Hallyu Wave (update July 14)

Saranghaeyo, kamsanida, etc. What can be associated with these words? Its Korean is it? Hallyu (Korean wave) swept the world including Brunei, over the past few years. All these thanks to the popularity of Korean dramas such a Winter Sonata that are being broadcasted all over the world. That is also the drama that shot Korean eye candy Bae Yoong Joon to regional fame. The main focus for this post is on Kpop & Korean products.

All Things Korea

Faceshop, Laneige, Skin Food. You name it Brunei got it all. Why are these skincare products brands from Korea so popular? The answer our mother nature. As people say if you do good to Mother Nature, it will repay our kindness. These Korean skincare products are made from fruits, vegetables, plants, just like the world-famous The Body Shop products. Another reason for the popularity of these brands could also be the attributed to the Korean drama again!

A factor that I could think of is price or are people getting more environmentally conscious, as being aware of climatic change that they changed their lifestyle pattern to have a green lifestyle.

Speaking about technology products, South Korea is a ‘speed nation’ as described by a documentary in National Geographic channel. 1 moment Samsung introduced world 1^st LED TV, then after sometime LG introduced world 1^st borderless TV. Not just that according to some news report, some parts of your very smarty, shiny Apple iPhone, are made by these South Korean technology companies.

Last, but not least us Asian loves to ‘makan’. Hence Korean food is also making inroads in many places round the world. Kimchi, bimambap are some of the popular Korean food. In Brunei alone, we have 2 or 3 Korean restaurants which is a testament of the popularity of Korean food in Brunei. Few years back, there was only 1.

From what I had observed in the news, it seems that tour to Korea is also popular. Most people visit Korea to visit the filming sites of drama such as Jewel in the Palace or Winter Sonata. These locations include Mount Sorak, Jeju Island. Don’t forget Seoul & Busan too, remember world Cup 2002? Now Seoul is being promoted as Soul of Asia with its vibrant pop culture there. Anyone travelling to Korea anytime soon?

Kpop

The rise of Kpop in these recent years can be attributed to Rain’s popularity. We in Brunei get regular dosage of Korean entertainment through our very own RTB2 which airs a Korean drama every night, also Radio Brunei thru Pilihan FM which has a Korean Wave programme which airs 60 minutes of Korean songs every Friday night 10pm. Not only that, through our cable TV operator Astro/Kristal Astro we can watch KBS World to catch a glimpse of hot guys & gorgeous girls artists, which makes good eye candies. Korean variety shows are very interesting and some of those which I like include Star Golden Bell. In addition, its not surprising that some of Kpop fans are learning Hanguk and Korean language to understand what a song lyrics is about. In order to catch up with their favourite Korean artists updates, magazines are allocating pages just for Korean entertainment news as well as for English speaking community Allkpop.com is the destination. Don’t forget YouTube & me2day (Korean version of Twitter) also. Korean English newspaper websites such as The Korea Times & Korean Herald also make a goo source of info. Despite that Brunei have so much already, Korean entertainment fans seem to be wanting for more. They want to watch MBS & SBS which produces very top quality Korean drama & shows. It seems that these two channels aren’t making their way to our houses anytime soon, however Fox International Channel in collaboration with CJ Entertainment of Korea may provide an alternative. The result of their collaboration tvN Korean entertainment network has been aired in countries like Singapore & Hong Kong. When it will reach our shores remain to be seen. Astro in their Facebook had given commitment to bringing more Korean contents soon to Malaysian shores & eventually to our Brunei shores. Recently with the revamp of Animax fans of Korea programmes can enjoy the latest shows from Korea such as Live Power Music on Monday & Pretty Boys & Girls on Tuesday, while the other days popular Kdramas are aired. Kpop bands are also making inroads in Asia; with Super Junior having spilt into sub-groups – Super Junior K.R.Y, Super Junior T, Super Junior M caters the Chinese speaking market while Super Junior Happy caters the Japanese market, to accommodate the likes of different listeners. Some of the popular bands around for the time being include Wonder Girls, SS501, SHINee, 2AM, 2PM, etc. The most popular & largest of these bands are Super Junior & Girl Generation. Super Junior just had their Asia Tour in KL with the ticket prices going to as high as RM$438 or about B$200. However fans don’t mind forking so much money for their favourite artists, as it was almost a sold-out or even sold-out event.

From what I had read in KLIK magazine, SS501 is having their Persona 1^st Asian Tour concert. A promoter which is discussing to bring SS501 to Malaysian shores which isn’t part of their tour stopover apparently according to the magazine may have to fork out 7 figure sum to make it a reality. So it’s either the ticket prices are going to be skyrocketing high or they have to find sponsors which aren’t an easy job amid the economics situation that is pretty unexpected.

At this point, many Brunei Kpop fans who are expecting their favourite artists to hit our shores may/may not have their wish granted due to the very high costs of bringing the bands here as well as government restrictions. Its either KL or Singapore for now to go to watch these concerts!

With Rain now goes to Hollywood, it seems that Hallyu is set to swept us and is here to stay for a very long time.

In conclusion, the country which is known for its plastics surgeons & Kimchi (pickled cabbage), is now better known for its Korean entertainment industry, Kpop & K-series!

With that I end my blog post on Korean wave in Brunei. Would you excuse me I have a wave to catch, LOL! Sorry sorry people in case my info’s are wrong and I stand to be corrected, after all I’m an inexperienced writer.