer only popular in China, but to various countries around the world.
This success was influenced by several factors besides the government, namely the spread of culture through students studying abroad, support from conglomerates, and promotion through social media and the internet which made it easier for the international community to access the entertainment. Some of these media include television, Tiktok, Youtube, and Instagram. In addition, Korean culture is also considered unique by outsiders, so it is a special attraction for the audience.
How can the current South Korean entertainment industry beat Hollywood and Bollywood movies? We start from their dramas first, Korean dramas are very different from Western films that are very extreme and full of fantasy. Even though there is a fantasy genre, Korean dramas still present a normal human impression, such as the behavior of the actors, the way they speak, and the background. This is the most important thing, often Hollywood films are only filmed in closed areas with greenscreen backgrounds, so the CGI-edited backgrounds seem too fictitious and unreal. Whereas Korean dramas, directors dare to shoot in public areas directly without using greenscreen, so the setting feels more real.
That is what we called valuable, a sense of humanity. With the human element, the audience feels the emotions in the drama without feeling deceived. The themes raised in the drama are also usually about our daily lives, so the audience relates more to the situation in the drama. Usually the audience wants to relax by watching a movie, so they prefer a more relaxed and less complex storyline. Drama is usually dominated by the romantice, slice of life, and comedy genres, so many people prefer to watch movies that are more relaxed and less complex. Although there are also dramas with complex storylines, they include some funny even romantic scenes.
Drama itself has several episodes, so the storyline tends to be more relaxed. Unlike the movie, the storyline needs to be completed quickly because it has a shorter duration, about one until two hours. This makes the audience less likely to enjoy certain moments that are presented briefly. In addition, the drama was designed from the beginning to be more accessible to the public by airing on television and streaming on applications. Meanwhile, films that have just been released are usually only accessible through theaters and are not available on smartphone applications. With this application, viewers who want to see movie instantly and cheaply prefer to take the easier access.
Not only dramas, the South Korean entertainment industry also has music groups better known as K-Pop. Why can K-Pop be the number one top music on Billboard? Because K-Pop has its own uniqueness in presenting songs, the concept of their music videos has its own story, usually they carry themes about self-freedom and mental health issues that are packaged in such a way as to attract more viewers who are struggling with mental illness. In addition, they also often take videos directly in place by using a little bit greenscreen or even not using it at all.
K-Pop itself not only features their songs, dances, and music videos. But they also hold entertainment events involving the idols themselves. Like games or reality shows that have varied themes. In addition, they also hold fan meetings as a place for fans to get close to their idols. Furthermore, these events often provide a unique opportunity for fans to interact with their favorite idols and create unforgettable memories.
K-Drama and K-Pop have indeed spread and are known throughout the world. However, South Korea itself also provides entertainment for comic lovers, called Manhwa. Manhwa are illustrated stories that are very similar to comics but can be accessed using the internet, although Manhwa also provides a printed version. Manhwa is very similar to Manga in Japan but the style of writing and drawing is different. South Korea has successfully adapted the concept of Japanese Manga and it has become widespread in the world even though it is not as famous as Manga. In addition to Manhwa, Korea also has a Webtoon application to provide a platform for comic artists to express their ideas in an easier way. So Webtoon writers are not only from South Korea but also from all over the world.
With these various entertainment shows, South Korea was able to quickly become a developed country. Various electronic and beauty products are advertised through their entertainment shows such as dramas. Thus increasing the sales of electronic goods, beauty products, and beauty services. Sales of food and beverage products are no less successful, through dramas and reality shows people get to know a variety of unique Korean foods. Not only that, South Korean culture has also received public attention because of their dramas that show culture subtly through the behavior of the characters and the setting of the story without losing the essence of culture in the drama. So that Korean culture can spread widely and be known throughout the world.
By: Irsyada Al Mumtaz
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