In recent years, Korean culture has spread its tentacles all over the world, including in Slovenia. This cultural phenomenon got its name: hallyu (Korean wave), and it means the export of Korean popular culture, from movies, music, games, cosmetics and technology to cuisine and TV dramas.
South Korea is probably the only country in the world that has decided to become one one of the biggest exporters of popular culture. It builds its global reputation on you "soft power", which is diametrically opposed to the more familiar "hard power", which includes military and economic power. However, this wave did not happen spontaneously. It was and remains carefully planned and well supported by the Korean government.
Hallyu first entered through the gates of China and Japan, and then through Southeast Asia to the wider world. He has already achieved today all continents and is complicit in the extraordinary business and cultural progress and good reputation of the country. It is one of the greatest cultural phenomena that helped rebuild a country devastated by war into one of the world's largest economic superpowers. Today, South Korea is considered one of the most advanced, fastest developing countries. A land of innovation and motto-driven workaholics "it can always be better", firmly and decisively leaving its mark all over the world.
K-pop
The export of Korean pop culture began in the 1990s. At first, TV dramas traveled across the border and captivated the masses in China. But soon, also thanks to social media and YouTube, Korean culture resonated all over the world. They managed to make a winning fusion of sounds that stay in the ears, penetrating fashion that is just different and carefully thought out choreography that attracts. In our country, we first met hallyju in 2012, when it took the world by storm PSY's Gangam Style. You probably all know the song. But you probably don't know that Gangam is the name of the Seoul area, which can be compared to the American Beverly Hills and which is considered the most influential trendsetter district of the South Korean capital. Recently, however, a seven-member Korean boy band BTS released the single Black Swan, where it is accompanied in the video by the choreography of the Slovenian group MN Dance Company.
The four most popular Korean groups – Big Bang, Super Junior, PSY and Girl's Generation - have sold as many as 238 million records worldwide. Today, there are more than 150 active K-Pop groups, and the Korea Foundation reports nearly 90 million hallyju fans from as many as 113 countries.
K-movie, Korean movies
The Korean film reached its peak at this year's Oscars, where it received as many as four statuettes. A parasite was the first foreign-language film in history to be awarded a statuette for best film. It also won the award for best director (director Boong Joon-ho), best original screenplay and best international film. This creepy-funny-sad film crowned hallyu and placed it alongside the best in the world.
These are the rest of the Korean movies you must watch:
- Shiri (1999)
- Joint Security Area (2000)
- Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors (2000)
- Ching (Friend, 2001)
- My Sassy Girl (2001)
- Failan (2001)
- A Tale of Two Sisters (2002)
- Memories of Murder (2003)
- Silmido (2003)
- Old Boy (2003)
- Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring (2004)
- Brothers at War (Tae Guk Gi, 2004)
- The King and the Clown (2005)
- The Host (2006)
- D-War (2007)
- Scandal Makers (2008)
- Haeundae (Tidal Wave, 2009)
- The Man from Nowhere (2010)
- War of the Arrows (2011)
- The Thieves (2012)
- Miracle in Cell No. 7 (2013)
- The Admiral: Roaring Currents (2014)
- Veteran (2015)
- Train to Busan (2016)
- A Taxi Driver (2017)
K-beauty, Korean cosmetics
The latest Korean export phenomenon is cosmetics. The Korean beauty industry is advanced, innovative and known for incorporating truly bizarre ingredients into their formulas, but they set new global trends in the understanding of the cosmetic industry and skin care. The Korean beauty market has already climbed into the top 10 in the world and had more than 13.1 billion turnover in the global market at the end of 2018, according to Mintel.
In Slovenia, you can buy Korean cosmetics in these stores:
K-fashion, Korean fashion
Along with legendary French and Italian brands, Korean fashion began to dictate new fashion trends. It all started in 1960, when many clothing factories began to open following the government's program to strengthen the economy. Even today, Korean fashion is known for its quality, originality, individualism and setting new trends. However, it is believed that Korean fashion is not an art, but primarily a business, i.e. how to reach as many customers as cheaply as possible. It has an ever-increasing popularity and resonance Seoul Fashion Week, the best ambassadors who spread Korean fashion to the world, and of course, the increasingly popular members of K-pop groups that are conquering the world stage.
K-tech
Biggest Brands – LG, Samsung, Hyundai and Kia – are the ones that make South Korea today associated with progress, technological perfection, quality and accessibility. These are the names that paved the way for the new future of one of the biggest economic powers in the world today. Because of these, when we mention Korea, we no longer think of the Korean War, the devastation of the country, the collapse of the economy that followed the war. South Korea is also the leading producer of mobile phones, screens and semiconductors in the world, and is also ranked at the top by the shipbuilding and automotive industries.
