Korean Culture Boom
BTS
Who are BTS?
Why do you think are they so successful globally?
They’ve given speeches at the UN General Assembly twice now. What do you think they spoke about?
2018 - to help UNICEF promote Generation Unlimited, a campaign to educate and train young people
“Thinking about the future and trying hard are all important.
But cherishing yourself, encouraging yourself and keeping yourself happy is the most important.
In a world of uncertainty,we must cherish the importance of “me,” “you” and “us”.
That’s the message of “Love Myself” we talked about for three years”
What do you think of their speech?
Why does the UN have celebrities make speeches at some meetings?
Their speech was watched LIVE by 1 million people. 12 hours later it had over 6 million views
At the UN Boris Johnson gave a speech on the same day. How many people watched his speech on the UN website?
Yes, I also think it’s because no one trusts anything he says
speech views: 9.8 thousand
Squid Game
111 million viewers in its first month (a new Netflix record)*
It reached #1 in 90 countries
What do you think the show is about?
*netflix counts anything over 2 minutes as a view
SK Broadband, an internet service provider in South Korea, has sued Netflix, because their viewers use so much bandwidth.
Should Netflix be paying internet providers a service fee?
In Korea Amazon, Apple, and Facebook are paying usage fees while Netflix and YouTube are not, an SK spokesperson told Reuters.
Several schools in the US have banned kids from wearing Squid Game costumes because the show is very violent.
Is this a good rule?
If that’s the case, should schools ban zombie, pirate or demon costumes?
Many schools ban scary or gory costumes that could scare younger children
Some schools have banned dressing up as a Geisha, Indian, Cowboy, Mexican and Cross-dressing. Why?
Crash-landing on you (愛の不時着）
This was a massive success in Korea, China, Philippines, and the US.
Based on the pictures, what do you think the story is about?
Who are the 4 soldiers in the 2nd picture? Why don’t they tell the government that a South Korean woman is in their village?
The 4 ladies in the background are the local village women. How do you think the main actress make friends with them?
Several North Korean defectors worked on the show (as writers or advisors). Most said the show’s image of North Korea was 60% true. Which 2 points did they say were incorrect?
kind soldiers
random house checks
crossing the border while North Korean guards shoot at you
women can only choose from 18 hairstyles
food in the markets
Why do you think the show created a more positive image of North Korea?
Many South Koreans…
have family in the North
hope the 2 countries will reunify in the future
In 2013 a comedy film about 2 journalists who interview Kim Jong Un was made. At the end of the movie they kill the North Korean leader
How did North Korea react?
In June 2014 the North Korean government said they consider the film an "act of terrorism and war."
Later in July, KCNA wrote to U.S. President Barack Obama, asking to have the film pulled.
What do you think Obama did?
What do you think Sony did?
Obama did nothing. Sony delayed the release by 2 months until December 2014 to shorten Kim Jong Un’s death scene.
In November a group of Hackers hacked Sony, and released a large amount of emails and several unreleased Sony films. They said they would leak more data if Sony didn’t pull the film.
In December 2014 the hackers threatened to attack the premiere and any cinema that showed the film.
What do you think Sony did?
Many cinemas refused to show the film and Sony decided to release the film online and on DVD only.
Later Obama said it was “mistake” to pull the film:
“We cannot have a society in which some dictator some place can start imposing censorship here in the United States because if somebody is able to intimidate folks out of releasing a satirical movie, imagine what they start doing when they see a documentary that they don’t like, or news reports that they don’t like”
Gangnam Style
Why did this man become globally famous?
Gangnam has 2 Guinness World Records. What do you think they are?
Do you think more men or women watched the video on youtube?
Answers:
At one point it was the most liked youtube video, the most watched video and the first video to hit 1 billion views.
61.6 percent of viewers were male
Parasite
Parasite won best director, best screenplay and best film at the Academy Awards in 2020.
What do you think it’s about?
Why this resonate with American audiences and critics?
The Seoul Tourism Organization has created a tour route of locations seen in the film.
How do the locals feel about tourists visiting these neighborhoods and taking photos?
PUBG
Can you describe the game play?
What is Battle Royale?
Pronounced “pub-G,” this game was launched in 2017 and became a global hit.
What kind of game do you think it is?
PUBG became a big success in Asia, especially China.
How did they become popular in China?
The company had to work with a local game maker, Tencent. The problem is the game was banned in India because of this partnership!
In the US, Fortnite, a very similar Battle Royale Game was much more popular.
Why was it a bigger hit with Americans?
Sources:
https://www.businessinsider.com/squid-game-netflix-south-korea-lawsuit-2021-10
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/29/style/squid-game-costume-ban.html
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/69774/8-halloween-costumes-have-been-banned-schools