Korean pop culture and trends have been very influential this decade. Nylon Magazine’s Taylor Glasby claims that “even before idols began singular attempts on the American market, K-pop was alive and well in its main U.S. strongholds of Los Angeles and New York City. In 2003, the Korean Music Festival sold out its first multi-artist concert at the Hollywood Bowl. And in 2006, YG Entertainment packed up its biggest artists (including Se7en and 1TYM) and fledgling boy band Big Bang for three major U.S. shows.” However, ever since the BTS made its first American debut, being nominated for the VMAs back in 2019 and returning to perform their hit single “Dynamite” back in 2020 they have been an international sensation. Charting in the U.S. Market and several countries, five of BTS’s songs debuted on the top ten list for Billboard’s top 100 for songs such as “Butter”, “Dynamite”, and “Permission to Dance”. With the rise of K-Pop and other sources for Korean entertainment, here are some other forms that Korean Pop culture has been influential in the western world.
TV SHOWS AND MOVIES
With the success of shows such as, Squid Game Korean TV Shows and Films have been in such high demand and I would not be surprised if more are coming within the near future. Squid Game was able to reach over 1.5 billion hours viewed in its first 28 days, which is a show that is more watched than any other Netflix release. Hwang Dong-hyuk, the creator behind the global phenomenon that is Squid Game was influenced by a mixture of horror and survival comics. Dong-hyuk was also inspired to create a message about the evils of capitalism, “The show is motivated by a simple idea,” he told the Guardian. “We are fighting for our lives in very unequal circumstances.” The Actors in Squid Game also have been featured in multiple forms of western media, Lee Jung-Jae has been active in interviews with Stephen Colbert and gained over 2.6 million followers on Instagram, and has shared pictures of him and the Squid Game cast. With Korean films, Parasite has been one successful film to ever debut in the United States. Achieving an Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Directing, and Best Award for Writing back in 2020. Parasite, a black comedy thriller film directed by Bong Joon-ho, who wrote the screenplay with Han Jin-won created a film with such a strong and meaningful message. The director revealed that Parasite has a double meaning, “aside from describing the poor leeching money off the rich, the Park family is also a parasite. Without the ability to wash dishes or tidy their house, they use their money to exploit poor families with their cheap labor.” Parasite and other Korean films and dramas have paved the way for more Asian representation in Hollywood and more efforts to push non-English speaking media into American entertainment. Hence, I wouldn’t be surprised if more Korean films and shows also get more popular in American media.
Beauty and SKINCARE
With “clean makeup’ and “glass skin” becoming the new beauty trend, Korean makeup and skincare has been all the rage. Unlike the bold brows and warm tone eyeshadows of the 2010s, Korean makeup heavily focuses on skincare that ensures the skin looks youthful and glowing. For achieving this look, many makeup brands started creating CC creams, cream blushes, and other products to create dewy, radiant skin that is very popular in South Korea. When it comes to techniques and styles, Americans tend to layer their eyeshadow colors and blend to get a very bold, smokey eye effect. However, Korean makeup styles stick to more natural shades of eyeshadow and love shimmery bases. These trends offer a fresh, new look to our style and oppose caking layers on makeup onto the face that was very apparent during the 2010s.
CELEBRITIES:
Many late night talk show hosts such as Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon have started to interview more international actors over the past few years. Which makes it apparent that Hollywood is becoming more welcoming towards non-English speaking films and shows after the success of Parasite and Squid Games. During Halloween 2021, a lot of celebrities were dressing up as the cast from Squid Game such as Hayley Kiyoko and Kerry Washington. Hence, I wouldn’t be surprised if more celebrities get in on South Korean entertainment and other trends.