KPOP Midterm 1

KPOP Midterm

Why is “K-pop” so hard to define — and who gets to define it?

The term was not coined in Korea. It was used by international media/fans (Channel [V] in Hong Kong, 1995) to mirror “j-pop'“

When did the term K-Pop Spread internationally?

During the early 2000s

What was Korean pop music previously categorized as?

Daejung Kayo

K-Pop is not…

Hallyu. K-pop is an elect inside the broader Korean Wave

When was Korea’s Liberation

1945

How did Korea’s liberation occur?

Through an American Military occupation; bases as “cultural laboratories.”

When did AFKN launch and where?

AFKN launched in 1955 at Yongsan; the 8th Army stage & USO auctions as Korea’s first systematic talent development

When did the first military coup occur and by who?

In May 1961 and by Park Chung-hee

How did Park Chung-hee use media to enforce his rule

Using censorship and propaganda songs, but through calculated tolerance of entertainment

When did Cliff Richard have his first concert and what type was it

Cliff Richard had his first “Beatlemania” style fan concert in October 1969

When did MTV debut in the US

1981

When did we get colored TV?

In 1980

What song movement happened during the 1970s

The college youth culture (folk), which lead to the peak censorship in 1975 (225+ banned songs).

What is AFKN?

A 24/7 American radio/TV — first systematic exposure to US pop culture.

What is government approved music called?

Wholesome Songs

What is the USO auctions / 8th Army stage

Graded performers, paid by grade with an early “training/evaluation” logic.

What is trot?

Trot is South Korea's oldest form of popular music w mix of rural and urban

What is Oppa budae

Cho Yong-pil’s organized fan army — first mass Korean fandom, and first pathologizing of fans

Who are the Kim Sisters

The first international Korean success: 22+ Ed Sullivan Show appearances

What Kim Sisters song climbed to #7 on the charts

Charlie Brown

Who is the Godfather of Korean Rock

Shin Jung-hyoen, he formed the first Korean rock group in 1962, Add4, and made hit song the Woman in the Rain

Who is Cho Yong Pil

First “national” Korean superstar transcending American influence; his fans were the original poppa budae

Who is Lee Soo-man

Debuted as a performer (1972); saw the US industry (MTV era) while studying in California —> later imports the “systematic production vision into SM.”

When was laws on records and videos amended

1991

When was pre-censorship abolished

1996

When was Kim Young-sam (first civilian president) elected

1992

Who caused the globalization initiative in 1992

Segyehwa

When did Segyehwa create cable TV (Mnet/KM)

1995

When did the Seo Taiji and the Boys debut

They debuted on April 11, 1992 with their song Nan Arayo on MBC getting the lowest jury rating

How long was “Nan Arayo” #1 for?

17 weeks

When did SM become SM Enterprise

1996

When did H.O.T. debut

September 7th, 1996

When did Michael Jackson have his controversial Seoul concerts?

October, 1996

When did Yang Hyun-Suk founds what becomes YG

1996

When did Park Jin-young found what became JYP and bring the foundation of the Big 3?

1997

When did the IMF criss occur?

1997 and as a result cultural industries became an export strategy

When did Kim Dae-Jung and gradual lifting of the Japan cultural embargo happen.

October 1998

When did Hallyu begin in China

During 1997 to 2000 with the H.O.T. concert in Beijing

When did SM go public

2000

When did BoA debut and how old were they?

In 2000 and they were 13.

What strategy did BoA implement

In 2001-02 she performed a Japanese strategy that payed off and became the first Korean #1 on the Oricon chart in march 2002

When did TVXQ debut

2003

What did TVXQ debut show?

The formula is ready for export (what formula?)

What is Segyehwa

Kim Young-sam’s globalization policy — visible after the Seoul Olympics

What is the Itaewon —> Yeouido pipeline

Korean music culture from underground clubs (Itaewon, “black music” scene) to broadcasting mainstream (Yeouido) — the dance-duo route (Hyun Jin-young, DEUX)

What was the Idol system v1?

H.O.T. as the first group officially labeled “idols”; first fandom rivalries (H.O.T. vs Sechs Kies; S.E.S. vs Fin.K.L)

What is the localization strategy

BoA as a template — language immersion; local partner (Avex), positioned as domestic artist who “happens to be Korean”

What is Hallyu

The Korean Wave

How was the Hallyu/Korean Wave coined?

Outside Korea by the Chinese press during the late 1990s, the wave starts commercially before any government branding

Who were the Seo Taiji and the Boys

Genre fusion of rap, metal and new jack with social conscious lyrics and had a shocking retirement at their peak (Jan 1996),

What was Seo Taiji and the Boys legacy

Their real legacy: proving the teenage market + the “artist-controlled” model (Yoyo Enterprise) that the idol system reacted against.

Who is H.O.T.

Five high-schoolers who debuted in 1996 hit 1.5 million debut album sales, and the first idol factory success

Who is Sechs Kies

H.O.T.’s rival who debuted in 1997, first fandom war was at the KBS award fight in Dec. 1998

Who is BoA?

