How did K-pop Become a

global phenomenon?
 May 3, 2018
GOAL: Mind Mapping out a big idea base on the knowledge I already have about this topic. After that researching
the term “Hallyu” and how people comes up with this term? The origin of Korean wave.

What I learned: The Korean wave first appeared during the mid-1990s when the TV dramas, What Is Love?, was
aired and over 150 million Chinese watched it. Then the pop music started to gain the popularity after it was
broadcast on Seoul Music Room broadcast. After that there’s a Korean boy band H.O.T. held in Beijing in 2000.
Then people come up with the Chinese term, Hallyu, which is also called Korean Wave. This term refers to the
popularity of South Korea’s cultural economy including pop culture, TV dramas, and entertainment. It has been a
blessing for Korea as it become an image for the country, affecting its business and culture. Additionally, Hallyu
also contributing 0.2% of Korea’s GDP in 2004 and recently had an estimate USD 11.6 billion boost on Korean
economy in 2014.
New Questions I have: Besides China, what country that the Hallyu start to spread next to?
Reflection: For today, I think I’m successfully reach my goal. I started to brainstorm what I know about K-pop and
then start to think where did the Korean wave start. At first, I didn’t even know what is the first country that K-pop
start spreading to. I just knew that K-pop has been popular in Asia for quite a long time, then after I became one
of the k-pop fan, the bands and artist start to get more popular in other country. Moreover, for the next research,
I’m going to research on what country that the Korean Wave spread to besides China.
Evidence of Learning process
Brainstorm my basic knowledge
 May 8, 2018
Goal: What is the next country that Korean wave spread to? How it becomes successful?
What I learned:
Hallyu first spread in China, Japan, countries in Southeast Asia, following by several countries worldwide. The Korean
wave arrived in Japan back in 2003, when Japanese Network NHK aired the South Korean Romantic drama called “Winter
Sonata”, where the love between the male and female protagonist start in the winter . Leading by Bae Yong Jun, he become
a national star and the drama brought over 3,500 million yen ($3.5 million) to NHK. According to the guide book on Hallyu
published by KOCIS, the Japanese fans of drama started to view Korean people as polite, generous and sophisticate.
In the same year, Kpop steps up and made the first success launch to Japan, as the Korean singer, BoA climbed the
Music chart. Following by Korean boy band, TVXQ and BigBang, who also achieved the same success. In August 2010,
KARA and Girl’s Generation (aka SNSD) crashed the Japanese chart with “Mister” and “Genie”. Both group sung in Japan
and also released songs particularly for the Japanese market. Ian Martin of the Japan Times writes that Korean acts take
most of their cues from Western music, like Girl Generation’s where their track of debut Japanese album was sculpted by
Western producers which impress Japanese people a lot.
Besides that Korean stars have made a big impact on the consumer culture, including food, fashion, make-up trends,
and even plastic surgery. For Thailand, the Korean wave has reached around 2005 with Dae Jang Geum, a soap opera. Then
the next big hit was TVXQ or Dongbangshingi, a Korean boyband composed with 5 members. Since then, there’s many
following group that can successfully dominate Thai’s market in which will be included in future research.
New Questions I have: What company or agent that BoA, TVXQ, KARA, Bigbang, as well as other bands in Korea
belong to?

Reflection: During the second day of researching, I’m very satisfied with the information I have got. Actually,
there’s a lot of information that I have to read and skim the part that I think it’s very important out. I receive a lot
more information that I didn’t expect before because when the Korean Wave start, I still didn’t interested in any of
this trend but now I have time to do more research and really know the origin of Hallyu. I have heard about this
term since I was really young because my sister, she’s also the fan of TVXQ. They are also very popular among
Thai teenagers and I could agree that after I have experienced it from my sister. Everything goes well today, what
I want to do more in the future is to get into more detail of which group of boy bands and girl groups that are now
playing in a international market recently. However, this is just to give a background and history information about
K-pop.

