The+K-pop+industry+-+A+bad+influence+on+Asia?

- __THE SPREAD OF THE KOREAN INDUSTRY__ -  K-pop. It's now a word that has spread around the globe. It is an industry that jumped to a worth of over billions of dollars in less than a few decades. Due to it's sudden growth, the k-pop industry was given a new nickname: 'Hallyu', derived from the word 'Hollywood'. It simply means that the Korean industry is //the// Hollywood of Asia. You may be asking, how is this possible? How did the Korean entertainment industry get so popular in such a limited time? There are many factors to it's success, but I'll pinpoint the main reasons:
 * dramas and movies
 * a plethora of idol singing groups
 * adaption of western music; altering it with an Asian style
 * appeal
 * a lightning, FAST, music industry
 * attempts to spread internationally

The spread of Korean media around the world started with dramas. The interesting, well-made, and somewhat confusing plots of K-drama's bring in lots of attention, especially from other Asian people. Korean dramas are made so Asians can relate to it. There is a consistent theme that revolves around Confucianism in basically every k-drama, because the impact of Confucianism is so strong on the culture. Since every Asian country has at least some Confucianism view points, many Asians can relate and understand the dramas, which is one of the reasons for the popularity of k-dramas. However, the real gems are the actors and the actresses. Interestingly, Korean celebrities have an appearance that can appeal nearly anyone in the world (Plastic surgery? I don't know). Combine the mind boggling plots of these dramas with actors and actresses who all look like Ken and Barbie and you got yourself a growing industry. 

The emergence of idol singing groups is where the k-pop industry really begins to explode. In the late 20th century, idol groups had been the trend in Korea for a few years, with groups such as **Seo Tae Ji and the Boys**, **H.O.T**, **Sechs Kies**, **S.E.S**, **Baby VOX**, and **Shinhwa**, among others. However, the k-pop industry back then was not notable outside of Korea. The idol trend cooled down for a few years, and the k-pop industry was slowly spreading - first around Asia - with the influence of actors and solo singers such as **Rain** and **BoA**. Thanks to their help, the returning idol trend in the new millennium proved to be a great success. However, there are now too many of these groups floating around, and only a handful of them actually succeed. All of these groups have appeal, most of these groups have spectacular singing and dancing skills, so what puts some of them on top of all the others? There are two things that come to my mind: a big, notable label company, or a repetitive, catchy song. In Korea, there are three music label companies that are judged above all else. They are **SM** Entertainment, **JYP** Entertainment, and **YG** Entertainment, sometimes referred to as 'The Holy Trinity'. These companies have produced many idol groups, and most of their groups had succeeded in the industry. The success of the groups from these three labels can not be compared to most other groups that are managed under less-notable companies. The names of these three companies itself is already huge marketing, and if a group can sing and dance, they will almost be guaranteed a place in the industry. The second must is a repetitive, catchy song. K-pop music, with the majority being idol music, is very repetitive. Repetitive enough to be stuck in your mind for a whole week. Repetitive enough for you to dance to it's choreography whenever you get the chance. This is also a main factor for the success of idol groups, as these repetitive songs will get them stuck on your mind. Take a listen to an example below. The song is called '//Gee'// by girl group **Girls Generation**.

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So how many times did you hear the word 'Gee' in there? Too many to count, right? The word was repeated 46 times in those three minutes. Most successful idol groups have similar repetitive songs such as //'Gee',// and after watching that video, it'll be quite obvious on why they release these type of songs.

With such popularity in their home land, the K-pop industry needed somewhere to expand to. The first stop for the industry was in Asia, specifically Japan and China. If the Korean entertainment industry could influence the two most notable Asian countries, it would naturally spread to all other parts of the Asian continent. And it did.

Let's first talk about it's spread in Japan. First of all, k-dramas was the reason for Japan turning its attention to the Korean industry. The 2006 drama, //'Winter Sonata'//, was a huge hit in the country, making actor **Bae Yong Joon** a Japanese superstar. After the success of this drama, Korean music started becoming influential in Japan. Japan was a critical target for the Korean music industry, not only because it was a notable Asian country, but because it's music industry was the second largest in the world, only after America. Singers in Korea wished to release their music in a bigger industry, while at the same time expanding and advertising their own. This resulted in a win-win situation for many, as singers accumulated higher album sales, while increasing their international popularity as well. Korean singers such as **BoA**, **TVXQ**, **BIGBANG**, **KARA**, **Girls Generation**, **FT Island**, **B2ST**, and **2PM** have all broken records in the Japanese music industry, and have risen to the top of charts, beating out many top Japanese singers. KARA, for one, had greater success then they had in Korea, accumulating nearly ten times the album sales that they have sold in Korea. Even now, more and more singers are breaking into the Japanese industry, and are met with great success. Some, like KARA, even achieve greater popularity then in Korea.



