Why Kpop?

This weekend is the start of Chuseok (Korean mid-fall holiday)! 추석 잘 보내세요! My friend invited me to celebrate the holiday with her and her Korean teachers who were having a Chuseok party/Korean conversation table this Friday. It felt a little awkward speaking Korean again, but I soon warmed up to the topic at hand: Kpop. One of the Korean teachers caught us watching Ikon's new music video and asked why we think so many international audiences love Kpop.

It's a question I've often asked myself: why is Kpop so addicting? The first answers that come to mind for most people are production value and talent. Korea's entertainment industry is highly competitive and regimented. Most groups produce few full-length albums, but many singles and mini-albums. Under this system, companies are able to throw huge amounts of money into a single music video. At the same time, artists train under a company anywhere from two to seven years before even debuting. The intensive training in singing, dance and grooming means every group has a certain level of excellence. These are all important aspects of Kpop's magnetism, but I think this answer is misdirecting — as our Korean teacher said, Bruno Mars is also a very talented singer and dancer.

Psy's "Gangnam Style" was not only wildly popular across the world, but is a prime example of Korean celebrity crossover. The music video features guest appearances by singer Hyuna and comedians like Yoo Jae Suk (Running Man) and Lee Hong Chul (Infinity Challenge).

Another answer can be found in Euny Hong's The Birth of Korean Cool, which came out in 2014 in the wake of Psy's "Gangnam Style." Personally, I have many problems with the book as it hastily glosses over many of the details and implications of the case studies it presents (perhaps in an effort to be published while still relevant — already in 2014 Psy felt like old news in the swiftly changing Korean pop-culture market). Hong answers the Kpop question with two words: government marketing.

She argues that Kpop has achieved the worldwide success it has due to aggressive government branding, intervention and support. As she notes, Korea has a ministry devoted to the promotion of Korean cultural products including Kpop. Besides financial support to help grow the industry (an action not as foreign as we in America might like to think, *cough* bailouts) Hong cites the compelling example of one Minister of Culture who traveled to Paris where he organized French Kpop fans into a cohesive group agitating for venues to book Kpop concerts in Paris. The issue was publicized through a Kpop dance flash mob which the Minister of Culture, and Hong, mark as a turning point in international demand for Kpop.

There's no denying that direct governmental interventions such as the case above have influenced the spread of Kpop, but it sidesteps the question of why people actually like Kpop. Even for the government to stir up demand there had to be an underlying interest.

One answer I've found is that Korean pop culture is built on a symbiotic loop that gives audiences access to idols in a constant variety of situations. In the U.S. actors turned singers and singers turned actors are both rare and rarely successful, but in Korea that kind of crossover is almost expected. By appearing regularly on variety shows, radio programs and in dramas and films idols allow fans to follow their story and build personal/emotional connections to their favorite stars. Singers in the U.S. sometimes follow similar methods (look at the huge success of the Justin Bieber documentary and continuing phenomenon), but the Korean entertainment industry is set up to support this kind of personal branding.

The cast of Roommate season 2 included singers, actors and comedians living together in a 'share house' and going on fun outings together. The show brought more widespread fame to rookie singers Jackson (GOT7) and Youngji (KARA).

Most variety and reality shows — Running Man, Roommate, Happy Together, I Got Married, Law of the Jungle, Hello Counselor (the list goes on and on) — either draw their cast entirely from idols or regularly feature idol guests. At the same time, music shows like Mnet Countdown, Inkigayo, Music Bank and Weekly Idol both support and rely on the quick turnover of Kpop singles. As a further illustration of the symbiosis between the two industries, many comedians and hosts will also release singles, further blurring the line between entertainer and singer.

Through youtube and social media fans are drawn into an ever expanding loop of interest. For example, a fan of 2NE1 might watch a variety program where members of 2NE1 appeared and enjoy the show so much that the fan begins to follow show itself. Drawing the example even further, that fan might then, in the course of watching their new favorite variety show be exposed to an idol who they find particularly funny and then begin listening to that idol's music. Television and music are always working together to increase each others' viewerships. It's an amazing system and prompts viewers to become invested in their favorite idols' lives and careers. To cite the Justin Bieber phenomenon again, its success and the success of Kpop both come from viewers' thirsts for personal celebrity connections.

In Win — Who is Next? Team A and Team B competed to see who could win over the audience and make their debut.

What this says about celebrity culture and human relationships in the 21st century is a question I would love to learn more about, but instead I want to leave you with a recommendation for what I think is one of the most successful examples of Kpop fanbase creation: Win — Who is Next?