On the 17-18 of August, TVXQ held the

finale of their ‘TVXQ LIVE TOUR 2013
~TIME~’ tour at the Nissan Stadium in
Yokohama, Japan. They attracted
144,000 fans to their concerts across
two days.
Nikkan Sports applauded TVXQ’s
concert and said, “TVXQ have made
their mark in the history of Japanese
music and their new history has just
“RED OCEAN” begun.”
 Evidence of learning Process
TVXQ
Sankei Sports stated on 2013, “Nissan Stadium
was overflowing with passion because of TVXQ.
Having attracted a total of 850,000 fans to their
tour, TVXQ have broken last year’s record of
550,000 and have the highest record for any
international artiste.”
 May 9, 2018
Goal: The Big 3 leading companies of the kpop industry/ Also talk about PSY, Gangnam style
What I learned: Between 1995-1998, three powerhouse music studios established: SM, JYP, and YG; therefore these 3 studios began to
cultivate what became known as ”idol” groups
YG Entertainment
Established in 1996 by Yang-Hyun Suk. The company strongly influenced by R&B and hip hop. It’s the home of BigBang, 2NE1, WINNER,
IKON, PSY, Blackpink and many mores.
SM Entertainment
Established in 1995 by Lee-soo man. This is the company that credited for Korean Wave. It’s the home of many bands, groups, and artists that
are very popular including TVXQ, SHINEE, EXO, BoA, SNSD, Super Junior, f(x), Red Velvet, NCT and many mores.
JYP Entertainment
Established in 1997 by Park- Jin Young. It’s the home of TWICE, GOT7, 2PM, MissA, and many mores

Gangnam Style, released on july 15, 2012, the song immediately reached the top of the music chart. It’s big EDM chorus with the
catchy phrase “oppa gangnam style” and funny dance move, in which gangnam refer to one of the district in Seoul where’s rich people is living
there. This song become the first video that hit 1 billion views on Youtube. Since Gangnam Style came out, Billboard reports that since
"Gangnam Style," YouTube views of Korean artists have tripled, jumping to 7 billion views globally in 2012 versus 2.2 billion in 2011.

New Questions I have: Besides PSY, which groups or artists that gain a lot of popular?
Reflection: For today, I have learned a lot about the big three, a company where almost every trainee want to get into. I personally have been
a part of K-pop fans and being in this industry since 2014. In my opinion, most of the group that is known by group of people are all come from
this three companies. Whether it’s Exo, Got7, Blackpink, IKON, and many mores. Nevertheless there are 2 boy bands that get very popular
during this time which is BTS, and Wanna one, but these 2 groups aren’t coming from the big three. I will also talk more about both groups in
the future research. Moreover, this is also the first time that I knew that PSY impact the viewer in US a lot, at first I think it’s a really big hit but
didn’t think about this huge impact. I achieve my goal today and didn’t face with obstacles.
 Evidence of LEarning process

Established in 1997 by Park- Jin Young

 “
MAY 10, 2018 (updated May,21)
Goal: Research about K-pop bands or artists that bring success to Korean
What I learned: Besides the 3 big companies, in a report to the electronic disclosure system by the Financial Supervisory
Service, Big Hit said late last month its sales stood at 92.4 billion won ($87 million) and operating profit at 32.5 billion won
last year. While in operating profit YG got 25.2 billion won, JYP 19.5 billion won, and SM 10.9 billion won. One of the big
reason that Big Hit beat out these 3 companies is because of its boy band group called BTS, or usually called Bangtan Boy,
their fans are officially called A.R.M.Y (아미), which stands for Adorable Representative M.C for Youth
Debuted in 2013 with the song “No More Dream”, BTS is just a normal boy band group. They are: Jin, Suga, J-Hope,
RM, Jimin, V and Jungkook. Nevertheless, in 2016, BTS released their new album “Wings” which records on Billboard 200.
The music video for their title track, “Blood Sweat & Tears”, broke its first record on YouTube by being the K-pop artists to
break 10 million views in just 41 hours, leading Girl Generation’s I Got A Boy that have a previous record of 55 hours.
Following by their repackaged version of their Wings album, You Never Walk Alone, with the single “Spring day”, it’s nearly
charted on the Billboard Hot 100. They also embarked on the US Market, playing 5 stadiums show in New York, Chicago,
Los Angeles. In addition, they become the first K-pop performing at the American Music Awards in November 2017 and the
first Korean band that enter Top 40 on Billboard Hot 100 chart with the song “Mic Drop”, featuring rapper Desiigner and
remixed by U.S. DJ Steve Aoki.
 “
New Questions I have: What factor that lead Kpop to become a global phenomenon
Reflection: I have learned that besides the big three, BTS become very popular among the old trend. This
is very interesting and fascinating because BigHit is a small company. It’s a group gain a lot of attention
from the American side, which is another factor that lead K-pop to become a global phenomenon. When I
was on the exchange program in United States, I have met many friends there and they know about
K-pop and also a fan of BTS. At that time I never think that BTS will come this far, but it’s been prove now
that they are very talented and popular. I achieve my goal for today and plan to find the reason my K-pop
become so popular for the next research
 “
Evidence of Learning process: BTS meet big stars

