Saturday, December 31, 2005

Imapct of Hallyu

One of the more amusing things about the "Korean Wave", or "Hallyu", in Asia now is how Korea is now walking the proverbial mile in America's shoes. Korea is now dealing with the same problems and complaints that it used to irk American companies in Korea for so long.

I have commented a few times on the double take Korea is now doing with respect to intellectual property rights, its Capt. Renault-esq "Shock" lax IP enforcement in Asia, and the American senense of shadenfreunde at Korea's new found IP plight. However this passage in a US article about Hallyu got to me:

"The popularity of the Korean series is a challenge to Chinese counterparts," said Xia Xueluan, a sociologist at Peking University. "The fact is Chinese directors and producers aren't making good enough stuff to attract that audience, and it's embarrassing for them."... Zhang Guoli, one of China's top television actors recently dismissed the Korean Wave as a "cultural invasion" and urged his countrymen to support homegrown productions... 

"It is not cultural imperialism," [Professor Kang Chul-Keun, director of the Hallyu Academy at Seoul's Chung-Ang University] said. "They chose us; we did not target them."

Perhaps Korea will refect upon this before issuing ad hominem attacks on US cultural products.

Hey a guy can dream can't he?

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