It came, it saw, it conquered: Hallyu aka The Korean Wave. A lecture on how and why Korean popular culture conquered the West with the likes of K-Pop group BTS, and the Netflix hit Squid Game.
South Korea is hot and happening! The country is taking the world by storm with its popular culture: music, dance, fashion, drama series, films and food. But what exactly is the Korean Wave? How do we explain its worldwide success? And does the Korean Wave have an impact on the image and entertainment industries?
Since the late 20th century, South Korean culture has been spreading like a wave around the world. What initially seemed like a curious phenomenon has increasingly become a new icon of popular culture. In 2021, the super band BTS became the first Asian band to win the prestigious “Artist of the Year” award at the American Music Awards, and K-pop took over the Internet: the most viewed music video on YouTube in 24 hours (108 million), the fastest time to reach 1 million and 10 million followers on Instagram. In 2022, K-wave broke new records again with the Netflix hit Squid Game. The TV series is the first foreign series to be nominated for an Emmy in the category of Best Drama Series, the most important American award for a TV production. And what about PSY with his megahit Gangnam Style or the Oscar-winning film Parasite?
Today’s guest speaker, Daan Vree, will talk about the Korean Wave that is sweeping the world and about the youth culture that has emerged around Korean popular culture. Are cultural perceptions changing, or is our mindset actually starting to tilt because of the Korean Wave? Interesting questions to explore and interpret.
Daan Vree holds a Master’s degree in Colonial Literature of the Dutch-Indies from the University of Amsterdam, is a film director, and teaches online content creation at Hogeschool Utrecht. He was born in South Korea but grew up in the Netherlands watching Western movies and TV series.
This lecture is organized in cooperation with Gesodjoe, the travel committee of GEWIS, which will go to South Korea this July.
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