【 】
 May 16, 2018
Goal: Find the reason of why K-pop is becoming so popular
What I learned: These are some reasons that make K-pop become so popular:
● Costumes and colors
In many K-pop music videos, they mostly wear a costume that contain lots of color, which catch the could catch the attention
from the audience. Even though, they’re in the same group, but they usually wear different costume but they all go together.
They are very creative for the costumes and Music video.
● Story telling
Almost every Korean music video, it always contain the meaning behind the lyrics and dance moves as well as the story
progressing in the video. For example, the WINGS album by BTS is focusing on the theme of young and adolescent. The story
of the song is where 7 members are struggling with different aspect of life in which they’re growing up
● Catchy tunes
Even you’re not understanding the word of what the idol are saying but as you hear the catchy phrase and beats, it will stuck
in your head. Here’s some iconic and catchy line in K-pop song:
- [EXID] Up & Down: the repeating of “Wi arae”
- [Blackpink] As if it’s your last: the phrase “Blackpink in your area”
- [SNSD] Gee: the repeating of “Gee”
- [Twice] Cheer up: “Shy shy shy”
● Choreography
K-pop artists are very good at dancing and performing choreography which require a lot of skills and practices. The dance
move and how they positioned themselves is very strong and take a large amount of work. These are some example of Top
choreographies:
 - NCT: Black on black, Boss
- BTS: Fire, DNA
- Exo: Monster, Kokobop
- Blackpink: Boombayah
- Wanna One: Energetic
- Sunmi: Gashina
● Training
K-pop artists usually trained by the company for quite a long time and have been through the intensive training while they’re a
trainee. Once they are debut, this make their performance look whether it’s dancing or singing.
- Exo’s Suho: 7 years
- Bigbang’s G-Dragon: 11 years
- Twice’s Jihyo: 7 years
- Girls Generation's Jessica and Yoona: 7 years
- Red Velvet’s Seulgi: 7 years
● Multitalented and multicultural
These idols are not talented only dancing or singing, they can also acting and performing in many dramas. Moreover, the
K-pop industries provide a mix of different culture since their artists are not only from Korea but they have gained some
amount trainees from Thailand, Japan, China, Canada, or even America.
● Concept
K-pop has come out with many unique concept in order to attract the fanclub. For example, EXO, it’s compose of EXO-K and
EXO-M. EXO-K will sing in Korean and promote music mainly in Korea, but EXO-M does the same in Mandarin. By releasing a
song in 2 languages, the band can gain more audience. EXO has become very popular and standout among many boy-bands
groups.
New Questions I have: Except the concept, what make Exo become very successful? Who are they? And
Reflection: For today, I noticed a lot of the factor that make K-pop become popular. All the factors that I have researched are all
reasonable. The part that took me such a long time would be the part that I need to put the Bio-link on the Artist’s name as well as
the link to the Music video because there’s so many name and song for this part of the research. This is for the other people who
might want to know more about these artists and groups and want to access the data easily. *** All the link will be put on the
Evidence of learning processes part down below:
Evidence of learning process:
Catchy tunes Choreographies Training Durations
