Social media fuels hallyu boom in France

By Kang Hyun-kyung

Hallyu in France? Mais oui!

A host of French fans of K-pop staged a protest at the Louvre Museum Square in Paris last Saturday, calling for more performances of SM Entertainment singers, including Girls’ Generation.

The rare event clearly testified to the fact that the Korean wave or “hallyu” has gone beyond Asia, touching and appealing to the hearts of young people in France, home to a rich and sophisticated culture.

A similar K-pop frenzy is also being seen in other parts of the world, including Latin America.

Analysts say that social media, including YouTube, is a key vehicle fueling the hallyu boom. For example, a YouTube video clip containing Girls’ Generation hit songs “Oh” marked more than 30 million hits in March.

Last week, French fans wrapped in Korean flags performed K-pop dance routines and sang along with the girl band’s songs near the Louvre.

They held the unconventional protest at the iconic cultural site as they were frustrated after failing to get tickets to a performance of Korean pop artists affiliated with SM Entertainment to be held in June. They are scheduled to hold a one-day performance on June 10 in Paris.

The tickets went on sale on the Internet and sold out in less than 15 minutes.

The K-pop fans in France, who discovered the Korean singers after watching YouTube videos, are demanding additional performances.

SM Entertainment accepted this and said that they will hold another performance on June 11 at Le Zenith de Paris.

Prof. Lee Chang-geun of the Communications Department of Kwangwoon University in Seoul said that social media has played a key role in creating and spreading the K-pop boom in Europe and elsewhere.

“Last year, several Korean pop artists’ music videos posted on YouTube marked approximately 800 million hits in 229 countries,” he said.

Before this, Prof. Lee said, analysts here forecast the waning of hallyu because it showed signs of declining in Japan and other parts of Asia.

Contrary to their prediction, K-pop has spread across the world driven by Internet technology.

Scattered, anecdotal reports of K-pop and hallyu also confirmed the role of social media in spreading the boom.

A newspaper journalist, who covered the popular protests in Egypt in January and February, happened to meet an Egyptian K-pop fan in Tahrir Square in Cairo while covering the protests.

The female college student gave several names of popular Korean singers to the journalist.

Another reporter having covered the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia witnessed that one of the Tunisians he met in the African country said his daughter’s dream is to visit Korea.

These K-pop fans learned about Korean pop artists through YouTube.

Prof. Lee predicted that the social media-driven K-pop boom will continue for a while, observing its positive role in shaping a good image of Korea.

“The rapid spread of the Korean wave through social media adds strength to Korea’s soft power,” he said.

Soft power implies a government or individual being able to obtain what they want through non-coercive tools, such as culture or attraction.

Mentioning the positive impact, Prof. Lee said there are roles that the government as well as the entertainment industry can play to sustain the Korean wave.

He said “expertise transfer” to countries having many hallyu fans is one of the things that this country can do to help sustain the popular phenomenon.

“I think the government may consider dispatching those who are involved in the cultural products to developing countries having many hallyu fans,” he said.

Hallyu: 소셜미디어가 이끈 유럽에서의 한류바람

유투브 등 소셜미디어가 유럽에서의 한류 확산에 결정적 기여를 하고 있다. 지난주 파리 루브르 광장에서 한류팬들이 국내 한 엔터테인먼트 소속 가수들의 파리공연 연장을 요구하며 벌인 시위는 유럽에서의 한류확산에 소셜미디어가 큰 기여를 하고 있는 증거라고 전문가들은 진단한다.

국내 유명가수들의 동영상을 담은 유투브가 작년 한해 총 8억회 가량 조회수를 기록한 것으로 나타났다.

일본을 비롯한 아시아에서 한류가 쇠퇴하는 것 아니냐는 관측가운데 나온 유럽의 한류바람에 대해 전문가들은 한류의 지속적 성장을 위해 정부의 역할이 필요하다고 입을 모으고 있다.