Hallyu and the Korean Wave<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA couple years ago I had never even heard about any Korean television series, nowadays all of my favorite shows are from South Korea.\u201d <\/em> Said Laura Mirelle Pierce, a Brazilian student from DePaul University in Chicago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Laura\u2019s statement might feel familiar. Recently, an increasing number of people have started consuming Korean culture in different shapes and forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2019s and early 2000\u2019s, Korean Dramas became increasingly more popular in countries like China and Japan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n During the 2010\u2019s PSY\u2019s \u201cOppa Gangnam Style\u201d helped to skyrocket the medium into a worldwide sensation, and it hasn\u2019t slowed down ever since, with K-POP groups like BTS quickly following it and taking over the world by storm. According to Korea.net: \u201cThe total number of members who have joined Hallyu-related organizations in all countries around the world have reached nearly 100 million.\u201d<\/a> Said organizations include things such as K-POP fan groups, for example.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n TV-Dramas and Movies have also seen an huge increase in popularity; dramas like \u201cCrash Landing Onto You\u201d and \u201cSquid Game\u201d 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Korean cinema has always been of the utmost quality, with classics r like \u201cOldboy\u201d, \u201cMother\u201d and \u201cMemories of Murder\u201d releasing in the early 2000\u2019s, it wasn\u2019t until the late 2010\u2019s that the industry really made a bang, with \u201cParasite\u201d winning the Oscars in 2019 and other pictures such as \u201cBurning\u201d, \u201cDecision to Leave\u201d and \u201cThe Handmaiden\u201d leaving a positive impact on viewers. In 2023 it was Celine Song\u2019s \u201cPast Lives\u201d turn to make an impact to critics and viewers alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n