lakepurity: k-pop

Showing posts with label k-pop. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

"한국어붐" 세계에 알리는 K-pop, PSY가 진정한 애국자들,문통을 포함한 정치꾼들은 혈세낭비하며 국격을 떨어뜨리는데...

K-pop, PSY를 포함한 많은 한국의 연예인들이 지금 세계무대를 주름잡고, 한국을 전세계에 알리고, 미국에서는 Billboard Chart에 1위를 차지하는 유사이래 최대의 위업을 이루고 있다.

문재인 대통령을 비롯한 한국의 정치꾼들은 과연 한국을 전세계에 알리는 애국자들일까?
그래서 정상회담을 핑계되고 가장 비싼 비행기인 747 전용기를 타고 다니고, 정치꾼들은 1등석을 타고 다닌다. 또 그들은 국민들의 혈세를 낭비하면서 여행을 하고와서는 국민들에게는 마치 대한민국이라는 나라를 외국에 홍보하고, 경제협력을 다 혼자하고 온것처럼 허풍들을 떠들어 대곤 한다.

이와는 비교되는, 이들 젊은 연예인들은 노래로 한국을 알리는것 만으로 끝나는게 아니고, 지금은 그들의 노래 열풍에 힘입어, 각국의 대학에서는 없었던 한국어학과를 개설하여, 많은 젊은 장래의 인재들이 한국어 배우기에 열중하고 있다는 뉴스가 가슴을 뭉클하게 하고 있다.

이들은 노래로, 한국홍보로 외화를 벌어들이고 있어, 경제성장에 앞잡이 역활을 한다고 할수 있겠다.
더욱히 요즘의 한국경제 상황을 보면, 이들 연예인들의 외국에서의 활동은 더 많이 돋보인다.

이들의 애국적 활동과 외화까지 벌어들이는 눈부신 활동을 보면서, 문통과 정치꾼들은 어떤 감정일까?
요즘은 심지어 시,군의회의원들까지도 외국연수를 간다고 들었다. 청와대 대통령부터 국회의원들 시,군의원들까지 명칭은 국빈방문, 경제협력 협의차라는 명칭을 부쳐, 혈세로 구경들을 다닌다.

"내가 살고 있는 도시에 몇년전 한국의 시의원 일행이 방문했었다. 이곳의 시장(Mayor)과 자매결연과 상호 경제교류를 하겠다는 거창한 계획을 교민들과의 만남에서 발표를 해서 기대를 했었는데, 막상 시장을 만나서는 기념사진 몇장 찍고, 그다음에 이어질 회담은 흐지부지 하는둥 마는둥 하고 시장실을 빠져 나왔었던 기억을 지금도 잊지않고 있다".라는 얘기를 남미 여행시 나를 안내해줬던 한국인 Tour Guide가 해준 말이 머리속에 지금도 자리하고 있다.

K-pop과 국위를 선양하는 연예인들 계속 열심히 활동해주시기를 기원드립니다.
한국의 정치꾼들은 이들 젊은이들의 애국적 국위선양에 자극을 좀 받으시고, 반성많이 했으면 한다.

지금 영국 Manchester에 거주하고 있는 지현씨는 탈북민이다. "Gangnam 스타일이 매우 인기가 있을때, 저의 아들은 당시 십대로 고등학교에 다니고 있었는데, 아들은 나에게 얘기하기를, 친구들과 어울려 강남스타일을 부르곤 했지만, 그노랫말의 뜻은 전연 알수 없었다"라고 지연씨는 설명한다. 많은 사람들이 한국말을 공부해서, 세계를 향해 외쳐댈때, 은둔의 북한을 바꿀수 있었으면 하는 바램을 얘기한다.

Korean is rapidly growing in popularity, in a language-learning boom driven by the popularity of the country's pop stars.

A desire to learn the lyrics of K-Pop hits like Gangnam Style has boosted the Korean language's popularity explode in countries like the US, Canada, Thailand and Malaysia.
A report by the Modern Language Association shows that Korean uptake in US universities rose by almost 14% between 2013 and 2016, while overall language enrolment was in decline.
The latest statistics show 14,000 students are learning Korean in the US, compared to only 163 two decades earlier.
The language learning website Duolingo launched a Korean course last year because of rising demand. It quickly attracted more than 200,000 pupils.

Rising demand in university

Professor Andre Schmid has seen a rapid rise at the University of Toronto, where he researches Korean history.
When the university introduced a Korean class ten years ago, it had 30 students. Today it has 150 and an even longer waiting list.

It has seen similar increases in the numbers studying Korean history.
Prof Schmid says this has been driven by the popularity of Korean pop music and drama, and notes that the internet has brought the K-pop craze to the most unexpected places.
"Among my students I have a young woman who grew up in an isolated farm house in Grey County Ontario, but she chose the University of Toronto because she wanted to learn all about Korea," says Prof Schmid.

"That would never have happened 15 years ago. The phenomenon is enabled by the rise of YouTube, such that someone like her can have access to these cultural products in such remote places," he says.
The wave of popularity for South Korean culture is known as "Hallyu".
It began to spread outside of Korea in the 1990s and, today, K-pop bandslike BTS sell out stadia and top music charts around the world.