- [EXID] Up & Down: the repeating of - NCT: Black on black, Boss - Exo’s Suho: 7 years
“Wi arae” - BTS: Fire, DNA - Bigbang’s G-Dragon: 11 years
- [Blackpink] As if it’s your last: the - Exo: Monster, Kokobop - Twice’s Jihyo: 7 years
phrase “Blackpink in your area” - Blackpink: Boombayah - Girls Generation's Jessica and
- [SNSD] Gee: the repeating of “Gee” - Wanna One: Energetic Yoona: 7 years
- [Twice] Cheer up: “Sha sha sha” - Sunmi: Gashina - Red Velvet’s Seulgi: 7 years
 May 17,2018
Goal: Research about EXO and the success of this boy band
What I learned:
EXO is a Korean-Chinese boy group, formed by SM entertainment in 2011 and debuted in 2012. The actual
members of the group is 12 but 3 of them, Kris, Luhan, and Tao left the group so now it’s currently consist of 9 members:
Suho, Xiumin, Lay, Baekhyun, Chen, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai, and Sehun. After the song “Growl” released from the XOXO album
on 2013, their popularity during growl can’t be described. That’s when the time that Exo gained all their fans, they were on
every channels and everyone talked about them.
Their total album sales have exceeded 7 millions in the January of 2017. Nevertheless, this does not include physical
sales from DVDs, Blu-Rays, Japanese releases, as well as digital sales. On the latest Gaon Chart Ranking (the national
chart of South Korea and is intended to be the equivalent of Oricon in Japan and Billboard in the United States), Exo
climbed up the National Physical album Ranking with the Korean and Chinese versions of album “The war”. It has recorded
1,592,792 copies sold as of November 30, with the original album having sold 1,086,307 copies with the title track
Kokobop, and its repackaged edition “The War: The Power of Music” having sold 506,485 copies. They are the first group
in 12 years that could sell over a million physical copies. This album also storm into the Billboard 200 Chart earning 7,000
equivalent album units in the week ending July 20, 2017.
On January 16, 2018, Exo’s Power become the first K-pop song to play for the first time at the Dubai Fountain. It is
also the group that was closing the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang Olympic Stadium in South Korea, considering as
one of the most popular group in Asia that has received a bunch of awards.
Their concert tickets were also sold out very fast and being highly demanded among EXO-L (Exo fanclub name). For
example, EXO Planet #4 The EℓyXiOn – in BANGKOK: 31,000 tickets for 3 days concert sold out in 5 minutes
New Questions I have: After doing all of the research, how could I sum up and put all the information together?
Reflection: Exo is another boy band group that is very successful and being one of the group that make more
people know K-pop. I’m also an EXO-L and I could say that they’re very popular in Asia, as well as in Korea.
During their latest concert in March during this year, they sold the ticket in two ways; via all-ticket website and
the All-ticket counter in 7-11. Nevertheless, the website have a very high percentage to get crashed so many
fanclub will go to the 7-11. In my own experience, usually the ticket is sold on 10:00 am in the morning,
nevertheless, in order to make sure that you get a good queue to buy the ticket at 7-11, many fanclub wait in the
store overnight until the next morning. My friend and I, we woke up at 4am and stay in 7-11 until the counter
was open at 10am. Nevertheless, the ticket sold out very quickly, but we could get the ticket for Friday concert.

