Hallyu and the Korean Wave

“A couple years ago I had never even heard about any Korean television series, nowadays all of my favorite shows are from South Korea.”  Said Laura Mirelle Pierce, a Brazilian student from DePaul University in Chicago.

Laura’s statement might feel familiar. Recently, an increasing number of people have started consuming Korean culture in different shapes and forms.

This flood of content Made in Korea has a name: Hallyu, or Korean Wave. Before becoming a global phenomenon, the Korean Wave had to first conquer Asia. Starting in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, Korean Dramas became increasingly more popular in countries like China and Japan. 

During the 2010’s PSY’s “Oppa Gangnam Style” helped to skyrocket the medium into a worldwide sensation, and it hasn’t slowed down ever since, with K-POP groups like BTS quickly following it and taking over the world by storm. According to Korea.net: “The total number of members who have joined Hallyu-related organizations in all countries around the world have reached nearly 100 million.” Said organizations include things such as K-POP fan groups, for example. 

TV-Dramas and Movies have also seen an huge increase in popularity; dramas like “Crash Landing Onto You” and “Squid Game” were just a few of the shows that led to Netflix announcing that they plan to invest $2.5 billion dollars in South Korea over the next four years.

While Korean cinema has always been of the utmost quality, with classics r like “Oldboy”, “Mother” and “Memories of Murder” releasing in the early 2000’s, it wasn’t until the late 2010’s that the industry really made a bang, with “Parasite” winning the Oscars in 2019 and other pictures such as “Burning”, “Decision to Leave” and “The Handmaiden” leaving a positive impact on viewers. In 2023 it was Celine Song’s “Past Lives” turn to make an impact to critics and viewers alike.

Although K-POP, K-Dramas and Korean Cinema are by far the most famous forms of entertainment coming from South Korea, this cultural pandemic has expanded to many different areas, such as E-Sports, Culinary and Fashion. It all a big impact in the current generation of young adults and teenagers, as mentioned by Enzo Tagliati, a Morningside student from Sweden:

“K-pop Idols have become more like influencers almost, on TikTok feeds you’re starting to see people use them as inspiration for outfits, beauty standards and all sorts of growing influence when it comes to young adults’ lifestyles.”

Oliver Melander, also from Sweden, is a senior whose fashion sense has made a strong impact among Morningside’s Soccer team, stated:

“Personally, I have gotten massively into Korean fashion lately. The Korean Street fashion is greatly influenced by shapes and postures, something which is becoming increasingly trendy in western fashion. The ability to play with shapes and enhance certain features is something which Korean fashion has been doing for a long time.” – “In a sense Korean street wear has been ahead of its time! If one wants to look trendy and fashionable in present day Northern Europe, one can never go wrong with Korean brands!”

The Korean Wave has showed absolutely no signs of slowing down, and recently, words such as “Hallyu” have been officially added to English dictionaries.