Win was produced by YG Entertainment as a survival competition between two groups of trainees. In the end the show asked the viewers to vote on which group they wanted to see debut the most. Eventually both groups debuted, although the group that lost had to go through another round of survival tv before that. Through this show the resulting Kpop groups — Winner and Ikon — were able to debut with large fanbases devoted to their hopes and struggles.

JANUARY 2015: Seoul National University

I began the new year by moving to Seoul for a month of language training at Seoul National University, Korea's highest ranking universities and one of the 'SKY' schools (SNU, Korea U, Yonsei U) to which high school students aspire. There are a wide range of options for Korean classes in Seoul, but I chose SNU due to its January schedule and a friend's recommendation.

Seoul National University Campus

Winter sunrise on our way to class

Overall I was pleased with the rigor and organization of the course. There were around 10 people in my class from a wide range of countries, some living in Korea and others visiting just for this class. We met five days a week from 9:00 - 1:00. Everyday we covered a chapter of the textbook, each of which included 3-4 grammar points. That means over the course of our 3 weeks we covered: the entire textbook, 6o hours of class time and ~24 grammar points. During this time we were required to complete daily homework and quizzes, write and perform two dialogues, write and perform a five minute presentation and a final written and oral exam. We were kept constantly busy by the class hours and homework — so much so that I believe it took the rest of the semester for all the lessons learned to sink in.

Our group photo at the final class of the course. Our teacher gave us all little captions. Mine says: Korean is easy! (If only, haha...)

Me and oori seonsaengnim (our teacher)

In the meantime, my friend and I were sharing a small one-room apartment in 고시촌 (goshichon), literally a village of goshiwons (cramped, cheap rooms often rented out to students and those preparing for tests). Our building sat at the top of a steep hill, so steep that when it iced over, as it does in the winter in Seoul (it was a horrible cold winter) it was almost impossible to walk up or down. Still, we were in a mecca of cheap food and warm cafes. Every morning we took the bus 15 minutes to SNU and after class, took the bus another 15 minutes to the Seoul University Subway Station. Conveniently located on Seoul's circle line, the green line, the subway could take us anywhere we wanted to go (usually, after class, to lunch).

Looking down the hill, just try to glimpse the end

Half the reason I chose to do this course was my desire to live in Seoul, just for one month. I wanted to be a Seoulite, a Seoul saram (Seoul person). Instead of taking a vacation in Seoul I really felt like a student, finding time to cross the city and meet friends between homework sessions and late dinners. I was happy to see Yumin several times during this month. Together we traveled all the way into the suburbs to visit the set of 별에서 온 그대 (Byeol eseo on geudae, My Love from the Stars) a wildly popular Korean drama from the winter before. Although parts of the exhibit were campy, being able to walk through the luxurious set apartments (actually used in the drama) was a lot of fun.

In Do Min Joon's apartment, sitting where Kim Su Hyun sat

I also got to know some of the students in my Korean class and together we went to our first cat cafe! It was amazing to meet such a global group, all learning Korean for very different reasons. Some people were there for school, others for vacation, for their job or even because they were married to someone Korean.

to long (for) — it has been too long

The winter and spring of 2015 passed in a flurry of deadlines (grad school apps, magazine articles, Korean tests) and now the summer is dashing to a close as well. Here in Boston I miss the hot, hazy evenings of Daegu — the interminable summer. I completed my Fulbright grant on July 17th, 42 days ago. I left Korea on the 26th, but only in the last few days have I begun to feel an ache at the thought of a warm bowl of seolleung-tang, at photos of my students picking their noses on facebook, at the posts on this blog, recalling for me the very start of my journey.

On July 17, 2013 I wrote about listening to Big Bang for the first time. Almost two years later, in April of 2015 I saw Big Bang perform live at Seoul Olympic Stadium. So many memories — of meeting my host family for the first time, minor existential crises along the way and budding friendships that have since flowered. 

Looking back on my last blog post it has been almost a year since I went AWOL. So many significant moments have happened since then, moments that shaped my experience of Korea. Instead of moving on immediately to my new life in Boston, I hope to retrospectively bring this blog up to date, both as a way of recording and processing my memories. 

Even though I have left Korea now I continue, out of habit, to translate my thoughts into Korean. Reading through my old blog posts today the word that came to my mind was 그립다 (geuribda)— to miss, to long (for), to be homesick (for). Geuribda can apply to a place, to a person or even a time. 그레서 (geureseo, therefore). 학생들이 그리워요. 한국이 그리워요. 한국에 했던 시간이 그리워요. (I miss my students. I am homesick for Korea. I long for the time I had there.)