Korean Wave Hallyu Abroad Waning

Japanese tourists look at souvenirs printed with photos of actor Bae Yong-joon, who starred in “Winter Sonata,” at a shop in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, in this file photo. / Korea Times

By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter

South Korea's cultural products enjoyed large popularity abroad, especially in Asia, coining the term ``hallyu,'' which means Korean cultural wave.

When Korean singers and actors visited Asian countries, fans cheered and camera crews kept clicking away.

However, now their story may have to start with ``once upon a time, Korean culture used to boom'' because the culture industry has begun to slow down.

Many experts say the repetitious drama and film plots and cultural hostility toward some countries triggered the decline.

According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the nation exported about $1.4 billion worth of entertainment products last year.

The figure is higher than that of 2005 but the export of dramas, films and music has shown a decline.

Exports stood at approximately $177 million last year, a drop of about 20 percent from a year ago.

Exports in the music industry reached a record $22.2 million in 2005 but soon fell to $16.6 million a year later. The nation sold films worth $24.5 million in 2006, a nosedive from $75.9 million the previous year.

Chuncheon in Gangwon Province was once crowded with foreign tourists as the local drama ``Winter Sonata'' (2002) gained popularity abroad.

According to Chuncheon City Government, however, the number of foreign travelers to the city has plunged by about 40 percent over the last two years.

The house at which leading actor Bae Yong-joon stayed in the drama is no longer crowded with fans of the drama. In 2003, 139,000 foreigners visited the city and the number reached 390,000 two years later. Last year, 230,000 people visited.

Too Familiar Stories

The decline in dramas and movies is mainly attributable to predictable and repetitive storylines with only a few big stars dominating the local entertainment market, experts said.

Christopher Booker, a noted English journalist and author, said in his ``The Seven Basic Plots'' published in 2005 that stories are created based on seven basic plots ― overcoming the monster, rags to riches, the quest, voyage and return, comedy, tragedy and rebirth.

Screens here, however, mostly tell sad stories of a heroine or hero with an incurable disease, the tragic love story of half siblings or a metamorphosis of the Cinderella story, which even local viewers have constantly pointed out.

Winter Sonata, which swept Japan and other Asia countries, also brought foreign TV viewers to tears when the main female character falls in love with a man who is put in life threatening danger.

The falling exports of Korea's cultural products are also attributed to China's increasing hostility to Korea.

The Xinhua News Agency reported early this month that China's growing cultural hostility toward South Korea, all-too-familiar Korean drama stories and price hikes hinders foreign entertainment from dominating its market.

The report said Chinese people began to believe South Korea tried to settle its historical views and even its cuisine culture through dramas, which nurtured antipathy toward hallyu as it boomed in the country.

It said that Korea saw a decline in drama exports to China from $9.7 million in 2006 to $6.5 million in 2007.

Efforts to Reinvigorate Hallyu

Mounting voices call for systematic marketing of Korean cultural products and developing tourist attractions and products.

President and CEO Ko Suk-man of the Korea Culture Content Agency (KOCCA) presented plans to step up the status of the nation's culture industry from the current ninth in the world to fifth in a meeting with Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yoo In-chon on April 22.

The organization affiliated with the ministry was launched in August 2001 to foster the growth of culture content businesses, including animation, music, characters, comics, mobile and Internet content, and edutainment.

He said his agency will make the utmost effort to reinvigorate the Korean culture industry through a commercialization, popularization, selection and concentration strategy.

For this, he said, it is necessary to establish a one-source multi-user system, which allows one design image to be utilized in many forms, and develop story-telling and protect copyrights.

Ko also promised to support comics and animation, considering them as a higher value-added business, stressing that content is important to their lasting popularity over more than 100 years.

``The comics and animation industries show an annual growth of 20 percent on the local market and 43 percent overseas. It has great potential to grow further,'' he said.

Furthermore, the agency plans to ease the regulations that small- and medium-sized companies face when exporting their work, and seek government-led support for financial and legal solutions.

According to the KOCCA, 62 percent of culture content exporters are companies with an annual turnover of less than 1 billion won.

The agency will also encourage the animation and characters industries to create works and prepare more opportunities for local production companies to showcase their dramas, films and music, Ko added.

Despite the government's efforts, the nation still has a long way to go to revive hallyu.

Kim Jong-hak, who produced many mega-hit dramas and is currently leading a major production company here, suggested that the government help create an environment in which production companies can fairly compete, and provide proper benefits.

He also called for revisions of the law to protect copyright more effectively.

His listed company produced dramas such as ``The Legend'' (Tae Wang Sa Shin Gi) and ``The White Power'' (Hayan Geotap) last year but saw a financial loss of 9 billion won.

ksy@koreatimes.co.kr