Food as part of Hallyu ()

2nd Seminar of King's Asian CCI Research Society

Eun-hee Kim & Sun-kyu Lee What is Hallyu?

• Korean Wave (한류; 韓流; Hallyu)

- "Hánliú" (韓流) literally means "flow of Korea“ - Expression referring to the increase in the popularity of South Korean culture since the late 1990s - The term was originally coined in mid-1999 by Beijing journalists who were surprised by China's growing interest in South Korean culture

Hallyu & (2005)

• Dae Jang Geum is a very first which made a huge success in China and leaded Hallyu • Story about a kitchen cook, Jang-Geum, who became the first female physician of King in Dynasty – her struggle to learn the secrets of tradional Korean cooking and medicine

>> Audiences could see various elements of Korean culture such as clothes and cuisine Stascs about Dae Jang Geum • Imported by Hunan Satellite TV • Rang debut - 8.6%, and even 10% for cies like Shanghai and Changsha, which ranks first of all rangs at the same slot over the country • Rangs peaked at 180 million viewers (14% viewer rang in China) – exceponally high in terms of satellite TV rangs. • 150 million yuan (£16 million) of adversing revenue for the first quarter of 2005

>> Unprecedented financial returns for the staon, Hunan TV, over 35 million yuan (£3.7 million) Korean Food in Dae Jang Geum

? However…

• Despite its massive success in China, the Korean food did not get enough aenon to be a new cultural trend • Korean food in K-Drama was sll remained as a thing to see, not to “eat” or “cook” in China Now, My Love from the Star (2014)

• South Korean television series about an alien who landed on Earth in the Joseon Dynasty and, 400 years later, falls in love with a top actress Alien in the modern era Actress • The series casted Soo- hyun Kim (an alien) and Ji-hyun Jun (a top actress) as main characters Another Huge Success in China • My Love from the Star became the most expensive Korean drama in China; US$35,000 per episode • One of the most viewed streaming shows on Chinese plaorm iQiyi, which is official importer of My Love from the Star - more than 2.5 billion views • Now ABC has worked for the American remake of

My Love from the Star • Xiao Lixin from – 1) great innovaons in terms of themes and narrave paerns, 2)logical and fast- paced plot with whimsy and romanc punch lines, 3) high- speed photography and CGI for lifelike visual impact And, “Chi-Mac” (Chicken & Beer) KFC Commercial in China

hps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd3uVIjJEQg

Now Chinese people eat Korean Food (Chi-Mac)

And take wedding pictures on the set of My Love from the Star !! News about ‘Chi-Mac’ fever in China

hps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFvDmDEXWAs

(from 1:23-2:16) Why now?!

• Above all, the “acve young generaon” became the central recipients of K-Drama • Thanks to the technological advance (e.g. Internet), the young Chinese recipients could watch the show and share the review on SNS faster than ever • As a result, as the interest about the show rapidly increases, more and more people try to “experience” Korean culture more directly like the Chi-Mac case Indeed, it is more than “Chi-Mac” • Instant Noodle - Consumpon of Korean instant noodle also rose to a record high in China, while the drama aired; as the couple has enjoyed a bowl of noodles • Cheon Song-yi’s Fashion/Style In summary,

• The boom of Chi-Mac in China implies that the influence of Hallyu is stronger than ever before • At the same me, it shows that now the culture has been created and consumed by “audiences” more directly and quite unpredictably • However, despite the democrac movement, it should be cauous that the new cultural trend is normally related with excessive “commercialism” • Plus, to create beer cultural product, both Korea and China should find a proper cultural “balance”