Hallyu and Korea’s National Image

“If you want to study relations between Korea and Japan properly today, you have to watch ‘Winter Sonata,’” a professor at Harvard University said.

A panel discussion on “hallyu” was held on February 16 at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., in the United States. “Hallyu has become the core code to understand relations between Korea, Japan and China. However, hallyu has a lot to learn from the success and the failure of Hollywood,” renowned American professors of Asian Studies pointed out at the panel.

“Singer BoA and the ‘Yonsama syndrome’ created by ‘Winter Sonata’ have fundamentally changed the national image of Korea in Japan,” said David Leheny, professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“Korea should pay attention to antagonism against the U.S. in countries like Iran and Indonesia where Hollywood films are very popular at the same time. Good feelings about a certain country’s culture do not always translate into good feelings about that country. Therefore, Hallyu should also take a lesson from the failure of Hollywood,” David added.

“As we can see from the case of Lee Ang, who made the film ‘Brokeback Moutain,” the competitiveness of Hollywood comes from utilizing talents from all across the world. Hallyu has also a lot to learn from the success of Hollywood,” said Eileen Chow, assistant professor of East Asian Studies at Harvard.

“Before the western powers’ invasion and Japan’s imperial aggression were launched in earnest, friendly cross-border cultural exchanges were commonly carried out between East Asians counties. And Hallyu signifies a return to that era,” said David R. McCann, professor of East Asian Studies at Harvard.

Meanwhile, singer/producer Park Jin-young said that the term “Hallyu” may have to be changed. “I am collaborating a lot with American artists while working on hip hop music in the U.S. I think a new term should be used in a situation when Koreans reach a stage where they work in partnership with foreigners,” Park said.

Park also drew much attention on the day with his witty comments and also disclosed that Rain generated a gross income of $20 million in 2006. In addition, Park announced that he plans to run the JYP Manhattan Center to lift Hallyu to the next stage. Some 400 students from Asian countries like Korea, Japan, and China participated in the panel.

kong@donga.com