“Silver Ocean”

EXO Planet #3 – "The EXO'rDIUM"- Tokyo Dome

Evidence of learning process:
First mind map vs Now
 MAy 23, 2018
Goal: Research on the recently news about K-pop: how the Korean wave is
going on? Any artists or groups that make a remarkable impact in the past few
months?
What I learned:
Twice, a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment through
the 2015 reality show “Sixteen”, is composed with: Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo,
Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu. Three out of 9 members,
Momo, Sana, and Mina are Japanese. Announced on 23 May 2018, Twice
become the first non-Japanese group that could sell over 200,000 copies of
their 3rd single Wake me up, in the first week sales among all releases in
Japan. The girl also ranked #1 on Oricon Weekly Singles Chart from May 14th
to May 20th.
BTS, their title song, “Fake Love” is officially the biggest 24-hour debut
of 2018 with the 35.9 million views on Youtube. Here’s the Current list of the top
10 24-hour debuts:
1. Taylor Swift - Look What You Made Me Do - 43.2 million
2. Psy - Gentleman - 36 million
3. BTS - Fake love - 35.9 million
4. Nicky Jam and J. Balvin - “X-(EQUIS)” - 29.7 million
BTS (방탄소년단) 'FAKE LOVE' Official MV
5. Adele - Hello - 26.3 million
 Korean wave during the past few years
In 2012, KCON, a music and cultural arts festival was held and originally based in Southern California. It is a Korean
wave convention created by Koreaboo and organized by CJ E&M. But it now has branches in New York, Japan, Abu Dhabi,
Paris, Mexico, and most recently Sydney, Australia by 2017. Nevertheless, KCON LA is the biggest, it drew more than
85,000 fans who came overseas and travelled to see their favorite groups. Korean flowing their wave to the West, as the
recent research has shown that K-pop group like BTS make a splash into the US. This also include the solo-artist, G-Dragon,
and HyunA’s hit song “Bubble Pop”.
K-pop is showing their great care and perseverance to serve their fans. For example, Wanna One who has
performed their starge in KCON LA, were selected via South Korea reality show called Produce 101. It is a show where 101
needs to compete each other and week by week, the people who ranked very low are cut off. At the end there’s only 11
people who will be forming a group named “Wanna One” that will lasted for 1 years and a half before each member are
sent back to their original company. This show kind of like America's Got Talent but they form a group at the end. Another
example is Seventeen, composed with 13 members and each of them have different personality to attract the fanclub. The
favourite group member is called “bias”.
New Questions I have: How Hallyu changes overtime with the development of digital technologies
Reflection: I’m satisfied with my research today. I have gained more information from the recent news, also talking about
the KCON that were took place in many cities. This concert is another element that show how K-pop gain more success and
develop their fan base overtime. Additionally, I’m the fan of Wanna One and EXO. My bias in EXO is Byun Baekhyun and my
bias in Wanna One is Park Jihoon. We called EXO’s fanclub Exo-L because EXO are divided into sub unit EXO-K and EXO-M,
L is in the middle of K and M and also mean LOVE. For Wanna One, it’s called Wannable.

Produce 101 Season 2: Pick me Performance (all 101 trainees)

Class A (middle), Class B-C (left-right), Class D (back), Class F
(floor) Center: Lee Dae-hwi
 Evidence of learning process

Leading up to 2018

Billboard reported that in 2017, KCON USA, described by CJ

as a “Korean Youth Culture Fandom Event,” saw over
[KCON LA 2017] Wanna One 128,000 fans attend the LA and NY-area

[KCON] 2018 USA Teaser

 May 24, 2018
Goal: Research on the differentiation between the earlier Hallyu and the latest Hallyu
What I learned:
So sum up, unlike Hallyu 1.0, the development of social medias and technologies like Youtube, SNSs and
smartphones (Samsung’s Galaxy) have become an important tool that fuel Korean Wave. During Hallyu 1.0 era, the cultural
expansion are mainly in Southeast Asia. They first infiltrated into Chinese market with the tv dramas, What is Love All
About and Stars in My Heart in 1997. Then during 2004-2006 it leaks to Japan with two famous drama, Winter Sonata and
Daejanggeum that also became a huge hit in Hong Kong as well.
With the use of internet, the fans in many countries can enjoy K-pop and other cultural products. In Hallyu 2.0 era,
K-pop become the most distinct cultural genre and was a part of growth in Korean wave. As Korea exported $80.9 million
worth of music in 2010, a 159% increase from 2009. Furthermore, in 2011, the music industry exported $177 million, a
112% increase from the previous year. This also include Online gaming, animation, and etc.
6 years ago, Time magazine called K-pop South Korea’s greatest export. Besides Samsung, LG, and Hyundai, K-pop
has become a cultural and commercial forces. The Korean superstars such as Kim Soo-hyun, star of the hit tv series, My
Love from the Stars (2013), was everywhere from giant billboards, cars, to mobile phone in Hong Kong, Singapore,
Shanghai and Tokyo. This was happen with Song Joong Ki, the stars of the hit South Korean military romance Descendants
Of The Sun (2016). Its 9th episode that aired on March 23 recoraded 30.4% which become the first drama since “Moon
Embracing the Sun” in 2012 hit 30% mark. This serie continue and end their success on April 14 with its last episode by
recording a 38.8 nationwide viewership rating, according to Nielsen Korea.
New Questions I have: What product should I make in order to represent the idea
Reflection: For today, I didn’t do much of the research because I’m starting to create the website and thinking about the
final product. Nevertheless, I did compare Hallyu 1.0 and 2.0. Also, see how technologies has become a big part of driving
the K-pop industries. Next day will be my last day on researching and I’m going to sum up all the idea that answer to my
topic question.
 Evidence of learning process
Descendants of the Sun
preview
03
Hit TV dramas
My Love from the Star ● My Love from the Star
● Descendants of the Sun

