Korea's 'K-Iceberg' continues to grow

The K-Iceberg version 81 contains 783 K-entries. / Courtesy of Jon Dunbar

By Jon Dunbar

Even if idol pop isn't your thing, there's no denying that K-pop has found worldwide fame and made a tangible impact on the lives of everyone in Korea. And not just because it's blasted at you whenever you go out in public; BTS alone has triggered an economic effect worth trillions of won.

The term K-pop traces back to at least 1999, if not earlier (the first mention I can find of K-pop in The Korea Times is a small mention in a tourism article dated May 31, 2002), and its K-prefix has done a lot of heavy lifting in representing the nation and its hopes, economy and government.

"We feel proud of our Koreanness when we see words with that added 'K-'," former first lady Kim Jung-sook said in a government press release that was taken down after her husband Moon Jae-in's term ended last year.

So proud, in fact, that the K- has been slapped across almost any commoditized product ― culture, industrial, policy or miscellaneous ― especially if it is promoted globally.

K-Boneless Chicken, seen at a restaurant in Vancouver, Canada, last August. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

You've probably heard of K-dramas, K-food and K-disease control, but you're less likely to have noticed K-subway, K-scissors and K-family. Then there's K-ssireum, the traditional Korean wrestling sport which a government website says is "following in K-pop's footsteps." Maybe if you're in the right industry, you've heard of Sverdrup K-Steel, which "has become a hit on the scale of K-pop," or K-fish, as "BTS is to K-pop what Jeju flatfish is to K-fish." How about the K-Cop Wave, which former President Moon had said in a speech was "surging like K-pop," or the K-financial wave, which "has enough potential to grow into the next BTS"?

A few years ago, I started collecting all these K-entries. After seeing an image online of the "Cultural Iceberg," I used it as a template to create the K-Iceberg. While culture is indeed a complex concept and the Cultural Iceberg demonstrates that culture is a lot more multitudinous than we may think, the Korean version shows how one simple branding strategy has become widespread across many industries in Korea. Originally, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

The first version of the K-Iceberg / Courtesy of Jon Dunbar

Some K-entries seem redundant, such as K-hallyu and K-hangul, as they literally mean K-Korean wave and K-Korean language, as well as K-gugak, literally K-national music, and K-Joseon, though that one doesn't refer to the 1392-1910 kingdom but a K-shipbuilding alliance. As this K-phenomenon snowballs, I've seen an increase in K-words attached to Korean terms with no offered English translation.

"K-hot food" is promoted at Lotte Mart Seoul Station in this undated photo. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

From K-pop we've gotten many more terms, including K-indie, K-rock and K-punk, although it should be mentioned that these are mostly grassroots music movements separate from the K-pop industry, and many of its practitioners want to distance themselves from it. The post-rock band Jambinai once told me, "We don't want to be categorized as K-music, or K-something. European or overseas listeners think Jambinai is just Jambinai, not the K-band Jambinai or K-whatever."

A few K-terms have even backfired, risking tainting the K-brand power. The K-Sports Foundation was a disgrace after its connection was revealed to Choi Soon-sil, the confidant of impeached former President Park Geun-hye. And the terms K-vaccine and K-needle were certainly introduced during the pandemic before they were proven successes, causing a mess. The Korean Cultural Center in Washington will probably regret coining K-Halloween. And who named the Korea Safety & Health Institute of Technology? I don't even want to mention their acronym.

A K-Sports Factory Outlet is seen in central Seoul's Insa-dong, May 14, 2022. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

Also odd is when a K- is slapped onto something Korea isn't renowned for or good at, such as K-burger, K-dessert or K-safety ― and whoever thought to brand Korean hot dogs as K-dogs didn't think it through enough.

The K-Iceberg rarely goes negative. Most of these things are coined to promote exports or boast about Korean culture. There have been a few negative K-terms, such as PETA's K-cruelty campaign, as well as mention of the use of the K-water cannon against protesters in other countries and the Korea Refugee Rights Network's mention of K-deportation. But the K-Iceberg has notability rules that keep out most of the other K-entries coined flippantly, sarcastically or overzealously by journalists or random internet commentators.

But the notability rules are always changing. For instance, it has been decided recently that exchange-traded funds (ETFs) meet notability, as do some NFT projects.

Sometimes the rules are tightened, which accounts for some of the early entries that can be seen crossed off. At some early point I decided if the K-didn't stand for Korea, as in the cases of K-hole, K-car and so on, it shouldn't qualify. Also, if it isn't hyphenated, such as KCDC, The-K Hotel, K bank and K League, it doesn't make it into the K-Iceberg. Unless those organizations ever use the dash at least once, even if inconsistently or erroneously, which three of those four have done.

"K-bob" turned out not to be the obvious kebab, but bibimbap, offered at 7-Eleven. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

After a couple of years, I filled up the K-Iceberg image with so many entries it ran out of room. So I enlarged the image surrounding the text to make space for more words. I've since enlarged it two more times. The latest K-Iceberg, version 81, has 783 K-entries. It's so dense now that I couldn't even print the full-size version in this newspaper. The most recent update added 12 new terms, including a K-hydrogen powered train I saw out the window during a KTX ride, K-jajangmyun (which is actually a pizza) and K-ceramic, from an exhibition aiming to "spread the excellence of K-Ceramic around the world like K- Pop, K-Food, and K-Drama." The iceberg image I've been using has become degraded over multiple saves and enlargements.

It's a bottomless well, and it's one that's been drawn from since way before BTS' global fame, even before PSY found viral success with "Gangnam Style." The oldest K-entry I've found, other than K-pop and some other obvious ones, is K-merce, a mobile commerce service offered in 2002, back when hallyu's global appeal was still wishful thinking.

KTF releases K-merce, published in The Korea Times June 7, 2002. / Korea Times Archive

Why are so many K-terms popping up? I think this is self-explanatory. There is absolutely no gatekeeping for what industries get to apply that coveted K-hyphen. It's an easy, catchy way to brand anything, and it hitches its potential to the success of the K-pop industry. If you like BLACKPINK, maybe you'll be more receptive to K-Coal, the K-Semiconductor Belt Strategy and K-Dokdo. While debate rages over the government's level of interference in the K-pop industry, it should be clear that with that one lone hyphenated letter, it has inspired a major K-national project.

Don't like this industrialized-level grab for attention exploiting a culture industry? The Human Resources Development Service of Korea will help you K-Move to another country.