The Factors Spreading Of Korean Wave (Hallyu)

Korean wave (Hallyu) is a term which is now widely refers to entertainment and culture popularity of South Korea such as fashion, make up, entertainment, music, TV dramas and movies (Roll, 2018). The first appeared of Korean wave is during the mid-1990s after Korea entered into diplomatic relations with China in 1992. In Chinese-speaking communities, Korean TV dramas and pop music was very popular there. Korean TV dramas with tittle What Is Love? was the first successful and was aired by CCTV in 1997.

The rating of that TV drama was 4,2%, it means that over 150 million Chinese viewers watched it (Division, n.d.). In this era, many teens are tending toward Korean culture rather than their own culture. They prefer to follow Korean culture because they think that Korean culture are more good and more unique than their own culture. They also think that it will make them can be same as his or her favorite idol. There are several factors that might be cause of spreading of Korean wave.

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The first factor is from Korean music, now there are many Korean soloist, group, girls band and boys band that popular among teenagers. Korean music has various genre like pop, techno, ballad, rock, R&B and so on (Seoul, 2012). Although, Korea has many genres of their music but the one that is growing more quickly than any other is 21st century K-Pop or Korean pop music. The popularity of K-Pop artist is largely based on their excellent vocal abilities, dazzling stage presence and well-choreographed, impeccable dance performances among other things (Division, n.

d.). It because before they debut to be K-Pop artist, they will be trained by professional trainer from their cope agency for certain time. Though this is the most popular Korean music, it is also the most difficult way to be K-Pop artist because if they are from small agency and they do not have popularity, they will be disbanded. For example, of K-Pop artist who already popular in worldwide are BTS, EXO, WANNA ONE, BIGBANG, BLACKPINK, RED VELVET, TWICE, GFRIEND and other K-Pop artist.

The second factor is from Korean TV dramas and movies. Korean TV dramas and movies have stealing heart of the viewers. They always waiting to watch the next episode of their favorite Korean dramas. Korean dramas had become addict for their viewers. This is the factor that have fans in all ages. There are many reasons why Korean dramas have gained such a wide following of non-Koreans like the actors and actress of the dramas are very attractive, cultural appeal from the dramas, romantics scenes, the act is cuteness overload, have many precious moments, we can learn Korean vocabulary, different from the other drama, the fashion of the actors and actress are so nice, have a lot of mouthwatering food, and the last is also we can hear Korean song as the background or soundtrack of the drama (Bacon, 2016).While the movies usually attract their fans just with 1 episode but interesting. For the example of popular Korean drama, such as Boys Over Flowers, The Legend of The Blue Sea, The Heirs, My Love From The Star, Goblin, Descendants of The Sun, Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo, Two Worlds etc. while the example of popular Korean movies, such as Train To Busan, A Werewolf Boy, Miracles in Cell No.7, Along With The God etc.

The third factor is Korean culture, on this subject there are some categorized like Korean language, Korean clothes, and Korean food. For the language South Korea used Hangeul as written language in their daily life. Hangeul was introduced in 1443 by King Sejeong (r. 1418-1450), the 4th king of the Joseon Dynasty. In order to help all commoners to read and write easily with this new alphabet, Hunminjeongeum (meaning "Proper sounds to instruct the people" in Korean) was created. In 1910, the name of the language was changed to the current Hangeul in the 20th century.

For the clothes, Korean have hanbok (it is a traditional Korean clothes), they wore it for daily up until 100 years ago but on these days it is only worn when on festive occasion or special anniversaries. Hanbok is a formal dress and most Koreans keep a hanbok for special times in their life. It is hard to think of hanbok as daily clothes, but it is slowly being revolutionized through the changing of fabrics, colors and features reflecting the public's desires. For the foods, Korean have hansik (it is common dishes in South Korea). Usually hansik is centered around rice, served with a bowl of soup and a variety of side dishes. Most of Korean foods use meat and vegetables as the main ingredients (Korea, 2017). For example, the most well-known Korean foods are kimchi (fermented cabbage), bulgogi, bibimbap, tteokbokki, ramyeon, odeng, samgyetang, galbi, sundubu jjigae, jjapchae, kimbab, and hanjeongsik (Korean full-course meal), etc.

In conclusion there are several factors that I was mention above which make spreading Korean wave (Hallyu) to all around the world. You can have interested and follow the other culture, but you should choose the positive one. However, do not forget to keep your own culture because who will continue to keep it if are not yourself as the next generation.