ALL ABOUT THE K-WORLD

Korean pop culture has been dominating the Indian scenario for the past three years through K-Dramas, K-pop groups, or even Korean skincare trends, hence becoming an extended part of Indian youth. But, is the youth aware about the dark side of the culture?

- Sanika Achrekar

Back in 2012, South Korean musician PSY released Gangnam Style, and there’s been no looking back since. People all over the world have been enthusiastically consuming K-Pop content. Recently, BTS, the popular band, scored its first position on Billboard Top 100 with their latest hit, Dynamite, and received a Grammy nomination for the same. Can you imagine the number of streams or sales that were needed to achieve the position, considering only US-based inputs are taken to rank the chart? That’s the impact of Korean music globally.

Aishwarya Iyer, a social media consultant from Mumbai was drawn to Korean movies before she was introduced to Korean music. “My Sassy Girl was the first Korean movie I saw, and I was delighted. This was in 2014, during my college days and I started watching Korean dramas next. Gradually, I started discovering ‘idols’, along with the other ‘oppas’, I was shipping. BTS or Bangtan Boys was my first K-pop Boy Group. I am a proud ‘ARMY’ of BTS, and will be forever.” Along with K-pop, Korean dramas, also known as K-dramas, have a massive following. Along with other cultural ingredients from the country like K-beauty and Korean food, they form a part of the Korean cultural wave, also called Hallyu. Monica Yadav, from Mumbai, is obsessed with Korean dramas and movies. “Five to six years ago, I began watching Korean dramas, and I remember watching this series called Boys Over Flowers. That show was so popular internationally that I ended up watching so many remakes of it in different languages, including the C-drama version Meteor Garden. Their creativity, in any genre, truly makes you want to explore more. Now, watching dramas and movies coming out of South Korea has become a part of my life,” she adds.