Debuted in 2000 at 13. The frist Korean artist to top the Oricon chart in 2002 and the localization blueprint for all later Japanese expansion

What did the winter Sonata do

After the 2002, the Winter Sonata pioneered the global Hallyu Wave, launching South Korean television dramas and pop culture onto the international stage

Who was Super Junior

A group of that debuted in 2005 and was a multinational experiment (Han Geng, first Chinese member) and the “units” concept

What backlash happened in Japan

In 2005 there was anti-Hallyu backlash in Japan causing cultural proctectionism and limited effect on core audiences

When did YouTube launch in Korea and what did it cause

In January 2008 YouTube launched in Korea which caused a direct global distribution without gatekeepers

Who was the first Korean act on the Billboard Hot 100

Nobody, #76 in 2009

What Wonder Girls dance song went viral?

Tell Me

What happened in TVXQ lawsuit

In 2009 TVXQ was exposed for having slave contracts and making them do 13-year deals. They forced all idols to have 7 year maximum standard deals as a result

What was the Jay Park MySpace scandal

In 2009, he mistranslated comments from his personal MySpace account forced him to leave the K-pop group 2PM

What did Gangnam Style do

In 2012 Gangnam Style goes viral globally and their infrastructure meets meme culture

Localization vs. Direct Distribution

BoA/TVXQ conquered Japan through local partners while Youtube-era acts reach fans without intermediaries

What are units

Sub-groups targeting specific markets/genres (Super Junior - M, -T, -KRY)

What is viral dance culture

Simple, memorable point choreography designed for imitation and spread

Slave contract debate

TVXQ lawsuit precedents — artist rights, 7-year cap, fan mobilization

Digital archeology (our async activity)

Early Youtube uploads, fan subs, and comment cultures as historical sources

TVXQ

Perfected the Japan formula (#1 Oricon, 2008); the 2009 lawsuit reshaped industry contracts

Super Junior (SM, 2005)

Multinational membership + market-specific units; Lee Woo-man’s China vision

Wonder Girls

Tell Me/Nobody virality; US attempt (Jonas Brothers tour) — early, costly lesson in American expansion

Girls’ Generation, BIGBANG 2NE1(2006-2009 wave)

The generation whose Youtube-era content built the first truly international fanbases

When was the first Kcon

2012

When was the first concerts outside of Asia and where

SMTOWN in Paris in 2011

When did EXO debut

In 2012 with the third generation template

What are Big systematic global strategies

JYP, SM, and YG

What was the BTS revolution

Debuted in 2013 with an outsider company, hip foundation, storytelling across eras, and direct fan communication. In 2018 became the first Korean #1 on the Billboard 200 and had Dynamite in the #1 Hot 100

What happened in Covid-19

In 2020 there were online concert innovations that led to the 2020s streaming-era fourth generation and global-first debuts

Generation discours

Fan/industry have habit of slicing K-pop history into “gens” (1st: H.O.T. era —> 4th/5th: now)

Cultural Technology

Lee Soo-man’s codified system for producing/exporting idols (applied in EXO)

Survival show debuts

Sixteen —> Twice; Win —> Winner/IKon — predebut fandom building

Storytelling / Lore

Exo powers, BTS’s eras — narrative universes as engagement in fracture

Un-tact

Korean coinage for contact-free (online) events during the pandemic

Exo

Debuted in 2012 as a dual-unit multi market with storytelling concepts that enter the mainstream

BTS

Debuted in 2013 as an outsider breakthrough, authenticity + direct fan communication as a model’ every; every

4th-gen cohort

Streaming/TikTok-native strategies, self-production discourse, global-first rollouts.

Recruitment

School scouting, global auditions, contests; criteria = appearance, talent, kki (aura), inseong (character), teamwork

Korean Training

Multi-year — vocals, dance, foreign languages, media etiquette; constant evaluation (monthly tests, eliminations)

Debt system

Trainees repay training/production costs before earning profit

Korea Regulation

Government standardized contracts (7-year max) after the “slave contract” controversies

Costs of Idol Life

Dieting, cosmetic-surgery pressure, surveillance of private life, psychological toll

Survival shows

from Superstar K (2009) and K-pop Star to the Produce 101 era

Produce 101 fraud (2019)

Rigged votes, produces jailed, X1 disbanded — a credibility crisis

Produce 101 fraud (2019)

Rigged votes, producers jailed, X1 disbanded — a credibility crisis for participatory formats

Japan Jimusho system

Talent-management companies control careers and image; paternalistic long-term contracts (Johnny’s model)

US Motown

Berry Gordy’s strict training, etiquette, stage discipline; “family” narrative with executives as parent figures and parallel issues of exploitation and limited artist agency

The takeaway of trainee systems

The trainee system is a hybrid — 8th Army grading + Motown discipline + Jimusho management led to the industrialized talent system in 1990s Seoul

Etymology

Hallyu = Korean flow/current

Hallyu 1.0

K-Drama Popularity in China & Japan (Winter Sonata)

Hallyu 2.0

K-drama travels beyond Korea — Southeast Asia first, then beyond (Gangnam Style moment)