While Korean cultural contents such as K-drama (Squid Game), K-pop (BTS/Black Pink, etc.) and K-Webtoon are making strides around the world, the 4th Korean Wave (Korean Wave spread around online platforms such as Netflix) is also taking place in Japan.

According to The Nikkei, “Korea’s cultural content exports are expected to double in 2021 from five years ago,” and “Korea is far ahead of Japan in the content industry.” According to the Korea Creative Content Agency, Korean cultural content exports are expected to reach 11.56 billion dollars (about 13.8315 trillion won) in 2021, up 7% from the previous year. This is nearly twice as much as five years ago (about $6.01 billion). Regarding the broadcasting content sector, such as dramas that are popular in Japan, they said, “It is difficult to compare simply because the standards are different,” but added, “Korea’s broadcasting content exports (77 billion yen) exceeded Japan’s exports (53 billion yen) in the same year.”

“Since October last year, when the squid game, which caused a global syndrome, has been released, three to four Korean works have been steadily listed in Netflix’s top 10 non-English program viewing rankings”, they said, analyzing that such success is leading to the popularity of other Korean Wave contents. Regarding K-pop, they said, “Other popular singers such as BLACKPINK continue to come out, starting with BTS.” Comics, Japan’s proud content, is also giving way to Korea’s “Webtoon platforms” such as Pickcoma (Kakao) and Line Manga (Naver). As Naver and Kakao compete for the supremacy of webtoons read on smartphones, cartoonists around the world are increasingly posting their works on the platforms of the two companies

Along with the COVID-19 pandemic, this fourth Korean Wave is shifting to interest in various consumer products such as K-package bars, K-hair, K-food, and K-beauty.

Restaurants that seem to resemble Korean cart bars have opened everywhere from Shibuya, where young people gather, to Shinbashi, which is called the “sacred place of salaried men.” A store that sells “Korean-style fat macarons” has entered Ginza, the richest village in Tokyo.

Young people are attaching the word “Korean style” here and there. Words such as “Korean-style cafe” and “Korean-style interior” are commonly used on social media. Korean style is a generic term for Korea’s sophisticated atmosphere that can be seen on Instagram, and it is an atmosphere where you must search for “Korean style hair” before going to a hair salon.

” Tokan Gokko,” which makes you feel like traveling abroad after buying Korean food – Japanese women in pajamas are taking proof shots with Korean ramen and beverages piled up at hotels in Japan. Recently, the so-called “Tokan Gokko”,  which eats Korean food, consumes content, and makes you feel as if you are on a trip to Korea, is in vogue in the younger generation of Japan.

Japan, the world’s third largest cosmetics market, is known as a “barometer” of global beauty recognition. As such, it is also considered a battleground for imported cosmetics. Among K-beauty, mask packs and liquid lipstick are driving the popularity. At the 2021 Cosme Week Tokyo, the largest cosmetics exhibition held in Tokyo last year, Korean beauty companies “Medi Hill” and “Romand” ranked first in the mask pack and lipstick categories, respectively. It is also meaningful that it is growth centered on small and medium-sized companies, not on large Korean companies. Wearing a mask due to COVID-19 has become a daily routine, and there is a strong tendency to prefer basic makeup that does not burden the skin by omitting foundation. Thanks to the success of Korean dramas through Netflix, local affinity for K-beauty has increased.

Three to four years ago, exports of consumer goods through offline buyers were the main focus, but products that had good consumer response online were linked to offline entry due to lower barriers to online entry.

MIKE CHOI
ASIA JOURNAL

Bringing over 60 young, talented performers after a competitive selection process, The World Association for Arts Exchange Organization (WAAEO) held their ‘Korean Artists’ Performance and Global English Leadership Camp’ from February 19^th until February 26^th. Their grand performance took place on February 21^st at the Valley Academy of Arts and Science High School where young performers displayed wide various forms of entertainment through dance, music, arts and speech. Some of the speeches included topics on Korea’s history and the current ‘K-pop wave’, electrifying performances of taekwondo were shown, beautiful dances of ban-go and arirang were performed, and creative drawings that told a story were presented.

After the WAAEO’s show has successfully ended, K-Herald met with group leader Jae-min Jung, who came as a supervisor to the young, performing artists. The 6-feet tall leader with the looks of a K-pop idol star is currently a college student at South Korea’s Sung Kyun Kwan University, majoring in system engineering of high polymers. This was his first time volunteering for the WAAEO and getting the opportunity to come to the United States with them as a group leader. He was fortunate to attend high school in England and thanks to his completed schooling there, he didn’t have too much trouble understanding English. In the event where he first discovered that he would get a chance to meet with Americans and experience American culture in the states with the WAAEO, he expressed that he was filled with excitement and curiosity.

As Jung did not actually participate in the performances, he was strongly focused on the young American children in the audience as he watched their reactions and expressions to the performances made by the young Korean artists. “I felt certainty that being able to understand one’s culture and the real historical truth is not possible without having someone else introduce it. Especially the historical truths that involve between Korea and Japan where there are a lot of mixed opinions involved in both parties. I saw that there were a lot of surprises in the audience when they heard the real truths about some of Korea’s histories and that it wasn’t the “truth” they were familiar with.” With this being said, Jung also mentioned that this made him become even more motivated in continuing to spread the awareness of Korean culture.

Jung also has experience of being deployed in the frontline during his military service in South Korea. This comes as no surprise as two years of military service is mandatory for all men in South Korea until the conflict between the South and North Korea is resolved. “After finishing high school in England, I returned back home to Korea and got deployed right away. That’s when I truly became aware of the reality of Korea and that the patriotism and endurance of the military life was such a precious time where I was able to gain maturity.”

When asked about his future goals and plans, he replied by stating that he would continue focusing on his studies on his current major on the macromolecule system of engineering and hopes to become an international specialist in the field. “In addition to achieving my own goals, I would like to help in any way that I can to further develop the friendship and even have a fundamental role in finding solutions to resolve any misunderstandings or conflicts between Korea and the U.S.”

Yuna Hwang
K-Herald