Hello to our lovely readers. Welcome to our fifth issue — it’s hard to believe we’ve made it all the way here. It’s been one year since we launched, and since then we have grown so much — both as an organization and as ARMY. For this issue, we decided to focus on Korea — its history, its culture, and its economy. Korea is the place BTS comes from, and everything about it influences their music and their music videos. Since BTS has become so global, Korean culture has been put in the spotlight, gathering more interest and influencing the country itself, from tourism to industry. Korean culture is one of the longest existing continuous cultures in the world, and the traditional narrative has passed down through centuries in a variety of ways. Is what we see with BTS the natural progression of this narrative passing? Understanding BTS requires some understanding of the country that brought them together, and this was our main idea with this issue. With the events going on currently, having social media has become more crucial than ever before. It helps us stay connected to the people and things we care about but cannot see or visit at the moment. As the head of the SNS team, it is my job to help promote our magazine and to monitor the goings on with and around BTS. With them being in South Korea as well as global superstars, it takes a village to keep up with everything they do, so being connected to other ARMYs on social media helps us to not miss anything. Through social media, we are also able to learn about Korean culture —not just from BTS, but from others who live in South Korea. We are able to learn about all the differences they have over there and all the similarities we have together. As you’re reading through this issue, we hope that you find something in here you hadn’t heard before. We hope you learn something new. We hope this inspires discussion within your circles. But most of all, we hope you enjoy it! Thank you, and 보라해요!
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Welcome to Korea
1
Trending Culture:
Korea’s Time to Shine
5
History of Hallyu: The Korean Wave Redefined by BTS
9
The Youngest Recipient of the Order of Cultural Merit
13
BTS: Their Own Economic BOOM!
19
Korean 101: 있다/없다
25
BTS Recommendation
27
Game Corner
29
BTS Round-Up!
31
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A Quick History Lesson Korea—whose neighbouring countries are China, Japan, and Russia—is a peninsula located in the easternmost part of the Asian continent. For over four millennia Korea existed as a unified nation, free from external authority, rich in its ancient cultural heritage. However, this all changed in 1910 when Korea was formally annexed under the militant rule of Japan.
Courtesy: SoulofSeoul.net
The end of World War II in 1945 marked Korea’s liberation from 35 long years under the Japanese rule, paving the way for the diminishing Korean culture to grow once again. The end of the war also resulted in the division of Korea into two sovereign states based on contrasting political ideologies: the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea).
1 | Welcome to Korea
WELCOME TO
KOREA Written By LP & Mei |Edited By Ash Checked By Aury | Designed By Alex & Mheer
South Korea is known to tourists worldwide for its picturesque landscapes, centuries-old Buddhist temples nestled amongst the hills, and scattered sea-side villages. Economically, it is also considered to be one of the most industrialized countries in the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). Furthermore, South Korea is home to global K-pop superstars, BTS.
Introducing the ‘Korean Wave’ As a member of ARMY, for most of us, BTS and their music has likely been our first
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consolidated introduction to Korean culture and lifestyle. Through their art and speech, the septet have time and again woven in their thoughts and admiration for their motherland, opening new gates for fans who’ve never experienced a culture so strikingly different from their own. This insurge of interest in Korean entertainment and lifestyle is termed as ‘Hallyu’ or the ‘Korean Wave,’ i.e. the global expansion and consumption of pop culture reigning in South Korea. Gaining increasing popularity overseas, the Hallyu generally encompasses films and television series (K-dramas), K-pop, the Korean language, and cuisine. Each sector has to some extent been a boost for another, even extending to beauty and technology, as well as tourism. Although the earliest mention of Hallyu dates back to the late 1940s, it wasn’t until the mid-90s that the Korean Wave found a foothold. While the era of digitalization
starting in 2007 coined the term Hallyu 2.0, Korean culture has seen itself explode even further in more recent years. Dr. Hyejung Ju, associate professor at the Claflin University, in her academic paper “The Korean Wave and Korean Dramas” states, “For the past two decades, the Korean Wave has been recognized in many parts of the world. More recently, the outbound scope of K-drama and K-pop has further reached dispersed global audiences, most of whom are not Korean media consumers or fans.”
