Week 5 - Alaina Cagalingan

Like many other countries, Korea’s cultural identity was lost because of the war and foreign country’s influence such as the coined “Japanization” and “Americanization.” In addition, more cultural identity was lost when differences between the North and the South became more distinct. Ultimately, Korea found its cultural identity through the course of many decades. The government heavily focused in reorganizing the nation through implementation of cultural policies so to help its country find its own identity. Although difficult and have received controversies along the way, Korea was able to rebrand its nation by encapturing its cultural identity and fostering its popular culture through music, films, and television dramas.

Back in the Philippines around 2005, I remember the Philippines had a huge Korean sensation because of the Korean drama that were dubbed in Tagalog. Both main television stations were competing with their the late night Korean drama, instead of promoting the Filipino soap opera. I was young, and I do remember that some of my classmates had a complete sets of Korean boy band notebooks and pencils. The Korean wave had reached many other Asian countries and was very popular. Even today, the Korean popular culture still paves its way to newer and “cuter” Asian looks that many enjoy viewing. Korea’s national aesthetic was their culture, and it amazes me the measures and considerable time that the Korean government took so that the cultural production is and remains successful. Careful planning, regulation, and supervision is done by the industry so that Korea’s heat wave does not burn out any time soon.

Above is a video of Winter Sonata dubbed in Filipino language.  The Korean drama has reached popularity across the whole country so quickly and also was one of the very first shows broadcasted in the country.

Question: While reading the texts, my question remains: how can the Filipinos rebrand their nation using their culture? Can similar tactics be used to identify the culture and to what extent must measures be taken?

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxgfRP1gTjk
Image URL: https://loveshouldgoon.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/mbc-korean-music-wave-2013.png?w=750

Work Reference:

Joo, Jeongsuk. "Transnationalization of Korean Popular Culture and the Rise of ‘‘Pop Nationalism’’ in Korea." The Journal of Popular Culture 44.3 (2011): 489-504. 2 June 2011.

Yim, H. (2002). "Cultural identity and cultural policy in South Korea." International Journal of Cultural Policy 8(1): 37-48