#11 - Hallyu: Beyond the Pretty Lights

Hallyu (韓流/한류) refers to a cultural, aesthetic and artistic movement where Korean media continues to spread and grow more relevant around the world. In this episode, we look beyond the shiny exterior, thin waistlines and glossy skin, there is a much more serious and strategic aspect to Korea's immense soft power. From the United Nations selecting BTS as their official ambassadors, to the Oxford English Dictionary adding Korean words like mukbang or K-drama, to South Korea blasting K-pop songs over North Korean border, Hallyu has emerged as a cultural force, one that (like any artistic movement) prioritises the cultural assumptions and ideas of the society that created it. So what are these ideas? What are we implicitly absorbing when we watch the newest film from South Korea? What ideas does the plethora of Korean makeup companies push, and fundamentally how is this changing the cultural landscape in the 21st century? Join Uma and I as we attempt to address some of these questions in the first of two episodes.