Language K-pop, originating from Korea, has a majority of its content in Korean. The entirety of the Korean peninsula shares the Korean language. More than that, over a million people in China, US, Japan, and Russian regions of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan speak Korean as their first language. As
Welcome to Korea| 2
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interest in K-pop grows internationally, fans become more motivated to learn about the Korean culture and language. Not surprisingly, millions of fans around the world are now learning Korean, both spoken and written. Korean lettering is called ‘Hangul’ with 10 vowels and 14 consonants. It originates from Hanja, a now obsolete form that is similar to Chinese lettering. Interestingly, the lettering was designed to imitate the morphology of the tongue, palate, and teeth when being spoken. In addition to this, Korean can be categorized in two: Banmal and Jondaemal. Banmal is the ‘informal’ way of talking, normally used to speak to friends and the like. Jondaemal constitutes the formal way of talking. It’s used to speak to seniors, teachers—anyone you’re not familiar with and/or are supposed to show respect to. A handful of times, BTS members have been heard talking in ‘satoori’. These are several different dialects (satoori). Each region has its own dialect, hence the difference in speaking. However, the most commonly used dialect in South Korea is the Seoul dialect.
Music Perhaps the most obvious, considering BTS is a K-pop band. While other K-pop acts have been reluctant in incorporating traditional Korean music, BTS have done just that without hesitating, ranging from “Idol” off of Love Yourself: Answer to “Daechwita” from SUGA’s D-2. The use of Korean style music, garbs, and setting in the tracks and music videos has introduced multiple aspects of Korea to the world. In fact, it may not be an understatement to say BTS is welcoming the masses to Korea, their country.
3 | Welcome to Korea
Skincare With or without BTS, everyone has surely heard of Korean skincare products, whether that be from YouTubers or articles about skincare routines. There are often many questions about flawless Korean skin, but that isn’t down to genetics—at least, not all of it! Korean skincare routines normally consist of five to ten steps and are repeated on a daily basis. Lotions, oils, cleansers, facemasks, sunscreens, face washes, and scrubs are only a few products that may be involved. These skincare routines are not limited to women, alone. Men also take a significant interest in the subject.
Manner Hands a.k.a. ‘Hover Hands’ It has been noted several times that the boys tend to have courteous placements of their hands, or lack thereof. While this may be out of respect for someone, it is also a part of Korean culture. The idea is to show respect to others’ boundaries by not directly touching them—instead, the hand is hovered over the intended area.
Shoes Off! It isn’t just a fashion choice when it comes to the amount of times BTS have been seen without shoes; this is another component of Korean etiquette. It’s not uncommon to find dirt-caked or muddy floors around the house, and even public places. Koreans simply avoid that by removing their shoes on pads and/or mats by the door, effectively minimising dirty floors!
BTS: Cultural Ambassadors In recognition of their efforts in promoting South Korean culture and language on a global
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dancers, rappers, producers, and songwriters. Now they are all young men who work and reside in Seoul, spending as much time traveling overseas as they do back home in South Korea. As international artists, they know that they represent their country and their culture wherever they go, not only through their music, but in everyday activities. In essence, they are not only the face of Hallyu and K-Pop, they are also representatives of South Korea. Courtesy: Allure.com
scale, 2018 saw BTS become the youngest recipients of the South Korean government’s Hwagwan Order of Cultural Merit. This award recognized their "outstanding meritorious services in the fields of culture and art in the interest of promoting the national culture and national development."
“We’re often overseas, and many people sing along with our songs in Korean and tell us proudly that they studied Korean. It makes me proud. We’ll continue to try to increase knowledge about our culture.” -Jin (BTS), 2018 Korean Popular Culture & Arts Awards
Jimin also was acknowledged for his “IDOL” fan dance performance, receiving an appreciation award from The Kim Baek Bong Korean Fan Dance Conservation Society who stated, “BTS reinterpreted Korea’s beautiful fan dance in its own words and by doing so, it played a huge role in raising the aesthetic value and the status of (the fan dance).”
Cultural References BTS’ music is filled with cultural references that reflect how proud the members are of their cultural heritage, both in content and context. They may have achieved fame and fortune beyond their wildest dreams, but they have not forgotten their roots, their upbringings, or the struggles they had to overcome along the way. They started out as seven young boys from different provinces in South Korea with dreams of becoming singers, Welcome to Korea| 4
Trending Culture
KoreaĘźs Time to Shine Written by Antonella | Edited by Ash Checked and Designed by Euni
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What is a trend? On the internet, it doesn’t come as a surprise when something gains popularity and goes viral every other day. Some trends blow up immediately but are short-lived, others take time to become well-known, but keep on growing instead of fading into the background. Anything can become a trend if it is innovative and liked enough: food videos, DIY tutorials, ASMR, or articles of clothing.
great way to catch everyone’s attention, regardless of their interest. Trends that became huge A huge, still thriving trend is Vine. We all know memes have taken over social media and daily life. Although Vine stopped operating in 2017, its videos are still popular on the internet. When Vine managers announced the social media’s temporary shut-down, as it would be running again as “Byte” later on, people turned Vine’s “death” into a meme itself.
