A Comeback Countdown

This post is going to start a little different from ones in the past. It has been a while since I have had enough time to compile a post on this site not that there is anyone waiting with baited breath for the research I have done or whatever I have to say next.

Me right now

But, to the few of you all who do manage to stumble your way onto my blog, I  want you all to know that I honestly, do enjoy creating these post. It relaxes me, but it is also time-consuming because I want to make sure that I have made each post the best quality that I could. With that said,  college is a killer. I feel like I barely have time to take care of myself sometimes; however, one of my classes ends early so I am hoping that will give me more time to create posts. It probably still won’t be as often as before, but I only have seven weeks left in the semester until I go home for my off track (the time between semesters). Also, I already had a different post started so maybe there will be another post soon, again not like anyone is dying from anticipation.

 

Now into what really matters, Korean Entertainment. Visitors who have been here before can probably tell that I am quite partial to Kpop but that is mainly because I know more about idols than the actors and actresses from Korea, but if there is news or if something that inspires me then I’ll post on that. Now, I try not to be too bias. When I post about one group it’s because I know that they have been doing significantly well. If another group or idol does extremely well, I’ll do my best to make a note of it and give it the attention that they, he, or she deserves.

With that said, I’ll try to keep this short. Bangtan Sonyeonda scheduled for another comeback this month. On January 11, it was reported that BTS would not only be adding a comeback to their already busy schedule for 2017.With a world tour already on the group’s plate, many ARMYs wondered how and when this comeback would fit into the 2017 calendar. Imagine their surprise as the new teaser images for BTS’  WINGS Extension comeback You Never Walk Alone. The fan theories were already emerging before the group’s official comeback date was even announced. And now, fans have been left with two teaser videos; the air is just buzzing with excitement and anticipation. Call this a late post if you will, but it has now been announced that the official comeback date will be February  13 a mere four months since BTS’ last comeback.

 

Not Today Teaser

 

 

Spring Day Teaser

 

Now, I’ll break my professional tone for a minute and discuss something; I’m American living in one of the later time zones as I’m writing this it’s 10:45 p.m. on February 11 where I am, but currently it’s 2:25 p.m on February 12 in Seoul. For anyone that hates doing the math, Seoul is a whole 16hrs ahead of any town that’s in the Mountain Time Zone here in America. Why did I include this? If anyone out there is among those who like to be there right when their favorite group post, make sure you know the time difference otherwise you’re going to be waiting longer than necessary to see the comeback. It’s easy to forget that everyone across the globe is in a different time zone; it’s not usually something people think about every day.

 

February 12, 2017April 22, 2020 by worldkpopculture Categories: Blog post, UncategorizedTags: Army, BTS, Comeback, culture, entertainment, February 13, first post in a long time, foreign, global, Korea, Kpop, Music, music industry, Not Today, singing, small change, South Korea, Spring Day, teasers, Time Zomes, WINGS, You Never Walk Alone 2 Comments

You Reap What You Sow

Music blaring, adrenaline surging and clothes completely soaking through with sweat; these are some the elements of a zealous passion-filled performance. No matter what kind of performer or genre of music a musician performs, the most important thing is to make a connection with the fans, make them feel important and make any event an experience that fans can’t forget.

In order to accomplish this, it means artist/artists must invest their time, energy and creativity. When these three qualities are equally invested, it creates a recipe for the perfect performance. The problem is performers who follow this recipe are a dying breed.
It is more likely that we will find stories about our favorite artist venturing out to the clubs with his/her latest fling, throwing a party for whatever holiday is closest or being captured in the middle of his/her latest scandal, plastered across the tabloids or sliding across our news feeds. And while our loyalty may belong to our favorite musician/ group, the effort that they’re willing to invest into practice, fan events and performances the stronger our loyalty will remain.

Unlike most Western musicians, the likelihood of finding a slanderous scandal about a Kpop idol is a lot less likely to be found in the latest news. Although scandal in the world of Korean entertainment isn’t impossible and does occasionally happen it is very rare that it makes it to the public. Kpop idols may occasionally be seen at clubs, but the chances of anyone finding them in a club under improper or disreputable circumstances are about as likely as seeing a real-life unicorn trotting across your bedroom in the next five minutes. They are called Idols for a reason.

