By Aastha Agrawal
When South Korean rapper PSY’s Gangnam Style was released in 2012, it took over the music world instantly, holding the title for the most viewed video on YouTube for five years straight.
When South Korean rapper PSY’s Gangnam Style was released in 2012, it took over the music world instantly, holding the title for the most viewed video on YouTube for five years straight.
Now sitting at over 3.3 billion views, it served as an introduction to Korean Pop culture (K-Pop) for many, and
led to Korean culture spreading like wildfire internationally.
The Korean Appreciation Student
Association’s (KASA) marketing officer, Esra Sahingoz says “The fandom culture
and accessibility of artists is vastly different to that of the western
international entertainment industry.”
K-pop artists and idols immerse themselves fully into their personas as friends rather
than celebrities through live streams, Twitter updates, game shows and
meet-and-greets, for audiences to interact with and connect to.
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| V Live app, used by Korean celebrities to live stream. Image by V Live app. |
This unique technique and trend
of the Korean industry is continuing to attract the world, developing into a
frenzy for all things Korean, ranging from K- dramas, Korean television series,
to Korean skincare and food.
“This kind of connectivity is something that is so unique to Korean entertainment that western media doesn't really accommodate.” Says Miss Sahingoz.
South Korea's global progression can be seen as an epidemic, considering how fast it’s taking over and how colossal it’s impact has been, giving it the name ‘Hallyu Wave’, a Korean wave.
A journal report of Open Innovation: Technology, Market and Complexity in 2017 reported an increased rate of tourism of foreign tourists visiting South Korea from 300,000 in 1998, to 11.8 million in 2014.
Melbourne has noticed this heightened interest and is taking its step towards
providing the fans of Korean culture with opportunities to interact and enjoy
this phenomenon, holding events such as Korea
Week Festival and Melbourne Kpop parties hosted by I
Heart K-pop Australia
Korean dish Jajamyeon at Dream Korean Bistro during Korea Week
Festival, 2018. Photographed by Aastha Agrawal.
Festival, 2018. Photographed by Aastha Agrawal.
Monash University’s Korean
Appreciation Student Association (KASA) is encouraging students to come
together and celebrate Korean culture.
Originally formed in Caulfield in
2013 as ‘KIMBAP’, KASA is now based at the Monash University Clayton campus,
said KASA’s secretary Erin Phelps.
“This year we have had, All You
Can Eat (AYCE) KBBQ, Dance Workshop with Melbourne based dance crew KM united,
K-pop Night etc; We also will plan to hold in semester 2 our Ball, Trivia
night, another AYCE, and other fantastic events!” said Ms Phelps.
Committee members and attendees of the KASA Ordinary General Meeting.
Pictured by KASA photographer.
Monash also holds a weekly dance class
under Monash
Dance Sports (MDS), providing an hour-long K-pop
boy group and a K-pop girl group dance class that anyone can be a part
of.
MDS K-pop boy group member, Shruthi Shankar says
“I stumbled upon these dance classes last year when I was performing for
another group and thought it was so cool because I am huge fan of BTS, ATEEZ
and NCT [K-pop boy groups] and love dancing. So, this was perfect.”
“The experience has been amazing. The teacher is very experienced and the class is high in energy. I look forward to classes every week and I’ve made a lot of friends through it” she said.
Clip from Random Dance Play at KASA's dance workshop on
the 24th of May. Video by Aastha Agrawal.
the 24th of May. Video by Aastha Agrawal.
KASA's upcoming events include
their annual ball, their most anticipated event, a trivia night and another
K-BBQ event.
A membership is
available to anyone interested and can be purchased at any event, all you need
to do is show up! You can find out more about KASA on their Facebook page.
#culture #kdrama #kpop #southkorea #korean #KASA
Contact details:
1.
Esra:
esah0001@student.monash.edu
2.
Erin:
korean@monashclubs.org
3.
Shruthi: 0435396389