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In the Korean communities in Japan, the term “cold spell(寒流)” is replacing “Korean Wave(韓流).” The Chinese characters of “cold (寒)” and “Korea (韓)” are pronounced the same, and the former is used to describe anti-Korean Wave sentiment. This is well seen at Shin Okubo in Tokyo, the No. 1 spot of Korean Wave in Japan. Anti-Korean rallies have been held every weekend cutting tourists there and halving sales. More than 450 Korean restaurants and cosmetics stores operating there are concerned over the downturn. Korean Ambassador to Japan Lee Byung-kee joined Korean residents cleaning the Shin Okubo streets Friday to grasp the situation. Japanese media interviewed him while he was picking cigarette butts and wastes urging that he help heart-to-heart exchange between Korean and Japanese people. At a dinner meeting with Korean residents, Lee promised active response to rallies, to which a resident almost burst into tears saying, “A friend is the most precious when lending a help in dire situation.” The cooling Korean Wave sentiment is also felt at homes. Korean drama sales and rentals dropped nearly 20 percent year-on-year in the first four months this year. The number of Japanese people taking Korean courses at language institutes to watch Korean dramas stalled. The number of Japanese tourists to Korea plunged 76 percent year-on-year in the first five months this year. Korea`s tourism industry, hotels and airline companies are facing a dire situation. Has Korean Wave ended in Japan? No, actually. At Japan`s largest online shopping mall Rakuten, a smartphone case is sold at around 1,000 yen (10 U.S. dollars) but the Moldir brand designed by Youngwoong Jae-joong, a member of K-pop idol group JYJ, is selling hot at nine times of the price at 8,900 yen (89 dollars). The product had topped the daily best seller list for a few days since it was released. Moldir bags also sell 20 percent higher than average bags. (JYJ3’s Note: More Info here) Korea Tourism Organization says the number of Japanese individuals traveling to Korea due to Korean Wave remains the same. The problem is group tourists from companies who have turned to Southeast Asia and Taiwan, but they can return any time, the agency added. Korean TV dramas are also still popular in Japan. Terrestrial broadcaster NHK airs “Dongi” from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. every Sunday, and “Secret Garden” from 12:40 a.m. for an hour every Wednesday. TBS airs “Neighbor Handsome” every day from 10 a.m. and TV Tokyo “Mushin” from 8:25 a.m. every day. Cable and satellite TVs broadcast up to nine Korean dramas a week. A Japanese woman who said she was a fan of Korean Wave said, “I can`t openly say I`m Korean Wave fan due to situations, but Korean Wave has already moved beyond being a boom and has become a daily culture in Japan.” Korean tourists in Japan are surging due to weakening yen, which is also supporting Korean Wave fans in the country. As related news are aired in TVs, the anti-Korean sentiment is subsiding. One good turn deserves another. Perhaps due to Lee`s visit, Japan`s extreme right-wing groups cancelled their rally at Shin Okubo on Sunday. Protesters were known to march to the Tokyo Korean School and the Korean communities in Japan were keeping their eyes and ears alert. Korean residents in Japan cautiously expect the rally cancellation be a start point of reviving Korea-Japan relations and Korean Wave in Japan. It is hoped that Korean residents in Japan can smile this autumn. Source: English Donga |
Browsing Tags Korean Wave
[TRANS] 110621 An Automatic Pardon for Lee Soo Man, the Originator of the European Korean Wave ‘Slave Contract’ [Fiasco]?
Note: This article was originally posted on the first page of news portal sites. However, it suspiciously disappeared from the front page quickly after it was posted.
An Automatic Pardon for Lee Soo Man, the Originator of the European Korean Wave ‘Slave Contract’ [Fiasco]?
2011-06-21
[金土日의 리트윗] And if they buy it just because we export it?…the things that get buried under the hype about European expansion
The Korean Wave is tumultuous. Korean pop culture, which started rapidly spreading abroad in the late 1990s through TV dramas, to this day doesn’t show signs of slowing down. And now, through the Internet, Korean idol singers are even widening their stage all the way to Western Europe. This story was already reported by numerous media outlets, but the fine details were omitted. In any case, in summary, it was reported that even average European consumers were starting to respond to the musical products of the pop music business pioneered and executively directed by Lee Soo Man. Read More →
[INFO] Who is really the leader of Hanyru (Korean Wave) — A comparison of JYJ’s Concert in North America with SM’s Concert in Paris
Recently, all of Korean media’s attention has been on SM’s concert soon to be held in Paris. They declare SM to be leaders of the Korean Wave (Hanryu), spreading the Korean culture to even non-Asian countries. On the other hand, despite their upcoming large-scale North American tour, JYJ has been receiving virtually no coverage.
But let’s think for a moment here. Is SM’s concert in Paris really as impressive as it sounds? Are they truly the only leaders of the Korean Wave? Is their concert major enough to deem JYJ’s World Tour insignificant and therefore unworthy of media attention?
Take a look at the following chart and see for yourself.
Hm… Let’s take this one by one.
[TRANS] 110303 Who is the Real Culprit Disgracing the Korean Wave?
Exposure of the backwardness of the Korean entertainment business to the international community
▲ The constant blocking and curtailing of JYJ’s activities is only exposing to the international community and international consumers of the Korean Wave the state of underdevelopment of the Korean entertainment business and broadcasting structure. The photograph above shows many of these fans and consumers at JYJ’s New York showcase waiting in excitement.
In October of last year, the Korean Federation of Pop Culture and Arts Industry (KFPCAI) stated in an official letter sent to all national mainstream and cable TV stations, “The broadcasting of JYJ will have a negative effect on the Korean Wave as well as the image of its cultural contents industry and the Korean nation behind the Korean Wave,” and that “it will lead to the regression of pop culture and the Korean Wave,” thus urging all recipients to ban the appearance of the group. Yet, four months after that incident, this past February, JYJ’s foreign fans warned, “We the international consumers of the Korean Wave reiterate our unwavering support for JYJ and urge their nation to secure justice for her own citizens or else risk forever marring her cultural products with the stigma of human rights violations.”
That day was the day after cable channel QTV had publicised its decision to cancel JYJ’s reality programme ‘JYJ’s Real24’, which detailed the members’ daily lives, and two days after some 86,000 foreign fans of JYJ submitted a petition to the Fair Trade Commission and the Seoul Central District Court.
JYJ’s foreign fans declared, “QTV’s behavior is unprofessional, irresponsible and unacceptably disrespectful to its viewers and the laws of its own country”, unable to hide their regret and disappointment at the situation. They also noted, “QTV announced that it had cancelled JYJ’s reality show, JYJ’s Real24, after creating significant reliance interests for viewers by advertising through multiple channels that it would air the show within February” and that “such acts represent contempt for JYJ’s entertainment activity rights, which have been twice affirmed by the court.”
JYJ3 