Korean drama boom in Iran to create business opportunities

Actress Lee Young-ae on popular TV drama series, "Jewel in the Palace (2003)" / Korea Times

Mahyar Adibi, an economist who earned his PhD in economics from Seoul National University
/ Korea Times

By Kang Hyun-kyung

When Lee Hee-soo, a professor at Hanyang University Department of Cultural Anthropology, visited Iran in August 2007, he found that the nightlife in downtown Tehran was not what it used to be.

The anthropologist had been there many times for excavation projects, but unlike before, the city seemed bleak — there were few cars running on the streets and hardly any people around.

Lee learned from his Iranian colleague that the city become quiet at night because most Iranians were at home watching the historical drama "Jewel in the Palace," which depicted the spectacular rise of a girl named Jang-geum from her humble background to serving as the royal physician during the Joseon Kingdom. Considering that women's social and political participation were not permitted during the patriarchal, caste-based society of that time, the drama shows that Jang-geum was a trailblazer.

Iranians were drawn to the 60-episode Korean drama, giving it an average viewer rating of around 90 percent.

"One of the questions that I had received most from my Iranian friends was what the next story would be," Lee said. He said he was embarrassed because he had no prior knowledge of the drama. When the drama became a big hit in Korea in 2003, he was on an academic stint in the United States.

"All Iranians whom I had met talked about the drama, which I couldn't follow because I had not seen it," he said. The professor also received a warm welcome from the locals who knew he teaches students at Hanyang University, the alma mater of actress Lee Young-ae. Some restaurant owners who knew his connection to the actress even refused his payments for his meals.

After returning to Korea, Professor Lee downloaded all 60 episodes of the show and watched them for several days. He said he felt doing so was part of his job. "As an anthropologist working closely with Iranians, I thought I had to know what it was about."

Lee said he eventually realized why so many Iranians loved the historical drama. "When I asked Iranians about what the drama meant for them, one of them said it was his story, but I didn't understand what he meant," he said.

After watching the entire drama, the professor realized that Iranians might have identified with the lead character, who survived numerous challenges, including political infighting, before her dream came true, seeing parallels with their own situation.

According to Lee, Iran, as a Shiite state, had a long history of persecution by Western powers and tensions with neighboring Sunni countries. Lee said ordinary Iranians were hit hard by the three-decade-long economic sanctions. The sanctions were first imposed in 1979 after Iranian protestors seized the American Embassy in Tehran and its occupants in response to the U.S. government's permission for the exiled Shah of Iran to enter the United States for medical treatment. The United States froze about $12 billion in Iranian assets, including bank deposits and other properties.

Iran had also been slapped with multi-layered sanctions by a U.S.-led coalition and the European Union for its nuclear program. Nuclear-related assets were frozen, and travel bans were imposed on key figures who were involved in developing the country's weapons of mass destruction program. Iran criticized the countries that joined the sanctions, claiming that its nuclear program was for peaceful purposes.

Jewel in the Palace aired in the Middle-Eastern country when it was going through one of its toughest times. According to Professor Lee, many Iranians found hope from watching the drama.

Lee Young-ae became a heroine in Iran following the drama's phenomenal success there. Although the show's last episode aired about a decade ago, Iranian economist Mahyar Adibi said the Korean actress is still popular among Iranians. Adibi spent the last five years in Korea working on his PhD in economics at Seoul National University, which he finally completed last week.

According to Adibi, the actress' influence in Iran is most evident in the fashion and beauty industries; because of her, many Iranian girls have showninterest in Korean fashion and skincare products.

"Iranian people have found cultural similarities with Koreans, too, because the colorful traditional Korean dresses worn by the female characters cover their whole bodies, just like the traditional Islamic costumes that Iranians wear," Adibi said. "The soap opera also emphasized family values and respect for older people. As an Islamic country, Iran also shares these values, which make them feel even closer to Koreans."

He said Jewel in the Palace was a game-changer, triggering the Korean drama boom in Iran and motivating many young Iranians to learn more about the country, its culture and its people.

"I think the drama was able to influence the Iranians' way of life, partly because television is one of the few major tools that entertain people in Iran and that bring families together to watch dramas in the evening," he said.

In 2009, another Korean drama series, "Jumong" or "Prince of Legend" featuring actor Song Il-gook, became popular in Iran. The historical drama, which describes the life of Jumong, the founder of the Kingdom of Goguryeo, garnered an average viewer rating of 85 percent.

The drama's popularity in Iran was not lost even on the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In September 2009, when it became a big hit in Iran, he mentioned the historical drama in his speech, saying he was aware of the popularity of the TV series and many Iranians were watching it.

He went on to say it was a good show, and Iran could make better epic movies if filmmakers or producers pay attention to its rich cultural heritage.

In an open-ed piece for The Korea Times in 2009, Iranian Mahdi Sadati said the Internet facilitated the spread of Korean dramas across Iran.

In "Korean Movies: Cultural Envoys for Iran," Sadati said approximately 23 million Iranians had access to the Internet as of 2009, and many Iranian fans created websites and blogs for Korean celebrities and offered great deals for copies of Korean movies and dramas. He said in Iran, there are no copyright laws for foreign movies and software, so many websites are able to offer free downloads of popular TV dramas.

Iran has emerged as the land of opportunity for Korean companies following the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions in January in return for Iran's freezing of nuclear facilities.

Professor Lee said the Korean drama boom in Iran is a positive sign for Korean companies seeking business opportunities there. He said Korea-Iran relations started to sour after Korea joined the United States-led sanctions against Iran in 2010 over the Persian country's nuclear program.

"Iranians were able to build such a cultural bond with Koreans through dramas during the sanctions," he said. "Korea's affinity with Iran will help Korean companies."