Idols are expected to have the most respectable and professional behavior while in public while working and while speaking to fans; in fact, often times cameras may capture members of a group reminding each other not to curse because they care being recorded live. The companies that sign these idols expect not only for them to maintain spotless reputations, they expect strong vocals, flawless choreography, and well-rounded entertainment skills. That is what sets Kpop idols apart from Western musician.

*Kpop copyright composer, songwriter, and arranger master-list*

 

 

For Sister Whitlock: what-I’ve-learned-about-blogging

December 10, 2016August 14, 2017 by worldkpopculture Categories: Blog post, UncategorizedTags: behavior, companies, contracts, culture, dancing, difference, entertainment, expectations, foreign, global, idols, Korea, Kpop, Languages, Music, music industry, musicians, perfection, Records, reflection, respect, scandal, schedules, singing, skills, South Korea, training, You Reap What You Sow Leave a comment

A Rasputin in South Korea’s Blue House

South Korea has been plunged into a political scandal that has engulfed the presidency of Park Geun-hye and led millions of protesters to take to the streets in the one of the largest demonstration since the Great Workers’ Struggle in 1987.

The drama surrounds Choi Soon-sil, Park’s friend, and informal adviser. Though she never held an official position, Choi was given access to secret government documents and allowed to intervene in state affairs. Following the accusations, Prosecutors issued an arrest warrant on charges of abuse of power and attempted fraud. Choi has also been accused by local media and opposition parties of abusing her relationship with the president to force companies to pay $8billion won ($70 million US dollars)to foundations Choi runs.

A family of Rasputin’s

“The family has had an extraordinary influence over Park Geun-hye for essentially her entire adult life. It’s much more than simply, ‘oh she knows this person,’ it’s deeply intertwined, almost like they’re Rasputin and Park Geun-hye is just a puppet,”David Kang, a Korea expert at the University of Southern California, told CNN.

Park’s controversial relationship with Choi and her family started following the death of Park’s mother at the hands of a North Korean assassin in 1974 while Park’s father was president. Then Choi’s father, Mr. Choi,  “approached Ms. Park by telling her that her mother had appeared in his dreams, asking him to help her.”

After Park’s father was assassinated in 1979 by the then director of the Korean CIA, his killer cited that one of the reasons he killed Mr. Park was what he called, “the president’s failure to stop Mr. Choi’s corrupt activities and keep him away from his daughter.”  Even members of Park’s family expressed concern. Her younger sister Guen-ryong and brother Ji-man filed a petition in 1990 to then-president Roh Tae-woo expressing concerns that Choi was manipulating Park.

Calling for resignation or impeachment

Professor of political science at Duksung Women’s University, Cho Jin-man said, “President Park is apparently seeking ways to remain in office as long as possible. However, at this point, there is no choice but to step down. Unless she heeds public sentiment, it will be inevitable that she will face a confrontation with the people. But she will not be able to win them over.”

(video: ALJAZEERA, anti-Park protests)

With Park refusing to resign, the Assembly, including members of her own party, are beginning to call for her impeachment. Rep. Park Jie-won hinted at impeaching the head of state saying, “The three opposition parties will hold a leaders’ meeting to discuss ways to oust President Park.”  Park Wan-joo, the DPK’s deputy floor leader, also said, “Unless she announces her resignation, there are only two options — impeachment or a campaign to force her out.”

It might be too late for Sorry

In a televised apology, Park said Choi looked at “some documents” for a certain period of time after Park took office, but didn’t specify what they were. “I am shocked and my heart is breaking for causing public concern,” Park said.

 However, this didn’t seem to stop her approval rating from dropping to meager 5% and
a non-existent nil% (zero) among younger demographic. On November 12th, around 1million people rallied for hours in the countries capital, Seoul, to demand Park’s resignation. The people filled the Gwang Hwa Mun Square with lit up candles in a peaceful protest chanting for  Park’s resignation.

November 18, 2016September 12, 2017 by worldkpopculture Categories: Blog post, polictics, South Korea, UncategorizedTags: ." It might be too late for Sorry, 5% approval, A family of Rasputin's, A Rasputin in South Korea's Blue House, abusing power, accusations, ALJAZEERA, assasination, attempted fraud, Blue House, Calling for resignation or impeachment, Change, Choi Soon-sil, CNN, Cult, culture, dropping approval rating, foreign, Great Worker's struggle, http://cyberspaceandtime.com/, impending impeachment, informal adviser, intervene in state affairs, It's much more than simply, 'oh she knows this person,' it's deeply intertwined, almost like they're Rasputin and Park Geun-hye is just a puppet,, libcom.org, mass protests, Music, Park Geun-hye, peaceful protests, politics, president, public outcry, public outrage, puppets, Rasputin, scandal, secret government documents, South Korea, www.koreatimes.co.kr, www.nytimes.com Leave a comment

Language Barriers?

