The Tokyo Shimbun, a Japanese daily, has highlighted the popularity of Korean television and pop music in Myanmar. The newspaper reported in an article on September 12 that Korean soap operas are enjoying huge popularity in the Southeast Asian nation.

The newspaper's correspondent, based in Korea, went to the airport in Naypyidaw, the Burmese capital, to report on another story. There he noticed that the other passengers and airport employees all had their eyes fixed on the TV screens. They were watching Korean soap operas.

"After recognizing some of the Asian actors who I had seen before, I realized that these were Korean TV shows they were watching," he wrote. "I was surprised that programs now being aired in Korea were being broadcast in Myanmar, too."

"Young people enjoy Korean melodramas and it is popular here for people to imitate Korean fashion and makeup styles," a restaurant employee was quoted as saying.



The correspondent said he was surprised by the spread of Korean TV, fashion and pop music in Myanmar after reading an article which said that 10,000 fans gathered to see a concert by the pop band 2NE1, its first concert in Myanmar.

According to Myanmar Today News, a news portal, 2NE1 brought excitement and thrill to its more-than-10,000 Burmese fans with its flashy performance on August 2. The concert was held at the Myanmar Event Park at 7:00 p.m. As early as 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon, however, avid fans began arriving at the venue, despite the rain. As the doors opened at 6:00 p.m., the fans flooded into the concert hall, plunging the venue into total chaos, the news site said.

The concert was extraordinary in many aspects. The stage designs were extravagant and awe-inspiring images were mapped to superb lighting and to an amazing sound system, it reported.


By Limb Jae-un
Korea.net Staff Writer
jun2@korea.kr