The role of the Olympics

Just some thoughts on the past 2012 London Olympics.

First, the stats:

Final medal standing for South Korea: 9th overall

• Gold: 13
• Silver: 8
• Bronze: 7

As you may or may not already be aware, South Korea's goal for the London Olympics was 10, 10... aka 10th in overall standings and 10 gold medals. They managed to surpass both of their goals. Now, why is this relevant to a blog on Korean popular culture? Because it is significant in understanding national identity. Countries have a rare opportunity every couple of years to compete against each other in a variety of different sports. While some question the intensity of nationalism in international sports competition, and there are controversies, human rights issues, ect, the world comes to a halt in those days. Variety shows don't air new episodes. Viewers stay up till the wee hours in the morning to watch soccer matches and events live. Singers, actors, comedians all comment, congratulate, support on SNS, twitter, ect. Everyone gathers in support of their athletes. And this is not only limited to South Korean media. Just take a look at the number of American celebrities who tweeted about Gabrielle Douglas. or Missy Franklin. Athletes become overnight stars.  In “Political Communities: the Nation”, Max Weber (1978) suggests the feeling of “national sentiment” and affiliation to a nation is significant to national identity. In a more narrow context, we may feel affiliated to a particular sports team due to location, college, or familial attachment. 

B-girls

I added this because I wanted to show the perspective of b-girls as well. I know b-boying is very popular in South Korea and I wrote posts in the past here and also elsewhere on the blog. But there are b-girls who are also a part of this industry too. 

Questions of banning

Recently MOGEF announced they were reconsidering the ban of Psy's past hit "Right Now". MOGEF, the Ministry of Gender and Equality and Family, banned the song in 2010. Songs can be banned for a number of reasons, including references to alcohol, smoking, disobeying laws, and other things deemed inappropriate for young children. This has caused issues in the past for artists, as this sometimes leads to bans from KBS and other music stations and limits the ability to sell music and actively promote songs (which we know is important for idols, with the constant music programs and variety shows). Songs can also be banned after promotions have begun, which can abruptly end promotions for singers.

This has caused controversy in the past for popular artists and entertainment companies, but I wonder why these considerations are taking place now? MOGEF claims they gave the opportunity for YG to revise the ban in January of this year, but now it giving them another opportunity for a review... Of course, the easy question is, is it associated with the popularity of the "Gangnam Style"abroad, particularly in the U.S.? In other words, had "Gangnam style" only been popular in Korea, would they have reconsidered? We already know that YG's CEO Yang Hyun-suk does not agree with the strict regulations, but I also wonder... will YG submit a request for a revision, or will MOGEF just reconsider it on their own?

Also, will this affect the video uploading issue in the future? (A couple months ago MOGEF also announced they would start regulating/censoring video uploading onto websites) YG said that regulating music videos posted on sites like YouTube could prevent the future opportunities like "Gangnam Style" for global success.

A fresh start

Good evening world,

I've decided to try and start blogging again about Korean popular culture. As you will note, in the past I did it as a discussion blog for an undergraduate course I was peer teaching. But now, just as an observer/researcher/follower...

Kiss and Cry

Just a small observation, I was watching Kim Yuna's Kiss and Cry and I noticed something interesting in the most recent episode 06/05/11. This is a new variety show and a variety first where ice skating is being showcased (they created a special ice rink for this show, which is pretty cool). The main MC is Kim Yuna (the first South Korean gold medalist of figure skating). The main purpose is to let public know more about figure skating. Celebrities are paired up with professional figure skaters for the ultimate prize of performing at Kim Yuna's showcase. Anyway, one of the competitors is DBSK/TVXQ's Yunho Yunho and his partner is Claudia Mueller. Claudia is half Korean, half Swiss. If I remember correctly, her father is Swiss and her mother is Korean and she wants to represent Korea in worldwide figure skating competitions and win gold like Kim Yuna. Anyway, the whole purpose of this article was just something I noticed in the most recent episode...