However, trends are not always shallow. In fact, social media “threads” have been taking over; Twitter is full of them. Whether it is to educate people on a certain topic or simply to point out what you appreciate about something or someone, threads are a powerful trend.
Today, the people who were online while Vine was thriving for sure still remember the popularity the app had achieved. It may look like gaining popularity for being a meme is not that much to brag about, but at the end of the day, Vine is still a big name years later.
According to Twitter, “a thread is a series of connected tweets from one person. With a thread, you can provide additional context, an update, or an extended point by connecting multiple tweets together.” Twitter itself noticed that threads are more prone to reaching a bigger audience and becoming popular the more that tweet engagement and impression grow.
A few years ago, when you could count the number of Youtubers on the fingers of one hand, haul videos were extremely popular back in 2011, in which they showed clothes, accessories, makeup, and even groceries in some cases. Nowadays, this trend has died down a lot, but a few videos of this kind are still being created.
Aside from Twitter, there is another social media platform people often use—Instagram. Instagram is where people often promote a product, and its carousel posts are the go-to.
However, the biggest example of a huge and still thriving trend is the upswing of anime and manga, which inevitably sparks interest in Japanese and Japan’s culture.
“Carousel posts are a great way to share more pics, close-ups, and variations with your audience, allowing you to showcase your new product in all of its glory,” is “Later”’s opinion. Whether carousel posts are used by online shopping pages, artist’s blogs, or private accounts, it is a
It is no wonder that when people wholeheartedly enjoy something, they want to know everything they can get their hands on. From then on, people began studying the language, visiting Japan, and making friends with Japanese people to chat with. Trending Culture: Korea’s Time to Shine| 6
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Recently, however, something else has gained an exorbitant number of followers and admirers — the world of K-pop. The Hallyu Wave and BTSʼ Big Impact Idols, variety shows, and K-dramas are only one side, although huge, behind Wave”, the increasingly growing popularity of everything around Korea, has become a trend almost as big as the anime/manga universe. Of course, ARMY knows who the most influential Korean group is, don’t we? It’s well known that music has no age or any other limits, that it transcends language barriers and communicates through emotions, far beyond words, and any other kind of socially constructed limitation. wanting to learn more about Korean culture, from wanting to study the language to feel more connected to their favorite idols, or actors, when maybe they were not interested in learning a language before. BTS have made a path for ARMY to learn Korean in an easy, free and funny way: on March 24, “Learn Korean with BTS” was launched on Weverse. Every Monday a new episode comes out and we are able to learn vocabulary and grammar while we watch cute clips and have fun with our boys. Talking about viral trends, BTS members Jimin and Namjoon tried to make Dalgona Coffee on VLive on April 14. In the middle of the world’s quarantine, BTS found a way to spend some quality 7 | Trending Culture: Korea’s Time to Shine
time with us, while having fun and chatting and overall being themselves, which is the biggest gift for an ARMY. K-pop fans have started to learn Korean, have become interested in their culture, style, traditions, and whatnot. But that’s not all: the web is full of Korean recipes to try and make at home. Dishes we always hear our artists name and long for when they’re overseas and away from miss. Again, BTS rode the wave when Jimin and Jungkook hosted a VLive on June 21, in which they cooked Kimbap, with the special appearance of Taehyung. However, BTS does not only ride the moment of trends, but they also create their own or follow ARMY’s creative trends. For example, when Hoseok did a VLive in which he made bracelets, ARMY accidentally trended “HE’S MAKING BRACELETS” on Twitter, which led to “local” Twitter accounts commenting on how wholesome it was. Furthermore, the Korean newscast showed a clip, saying that after his live, “the ordering of beads through on-line shopping malls increased rapidly.” But that’s not all there is to it, in fact, ARMY is aware of Namjoon’s love for photographing the world. While the hashtag has been around for a while, more lately, tweets with the tag “#SkyForNamjoon” have increased a lot. ARMY posts pictures of sunsets, clouds, and clear skies to show Namjoon how precious his love for nature is to us. ARMY themselves create challenges and hashtags too. From our monthly “ARSD” (ARMY Selca Day), in which we post pictures of ourselves along with our bias
or the whole group, to videos in which ARMYs decorate their ARMY Bombs. Neither of these two are relatively new, but Namjoon and Hoseok only recently did a VLive in which they decorated a Version 3 ARMY Bomb and the new MOTS ARMY Bomb. We all cackled a lot when an ARMY jokingly commented that their decorations on the lightstick looked like what their 8-year-old child would do for arts and crafts. Namjoon and Hoseok laughed so hard, that it was impossible not to laugh with them. How genuine is this trend? We all know that among the people who genuinely try to learn about new cultures and languages, there are all kinds of people that, even if not necessarily ill-intended, can do more damage than good. Online debates sometimes create tension between new learners and native speakers. Of course, it isn’t intentional of learners to make mistakes but there have been some “threads” on Twitter of native Korean speakers and learners arguing about the language. And there are some people who take it to extremes, and not the good part of it. People using Korean honorifics while talking to Asian strangers, regardless of their actual native country.