The one comment that fans of K-anything, be it Kpop, Kdrama, K-fashion, and so on hear most often goes along the lines of, “How can you possibly enjoy that, you can’t even understand what they’re saying?” If these fans got a dollar or even just a nickel for every time they heard that line, they could probably pay to fly to Korea and take Korean lessons in Seoul. Considering most of these same people were singing along to PSY’s “Gangnam Style” it seems a little funny that they are so insulted by K-fans participating in something that’s not in English. People don’t seem to understand that just because learning other languages, especially ones like Korean, Thai, or Vietnamese, aren’t stressed in our school systems, it doesn’t mean that learning foreign languages isn’t stressed in other countries. According to the World Bank in 2015 the U.S was the leading economy based on gross domestic product and is has been since at least 1960, and before China took the second place spot it was held by the U.K for a long time. So, naturally, it would make sense that other countries would teach foreign languages, especially the ones that belong to the leaders in economics,  to their student.

 The same thing applies with Kpop and Kdramas. Firstly, there is, in most fans’ opinions, the obvious comeback of subtitles and translations. There are multiple sites dedicated to translating the newest, most popular, and most beloved songs into English so that foreign fans can learn them, and a lot of the music videos and Kdramas now come with an option to turn on subtitles. If the option isn’t there, almost any television show, movie, or online video that can be found, the same can be found with subtitles that were translated by a native speaker; in fact, more often than not the companies that run either the Kpop singers or the k-drama will have two channels made on YouTube and other social medias one with subtitle/translated and one without because the presidents of these companies are aware of the fact that there are foreign fans. The fact that foreign fans get so much consideration from these companies is probably one of the reasons that foreign fans don’t mind having to go the extra mile to understand the content that is being presented to them because, in turn, extra effort is being put into things just for them.

Also, a lot of idols and actors become fluent in English and other languages over time, and some Kpop idols may only be half Korean and some aren’t Korean at all, so they spend time learning Korean. For example, the Kpop group Got7 is famous for having members from different countries like Korea, China, America, and Thailand. Kim Namjoon (Rap Monster) from famous Kpop group Bangtan Sonyeondan (BTS) taught himself English when he was in middle school and received a perfect score on the English language section of the TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication). Some Kpop Idols are even known for their ability to sing full covers of English songs  like “Stitches,” “Nobody Like us,” and “All of Me.”

Here are some other examples of Kpop Idols speaking not just English but multiple languages. English Videos

Lastly, there is an old saying that “Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.”  There is no easy way to describe the lack of a barrier to someone who refuses to listen to an explanation, but it’s similar to trying to explain the existence of the wind to a small child; a person can’t see the wind itself, they can see the effects of it and they can feel it, but they cannot see the physical embodiment of wind. Understanding another language is the same. A foreign fan may not understand any part of the language, but they can see the context clues in music videos, the passionate expressions on performers’ faces, and most of all they can really feel the emotion a performer is singing with. “I Really Didn’t Know” is known as a classic because of the sad love story it tells dating back to when China invaded South Korea, and lovers could only call each other with a whistle. The song tells the story from the perspective of a woman whose lover has either been called off to war or died in the war, yet she can still hear the sound of whistling because she never thought he would leave her (perhaps permanently in death), “[she] honestly, really didn’t know.” This song was covered by two members of the famous Kpop group EXO, and as they sang you could feel loneliness in their voices. The point was further driven in when the t.v camera panned around the audience to see most of them crying at the mix of touching lyrics and moving vocals.

 

September 27, 2016April 14, 2017 by worldkpopculture Categories: Blog post, Kpop, South Korea, UncategorizedTags: Baekhyun & Chen, BTS, classes, culture, English song covers, entertainment, EXO, Fluent, foreign, foreign idols, Korea, Kpop, language classes, Languages, lanuage barriers, multiple languages, Music, music doesn't have barriers, music expresses emotion, Really I didn't know, subtitles, subtitles and translations, TOEIC, translations, video links Leave a comment