Hallyu: The Korean Wave

1. Introduction

Hallyu is came from the Chineses term “Hánlíu” which can be easily translated “the Korean wave” is a term which shows the popularity of Korean culture especially music (K-pop), dramas, foods and fashion. This wave became extremely popular in Asian countries such as Vietnam, China, Thailand, Singapo, Hongkong and so on. Besides, in recent years, the Hallyu is also widespread in Europe and American and be well-known over the world.

Since the turn of the 21st century, South Korea has emerged as a major exporter of popular culture and tourism (Wikipedia), which plays an extremely important factor in its economy. The number of foreign tourists visiting Korea because of the Korean Wave has also increased steadily and the cultural

However, it quickly jumped up into the maturity stage of hallyu 4.0 (K-style), by way of hallyu 2.0 (K-pop music) and hallyu 3.0 (K-culture). To 2000s, idol-groups led Korean wave to a high level step with pop music. Thank to the development of technology with internet, the Korean wave became more and more popular at that time, the vogue of Hallyu reached the entire world. In spited of the fact that hallyu 2.0 has been around for three years, another neologism “hallyu 3.0” becomes very popular on the web. Entering the 21st century, many countries in East Asia have seen the development of drama and Korean Pop. In 2000, the singer named BOA started her singing career under the management of SM entertainment and after 2 years, her album “Listen to my heart” became the first Korean album which were sold more than one millions copies in Japan and it is the first success of

Impact on economic

Hallyu now includes not only mass culture but also arts, fashion, traditional culture, and sports. Various kinds of forums, expositions, culture centers, and schools for infrastructure, concert towns, and Hallyu tourist complexes are mushrooming.

Korean wave also plays a very important factor in increasing profits for Korean government. Fast-forward to 2011, where it was estimated that the Korean Wave contributed more than $3 billion alone to the South Korean economy (Cox). Despite a shortage of nearly 26,500 rooms in Seoul during the summer of 2010, the government is still aiming to attract more tourists. In an effort to harness K-Pop for tourism, the KTO paid SM Entertainment, one of the country’s largest entertainment companies, approximately $264,000 to stage a concert in France in 2011 (Frances Cha, Harnessing K-Pop for tourism). According to a KTO survey of 3,775 K-pop fans in France, 9 out of 10 said they wished to visit Korea, while more than 75 percent answered that they were actually planning to go. Because K-Pop draws a lot of foreign tourists to Korea, the South Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism is developing a multi-functional theme park that will include a K-Pop Town, a K-pop concert hall, and a Hallyu Star Street. The entire project will be completed by