Subscribe
E-Paper
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Over 60 communication scholars discussed the expansion and future strategies for "hallyu," or the Korean wave, during the 40th anniversary conference of the Korean American Communication Association (KACA) in Washington, D.C., Thursday.
The event, sponsored by the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE), was held in conjunction with the annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), the largest academic event in communication studies in the United States.
KOFICE president Kim Yong-rak said this conference would call attention to hallyu as a subject for academic research.
"Recently K-pop group BTS has risen to unprecedented stardom in the U.S., toppling Asian stereotypes, and the success of BTS has reignited hallyu. We hope there are more international conferences centering on hallyu to spur scholars to study the Korean wave through constructive criticism," Kim said.
Kim Yong-jin, editor-in-chief of online investigative journalism website Newstapa, gave a keynote speech on running the only independent and nonprofit news outlet in Korea and how the media's role is changing.
Themed "Korean Wave, Culture and Globalization," the special session featured researchers from the U.S., Canada, the United Arab Emirates and Korea exploring various aspects of hallyu.
Urwa Mohammad Tariq from UAE University presented the rising popularity of Korean culture among Emirati women and its impact on their cultural identity.
Nam Si-ho of the University of North Florida analyzed discourse on hallyu under the previous Park Geun-hye administration, under the title "How the Discourse of Creativity Became an Enemy of Cultural Diversity and Democracy." Suh Hae-lim of Temple University presented "The Korean Wave and the Negotiation of Attractiveness among Korean Americans," explaining how hallyu influenced public attitudes toward Korean Americans.
Jang Hyun-suk from KBS and Sungkyunkwan University presented a case study on KBS Music Bank's tour in Chile, suggesting future strategies for K-pop concerts internationally.
Min Won-jung of Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and two other researchers studied hallyu fan activities in Chile as an example of transcultural consumption of Korean popular culture in Latin America.
Jung Hye-ri of Eastern University explored the politics of fandom through "Social Media as a New Battlefield between Korean and Western Fans."