Hallyu 2.0
Hallyu 1.0
K-pop become a big factor
Mainly focus on TV dramas 01 02 in other to drive Korean
and focusing in Southeast
Wave
Asia
Exo’s Kokobop an energetic reggae song with
rhythmical reggae and bass guitar sounds
 MAy 25, 2018
Goal: Watched and take not of a documentary series from Vox called “Explained” (K-pop Episode) to answer the question “How did South
Korea create such a globally successful music industry?”
What I learned:
Back in 1992, a group called Seo Taiji & Boys was debut in the spring, and their performance was so shocking because it’s a patriotic
anthem wrapped in an ‘80s pop song. It’s a group that showed the cultural progress in South Korea was possible. “They showed all the
changes” said Gyu Tag Lee, the K-pop expert. They rapped and wore baggy pants and danced like B-boys. The newspaper started to
describe them as the Korean New Kids On The Block. “Seo Taiji & Boys brought American hip-hop fashion to Korea”, said one of the record
producer. Their track “Regret of the Times” was banned because its lyrics directly disrespected the older generation but that didn’t stop them
from becoming one of the famous acts in South Korea. At the most advanced point, they announced their retirement and released a music
video saying goodbye.
About 40 years before that (1960), South Korea was a poor country, but it had developed its economy from rank 34 to rank 11 by
1994 when Seo Taiji & Boys retired (GDP from 3.9 billion USD to 598 billion USD).
Enter Lee Soo Man, a former entertainer, turned businessman, who saw music as the next big export “we should market music as
cultural commodities” said Lee Soo Man. His first product was a group named H.O.T., the ski gloves was include in the performance and this
is what Seo Taiji & Boys also wore clothes meant for the slopes. They both blended hip-hop with dance music. People was wearing those
gloved on the streets. There was a choreographed dance called the man chi chun which seem like a hammer dance and the kid love that. A
year later when a catastrophic financial crisis pummeled Asia(1997), the South Korea government has the same idea as Lee Soo Man,
“Culture could be the country’s next big export industry.” In 1999, Basic Law for the promotion of cultural industries was passed and vowed
at least 1% of the entire state budget to culture.
There were 3 main companies ready to take advantages: Lee Soo Man’s SM entertainment and 2 others new music agencies, JYP and YG.
YG’s founder was Yang Hyun Suk, a member of Seo Taiji & Boys. These 3 companies established the formula of making K-pop that still exists
today. “K” on K-pop stands for Korean. Across the world, we used the term K-pop, nevertheless in Korea they’re called “idol groups.” The
reason is that they were made through a very specific process.
Step 1: Scouting and auditioning
Step 2: Training (sing, dance, and act)
Step 3: Assembly (assembled into polished and well-rounded groups)
 This process can take years and it’s the process that K-pop didn’t invent. This system was used by Motown, the label that cultivated
hit acts like The Supremes, The Temptations, and The Jackson Five. K-pop usually have at least 5 members often a lot more and they all take
on specific roles. “The K-pop groups will typically have titles to them about their positions.” said Tamar Herman, the contributor of the
Billboard magazine. For example, a role of leader, rapper, and a songwriter (Rap Monster: BTS), the dancer (J-Hope: BTS), maknae which
mean the youngest one (Jungkook: BTS). You gotta have different personalities.
Every K-pop idol has to be very squeaky-clean (Keep it clean). They must be kind and polite, never being involved in drugs, alcohol,
or scandals. “Love” is the big topic and K-pop stars are not allowed to talk about that personally. It’s an idea that every single K-pop star is
meant for the fans.
When the groups look for audience, they look beyond Korea (Global vs Local). There’s clues that international strategy in the very
names of the group. They’re almost always acronyms (EXO, BTS, 2PM, 2NE1, TVXQ, VIXX). So there’s no issue in translating them for a global
market. Take a look on EXO, there’s another marketing strategy which is ‘subgroups’ Two members specifically sing and rap in Chinese
