Korean culture's influences to Asian young generation

Did you ever heard of “Hallyu” or Korean wave ?. Did you ever watched Korean dramas?. Did you ever listen to any Korean songs and shake your body?. Did you ever used any Korean cosmetic?. Did you ever looked around and notice the Korean trend on the street?.  And the last question, did you ever heard of “Hallyu” or Korean wave ?.

Hallyu or Hallyu-wood refers to the “Korean Wave” of entertainment that has swept across the shores of almost every single country in the region, even increasingly beyond.

I still remember the time when I was 12 years old. I and my sister had to hunt through streets and alleys to have a Han Ji Eun jacket (the jacket that character “Han Ji Eun” wore in the famous movie “Full House”). Full House movie was seriously popular at that time. Many girls had makeup like Han Ji Eun with light green eyeshadow, pink lip gloss, and wore short jackets (Han Ji Eun) with short flip skirt. The old women like my mother were really crazy about this movie. They talked about the movie anytime, even when we had dinner.

Song Hye Kyo's appearance was so impressive that in 2004, most girls desired to own at least one short jacket in their wardrobe. These trend was so hot that this kind of jacket was named "Han Ji Eun jacket"

Aside from movie, Korean music or K-pop is also popular to the Asian youth. From China to Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore,.... young generation is crazy about Super Junior, DBSK, Girls’ Generation. Not only owning beautiful and trendy appearances, Korean idols are trained professionally to communicate with international fans by different languages. Usually, Korean entertainment companies build idol group including from 4 to even 13 people. Each member takes charge of her/his own task, eg: one person is main vocalist, one person is lead vocalist, one person is main dancer, one person is a face of the group. Also, companies frequently organize world tours for their idols and their tickets are usually sold just one day or even 2 hours.

Twice Band s a South Korea-based girl group formed by JYP Entertainmentthrough the 2015 reality show Sixteen. The group is composed of nine members: Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu.

Girls' Generation world tour in Taiwan

Through movies and music, Korea culture is expanded. It is very common if you see characters in Korean dramas eating tokbukki or gimbab on the street, or you realize your favorite idols wearing their traditional costumes (hanbok) then you crazily want to visit Korea.

I read somewhere about soft power- the ability to shape the preferences of others through appeal and attraction. Loving and researching about Korea, I really admire the way Korean government focus on developing its “soft power” in globalization to raise the affection to others. We already knew that Korea does not own the rich natural resources, however, by brilliant policies, such as building and expanding its culture, Korea now is one of the top developed countries of the world.