[HanCinema's Digest] Culture Corner

The Korea Herald looks at the unique vocabulary of K-pop fans, a new reality show puts North Korean celebrities in the spotlight, Billboard examines how American 90s pop culture influenced the success of K-pop, and Forbes looks at the numbers after the country's longest national holiday in decades

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"'Aegyo', 'maknae': How Korean words make up the unique vocabulary of K-pop fans"

Rumy Doo, writing for The Korea Herald, looks at the phenomenon being Fandom Media's "K-pop Dictionary: 400 Essential K-pop & K-drama Vocabulary & Examples Every Fan Must Know". K-pop is popular the world over, but the majority of its international fans won't be familiar with much of the Korean language itself. "Certain words and slang that recur frequently in Korean popular culture are being incorporated into the everyday language of fans", writes Doo. "The words are often reflections of a specific facet of Korean culture that cannot be easily translated into English". Are you a fan of K-pop? How familiar are you with Korean and have certain words crept into your vocabulary?

...READ ON THE KOREA HERALD

"From tyranny to reality TV: Meet the celebrity defector women of North Korea"

A new South Korea TV show is putting North Koreans in the spotlight; more specifically, they are putting celebrity defectors in a new spotlight. In this long read, you'll hear more about how celebrity defectors like Kim Ah-ra (a 25-year old actress who escaped North Korea when she was just 12) are helping to raise consciousness around the stigma facing defectors in the South. "Before, when South Korea would talk about North Korea, it was all deadly serious", Kim said in this recent interview. "Now we have shows that present us in a lighter, more human way".

...READ ON PRI

"How Korean Music Shows Diverged From MTV and Became the Epicenter of K-Pop Fan Culture"

According to Caitlin Kelley, writing for Billboard, K-pop was heavily influenced by American culture, specifically their boy bands, hip-hop and rock. "In the mid-'90s when Seo Taiji and the Boys became sensational hits, that's when music videos also started gaining traction in the Korean consumer market", says the University of California's Dr. Suk-Young Kim. K-pop may have emerged from the prevailing MTV culture at the time, but how K-pop eventually diverge to become the international music powerhouse it is today...

...READ ON BILLBOARD

"Why South Korea's Plan To Boost Local Economy With A 10-Day National Holiday Failed Spectacularly"

South Korea is coming down from its longest national holiday in decades, but did the lengthy break "thrill Koreans into domestic travel, boosting the waning local economy"? Rachel Premack writes that President Moon Jae-in's plan was largely unsuccessful, perhaps even counterproductive in the short term: "Now, analysts believe that domestic spending will sink lower yet, thanks to folks overspending on vacation". In this probing article on Forbes, Rachel contextualizes Chuseok 2017 in political and economic terms. "Moon's attempt to introduce a work-life balance here is admirable, but will likely take decades to achieve".

...READ ON FORBES