Korean pop culture and its culture industry have recently been commented on by some foreign media outlets. On June 2, the BBC shed light on a few YG Entertainment celebrities and how they are making their way into overseas markets.

On June 2, BBC news published an article titled "Whatever Happened to Psy and K-pop's Bid to Conquer the World?" It looked at the recent activities of YG Entertainment singers Psy, BigBang and 2NE1.

The article started with a quote from Omid Scoie, a K-pop commenter, who said, "For a while, it was impossible to move without 'Gangnam Style' pounding the eardrums, whether it was Super Bowl commercials, flash mobs, primetime TV performances or mobile ringtones chiming away," reminding readers of the sweeping popularity of Psy's signature song.

The article also quoted talent manager Scooter Braun as saying that many K-pop music videos, with their unique and vibrant visuals, "allow fans who may not understand the language to still understand the music," and that, "the videos continue to rack up millions of daily video views by overseas fans."



The BBC also talked about singers who are under the spotlight during their worldwide tours. It showed particular interest in the boy band Big Bang, which recently performed at 48 stadiums worldwide, and the recording artist CL, a 24-year-old pop sensation and a member of the girl group 2NE1. The news outlet said that she might be the next singer to drive a K-Pop takeover and gave an update on her recent moves. The article said, "In April, she appeared alongside young Hollywood's elite, including Bieber, Kendall Jenner and Ariana Grande, for a viral video style lip-sync cover of Jepsen's 'I Really Like You,' and her collaboration single with Diplo, Riff Raff and OG Maco, called 'Doctor Pepper,' was released last week."

Elsewhere in global media, the Macau Daily Times recently reported on Korea's pop culture industry, too. The May 29 edition of the daily published an article titled "Korean Government Integrates Policy With Daily Cultural Elements." It reported that Korea has become a big exporter of cultural items, based on its culture industry that has come under a global spotlight. Guided by the Korean government, many aspects of traditional Korean arts and Korea's high-tech IT technologies were integrated with daily material to create something new.


The daily said that one good example is the Centers for a Creative Economy and Innovation financed by large conglomerates. Also, it said that the CJ E&M "cultural creative integration center" located in Sangam-dong in Seoul offers office space to people for networking and meetings and for creative work, playing a role in nurturing experts in the cultural sphere. Finally, the Macau newspaper said that "cultural enrichment" is one of the four key policies of the current president's administration, and indicated how important it is in Korean politics. It suggested that its readers "think smart" and learn from the case of Korea, which benefitted from policies that combined elements of pop culture, education and administration.

By Lee Seung-ah
Photo: Cheong Wa Dae
Korea.net Staff Writer
slee27@korea.kr