“Koreaboos,” or non–South Korean people who are obsessed with South Korean culture, especially K-pop or K-dramas, aren’t cringe-making only to native Koreans, but also to embarrassment is strong for the ones who are genuinely interested. Like with all things, there are pros and cons. We are also well aware that this genuine interest from international fans is a way for Korea to make money. But in this capitalist society, there isn’t much choice. - Agust D, “Strange” ARMY will stay positive ARMY will keep making the best out of popular trends and creating our own to support BTS as we did with TikTok’s viral challenge and videos. Using a well-known challenge or trend while promoting BTS on social media has proven to be a good move. Meanwhile, we’ll keep learning about Korea’s culture and the Korean language while staying respectful towards things that aren’t part of our be open-minded, considerate, and careful. for us to be respected.” – Kim Namjoon Trending Culture: Korea’s Time to Shine| 8
Courtesy of: Hallyumi on Deviantart
HISTORY OF HALLYU: THE KOREAN WAVE REDEFINED BY BTS Written by Padma| Edited by Mheer | Checked by Vera | Designed by Kels
“K-pop” is a rather ambiguous term. A as “Korean popular music,” yet even this phrase raises questions – what is popular music, and what is Korean about this form decades, “K-pop” has often been referred to as a genre in Western music circles, one that has often been prescribed to any Korean artist, regardless of if they consider themselves “K-pop” or not. And despite the presence of the “K” in the word, the actual use of the term is not as Korean as one might expect. In this new era of globalization, more and more people wish to investigate the nuances of Hallyu, the Korean wave, and how it has manifested itself across the globe. K-pop has undoubtedly been a 9 | History of Hallyu: The Korean Wave Redefined by BTS
contributing factor to this wave. Caught in the middle of the discussion of K-pop, Hallyu, and globalization is none other than
Some articles have stated that K-pop has a comes with the assumption that K-pop However, a little archeological dive into music history will suggest that no genre point. Even if terms are coined and deals are made on recorded dates in history, the moments have slowly built throughout years and years of history. K-pop is one of those amalgamations of music – a mix of the J-pop idol system with the growing K-hip
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hop phenomenon paired with musical styles and dance forms from all over the globe. In a brilliant academic paper by John Lie, titled “What is the K in K-pop?”, Lie illustrates how cultural traditions and nuances developed the “Korean wave,” or “Hallyu,” as we know it today. Lie begins with analysis of Korean culture in the period preceding liberation from of Korean media began primarily postliberation. It was the post-liberation Korean society that grew welcoming of US had an immense impact on Korean youth. to Korea, as many countries in Asia began culture for their daily entertainment. In a combination of soft power, hard power, and control over global entertainment, America was able to distribute its media all over the world.
However, understanding the sheer impact that these new music styles had requires a deeper understanding of the system and East Asian music system relies heavily on provides a sound distinct from a “Western” twelve-tone system. In the process of adopting Western sounds, Korean music began to adopt a more twelve-tone based melodies that drifted away from the preestablished pentatonic scales used in that Korean music entirely transitioned to a new system – even today, Korean pop and idol music tends to contain musical intervals that suggest a foundation in a pentatonic scale system. However, this shift was dramatic for its time. It indicated that Korean music was able to evolve to satisfy new music trends, and Korean artists were willing to incorporate new ideas in their music. According to Lie, one of the most
With this “American wave” came the popularity of MTV. Michael Jackson’s music and performance struck a chord with viewers from around the world, including Korea. Korean music was gradually adopting these Western sounds, incorporating them and allowing Korean global identity.