Big in Algeria

It has become so widespread that a UN aid agency uses K-pop as a conversation starter in a project which connects young refugees from the Middle East with western students over Skype.
The Korean language is even starting to change the way foreign K-pop fans speak.
A survey of K-pop followers in Algeria found that most had started using Korean words and phrases in their daily conversation.

The South Korean government is capitalising on its cultural assets by setting up 130 language institutes in 50 countries.
Last year, the government funded a new Institute for Korean Studies at George Washington University in the US.
"This type of centre may attract people who are interested in Korea because of pop culture at first, but they can also expose those students to other parts of Korean studies, including politics, trade, history, and more," says Jenna Gibson of the US-based think tank the Korea Economic Institute.

Difficult language

But K-pop fans should be beware that learning Korean is far from easy.
A US state training agency on foreign affairs ranks Korean as one of the hardest languages for English native speakers.

Ji Hyun Park fled North Korea and now lives in Manchester in the UK, where she teaches English for the tutoring service Chatterbox.
"Different languages are used to speak to adults and children - words like "hello" and "goodnight" are different depending on whether you are speaking to a child or an adult," she says.
She says pronunciation is particularly difficult for English speakers, and that the lyrics sung by K-pop stars can confuse learners because they mix Korean and English together.
Ji Hyun has noticed an increase in the popularity of Korean culture in the UK.

"When Gangnam Style was popular, my son was a teenager in high school and told me that his friends were all singing it even though they didn't understand what the words meant," she said.
Will thousands of new Korean speakers around the world make any difference for isolated North Korea?
Ji Hyun, who was held in a labour camp in North Korea before she escaped and now campaigns against human rights abuses country, says it can only be a good thing.
""It is good that we are learning the Korean language so that in future when people meet North Koreans, they can understand more about what is happening inside North Korea," she said.
"And North Koreans can learn about what is happening outside their country."

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

K-Pop, J-Pop이 포함된 Asia의 유명 Pop Group들의 밝히고 싶지 않은 어두운 내막.

이번 K-pop의 멤버, 김종현의 석연치 않은 사망으로, 그동안 알려지지 않았던 K-pop, J-pop의 밝혀지지 않은 뒷면의 이야기들이 서방세계의 집중 조명을 받고 있다.

K-pop, J-pop 가수들은 지금은 세계적으로 특히 한국과 일본에서는 모든 10대들의 우상이다.
그들이 떳다하면, 그들은 환호하는 10대들에게 "온갖 상상의 꿈을 파는 직업"으로 알려져왔다.

이들이 활동하면서, 수천만 달러를 벌어들이는, 명색상 보호자겸 관리회사는 배를 채우지만, 실제로 돈을 벌어들이는 구룹멤버들은 정해진 월급을 받기에, 밖어서 생각하는것 처럼, 풍부하지 못하고 일반 십대들, 또는 사회생활하는 사람들의 씀씀이와 별반 다를게 없다.

아이돌 멤버들은 관리회사의 엄격한 룰의 적용을 받아, 친구들과의 데이트도 허용안되고, 오직 "아이돌"이 될수있는 방법을 강요당한다. 특히 일본에서는 친구와의 데이트도 허용안되고, 심지어 사랑하는이와 결혼하기위해서는 사전에 허락을 받아야 한다.

"데이트 허용안됨"의 구절이 계약서상에 엄연히 적혀있어, 만약에 이를 어겼을 경우에는 이들 스타들은 관리회사로 부터 명예훼손으로 고소를 받는다. 2년전 일본의 AKB48 밴드 구룹의Minami Minegishi양은 하룻밤 남자친구와 지냈다는, 계약사와의 계약사항을 위반하여 스님처럼 민둥산처럼 머리를 잘렸으며 눈물어린 사과를 했었다.

이렇게 계약사들이 "구룹멤버들의 사생활을 일일히 간섭하는 독재는, 서구의 연예사들에서는 일어났다는 얘기를 들어본적이 없다"라고, Billboard Magazine의 편집장, Rob Schwartz 씨는 한탄한다.

한국은, 일본보다는 많이 후한 편이다. 이성친구와 데이트 또는 결혼하는것이 일본보다는 훨씬 후한 편이나, 계약회사는 그래도 그들의 일상생활에 대해서 철저한 관리를 한다.

또한 구룹의 스타들은 때로는 성형수술도 타의에 의해 받아야만 한다. 또한 정치적으로 민감한 반응표현은 절대로 허용이 안된다. 최근에 대만출신 스타 Chou Tzuyu(16세)는 대만기( Taiwanese Flag)를 흔들었는데, 많은 사람들이 그가 대만의 독립을 지지했다는 행동으로 비화되여 많은 문제점을 일으킨바 있었다.

