Session 1 (July 27) - Jennifer Jung-Kim, UCLA

[Jessica Ng]

Hi Cindy. Thanks for sharing your experience. It's one that I could identify with. My exposure to Korean culture was later, but quite immersive like yours; I lived for 7 years in the heart of Koreatown LA because that's where my then-boyfriend (now-husband) lived. While I never became a fan of K-pop or K-dramas, I happily consumed the local culture by going to restaurants, shopping primarily at the Galleria, going to street festivals, and watching movies at CGV Cinemas. When I talk to family members or certain friends from where I grew up, a lot of their exposure to Korean culture is limited to K-dramas and soondobu or KBBQ. I do think having an innate sense of curiosity leads people to explore more outside of their bubbles, but sometimes circumstances provide opportunities for us to do so instead.

[Jessica Ng]

A few days ago, as I watched "Parasite" for the fourth time, I found myself thinking a lot about one of the questions posed by someone during Session 2, about differences in language between North and South Korea. Prof. Jung-Kim explained that folks in South Korea had adopted a lot of foreign words, especially English, and that it was one of the key differences between what is spoken in the two countries. With this fresh in my mind, I found myself noticing every time an English word was inserted into the dialogue: "belt," "simple," "no plan"... Mrs. Park sprinkles English words and phrases around pretentiously to signal her social status and to impress her children's tutors; members of the Kim family use English words as well, but a bit more casually.

Language is an essential tool for crossing, blurring, establishing, or maintaining boundaries. I wish I understood Korean well enough to discern how Bong Joon Ho and his co-writer used language throughout the film to insert cultural nuances.

[Shane Markowitz]

That's an interesting question, Cervantes. I was please wondering if you could speculate a little on how you'd approach the question? What made you think about the connection between education and K-Pop? 

As I recall from my political economy courses, South Korea was one of the so-called "Asian Tigers" that developed based on an import-substitution state-centric model. As the country prospered from all the new industries (E.g. automanufacturing, technology), this revenue has presumably diffused to different institutions (E.g. education and healthcare) and opened up opportunities for youth to take on new career paths like music?

That said, what's interesting now is how the Tik Tok/Youtube economy has created opportunities for performers coming from a variety of backgrounds (e.g. huge boom in India).

[Brigid Schmidt]

After reading the Hallyu article out of The University of Michigan, it got me thinking about the Korean food and products I purchase. Even prior to visiting Korea, I enjoyed Korean food. That interest only grew after being in the country. The article talked about how K-pop is a big part of this influence, but I actually have never listened to K-pop. The tables showed how this then gets people interested in Korean cosmetics. Like Rebecca mentioned above, I knew about Korean beauty. I am not too big into makeup or expensive facial products. However, I do love facemasks. I grabbed a stack of my facemasks and sure enough, made in Korea! There is even a Korean flag symbol and Korean writing on the product. I also use a muscle cream for aches and pains after a tough workout and surprisingly that says made in South Korea. These are some of my favorite products and I had not even realized that I was using Korean products. I noticed the main character in Crash Landing On You getting really excited to have her South Korean soaps and skin care products when she was stuck in North Korea. So while I may not be listening to Korean music and only just started watching a Korean TV show, I was already using Korean products by choice on my own. 

[Natalie Lau-Chien]

Hi Rebecca,

I have heard of the book Loveboat Taipei, but haven't read it yet!  That's great to hear that your students love it.  I am interested in reading it to see if it reflects any of my experiences of when I was there at age 19.  While I went hoping to practice and improve my Mandarin, many people were primarily there to socialize.  I did appreciate how the program did include daily Mandarin classes as well as cultural classes in the afternoon.  I never thought of it as a soft power tool, but now I can see how it is a great way for Taiwan to build positive connections with overseas Chinese.  

The FLEX program sounds great! It reminds me of a different program through the U.S. Dept of State, administered by IREX, which is now called Teachers for Global Classrooms (now it's under the Fulbright programs).  They invite teachers from specific countries around the world, including Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and India (those were some of the countries included in 2008), to spend 6 weeks in the USA learning teaching methodologies.  The teachers can then apply for a reciprocal US teacher to visit their country.  It's a great way to build positive relationships between the US and the countries.  I still have fond memories of my time in Bangladesh and hope to visit again one day.  

 

[Natalie Lau-Chien]

Megan,

I think that was wise of you to pause on watching K-dramas during college!  That would be tough to try to keep up with school while being tempted to watch hours and hours of k-dramas!  I'm so glad my mom didn't introduce them to me until after college.  And I am so glad that Netflix was not around when I was in college.  All we had was the one TV in our dorm living room that had set shows on cable.  

I think it's a great idea to have students consider and discuss what U.S. soft power is.  I agree that Disney/Hollywood movies are influential, as well as McDonald's and KFC which seem really popular in China, and prestigious U.S. colleges such as Harvard, MIT, Yale, etc.  I am curious what the students would say about how the U.S. could better promote our country.  

 

[Natalie Lau-Chien]

Mike,

That is wonderful that you had the experience of living in Japan, and also got to witness firsthand the way that Korea's soft power also had an influence on middle aged Japanese women, particularly through the K-drama, Winter Sonata.  I am curious to learn about if k-dramas continue to be popular in Japan (I imagine they still are) and if so, how has that continued to bring the countries closer together.  This would be a great way for students to study inter-country relations in Asia.  

