BREANNAH PAOLA S.
PUNTANAR GRADE 11- LEIBNIZ
The Kinetic Pop
Ladies and gentlemen, a pleasant morning to all of you, my chosen topic is Korean Wave specifically
Kpop music. To discuss my topic, I would like to tell you a short story of a girl and her journey during Korean
Wave. She is a typical student who wants to excel on her studies until sometime she finds it boring and find her
magical world through the world of Korean Wave and she became very interested not only on their
entertainment but also with Korean culture and traditions. It started way back 2010 at a very young age of 11.
First, she became a fan of K-dramas and eventually to a new genre of music, the Korean Pop or K-pop. This
newly introduced kind of world to her became her Neverland most especially when she want to escape in
reality. And do you know who’s the girl I’m talking about? She is the girl standing in front of all of you. K-pop
may seem a world of fantasy but the moment you’re in there, you will realized that it’s something that will
always break your heart but you will never feel regrets for loving them.
Korean wave is the surpassing popularity of Korean Culture and Korean Entertainment not only in
South Korea but also throughout the world. One of the biggest reasons of such popularity is their music or also
known as K-pop. I admit that I’m such a huge fan of K-pop and Korean dramas and because of them I even love
the Korean Culture and became interested and want to explore more about the things related to Korea. Their
music offer a new rhythm, the upbeat sound matched with the artists’ incredible dancing skills and I admit their
drop dead gorgeous faces have a big impact on their music. They became my idols and I’m sure I’m not the
only one.
All the way from Korea, the K-pop music reached the Philippines through the rise of Asianovelas. The
first ever Korean drama aired in the country is the first season of Endless Love which is the Autumn in My
Heart in the year 2003. The popularity of dramas from the said country expanded through the world of music. It
was evident most especially when the most popular music channel in the Philippines, MYX, aired the first
Korean music video by the boy group Kiss with their ballad song entitled “Because I’m a Girl” and because of
such popularity of the song it was remade into Filipino language sang by Roxanne Barcelo. The people who
love music are called music lover but compared from being a fangirl they are just drop in the ocean. Fangirl is
now accepted in urban dictionary, and they are people who spent time to books, television shows, movies,
music and celebrities. Actually because of the outgrowing population of fangirls in K-pop World different
fandoms or fanclubs were created. It can be seen last July 5, 2008 where the first K-pop fan event happened at
the Manila Film Center, the Arirang channel chose our country for the celebration of Pop’s in Seoul’s 1000 th
episode. And most of the K-pop fangirls who attended the show was mostly Cassiopeia Philippines, fandom
group of popular boygroup TVXQ.
BREANNAH PAOLA S. PUNTANAR GRADE 11- LEIBNIZ
According to the Korean Ambassador to Manila Hye Min Lee, Korean wave has a great effect for the
strong and growing people-to-people relations between Korea and Philippines. And in the year 2009, the first
ever K-pop boy group who visited the Philippines was SHINee for the celebration of 60 years of Diplomatic
Relations between Korea and Philippines and this K-pop concert was for free. K-pop events and concert in our
country are usually a more or less a great success way back in 2009 until this current year. Many people may
seem to fight against K-pop because it may be a way to hinder the progress of OPM and also a waste of time
and a lot of money because honestly one of the biggest problems for being a fangirl is money. But did you know
that some of the K-pop events just like in 2nd Philippine K-pop Convention gathered five hundred thousand
pesos were all donated to Gawad Kalinga?
Being part of Korean Wave by supporting the artist you idolized may have disadvantages but Korean
wave may also be a door to explore for something exceptional. It is a door to explore new set of friends, you
even learn to speak other language and explore other culture and unboxing the world of your limitations. But
you know what’s really challenging for being a fangirl? That is setting your priorities straight. When I want
something to accomplish as a fangirl I really made an effort to make it into reality even though I really need to
save a lots of money instead asking for it from my mom and dad, even many people will say that it is such a
waste, for me I’m not paying for the artist but I’m paying to have such a good and incredible experience during
my teenage years which I believe is worth my 100% effort. When I attended a concert last 2013, my dad once
asked me how could I love K-pop when I can’t even understand them, and that time I really don’t know the
answer because I just know that I love them until I’ve realized that it’s true that I can’t understand the lyrics of
their songs but I can feel the soul of their music and that’s what makes K-pop extraordinary.