지구상의 어디에서든 마찬가지이지만, 우상화된 스타들은 특히 일본과 한국에서는 어린이들에게 커다란 영향을 끼치고 있다. 그러나 최근의 비극적인 사건들을 보면서 어떻게 해서 이들 연예계의 실상이 무엇인가를 토의하기 시작했으며, 우상화된 이들 스타들이 어떻게 대중들에게 잘 보여져야 하는가에 대한 꿈은 현실과는 너무나 멀리 떨어진 괴로움의 산물임을 알아야 할것 같다.

They are known as "idols" and their job is "to sell dreams". For decades, the young pop stars of Japan and South Korea have been the envy of teenagers.

But behind the glamour, the lucrative industry is run by talent agencies with an iron fist. Two recent apologies by Japan's popular band SMAP and Taiwanese star Chou Tzuyu have highlighted just how much power they have.

Both J-pop and K-pop - as Japanese and South Korean pop are known - are multi-million dollar industries yet most of their stars are on salary and do not earn very much.

They are also bound by strict rules on how to be idols. In Japan, for example, many are not allowed to date and getting married requires permission.

The "no dating" clause of the contracts has resulted in some idols being sued for breaking it, accused of damaging their reputations. Two years ago Minami Minegishi from popular girl band AKB48 shaved her head and wept in apology, after breaking management firm rules by spending a night with her boyfriend.

Manufactured boy or girl bands are nothing new, but Tokyo-based Asia Bureau Chief of Billboard Magazine Rob Schwartz says "it's unheard of in the West for the agencies to control their personal lives".

"It's possibly comparable to the situation in the 1940s in the US when film studios had huge control over their movie stars but even then, they may have been encouraged not to date or marry but there was less coercion," he added.

In South Korea, while stars can date and get married more openly than in Japan, the agencies still have a very hands-on approach to their daily lives.

"They are very concerned about how their talents are perceived, in part because of several infamous scandals in the 1990s," said Mark Russell, an expert on the K-pop industry.

"If you go to the agency, every young trainee will give you a very polite bow and there are notices with the company rules on the wall to remind them how to behave."

There is also speculation that some young stars are advised to undergo cosmetic surgery.

Discussing politics is one of many taboos - recently, waving a Taiwanese flag got Taiwanese star Chou Tzuyu, 16, into trouble as critics argued that she was supporting independence.

Her video apology was posted online by her South Korean agency, JYP Entertainment.

It denied coercing her to appease angered Chinese audiences, but Mr Russell believes there would have been a serious sit-down discussion about how the scandal was not just about her but about the whole company.

What the agency failed to realise, however, was how it may be perceived in other markets where K-pop is also popular. Her apology triggered an outcry in Taiwan where many considered it humiliating not just for the young star but for Taiwan.

"Korea puts strong emphasis on humility but it can come across as too extreme outside the country," Mr Russell explained.

A few days later in neighbouring Japan, the members of the ageing boy band SMAP - all dressed in black - bowed deeply in a sombre apology on their weekly programme SMAPxSMAP.

Their sin was trying to leave their agency, Johnny & Associates.

The apology was not only addressed to their fans, for rumours that they were considering splitting up, but also to the founder of the agency, 84-year-old Johnny Kitagawa, one of the most powerful and controversial figures in Japan's entertainment industry.

He has been recognised three times by Guinness World Record, once for the most singles produced by an individual. He was behind 232 Number 1 Singles between 1974 and 2010, just one small measure of the virtual monopoly he has had on the creation of Japanese boy bands.

Standing at the centre of the five members was Takuya Kimura, the only member who was going to stay with the agency. The other four were reportedly going to follow their long-time manager Michi Iijima who is believed to have fallen out with its founder's sister and vice-president, Mary Kitagawa.

At the far left was Masahiro Nakai - the group's leader who has usually been placed in the middle of the band. Such subtleties may be lost on many readers, but the symbolism is powerful for Japanese observers. The tabloid newspaper Nikkan Gendai headlined it: "Nakai's public execution."

Others saw the similarity between SMAP members and Japan's so-called white collar salarymen, unable to disobey their employers.

The word "corporate slaves" started trending on social media and when Twitter went down for 15 minutes at around that time, Japanese fans speculated that it was traffic from SMAP that brought it down.

Fans also complained to the country's media watchdog, citing power harassment.

But interestingly, mainstream media stayed away from the controversy and only reported the sense of relief that fans expressed at the news the band was staying together.

This led to accusations that they were afraid of criticising powerful Johnny & Associates as it represents many other popular talents.

The BBC approached Johnny & Associates about the controversy, but they declined to comment. South Korea's JYP Entertainment also did not respond to requests for comment on the Chou Tzuyu incident.

"Journalists who work for mainstream Japanese media clearly understand what they're allowed to and not allowed to write so they operate on self-censorship," said Mr Schwartz from Billboard Magazine.

In South Korea, while there is no single talent management agency which has the same iron grip on media, K-pop expert Mr Russell says "there was a lot more mutual back-scratching between the agencies and media before". The coverage of scandals has since changed, largely because of the liberating force of internet reaction on social media.

Like elsewhere in the world, the glamour of pop stardom is a huge appeal for Japanese and South Korean children.

But these latest incidents show that even among fans, there is a debate about how the reality of the industry is quite far from the dream that these idols are supposed to be selling.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-35368705