South Korean Newspaper: remakes of Japanese dramas “threaten Korean pop culture”
A wave of movies and dramas based off Japanese works is a sign that Korean culture is in danger, warns the Chosun Ilbo:
Experts say the Korean entertainment industry’s dependence on Japanese pop culture will increase because the Japanese novel and manga markets are popular around the world. According to the Korean Publishing Research Institute, as of 2006 the size of the Korean novel market was no more than W203 billion, while that of Japanese market stood at W724.3 billion. The gap for the manga markets was even greater, with the Japanese market (W4 trillion) some 40 times bigger than the Korean market (W124.2 billion).
The scriptwriter Lee Ki-won, who wrote “White Tower,” says in Japan, unlike Korea, the world of highbrow literature interacts with the popular literary world, which contributes to creating very unique stories. Japanese novels have also started beating Korean novels here. The Kyobo Book Center says Japanese novels occupied 31 percent of the Korean novel market in 2006, leaving Korean novels behind with 23 percent.
The article goes on to claim:
Some experts fear that enthusiasm for Japanese pop culture is headed for a renewed domination of Korea.
The article ends with a nationalist appeal to entertainment companies, hoping that they will help cultivate young Korean writers, rather than leading Korea down a path that will lead to Japanese domination of Korea. Oh dear.
Update: They have followed up the previous article with a new editorial today with a similar message:
But the Japanese cultural onslaught exposes the vulnerability of our own culture. The Japanese know how to embrace middlebrow readers, in between high and popular literature. That genre is nonexistent in Korea. High literature trundles down its own path, without looking back at its readers. In contrast, popular literature can’t see its readers since they are often too embarrassed to admit they are reading it. And fans of literature fall through the gap between the two genres. Readers who cannot find solace in Korean literature have fueled a Renaissance of Japanese literature in Korea.
Good ol’ “middlebrow” Japanese literature…
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Yea I know. It sounds just like the, “downloading pirated movies funds the terrorists” crap we heard in the US a few years ago.
Where is the Korea Wave(韓流） Koreans are so proud of ?
Wow … How ridiculous. What gets me is that its not just the stupid ramblings of one individual. But there is a whole team of people, from the writer to the editor to the publisher perhaps even the owners… You let this go through…
That’s so stupid it almost does not deserve a response. Nice find James. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
I agree. This is as rediculous as that “Bastardization of Japanese food overseas” thing.
Just shows that they cant compete and theyre bitter. Aw poor babies…
Correct me if I’m wrong, but Shiroi Kyoto (Great White Tower) was a Japanese medical drama that originally premiered in 1978, and later another one in 2003. So the scripwriter Lee Ki-won of the Korean version of Shiroi Kyoto seems to be making some inferences on Korean consumers with their love-hate regard towards Japanese culture.
So let’s get this straight… exporting Korean culture everywhere is good.. but accepting any culture (and oh hell no not Japan’s!) is going to lead to domination of Korea?
Jesus mother of pete, if stupidity were ranked internationally, Korea would finally get a #1 ranking of something they so want.
I actually feel bad for Koreans how stupid their media makes them out to be.
“if stupidity were ranked internationally, Korea would finally get a #1 ranking of something they so want”
^and I feel bad for people like you, making such a statement about a whole country based on an article O_O