The Korean wave conundrum: where locality still bounds its global outreach

Since its formative years, K-pop has come a long way, morphing into its current state of a worldwide phenomenon. It’s clear, to me at least, that K-pop, or K-contents in general, aims for global outreach.

Think of groups with members from different countries and ethnicities like KATSEYE, LE SSERAFIM and NCT, to name a few. How about the increasing number of songs sung by Korean artists in the English language?

Despite substantial efforts to take on the global market, a persistent problem plagues — its deep-rooted locality.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying that the industry warrants a massive overhaul to yield to the demands of the global market. Instead, there ought to be some balance between keeping things authentic and original, whilst pushing boundaries to expand its outreach.

The recent Seunghan case

Why does this matter? The recent case of former RIIZE member Seunghan leaving the group has got me thinking deeply about this issue.

For context, Seunghan went into an indefinite hiatus in November last year, following leaks of pre-debut photographs from his personal life. These photographs showed him kissing an unidentified woman in bed, and smoking cigarettes.

A year later, the band’s agency said that Seunghan would gradually resume activities with the band. Most of the band’s fans were excited about his return. However, a minority were enraged and protested by sending funeral wreaths to SM Entertainment.

From laughing to dancing in front of the funeral wreaths to celebrate seunghan departure.. Kbriize are truly heartless and inhumane. They don’t deserve to be call human. Even animals have feelings. I feel so disgusted. pic.twitter.com/FzizHLluzL

— daily seunghan (@seunghan_daily) October 14, 2024

Why is his act, seemingly typical of an average adolescent, magnified and frowned upon by the general public (especially in his home country)? And what amounted to this mess anyway?

Journalist Tamar Herman pointed out that RIIZE’s target market is predominantly the U.S. market, which I agree with, evident from their stateside tours and promotions. Therefore, their agency might have thought their (international, perhaps) fans were ready for his return. They were not wrong in that regard.

However, they failed to consider the “power”, so to speak, of fans locally who wished for his departure.

They’ve emerged victorious, as of now; though a considerable number of the group’s fans have petitioned for Seunghan’s return. Some of them have also taken to social media pages to voice out their support, trending hashtags like #RIIZEis7 and #BringSeunghanBack.

The K-movie scene?

The Seunghan issue above is not an isolated occurrence. Unfortunately, it is just one of several examples which demonstrate that locality is still bounding on the Korean entertainment industry’s global outreach.

Take the upcoming K-drama Love in the Big City for example.

Its film counterpart was by A-listers like Kim Go-eun and Noh Sang-hyun, its plot is a heartwarming one which touches on queer themes.

The issue is this: the production company first uploaded the drama’s trailer on YouTube on 7 Oct, but took a U-turn days later and removed it, due to complaints from anti-LGBTQ+ groups.

This sequence of events of doing something and then reneging on the promise is, albeit unfortunately, becoming ubiquitous. But is there really a way around it?

I fear that there is no definitive answer just yet. While the South Korean entertainment industry puts in the effort to push boundaries (whether to experiment with creative freedom or appeal to the global audience), it seems that the domestic market isn’t ready just yet. And that itself could pose a serious issue.

The question, then, is: how do strike a balance between both?

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this opinion piece are those of the writer(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent.

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