[New York Diary] The Korean American Couple Grateful to Dong Bang Shin Ki: The Power of Culture

On the 20th (local time), local fans lined up in front of the Crypto.com Arena in LA, USA, where 'KCON 2022 LA' was held.

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Joselgina] We met a middle-aged Korean American couple in New York, USA, who have many reasons to be grateful to 'Dong Bang Shin Ki' even after quite a long time. Dong Bang Shin Ki is one of the few K-pop idol groups whose names first-generation Korean immigrants in the US can remember.

The early immigrant life of this couple, who set foot in a foreign land with clumsy English, was literally fierce. After about ten years, when they finally had some breathing room, the war with their second daughter began. The second daughter, who took a flight to the US as a baby, barely spoke Korean, so conversations with the couple were rare. And once she entered adolescence, she constantly said, "I am not Korean. I hate Korea."

About ten years ago, in the Korean American community in the US, the terms ‘hak (鶴) leg’ and ‘banana’ were used to distinguish between first-generation immigrants and 1.5 to 2nd generation immigrants, perfectly describing their story. The couple had one foot on American soil but only looked far toward Korea, while the second daughter was like a banana?yellow on the outside but white inside, meaning she was no different from a white person internally. The conflicts had piled up so much that they didn’t even know when it started, and the language barrier had grown so high that deep conversations were impossible. Whenever they met, only short arguments occurred repeatedly. The couple recalled, "There was no way to have a conversation. It was like a war for about three years."

Peace came suddenly, from an unexpected direction. After a long time, the second daughter spoke first in clumsy Korean. "Can I learn Korean quickly?" And a few weeks later, through neighbors, they heard that the second daughter had become a fan of Dong Bang Shin Ki and had started learning Korean at a Korean church.

This story is already 17 years old. When asked about the high popularity of K-pop and K-dramas, including BTS, and the power of culture since their assignment to the US, the couple mentioned Dong Bang Shin Ki as the starting point where the ‘hak leg’ like them and the ‘banana’ like their second daughter began to look straight at each other to understand one another. Now a mother of two, the second daughter loves K-pop, enjoys K-dramas and K-movies, and identifies herself as both Korean and American. She also said that her interest in Korean culture, which started with Dong Bang Shin Ki, led to interest and understanding of her parents.

We met them just days before the large-scale K-pop concert celebrating the 10th anniversary of KCON 2022 LA, held in Los Angeles, USA. And on the 20th (local time), we faced the popularity of K-pop firsthand at the LA venue.

It was beyond imagination. It’s not just about how loud the sing-along was in a venue packed with 15,000 spectators. What was confirmed on site was the definite fact that soft power has become a new growth engine for the Korean economy. Local fans’ interest in K-pop artists went beyond that level. They learn Korean, use Korean cosmetics and products, and enjoy Korean food.

About ten local K-pop fans interviewed at the concert named ‘Extraordinary Attorney Woo’ as their recently favorite Korean drama. Nomi, a teenage girl who came to LA after a four-hour drive, clearly pronounced the names of the cast, including Moon Ga-young and Cha Eun-woo, in Korean when asked about her favorite drama. A couple from Florida said this was their fourth K-pop concert this year alone. They had already visited LA, Las Vegas, and New York to see performances by TWICE, BTS, and Stray Kids. Nikki, wearing an ATEEZ North America tour T-shirt, said, "I studied Korean because of K-pop," and added, "I like Korea and Korean culture."

These moments inevitably bring to mind Baekbeom Kim Gu’s 'My Wish,' which says, "The only thing I want endlessly is the power of high culture."

Ramon Pacheco Pardo, a professor at King’s College London and one of the top authorities on Korean studies in Europe, evaluates that Korea has become a ‘whale’ among strong countries from being a ‘shrimp’ caught between great powers, thanks to the power of culture led by popular music. He says Korea is the world’s 10th largest economy, a technology powerhouse, and a cultural powerhouse.

But will we become a shrimp again?

In the history of popular arts, trends inevitably fade away someday. Just like the popularity of Hong Kong movies in the 1980s and 1990s has become a short-lived old memory. It might be an excessive desire to wish for Hallyu to endlessly flow worldwide. Popular culture inevitably regresses the moment it becomes complacent. Why K-pop? Why K-culture? The current reflections starting here will eventually lead us to the path of a true cultural powerhouse.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.