[Natalie Lau-Chien]

Megan,

I appreciate you bringing up that there are both positive and negative sides to K-pop.  Dr. Kim also mentioned the ways that the K-pop stars are overworked and underpaid and rarely get to make choices for themselves, which is another negative impact of K-pop.  Teaching about K-pop has so many avenues into our curriculum, no matter which content area we teach.  I teach K-12 ESL and think that this topic would be more suited to my high school students.  This year I am planning to teach in thematic units in order to build academic language through content.  I think this topic lends itself well to having students read articles and form opinion on what they think about K-pop and the positive and negative impact that it has had globally.  It would also be interesting to compare and contrast the ways that other types of music have/haven't had a great influence in the USA or other countries.  

 

[Maria Cardenas]

I also find it interesting that the korean government wants foreigners to come visit but make it difficult for people to become citizens. I found two articles that speak about naturalization. They were interesting.

The article, "How to obtain South Korean citizenship: What you need to konw" is about the difference between residence and citizenship. There are three ways to become a citizen: 1. general naturalization, 2. Simple Naturalization, and 3. special naturalization. General Naturalization means you must have lives in Korea for five years, you haven't tried to acquire Korean nationality before, you don't have any relation to a korean, and you must know basic Korean knowledge as a South Korean National. Simple Naturalization will be granted through parents this is used by foreigners who have some South Korean descent and you must meet the requirements for general naturalization. Special Naturalization can vary.  https://transferwise.com/us/blog/how-to-get-citizenship-in-south-korea

In the article, "Bill proposed to give high-educated foreigners Korean citizenship," from 2019,  lawmakers were proposing to allow foreigners that acquired a bachelor's degree or something hired to become naturalized as Korean citizen. They would like for them to become naturalized so that they can help their declining population. If it is even better that they would be able to bring their talent to korea.  https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2019/04/177_267576.html

 

[Mike Hagiwara]

I just recently finished watching Crash Landing On You and came to the realization that so many large corporations are banking on the success of hallyu. From tech companies like Samsung to fast-food entities like Subway, the continued success of the vast number of Korean dramas are providing a perfect niche for the corporations to place their products front and center. In my own personal viewing of Crash Landing On You, there were countless occasions that I desired to eat Korean fried chicken or whether I should switch my cell phone back to a Samsung. With the amount of product placement money that is being funneled into the Korean television industry, it's no wonder that we see countless Korean dramas making their way into western mainstream media! As the interest of Korean dramas continues to grow and expand across the world, so will the number of sponsorships by big-name conglomerates because they understand the marketing value. Just a thought and observation!

[Mike Hagiwara]

I definitely think including the history of Korean comfort women is vital to the proper study of high school world history! We have to teach students a worldly view of history and not a narrow-minded one. Since you're likely target are 10th grade students, I think it would be meaningful to use any prior knowledge they have of Korean culture to engage them in the topic. I also have to teach about Korea to my 7th grade students but do not get far enough in Korean history to talk about comfort women but I will definitely like to use your idea of creating a Kahoot game/activity to test their knowledge of Korean pop culture. 

[Mike Hagiwara]

Thank you for sharing this article Marina. In recent years it's definitely become more feasible that the two Koreas unite. However, as the article points out, there are several factors to be considered. We would all like to think that it would be as easy as the two leaders sitting down and finally agreeing to peace but the reality is that the complex social and economic impacts would drastically cause challenges. One question I am very curious about was the one mentioned in the article that reads: 

“If unification was to occur, [would] North Koreans effectively be second-class citizens in their own state or will the South try to make them as equal as they can as quickly as possible, at least in terms of benefits, access to capital and things like that?"

This is such an intriguing question because I would imagine that there would be a hierarchy that naturally develops out of the unification of the two Koreas. Again, thank you for sharing the article.

[Mike Hagiwara]

Although I have been exposed to Korean culture throughout my life because of my mom being Korean, I will admit that I have become more interested in Korean culture within the last 3-4 years. The reason for this is my young daughter-I want her to know, and understand, more about her Korean side because since she was born, she has been more exposed to the Japanese side of the family. She can speak and understand Japanese but has only basic knowledge in Korean. I have allowed her to sit alongside me when watching certain Korean dramas and have tried to expose her to a wider range of Korean food. Who knows, maybe in a few years I'll take her to a "nore-bang!"

[Jonathan Tam]

Thanks for sharing! Young adult literature didn't even cross my mind when it comes to the media that is present now a days, but I agree that it has a profound afffect on the upbringing of young people today. I still remember back to when Yang the Youngest was the book that all the Asian American folks read growing up and it left a lot of people between thinking they had to do music or sports. Now a days, with the push that these writers have made, the horizons definitely seem wider with the exploration of fantasy, romance, and adventure.

[Shane Markowitz]

Emily, this seems like it would be a great discussion topic for students. Does art cease to be art if it is produced primarily or even solely for the purpose of perpetuating a country's soft power? If it's directed from above by political circles? What if the goal is profit for a corporation?

There seem to be a lot of parallels here in the discussion between the value of Hollywood vs. independent films. Perhaps we could consider it all art but take into account the different inspirations and motivations that led to the final output. 

As regards South Korea specifically, it could be interesting for students to track changes with K-pop over time as it became more globally renowned. How, if at all, did it change and what do those changes reflect?

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