<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 140%;">The influence of Korean entertainment also started with dramas in China, then gradually expanded to the music industry as well. Although China's music industry is smaller then Korea's, influencing the vast area helped in spreading the K-pop movement. Like Japan, Korean singers have immense popularity in China, and have surpassed Chinese bands in terms of popularity. Since the emergence of Korean bands, most notably **Super Junior**, in the Chinese industry, local singers have had trouble catching up to the popularity of these foreign singers. Chinese bands thus started to copy Korean singers in music style, fashion, and even name. A Chinese singing group, **OK-BANG**, was heavily criticized for basically plagiarizing Korean idol group **BIG BANG** in every possible way. Although it is obvious that such gimmicks would never work, it proved the influence of Korean music in the Chinese industry.



<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 140%;">Other than getting popular and increasing sales, the spread of Korean singers and actors internationally has had a huge positive effect on the country itself. Korea, having little land, does not have many natural resources to export. The most notable industry in Korea is technology: producing cars, electronic appliances, ships, tunnels, etc. The international spread of the entertainment industry will make it bigger, thus, Korea will have another industry to rely on for the lack of natural resources. In 2009, the Korean entertainment industry exported more than $3 billion US dollars, and with the industry growing year by year, that number would have risen again. Another positive effect for the country is the improved relations between countries such as Japan and China. By connecting people through dramas and music, the tension that these people have with each other will decrease. For example, several Korean celebrities donated to Japan after their critical earthquake. Due to their kind deeds, many Japanese, who may have had a previous disliking towards Koreans, acknowledged the celebrities and respected what they had done for their country.

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 140%;">**Asian Studies Final Project Self-Evaluation**

__<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 140%;">What did you contribute specifically to your project? __

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;">- This final project was to be worked on independently, thus, everything was contributed by me.

__<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 140%;">How successful do you think you conveyed your research to your audience? __

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 140%;">- I believe my research was successful, as enough information was given to explain about the spread of the Korean entertainment industry in a detailed and thorough manner. The information that I gathered on the topic was also appropriate to what was stated on the rubric about making a connection with East Asian countries (Korea, Japan, and China). All five of my sources contain accurate information about the three countries and its relation to my topic.

__<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 140%;">What would have made your presentation more successful? __

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 140%;">- If I provided information about the negative aspects of the Korean entertainment industry, it would have added a lot more to my final project. Only the positives are shown, making those who view my presentation to think that the Korean industry is something of pure heaven, which it definitely is not. Although the positives that I have researched on and stated are definitely true, negatives would have allowed mixed views for those who have viewed this project, who also have no previous knowledge on the topic at all.

__<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 140%;">How successful do you think your technology-based materials were in conveying your research? __

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 140%;">- This final project needed the computer and the sources on the internet. Without it, researching and finding information would have taken an incredibly long amount of time. With a bit of searching, I could find bits on the topic very easily, unlike using books for sources, where you would have to flip through thousands of pages to get something that you desire. I normally do not notice when using the internet for leisure, however, when doing projects such as this, I realize the importance of one on one computer teaching, which our school had established.

__<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 140%;">What would have made your technology-based materials more successful? __

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 18px;">- I feel like this project would be more successful if it was shared to the public, such as on a Korean news site or blog. It would provide information on one spot for those who are interested in the topic, and they would not have to go search multiple times to get the information that they need.

__<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 140%;">What did you learn from this project? Submit any other comments after this question. __

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 140%;">- From this project, I learned something new about my topic of interest, such as the Korean entertainment industry being important to Korea as it can be a method to export Korean goods. By learning this, I also gained knowledge that Korea does not have many natural resources to rely on, so our industries such as technology can not fail, or else it would have a devastating effect on the country.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 130%;">WORK CITED <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 130%;">Farrar, Lara. "'Korean Wave' of pop culture sweeps across Asia." //CNN//. Turner Broadcasting System, 31 12 2010. Web. 13 Jun 2011. <[|__http://articles.cnn.com/2010-12-31/world/korea.entertainment_1_korean-wave-exports-content/2?_s=PM:WORLD__]>.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 130%;">shockimpulse. "Big Bang copycats in China?" //Allkpop//. 6Theory Media, 19 12 2009. Web. 13 Jun 2011. <http://www.allkpop.com/2009/12/big_bang_copycats_in_china>.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 130%;">Hicap, Jonathan. "TVXQ breaks records on Japan's Oricon chart." //The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online//. Manila Bulletin, 04 02 2010. Web. 13 Jun 2011. <http://www.allkpop.com/2009/12/big_bang_copycats_in_china>.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 130%;">"S Korean actor Bae Yong Joon donates $888,000 for Japan quake relief." //JapanToday//. GPlusMedia, 14 03 2011. Web. 13 Jun 2011. <http://www.japantoday.com/category/entertainment/view/s-korean-actor-bae-yong-joon-donates-888000-for-japan-quake-relief>.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 130%;">Faiola, Anthony. "Japanese Women Catch the 'Korean Wave'." //The Washington Post//. The Washington Post, 31 08 2006. Web. 13 Jun 2011. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/30/AR2006083002985.html>.