Dae Jang Geum

It was a typical American teen scene: high schoolers watching music videos on a computer, bobbing their heads to the beat. Soon, Thaddeus McDaniels and his San Jose buddies were break dancing — pops, jackhammers, head spins — on the living room floor.

But their choice of music was anything but American: Drunken Tiger, Rhyme Shark and BoA — musical missionaries from East Asia who are riding a wave of Korean pop culture that’s crossed the Pacific. Buoyed by the popularity of Japanese culture, such as anime and pop music, Korea has emerged as the new cool.

Americans young and old, from Honolulu to Chicago to New York, are raving about South Korean music and soap operas on Internet chat boards and forums, and are devouring Korean music, television shows and movies. And it isn’t just Asian-Americans who are tuned in to “K-pop.'’

“You don’t have to understand the words to enjoy the music,'’ said Thaddeus, a 10th-grader at Evergreen High School. “You can feel it. You just have to close your eyes.'’

K-pop’s trademark is the bubblegum song: think In-Sync or Brittany Spears, before she got nasty. Korean rap sounds much like its American cousin, but without the potty mouth.

At Evergreen, several cliques are into K-pop, styling their hair red or blond to imitate such K-pop idols as boy band god and teen-girl singer BoA. On teen blog sites Xanga and MySpace, dozens of discussion groups are devoted to K-pop and Korean drama.

“It’s cool to like Korean stuff for those of us in on the secret,'’ said Scott Noburi, an Evergreen student of Mexican and Japanese heritage. Noburi likes Korean music so much that he takes his fashion cues from Korean pop stars, preferring brighter outfits and gelling his hair into 5-inch spikes.

“What would he be without the K-pop?'’ mused 15-year-old Justin Too, who introduced Noburi to the music. “It’s really influenced his style, his dancing, the way he expresses himself.'’

Americans aren’t alone in surfing the hallyu — “Korean wave.'’ In Mexico City, the airing of South Korea’s popular “Winter Sonata'’ drama drew large audiences, while a Seoul cable broadcaster is the first Asian station and offers round-the-clock programming. In Europe, sales of Korean music and drama are up.

Another sign of K-cool: At a recent Paris fashion show, hanboks, the traditional Korean dress, took to the runways, re-fashioned by Western and Korean designers.

Along with improving its image with its Asian neighbors and the world, South Korea’s pop culture means big bucks for the country, accounting for $1.87 billion in 2004 from film and TV program exports, merchandise sales and tourism related to hallyu, according to the Trade Research Institute, a government think tank. The group even attributed increased sales of Korean ginseng, cosmetics, apparel, electronics and automobiles to hallyu.

The South Korean government is doing its part to promote its culture industry. Each year it sponsors a concert in Los Angeles, flying in major K-pop artists. The event draws up to 20,000 concert goers, reportedly making it the largest Asian music event in the United States.

The K-pop phenomenon seems to have buoyed all things Korean. The strange, violent thriller “Old Boy,'’ which won the top prize at Cannes last year, is a hit in U.S. art houses. Boy band Drunken Tiger models clothes for hip-hop designer Karl Kani. Soju, the Korean version of vodka made from rice and barley, is tossed back at trendy bars in San Francisco and Oakland. Upscale Korean restaurants catering to mainstream diners, such as BoAs in Cupertino, are packed.

Korean TV dramas undoubtedly lead the cultural charge. At least 30 stations air Korean dramas in U.S. markets from Guam to Denver to Atlanta. Five Bay Area stations broadcast them. This spring, KTSF (Ch. 28) drew 105,000 fans for the finale of a 54-episode historical tale of a female cook who becomes a king’s doctor.

The dramas, set in modern times or centuries past, evoke the Joseon Dynasty, the golden age of Korean history. Viewers rave about the production quality and gripping, roller-coaster story lines that are drawn out over a dozen or more episodes. Most are tear-jerkers about unrequited love, family conflict and injustice. Recent postings on an Internet forum devoted to Korean dramas shown in California delved into the “Ten Commandments of K-drama.'’

“A love triangle is a MUST,'’ wrote Merela, a fan from Los Angeles. “The main character ALWAYS dies of cancer. . . . It can’t be a freak accident — no sticking a finger into the toaster, no falling off the cliff, no struck by lightning — it’s GOTTA BE CANCER . . . while most of the RELATED characters die of car accidents.'’

The stories are attracting people like Kathleen Wrobel, a 64-year-old Chicago-area nurse.

Wrobel was channel surfing a few years ago when she stopped on a subtitled Korean drama. She was intrigued by the interaction between Koreans of different generations. “You’d never see these story lines on American TV shows that stress loyalty, responsibility and discipline,'’ said Wrobel, who had never before been exposed to anything Asia-related.

Every day, Wrobel logs onto a Chicago-based Internet fan board to discuss what she’s viewing. The drama has also piqued her interest in Korean culture. After watching “Jewel in the Palace'’ (Dae Jung Geum) she bought the soundtrack and a book about 15th-century Korea.

“I can’t explain the draw, why it’s touched me so much,'’ she added. “It boggles my mind.'’

Travel agencies in Hawaii and Los Angeles organize tours to South Korea to visit sites depicted in the shows. Last year, an estimated 600,000 tourists inspired by Korean dramas visited South Korea, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Bay Area firms are finding the trend lucrative, too. San-Bruno based YA Entertainment, which distributes English-subtitled dramas, said sales for the first half of this year have surpassed all of 2004. Founder Tom Larsen, who lived in Korea and was captivated by the dramas, recently signed deals that put his subtitled DVDs into mainstream venues such as Amazon.com, Borders, Tower Records and Sam Goody’s.

About a third of YA’s customers are Caucasian Americans, particularly women over 30 — and that trend is “picking up steam,'’ said Larsen.

YesAsia.com, an online retailer that sells Korean dramas and music, said the United States continues to be a growing market. Demand for Korean music has grown 30 percent in the past year.

Rentals and sales of Korean dramas and movies at Hana DVD in Santa Clara has jumped 50 percent from last year. At the check-out counter is a growing handwritten list of names of non-Korean customers. Owner Jimmy Kim translates each name into Korean before he can add them to his customer database.

Kandice McDonald treks to Santa Clara from Pleasanton each week to rent Korean dramas. She likes Korean pop culture for the “optimism'’ it conveys, preferring it over “cynical and bitter'’ American pop culture.

“The love stories are cheesy but they’re sweet,'’ said McDonald, who is married to a Korean-American and learned to speak Korean from watching dramas. She’s also a devotee of Korean hip-hop. “Their songs are witty and have a positive, optimistic twist.'’

She hasn’t converted her husband — but she’s persuading friends.

“I’m more into Korean pop than she is,'’ McDonald said of a Korean-American co-worker. “She borrows my CDs.'’

Source: MercuryNews 1 Oct 2005