that led to K-pop music as known today popular music group that was based on ideas of J-pop idol groups, but decided to pair this system with an added new layer of global identity – hip hop. Seo Taiji and the Boys were a hip hop fusion group of sorts, bringing Korean rap to a
History of Hallyu: The Korean Wave Redefined by BTS| 10
a new notion of performance, one that depended extensively on dancing. Dance, hip hop, and pop all came together in Seo Taiji and the Boys and appealed to a young Korean generation. Although some critics disapproved of this “new” hip-hop phenomenon, many Koreans saw Seo’s socially expressive form of Korean music. While the K-pop music scene continued to brew steadily in the regions of Seoul, the beginnings of Hallyu were much the television. Over time, TV became the primary tool from where Hallyu began. Korean soap operas, known today as K-dramas, spread throughout Chinesespeaking regions and Japan, and planted the seeds of Korea’s growing global K-dramas also featured Korean music that gradually drew attention from viewers across East Asia, leading to the prospects of music also breaking through in its own “Hallyu.” While K-dramas set the foundation for K-pop, K-pop took Hallyu to another level. Often referred to as “Hallyu 2.0,” K-pop managed to make its way across many East Asian and Middle Eastern countries due to intelligent marketing, production, and outreach. Much of this was fostered by the entertainment company SM Entertainment – SM managed Korean and non-Korean
Japan. Soon enough, SM had a system in place for the creation, management, and system would come to shape K-pop as we know it today.
which was SM Entertainment’s primary target. Many from this young generation were already looking outward to the US or Europe for Western pop and rock music – much like Korean youth were. However, Western identity and vulgarity often expressed through music created a cultural division between Asian youth and Western artists. Songs about drugs and sex were not publicly accepted as readily in the East, and the visuals of Western singers with tattoos and piercings challenged the norms expressed in many Asian cultures. However, Korean pop artists had a stereotype of being “clean” – they were able to navigate many cultures that were not comfortable with the promiscuity and liberation expressed
Courtesy of: Big Hit and BTS Twitter
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through Western music. According to Lie, proper artists – ones that young people could follow and idolize without the fear of regret.
industry, the Indian industry all distance themselves from music that is outside of their own systems. Hallyu, therefore, was in these areas. However, BTS’ ability to
a little – while the appeal of K-pop in parts of Asia and the Middle East may have been due to the artists’ relative distance from controversies, politics, and social issues, today’s youth demands something quite
of global interaction has made people more conscious of global events, ideas, social issues, and politics – now the youth is at the center of the conversation. Today’s youth does not require “clean” artists, rather it longs for “real” artists – artists who can instruct on ideas of life, positivity, social discussion, and self-love. Korea’s rich cultural exchanges that gave birth to Seo Taiji and the Boys also gave birth to BTS – a group that, like Seo and his band, used hip hop as a medium to speak to audiences. BTS discusses the very issues that need to be discussed in today’s society, which may distance them from the purpose attributed to K-pop, but it places Hallyu within a new context. Today, Hallyu might cultures, but rather connecting with
through the context of Korea proved to be
through their messages, but they did so in Korean with Korean cultural references. expected Hallyu audience to take on a new understanding of Korean culture and language.
Korean language is growing in popularity in the US and India, tourism to Korea is said to be growing due to BTS’ impact, and Korean music is even outcompeting American music – an idea that would have
depending on the sociocultural forces surrounding its time. BTS are the artists of the current time. With their relevant and purposeful music, they manage to both share a bit of Korean culture to millions of individuals around the globe and show a deep connection to people from many seems to tie the entire world together in celebration of music, art, and positivity.
BTS have managed to transition into
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courtesy : twitter.com/ethereal_jimin
Written by RAM | Edited by Aury | Checked by Esma | Designed by Dypra
THE YOUNGEST RECIPIENT OF THE ORDER OF CULTURAL MERIT
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Amid the accusation of becoming more westernized, BTS once again crammed an award into their already-filled bag on Oct. 24, 2018. This award was none other than the Hwagwan Order of Cultural Merit at the 2018 Korean Popular Culture & Arts Awards. Ranging in age from 21 to 25 years at that time, the septet became the youngest recipients of the honor in history— an honor they rightly deserved. The Order of Cultural Merit is an award for those who contribute in promoting South Korea’s cultural assets across the world and is awarded by the President himself; Hwagwan is the fifth grade of the award. This achievement was arguably the highest honor BTS could receive, as it is known that only the ultimate best are nominated for this award. Most of the people previously awarded have decades of experience, while BTS were only five years into their career at the time it was granted, which makes this achievement a lot more outstanding. Here are the reasons why Kim Namjoon, Kim Seokjin, Min Yoongi, Jung Hoseok, Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung, and Jeon Jungkook are very much deserving of this award.
