At the SOAS / AKS conference on 26 June, the talk by Kim Hyeon, Associate Professor of Cultural Informatics at the Academy of Korean Studies, had the title “the Korean Wave, Cultural Content and Cultural Informatics”. “What on earth is Cultural Informatics?” I hear you ask. You would not be alone. But read on. The … [Read More]
Category: Hallyu (page 8)
A hallyu tourism research project in Leeds
A reader at ukfan’s DJG Comic Relief forum is doing a research project on Dae Jang Geum. He’s a PhD researcher at Centre for Tourism and Cultural Change at Leeds Metropolitan University. As part of this he needs your help to perfect a cultural survey. The survey can be found here. Please email it to … [Read More]
The Japanese counter-wave
March’s edition of Seoul magazine has an interesting article discussing how cultural waves do not travel in just one direction. Supporters of Korean culture are keen to point out the unstoppability of the hallyu: Rain in the Philippines, BoA in Japan, Super Junior in China, TV Dramas everywhere (except the UK it seems). Back home, … [Read More]
Hallyu and nationalism stories
A brief round-up of recent hallyu and nationalism stories. Rain’s producer, Park Jin-young, says the word “Korean” should be removed from “Korean Wave”. “I don’t understand why the Korean wave is taken as the rah-rah material,” Mr. Park said. “Now is the time to overcome nationalism, but instead we are intensifying that sentiment.” Park has … [Read More]
Korea’s cute and funky cultural exports
Chatham House Korea Discussion Group China’s ‘Korea Wave’: National Branding, Piracy, Idols and Fans Speaker: Dr Rowan Pease, 6 December 2006, 1:15pm If ever you get the chance to hear Rowan Pease talk on her chosen subject of the hallyu in China, drop everything and go to it. Even if you’ve heard some of her … [Read More]
Fame at last?
Thanks to UK fan for letting me know that a (thankfully) heavily-edited version of my recent interview aired today on YTN as part of a bigger piece on the hallyu in the UK. The Times’s recent Korean supplement was featured, as were Korean footballers in the premier league. They also interviewed Mr Choi who will … [Read More]
Keith Howard (ed): Korean Pop Music – riding the wave
Keith Howard (ed): Korean Pop Music – riding the wave Global Oriental, 2006, 250 pp A very readable introduction to the history of Korean popular music. While the book is a collection of articles by different scholars, careful selection ensures that there’s no duplication and that the coverage is chronological. And for once in a … [Read More]
Prof Kim Chang-nam: history & characteristics of modern Korean culture
(SOAS, 5 June 2006, 7pm: the concluding event of the London Korean Festival 2006) I’m more reluctant than usual to make this post. The ground covered in Professor Kim’s hugely stimulating conclusion to the London Korean Festival was more than extensive, and left the audience wanting to ask tons of questions. To condense a hundred … [Read More]
What a difference a region makes
East Asian popular culture currents and counter-currents, Birkbeck College, 17/18 March 2006 Thanks to Chris Berry (Goldsmiths) and Nicola Liscutin (Birkbeck) for putting together a stimulating day and a half symposium discussing regional popular culture in East Asia. Presentations mainly covered the creative industries in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. The focus on Taiwan was puzzling, … [Read More]
Conference report: Hallyuwood — Korean Screen Culture Goes Global
I was unable to attend the conference, and I am grateful to Prof Hu Puzhong for this report: The symposium has witnessed a relatively blissful atmosphere probably because the Korean wave and its cultural representation in screen production seem to have become an alternative in a world dominated by the hegemony of Hollywood. Academics from … [Read More]
Conference details: Hallyuwood — Korean Screen Culture
Details of today’s Hallyu conference at the Senate House: Symposium for Screen Studies Hallyuwood: Korean Screen Culture Goes Global Friday, 20 May 2005 Senate House, 10.00‐17.00 “Hallyuwood: Korean Screen Culture Goes Global,” featuring international speakers Professor Koichi Iwabuchi (Waseda University) and Professor Kim Soyoung (Korean National University of Arts), and sponsored by Korean Air and … [Read More]
Conference report: the Korean film industry examined
Notes from the industry conference held in the Screening Room at the Charlotte Street Hotel, 10 May 2005, 3pm – 6pm. One of the sideshows of the 2005 London Korean Film Festival was a get-together of industry representatives, academics and observers who made observations on current trends in the Korean film industry and the reception … [Read More]










