KOREAN WAVE [essay]
Have you ever thought about Korean Wave? Korean Wave is refers to the increase of the popularity of South Korean. The phenomenon of Korean Wave spreads all over the world, and its popularity even has the same level with international artists. Korean Wave also known as Hallyu, it is based on many different aspects of South Korean culture such as: Korean Popular Music or K-Pop, Korean Dramas, and Variety Shows.

Korean Popular Music or more widely known as K-Pop refers to musical genre in South Korea. It comprises a wide variety of musical and visual elements. K-Pop also spread the Korean culture through language. History of K-Pop began in 1990s, but became famous in the 2000s. K-Pop is not only known in Korea, but also famous in the East and South East Asia, America and Europe. According to Mark James Russell from the global politics magazine Foreign Policy illustrated,”K-Pop has now spread to the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and parts of South America. It may not yet turn heads in Los Angeles or London, but this may soon change as K-pop’s influence continues to spread.“ The reason why k-pop can be accepted outside Korea is because the k-pop not only include one type of music, but also has many genres such as Rap and R&B. Michael Hastings Rolling Stone’s author writes that K-Pop embraces the genre fusion with both singing and rap, while emphasizing solid performances and visuals at the same time. It is a mix of genres like pop, rock, hip hop, R&B and electronic music. Michael also writes that the way these Korean singers perform their songs with synchronized dance moves and complex gestures has increased the popularity of K-pop. It now takes a big place in the music market throughout Asia and the world.

Korean Drama or K-Drama is a leading cause the spread of Hallyu in various countries. This drama aired on television with a continuous story. K-Drama have several episodes, usually the number of episode are 16-20 episodes and 50-100 episodes for historical drama. Nowadays, K-Drama becomes well known in the Asia. This is caused by the strong plot, variation of genres and the great acting of the cast. In short, K-Drama well liked because of it has good quality, so it can be acceptable to Asian.

Korean Variety Shows is entertainment programs that aired on TV and contains natural funny things. It is not only showing funny things, but also presents a moral lesson to the viewers through Korean culture. In the variety shows also often featured typical Korean food so viewers will get more information about Korea. Through the variety show, the foreign viewers can learn Korean language easily and cheaply. Therefore, Korean variety shows acceptable to the international community easily and rapidly.

To conclude, Korean Wave or Hallyu is increasingly recognized by the international community. Through the Korean songs or K-Pop, K-Drama, and Korean Variety Shows, foreign people can learn Korean language and culture easily. In addition, there are a lot of information about Korea, such as food and famous places there. That causes Hallyu becomes popular by foreign people.