TRADITIONAL TOUCH IN MODERN SONGS BTS is well known for their self-produced music. Though there are talented producers, composers, and lyricists who help them polish the final pieces, BTS has always taken a part on the majority of their songs. They break all the stereotypes about K-pop music, and it has been claimed by many — including the members — that BTS is its own genre. For BTS, it has been shown that it’s not necessary for them to follow the trends of mainstream, which is precisely why the rest of the world should be prepared for their groundbreaking creativity. Not limiting themselves only to pop songs, BTS has included traditional elements into their songs. A classic example of this is “IDOL,” the lead song from their album Love Yourself: Answer. This song shook the Korean music industry with the traditional elements BTS wove into the production including the lyrics and the music video, even the choreography. On May 22, 2020, SUGA released “Daechwita,” the lead single of his second mixtape under his other moniker, Agust D.
The song has received so much love for illustrating the constant battle that took place between his revolutionary, humble side and the cruel, dangerous part of his personality. However, there is also a traditional and historical touch to both the song and the MV. Daechwita itself is a South Korean formal military music that was generally performed while marching, or else in the presence of a royal procession. This title could explain not only the historical theme of the MV and the traditional instrumental we hear throughout the song, but it could also be interpreted as the battle SUGA has with different sides of himself.
MELON MUSIC AWARDS 2018 Widely regarded as the best stage of 2018, BTS once again emphasized their Korean identity (despite criticism of becoming too Westernized) by proudly presenting three traditional dances: Samgo-Mu (Drum dance), Buchaechum (Fan dance), and Talchum (Mask dance) as the “Intro” to “IDOL” for their Melon Music Awards 2018 performance.
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The opening opening stage stage is is J-hope’s J-hope’s The performance. Surrounding Surrounding J-hope J-hope performance. are fourteen fourteen female female dancers dancers are performing the the Samgo-Mu, Samgo-Mu, aa performing traditional Korean Korean drum drum dance. dance. traditional Korean drums drums play play an an important important Korean part in in traditional traditional Korean Korean music, music, part ranging from from folk folk music music to to royal royal ranging court music. music. In In Samgo-Mu, Samgo-Mu, each each court dancer is is centered centered with with three three dancer drums surrounding surrounding them. them. Using Using drums various drumming drumming techniques, techniques, the the various performance is is completed completed with with performance dancer movements movements which which start start dancer slowly before before progressively progressively growing growing slowly faster with with more more complex complex and and faster dynamic moves moves as as itit reaches reaches the the dynamic climax. climax. Despite this this being being aa traditional traditional Despite dance, J-hope J-hope breaks breaks from from dance, tradition, choosing choosing to to dance dance with with tradition, his whole whole body body rather rather than than limiting limiting his his movements movements to to the the upper upper his regions of of his his body body only. only. The The dance dance regions ends with with J-hope J-hope grabbing grabbing aa fan fan ends and flicking flicking itit towards towards Jimin Jimin on on the the and stage’s left left wing, wing, where where he he is is stage’s positioned with with his his dance dance crew. crew. positioned The Buchaechum Buchaechum dance, dance, which which The Jimin presented presented next, next, is is aa court court Jimin dance with with precise precise and and elegant elegant dance movements, performed performed mainly mainly by by movements, women dancers. dancers. This This performance performance women has become become iconic iconic as as once once again again has Jimin broke broke gender gender rules rules and and Jimin performed the the dance dance with with male male performed dancers instead. instead. Buchaechum Buchaechum was was dancers the right right choice choice for for him him to to perform perform the as itit highlighted highlighted Jimin’s Jimin’s delicate delicate as and powerful powerful grace grace as as aa and contemporary dancer. dancer. contemporary 15 | The Youngest Recipient of The Order of Cultural Merit
In honor honor of of Jimin’s Jimin’s legendary legendary Buchaechum Buchaechum In performance, he he was was awarded awarded aa plaque plaque of of appreciation appreciation performance, by The The Kim Kim Baek Baek Bong Bong Korean Korean Fan Fan Dance Dance Conservative Conservative by Society in in February February 2019. 2019. The The Society Society praised praised Jimin Jimin for for Society making “a “a great great contribution contribution in in raising raising the the status status and and making aesthetic value value of of the the Korean Korean fan fan dance dance globally.” globally.” aesthetic The final final dance dance in in the the “Intro” “Intro” to to BTS’ BTS’ iconic iconic “IDOL” “IDOL” The performance was was the the Talchum, Talchum, or or the the mask mask dance, dance, performance performed by by Jungkook. Jungkook. This This dance dance is is associated associated with with performed ordinary people people as as shown shown by by this this description description from from ordinary Korea.net: Korea.net:
“Across the country, the Talch performed to criticize contem conte and create humorous satire t falsehood & hypocrisies of the Not stopping stopping there, there, BTS BTS also also Not invited traditional traditional instrument instrument invited players to to the the stage stage at at the the end end of of players their “Intro” “Intro” performance performance for for their “IDOL.” Except Except for for the the last last “IDOL.” chorus, the the song song was was rearranged rearranged chorus, using traditional Korean using traditional Korean instruments while BTS instruments while BTS performed wearing wearing modernized modernized performed hanbok. hanbok.
