How did Seoul become Asia’s capital of cool?<\/p>\n
Even here in the Philippines, once an undisputed bastion of American pop and Hollywood movies, South Korean pop music, soap operas and fashion are now all the rage.<\/p>\n
“I want the same brown, but slightly blonde color, as Sandara’s hair,” says 22-year-old hotel worker Kins Wu, referring to girl band singer Sandara Park as she sifts through color samples at a Manila branch of a Korean hair salon.<\/p>\n
The phenomenon, known as “Hallyu” in Korean, took off around the start of the millennium with TV soap operas that became huge hits with Asians of all ages. Then came K-pop music, with its flashy choreographed dance moves, now imitated by teenagers from Beijing to Bangkok.<\/p>\n
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak ranks the overseas success of “K-pop” among his country’s top achievements, and the government operates a “Korean Wave” index to gauge the fever for its cultural exports.<\/p>\n
Taiwan took the top spot in 2010, nudging out Japan. China, Thailand and Vietnam are also on the list, and the state-funded Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange says Malaysia will be added this year and the Philippines, as early as 2012.<\/p>\n
“The Republic of Korea is making young people all around the world wild with K-pop,” Lee said in an Aug. 15 speech marking Korea’s liberation from Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule.<\/p>\n
The success is not by accident. South Korea has developed an entire industry to take attractive actors and singers and turn them into larger-than-life stars, carefully managing their look and every move. The polished productions caught on elsewhere, and a few bands such as TVXQ and 2PM are now being created with overseas markets partly in mind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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