I first noticed the Korean Wave in 2016 when I started dating MJ and learning the Korean language and as a result understanding the Korean culture, but there has definitely been a Korean wave in many parts of the world, and definitely the U.S. I used to think that Japan had more influence on American culture and culture imports like sushi, teriyaki, Hello Kitty, anime, etc., but recently the Korean influence has really come in waves, with singing sensation Psy, boy bands like Super Junior and Exo (friends ask me if I'm into K-Pop nowadays, and it's not an unreasonable question), Korean foods are gaining popularity with bibimaps and kimchi, and video game leagues highlight E-sports and Koreans' dominance in them, especially the first female Overwatch league player, Gaeguri. Great timing too with the 2018 Winter Olympics taking place in Pyeongchang. I'm sure MJ is pleased about this as she has a lot of pride in the culture and often knocks me down a peg for being ethnically Chinese and definitely prefers Korea over Japan (trying to put it as politically correctly as possible). I've learned a lot of Korean culture from watching variety shows like "Abnormal Summit" where foreigners living in Korea talk about Korean culture and their own culture, a very healthy discussion about various cultures, and it goes to show the value that certain countries place on understanding other countries; a very important lesson for myself and almost everyone in the world.
For someone who grew up thinking the last name "Kim" was a Japanese name, it's amazing how much I've learned about Korea from MJ and just from my own research and study, with just one quick trip to Korea being the extent of my exposure to the actual country. (I loved the spas there!) I can see why MJ takes pride in being from Korea, from their superior healthcare system to the U.S. and great Korean Airlines hospitality to emphasis on cleanliness. As opposed to the Chinese reputation of being loud (that's me!) and pushy, I think Korea has the best reputation of all the Asian countries in the U.S. I read that the Korean government recognized the influence of the Korean wave financially and in gaining of positive reputation from other countries and funded creative industries and start-ups, an excellent idea for getting one's country into the spheres of influence internationally. On the other hand, Japan's image seems stagnant and having "peaked" in the 1990's when even a lot of Americans were starting to learn Japanese as the culture of the future with their advancements in the auto industry and key cultural imports like "Karate Kid" movies and manga/anime. There's still manga/anime, but those are mostly reserved for the "otaku" culture (MJ is not a big fan of these guys) and the auto industry has been riled by scandal and litigation (I've made money as an attorney working on these lawsuits), and there's no defining cultural icon for kids and teens to get excited about Japan like Psy or K-pop stars do. If I had to pick between Japan or Korea as "brands" for my country to establish I'd much rather have Korea right now.
And China! The Chinese, to Americans, seem much more a threat than a positive place to draw culture from. The Chinese are associated with communism, censoring, and human rights violations, and you don't see many Chinese influences come out of there other than kung fu movies once in a while or ancient Chinese culture like Disney's Mulan; no Chinese cultural icons coming out of there, everyone seems like a robot bred from birth to be a drone for the Chinese political machine, even sports and movie stars. Every time a celebrity acts "real" or expresses an opinion they go the route of Fan Bingbing (detained by Chinese government for her views), and Crazy Rich Asians in American is not really about China, and they kind of actively avoided it.
Conclusion: Korean Wave riding in at the right time in international culture!
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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