“EIGHT PROVINCES PROVINCES WITH WITH “EIGHT RIVERS AND AND RIVERS MOUNTAINS” MOUNTAINS” Emphasizing their their Korean Korean Emphasizing identity is is not not unique unique to to their their identity recent concepts. concepts. Long Long before before recent they debuted, debuted, BTS BTS released released aa they song called called “Paldogangsan” “Paldogangsan” in in song August of of 2011. 2011. August
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Originally sung sung by by the the rap rap Originally line (J-hope, (J-hope, SUGA, SUGA, and and line RM) the the song song was was then then RM) re-recorded with with the the seven seven re-recorded members as as aa track track for for their their members O!RUL8,2? Album. O!RUL8,2? Album. “Paldogangsan” itself itself has has aa “Paldogangsan” meaning of of “The “The Eight Eight meaning Provinces with with Rivers Rivers and and Provinces Mountains,” referring referring to to the the Mountains,” eight provinces provinces eight
hum is commonly mporary society hat depicted the upper classes.”
of South South Korea. Korea. The The lyrics lyrics that that of were written written with with three three were Korean dialects dialects made made this this Korean song widely widely known known as as the the song “Satoori Rap,” Rap,” with with Satoori Satoori “Satoori meaning aa Korean Korean dialect. dialect. meaning SUGA, who who came came from from Daegu, Daegu, SUGA, raps using Gyeongsang raps using Gyeongsang Dialect; J-hope, J-hope, coming coming from from Dialect; Gwangju, raps raps with with Jeolla Jeolla Gwangju, dialect; and and RM RM uses uses the the dialect; standardized Seoul Seoul dialect dialect as as standardized he came came from from Ilsan. Ilsan. On On the the he latest version version of of the the song song with with latest the seven seven members, members, Jimin, Jimin, the Jungkook, and and VV join join SUGA SUGA as as Jungkook, the Gyeongsang Gyeongsang team, team, while while the Jin and and RM RM join join J-hope J-hope in in the the Jin Jeolla team. team. Jeolla
BTS brags brags about about the the BTS uniqueness of of their their land land while while uniqueness “dissing” each each other other using using “dissing” their dialects. dialects. At At the the end end of of their the song, song, RM RM not not only only brags brags the about Seoul, Seoul, but but also also states states about that despite all the that despite all the differences, as as aa collective collective differences, they’re all all still still from from the the same same they’re Korea. But But what what makes makes the the Korea. song special special is is not not only only that that song BTS uses uses their their dialects, dialects, but but BTS because the the song song itself itself is is because mostly about about dialects dialects and and the the mostly societal context context thereof. thereof. Why Why societal is itit aa big big deal? deal? First First of of all, all, is Gyeongsang and and Jeolla Jeolla Gyeongsang traditionally don’t don’t get get along along traditionally due to to historical, historical, political, political, due
courtesy::Daecwhita DaecwhitaAgust AgustDDMusic MusicVideo Video courtesy The Youngest Recipient of The Order of Cultural Merit| 16
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and character divisions; though this mindset has gradually decreased over generations, it is still very much present. Secondly, people from Korea’s provinces who move to Seoul to get a job have to get rid of their dialect and use the standard in order to succeed. This Standard Dialect, mostly known as Seoul Dialect, is a way to speak and pronounce words that people will use on TV and that is taught in school. People who don’t use Standard Dialect are often presented as being inferior to people who use Standard Dialect.
courtesy : IDOL BTS Music Video courtesy : IDOL BTS Music Video
The “eight” meaning of “Paldogangsan” could also refer to the eight provinces of the Joseon Era in Korea, when both North and South Korea were still united. Although it’s still debatable, this might be possible as the song itself is about stopping the fight caused by differences. Not only embracing their dialects and their regions through this song, but BTS have encouraged peace and unification in the nation of Korea. Because of this, “Paldogangsan” has received so much love from people of various
17 | The Youngest Recipient of The Order of Cultural Merit
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ages and backgrounds. On top of all of this, BTS has also been very thoughtful for promoting their culture in various ways on the global stage. One of those was the Grammys 2019 when the septet walked down the red carpet in tuxedos made by two of Korea’s most hailed designers: JayBaek Couture and Kim Seo Ryong. Through their other content such as “Run! BTS” and “Summer Package,” BTS also share various places and traditions
of Korea with their Korean and International ARMYs alike. Earlier this year, Big Hit also released the “Learn Korean With BTS” series on Weverse. Big Hit, along with Professor Heo Yong of Hankuk University and fellow researchers at the Korea Language Contents Institute, developed the curriculum. One major highlight of this series is that it can be accessed for free by anyone who has a Weverse account. In the third quarter of 2020, Big Hit Edu, an educational corporation under
Big Hit Entertainment, along with the Korea Foundation (KF) and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, will release the “Learn Korean with BTS” book package. Later, this book will be a part of the Korean language education program. BTS has clearly taken an enormous role in spreading Korean culture on a global scale. By being true to their identity as Korean, BTS has made the world gravitate towards them, bringing their history and culture into the worldwide spotlight.
