The Korean television drama series My Love From

E.06-07
Social Issues
Tuesday
■ Text : Lon Yan (Source: S-file)
27 May 2014
■ Photos : Sing Tao Daily
The Koreans
Key ideas
Learning Korean
Korean fashion
While China has become a world military and
economic superpower, its soft power is not as strong
are coming
as that of South Korea, which has been earnestly
exporting the products of its creative industry, bringing
significant revenue and exerting a powerful cultural
influence on the region including, Hong Kong and the
mainland.
Did you know?
The Korean
n television
elevision drama series My Love From the Starr ((來自星星的你)
來自星
星星的你)
has taken Hong Kong and the mainland by storm
storm, whipping up a cultural
craze amongst fans. But why are we embracing this ‘Korean invasion’?
Hong Kong has a robust creative industry of around
36,000 related establishments, with more than 192,000
practitioners engaged. The industries create an added
value to Hong Kong’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of
J
UST how popular is My Love From the Star? It has
a huge following that includes common folks and
movie stars both in Hong Kong and the mainland.
The audience not only watches it, but also lives it. They
wear clothes and eat like the main characters and are
blending the Korean living style with their own.
Making kimchi
Mainland companies are reported to be seeking to
buy the series’ copyright to produce a Chinese version.
272,000 relevant items. Some online stores sold out of 2,159
products related to the TV play within a month.”
nearly HK$90 billion annually, representing around 4.7
percent of the GDP.
Do Min-Joon became the person of the week on CCTV’s
public affairs programme in early March. The Star craze was
also covered by US television news, which questioned why
China’s own productions have
not achieved the same level of
popularity.
China lagging in soft power
CHINA has grown to be a world superpower, and has the world’s second
largest economy. It has a space programme, frequently showcases its
aircraft carrier and asserts its economic clout. But its ‘soft’ power appears
to be weak by comparison.
On the contrary, pushed by the government, South Korea has been
successfully exporting cultural products such as television productions,
movies and music, and has captured the hearts of people in Asia and
beyond.
Pop culture offensive
SOUTH Korea launched its pop culture offensive
against the world as early as 2000. The effect of
waves of ‘invasions’ on mainland China has become
particularly pronounced since last year.
The country realised after the 1997 financial turmoil that its heavyindustry-orientated economy must evolve to a knowledge-based one.
Related policies were quickly introduced in 1998, medium and long term
plans were drawn up and special task forces established to support the
creative industry.
The 20-episode series The Heirs (繼承者們), aired
between October and December last year, captured the
hearts of the Chinese audience. Main actor Lee Min-ho (李敏鎬) was
invited to appear on this year’s CCTV Spring Festival Gala (春晚), and
the audience just loved his performance.
• TV series Jewel in the Palace (大長金) aired in Hong Kong in 2005
and broke viewing figures with total revenue in distribution, advertising
and related products at HK$200 million.
MY Love From the Star, the finale of which has just been aired, was even
more popular, with mainland internet viewership topping 1.3 billion hits.
It was watched by celebrities like Zhao Wei (趙薇) and Fan Bingbing (范
冰冰), who are themselves accomplished artistes.
• Locations featured in drama series starring popular actor Bae Yong-joon
(裴勇俊) became tourist attractions, drawing over 200,000 visitors and
related revenue totalling HK$240 million.
• South Korea’s cultural industry has been growing at an annual rate of
18 percent, valued at US$85.5 billion, with exports at US$5.1 billion in
2013.
Apart from the phenomenal audience size, the series has also
influenced mainlanders’ living style, eating habits and fashion.
Fried chicken and lipsticks
Cultural globalisation
FRIED chicken with beer, or Chimaek, the favourite snack of main
characters Cheon Song-yi (千頌伊) and Do Min-joon (都敏俊), has
become a hit in the mainland.
WHAT the Star craze represented
was perhaps the globalisation of
cultures. But is the ‘Korean Wave’
a mutually beneficial exchange or
an invasion that erodes the culture
of the recipient country?
The mainland media has observed that the sale of chicken has also
increased, bringing a much needed boost to the ailing poultry trade which
has been struggling under the bird flu scare.
Star products, such as clothes and accessories of the same kind that
were worn by the protagonists, have a guaranteed market. A brand of
lipstick Cheon likes to use was selling so well that it was out-of-stock
worldwide.
blend (v) 揉合
country?
2. What are some of the best ways to increase soft
power?
References
1. South Korea adds culture to its export power
www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/world/asia/28ihtkorea.html?_r=0
www.gov.hk/en/about/abouthk/factsheets/docs/
creative_industries.pdf
3. Chinese officials debate why China can’t make a
soap opera as good as South Korea’s
www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_
pacific/chinese-officials-debate-why-chinacant-make-a-soap-opera-as-good-as-southkoreas/2014/03/07/94b86678-a5f3-11e3-84d4e59b1709222c_story.html
Comics
Taking Korean obsessions too far.
It is noteworthy that Hunan
TV’s hit reality shows, Where are
we Going, Dad? (爸爸去哪兒？)
last year and the current I am a
Singer ( 我是歌手 ), were both
based on original South Korean
shows.
All-China Women’s Federation’s (中華全國婦女聯合會) portal
womenofchina.cn reports, “If you search ‘my love from the star’ on
Taobao (淘寶網), China’s foremost e-commerce website, you will find
Vocabulary
1. Why is developing soft power important for a
2. Hong Kong Creative Industries
The efforts have produced a string of successes:
Over 1.3 billion online viewings
Critical questions
phenomenal (adj) 非凡的
ailing (adj) 狀況不佳的
clout (n) 力量
turmoil (n) 混亂
mutually (adv) 相互地
earnestly (adv) 認真地
robust (adj) 強健的