(Xiumin and Chen). Not only that EXO always release 2 versions of songs, they sometimes shoot 2 versions of the same music video.
It’s much of visual art as a musical one which you can see it in the bold colors and impeccably timed choreography of their music
videos. They have stories, costumes, concepts with beautiful dance moves. For example, the MVs “Blood , Sweet & Tears” showing Kpop viral
success around the world.
Even K-pop songs are largely sung in Korean, you’re hardly find the song that doesn’t include English lyrics. There are occasional
English words, and the good thing is that it makes it catchy. Many of K-pop song are written by foreign composers from Sweden and from the
U.S. Kpop take good ideas from anywhere take “Red Flavor,” one of the biggest hits of 2017. It was immortalized by Jack Black in a viral video
taken from a Korean show, Infinite Challenge (a popular show). This was written by by Caesar & Loui, two Swedish producers. They actually
wrote for a Western Girl band, called “Dance with Nobody” about a break up. They lyrics are “dance with nobody, nobody but me.” SM
changed that lyrics to be a breezy summer hit but the hidden right before the chorus is a little ode to Swedish pop royalty, ABBA. This brings
the next key part of the formula; Genre mash up. Take 2013’s “I Got A Boy” by Girl’s Generation. They are at least 9 moments where different
genres work together (Hip Hop-pop rock- EDM -etc . “Every popular genre of that time is something packed into one song,” said Gyu Tag Lee.
Hints of its structure can be found in a lot of K-pop tracks like Big Bang’s “Bae Bae” or NCT’s “Cherry Bomb)
In 2011, the K-pop industry hit a big milestones. The big 3 companies organized their first tour outside the Asia and Korean television
broadcast those images back home. Proof that Korean culture had finally found its global audience. A year later there was “Gangnam Style”.
This video took K-pop style to a ridiculous extreme. It the first ever Youtube video that reach a billion views. In 2005, the whole Korean music
market was ranked 29th in the world. By 2016, it was ranked 8th. That incredible success also put a worldwide spotlight on the long-standing
criticism of the industry. That the entertainment companies push their young recruits into long contracts, controlling every aspects of their
careers. But some criticism have been met with reform. In 2009, the Korean Fair Trade Commission began regulating agency contracts. “That
might have been true in the past, but K-pop has changed since then,” claimed by Gyu Tag Lee. Even after “Gangnam Style’s” incredible
success, the U.S. market were still hard for the K-pop industry to penetrate. And that one key reason is that “The U.S. market has historically
been really averse to non-English music,” said Herman. That is, until BTS making their U.S. TV debut. They has basically smashed every U.S.
record for a K-pop band. If you look at Billboard’s Social Media chart, they has been at the top for over a year. Billboard eventually cashed on
that enthusiasm, releasing collector’s edition covers for each band member. Their music always talk about young people’s life. They deal with
some subversive themes that speak directly to a generation that feels enormous pressure like in “Baepsae”, the lyrics is “Our generation has
had it hard.” Those message was very similar to the band that inspired K-pop industry in the first place, Seo Taiji & Boys. Even in 2017, BTS
covered their classic “Come Back Home.” South Korea became a pop culture powerhouse by taking Seo Taiji & Boy’s style and turning it into
formula, which is so successful that K-pop has now touched neatly every continent.
New Questions I have: -
Reflection: From this documentary I understand so much more thing about K-pop. It’s the best resource that connect
my idea together and guide me how I will express the topic into a product. Even though I already know some
information, but this video make me deepen know about that information. My goal for today is very successful and
more than what I expected it to be. I’m very happy with it and ready to start my final product for this project. I also
find a website in which I will use it to create my final product and use it as my website.
 Evidence of learning process

Vestibulum congue
THANKS!