The Growing Interest on South Korea

I’ve heard my friends (here in America) say that Korea has been this small country that most people didn’t even know about until K-pop started to attract a lot of attention, particularly thanks to Psy’s Gangnam Style. Here’s what I have to say about this: Really? That’s all Korea has to offer, its growing music industry? I beg to differ.  

Have you heard of LG and Samsung (you've heard of the Galaxy S4, right?)? Whenever I pointed out to my friends that these companies are indeed Korean, they're surprised. Now I inform you of this not because I wholly disagree that K-pop has been helping the Korean market, but because I think it's kind of ignorant to give all the credits to the Korean Pop music industry. I mean think about it, when it comes to smartphones, most struggle to make a decision between the iPhone and the Galaxy S4. In addition, have you heard about KIA motors and Hyundai? You know what's coming next - yes, those vehicles are also made in Korea. Another thing I can't help but add is that South Korea has the fastest Internet in the whole world. See? There are other recognizable things about Korea.

On the other hand, I've heard others say that Korea has become more well known throughout the world thanks to its cell phones. But I still encounter a lot of people who had no idea that Samsung was a Korean company. Maybe this is the result of just speaking to my age group.  

To add to the whole Gangnam Style thing, as much as I applaud Psy for his success, I was a little  irritated about the whole Oppan Gangnam Style boom. There's a number of reasons for that, but I guess the main reason is that it really did seem like that's all Korea was known for. This Korean hip-hop artist in an outrageous music video. I get this impression from others that this is what they think of Korea as a whole, and no offense to Psy and his fans, but Gangnam Style isn't my style and I'm not too fond of having the country I love known for horse-dancing and staring at girls' butts.  

So my whole purpose behind this blog post is that, at least if you're someone remotely interested in Korea, don't think Korea is all K-pop. Don't get me wrong, I also listen to and love K-pop, but that's not what Korea is all about. Korea has been successful in their manufactures over the recent years and I think it should also be recognized for that, and not just for K-pop. I've heard that the Korean government has taken notice to the fact that K-pop is being loved on a global scale now so that's where they are going as far as international marketing goes. I see why they would do that, it's actually a smart plan, it leads to success. However, Korea has a beautiful culture and they've been developing so tremendously as a country and it seems to be a waste that more people don't realize this. I guess that'll be my goal for this blog, to make known the other beauties of Korea to the world. But don't trap me by my words, I may also occasionally blog post about K-pop.