In this post, let’s do a quick review of the history of the K-dramas from its beginning in the 1960’s to the present, and the representative K-dramas in each period. Continue reading
Pop culture
K-drama series – Live-shoot system
In the last post, we discussed a well-known (or notorious?) feature of K-dramas – product placement (“PPL”), a form of indirect advertising, which has become so excessive that K-drama fans are being frustrated by it. In this post, we will talk about another feature of K-dramas, the live-shoot system, which is also a feature receiving a lot of criticisms. Continue reading
K-drama series – Product placement (“PPL”) in K-dramas
If you watch a K-drama, apart from the characters, what do you most often see? I’m sure most of you will answer: brand names and corporate logos. Some of the most often seen scenes are the characters chatting in the coffee shops with the names of the coffee shops clearly displayed on the walls or doors or cups; or the characters are using trendy mobile phones with the relevant brand names or logos or the mobile apps that are being used receiving close-up shots. This is product placement (“PPL”), a form of indirect advertising used in K-dramas. Let’s continue the K-drama series by talking about this well-known (or notorious?) feature of K-dramas.
K-drama series – An overview of the key features and popularity of Korean dramas
Korean dramas (“K-dramas”) are typically mini-series TV dramas of 16-24 episodes each. While there are a variety of genres of K-dramas, the key ones are romantic melodrama, romantic comedy and historical drama. K-dramas are definitely a key driving force of the Korean Wave (a term referring the popularity of Korean pop culture) which has swept the world. There are a lot of Korean culture lovers who are attracted to the Korean culture by the K-dramas, and I’m one of them. Continue reading
K-Movie Series – 2012 to Present
In the last blog post, we mentioned that the Korean film industry experienced a doldrum starting from mid-2000’s. This situation continued until 2012 which was a turning point for the Korean film industry. After suffering the lows in late 2000’s, the Korean film industry started to come up with better films which have helped attract more audiences since 2012. Continue reading
K-Movie Series – 1990’s to 2011
In this blog post, we will continue with the development of K-Movie in the period from 1990’s to 2011. In the 1990’s and early 2000’s, Korean film industry enjoyed satisfactory growth and K-movie has become one of the components of Hallyu (Korean Wave) which began in the early 2000’s. However, the popularity of K-movie started to decline after mid-2000’s due to declining quality of films, surging costs, and relaxation of the screen quota. Continue reading
K-Movie Series – 1970’s and 1980’s
In this blog post, we will continue with the K-Movie Series and talk about the situation in the 1970’s and 1980’s. After the Golden Age in the 1950’s and 1960’s, the Korean film industry underwent a depression in the 1970’s with the tightened control by the authoritarian government. Fortunately, the control loosened in the 1980’s which contributed to a transformation of industry. Continue reading
K-Movie Series – Golden Age in the 1950’s and 1960’s
In the last blog post, we talked about the birth of Korean movie. In this blog post, we will continue with the development of K-movie in the 1950’s and 1960’s which could be considered as the Golden Age for K-movie. Continue reading
K-Movie Series – The Birth of Korean Movie
In 2007, Korean actress, Jeon Do-yeon, won the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for her role in the movie, Secret Sunshine (밀양), and in 2014, she was named as a member of the jury of the Cannes Film Festival. Korean movies also won a number of awards at international film festivals, e.g., Best Director award won by Im Kwon-taek’s Chihwaseon (취화선)(2002) at the Cannes Film Festival, Best Screenplay prize won by Lee Chang-dong’s Poetry (시)(2010) at the Cannes Film Festival, Golden Lion prize won by Kim Ki-duk’s Pietà (피에타)(2012) at the Venice Film Festival, etc. It is no doubt that Korean movies have gained worldwide attention. So, I am going to write a series of posts talking about the development of the K-movie. In this blog post, I will first talk about the birth of K-movie. Continue reading
Korean hand-made paper – Hanji
Hanji (한지) literally means “Korean paper”. It is hand-made paper made from the inner bark of paper mulberry (which is also known as dak tree in Korea). When the Mugujeonggwang Daedaranigyeong (literally “Great Dharani Sutra of Immaculate and Pure Light”) hidden in a casket in the Bulguksa Temple for nearly 1,200 years was discovered, the hanji on which it was printed remained perfectly intact. Medicine made from the ashes of burnt hanji are said to be used as medicine to help stop bleeding. In this blog post, let’s talk about this wonderful paper, hanji, which has a history of over 1,000 years. Continue reading
Korean Culture Blog 