Author: Mark James Russell
Publisher: Stonebridge, 2008
Link to online store *
From the publisher’s website:
From kim chee to kim chic! South Korea came from nowhere in the 1990s to become one of the biggest producers of pop content (movies, music, comic books, TV dramas, online gaming) in Asia and the West. Why? Who’s behind it? Mark James Russell tells an exciting tale of rapid growth and wild success marked by an uncanny knack for moving just one step ahead of changing technologies (such as music downloads and Internet comics) that have created new consumer markets around the world.
Among the media pioneers profiled in this book is film director Kang Je-gyu, maker of Korea’s first blockbuster film Shiri; Lee Su-man, who went from folk singer to computer programmer to creator of Korea’s biggest music label; and Nelson Shin, who rose from North Korea to the top of the animation business. Full of fresh analysis, engaging reportage, and insightful insider anecdotes, Pop Goes Korea explores the hallyu (the Korean Wave) hitting the world’s shores in the new century.
LKL says:
A wide-ranging examination and description of Korea’s entertainment industry and infrastructure that creates and sustains all the stars, movies, music and drama that we all enjoy. We read and enjoyed the first (2008) edition of this book. There’s an updated eBook version – some 10,000 words longer – from 2017 that is also now available for Kindle. We haven’t had a chance to read the updated version. Clearly with so many new idol groups and TV dramas being launched all the time it’s impossible to keep up to date, but this is a lively and fun read even though it might not talk about the very latest star.
LKL rating: 
. Read our review of this book here.
Entry on Goodreads.com here.
* Where the book is available from a number of sources, they are prioritised as follows: (1) Amazon UK site, or Bookshop.org for the more recent uploads (2) Amazon US site (3) Other sites in US or Europe, including second-hand outlets (4) LTI Korea, where the title is advertised as available from there (5) Onlines stores in Korea. Links to Bookshop.org and Amazon UK site contain an affiliate code which, should you make a purchase, gives a small commission to LKL at no additional cost to you.