Culture minister meets with French fans of `Korean Wave`

The Korean Cultural Center in Paris held a meeting Thursday between Korean Culture, Sport and Tourism Minister Chung Byoung-gug and members of the Korean Connection, a club of French fans of "hallyu," or Korean pop culture.

The meeting came as a result of the club holding a flash mob event asking Korea’s SM Entertainment musicians to perform additional concerts in Paris. In consideration of this, Chung sought to further spread the Korean Wave though dialogue with them.

Rep. Jun Byung-hun of the main opposition Democratic Party and Rep. Ahn Hyung-hwan of the ruling Grand National Party joined the meeting. Both lawmakers have been serving as members of the parliamentary committee on culture, sport and tourism.

Despite the meeting’s friendly atmosphere, Korean Connection members urged improvement of the way foreigners can enjoy Korean culture. They said the Internet homepages of Korean pop singers do not allow foreigners to become membership.

A female fan said she was a devout fan of Korean pop culture to the extent that she has tattoos on her arm saying “Dongbangshingi” and “Super Junior,” the names of two Korean boy bands.

Maxim Pake, the president of a Korean culture fan club in France, said, “We would like to enjoy Korean dramas and songs in justifiable ways but there are few ways to download such paid content, causing many Korean Wave fans in France to depend on illegal downloads."

Calling his favorite K-Pop group Big Bang, he asked Chung to arrange a concert in Paris featuring the boy band and got a positive answer.

French enthusiasm for the Korean Wave is far greater than expected. Members of the Korean Wave fan club are showing great expectations that the SM Town concert will be held June 10 and 11.

One schoolteacher estimated that France has at least 100,000 K-Pop fans, citing how fast the tickets to the SM concerts sold out despite their high prices. Another fan said the number would reach at least 130,000.

French fans said they are attracted to the Korean Wave because it maintains traditional culture. A salesperson said Korean culture’s advantage lies in that the virtues that France has lost such as offering bus seats to the elderly remain alive in Korea.

Chung promised to invite Korean Connection members to Korea for “Dream Concert,” a free performance of Korean idol groups. He said Korea will hold the final competition of regional winners of K-Pop contests, eliciting cheers from Korean Connection members.

bluedot@donga.com