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BTS:
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Their Own Economic
BOOM! BOOM!
When 방탄소년단(Bangtan Sonyeondan aka BTS), an all-male seven-member K-pop idol group made their debut appearance on M Countdown in 2013, they had no way of knowing that their impromptu performance would one day see them performing in sold-out stadiums across the world. As 21st century global superstars they would innovate - if not revolutionize - the music industry both nationally and internationally. In hindsight, perhaps this was CEO Bang Si-Hyuk’s intention from the onset. After establishing Big Hit Entertainment in 2005, Bang SiHyuk adopted a performance-based business model to support his longterm vision for the company. A model with three core ingredients; the artists, the fans, and the music a more creative and innovative
19 | BTS: Their Own Economic BOOM!
custom products and services while ensuring the integrity of their music remained uncompromised. Crisis and Recovery However, BTS’ journey to becoming an ‘economic boom’ started long Almost two decades prior, South Korea experienced a monumental shake-up in its economic wellsovereign nation, as did most Asian countries. When the 1997-1998 economy fell into total disarray. Companies crashed, unemployment rose, and the nation’s morale was at an all-time low. Fortunately, within two years, South Korea was in full recovery mode. Understandably, rebuilding its while looking for new ways to
Written by: Shelley | Edited by : Ash | Checked by: Aury | Design by: Connie
sustain the country’s much-needed growth became its primary concern. According to Business and Brand Strategist, Martin Roll, it was during this era that the Korean wave or Hallyu “became one of the biggest cultural phenomena across Asia.” South Korea’s Hallyu smorgasbord of movies, dramas, and pop music had become the nation’s most sought after cultural exports.
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the US. More senior artists claimed in the 1950s-1970s and for a brief time Rain, during the mid-2000s. However, Psy’s 2012 success with “Gangnam Style” was particularly notable as it opened up the global market to Korean pop artists, demonstrating that uniqueness, innovation, and creativity were key ingredients to success.
In 2014, author John Walsh described Hallyu as “a deliberately fostered manifestation of economic development.” A similar sentiment was echoed by Christine Ro (2020) of BBC.com who wrote: “the wave of South Korean pop culture around the world hasn’t happened by accident—it was a deliberate
Breaking Boundaries On the international stage, we acknowledge that BTS was not the achieve success, especially within
A few years later, BTS achieved their “I Need U.” From that awardwinning moment in 2015, BTS continued to amass an astounding
Photo Courtesy: BTS Twitter
Bang Si-hyuk, Founder and CEO of Big Hit Entertainment transitioned out of JYP Entertainment in 2005, the South Korean government was already looking for ways to diversify. As a way forward, K-pop music was posited as an economically sound investment.
Even now in 2020, they are the Billboard No. 1 albums since the iTunes history to have four songs reach the #1 spot in 100 countries: “My Time,” “Moon,” “Black Swan,” and “Your Eyes Tell.”
BTS: Their Own Economic BOOM! | 20
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Notoriety and achievements of this level come with their rewards. Since 2018, BTS has maintained its reigning title as the artist with the highest number of domestic physical album sales, ranking #1 on the Gaon Album Chart. Also impressive are the massive economic gains attributed to BTS’ concerts (national/ international) and sponsorship deals. As such, it is not surprising that BTS and their agency, Big Hit Entertainment are now the highestearning K-pop entities in the world.
Profits versus Purpose
Bang Si-Hyuk expressed this same sentiment in the recent Big
the artists’ realities. In particular, he noted that only focusing on activities that directly involve the artists compromises the quality of their health, work, and the content they produce stating that “such an environment is not sustainable for artists or the company.”
“We had to find a way to express our core value epitomized by our mission, necessary now more than ever, of ‘Music and Artist for Healing’.” spending time on the road with BTS during their world tour in 2019, he gained some timely insights into
21 | BTS: Their Own Economic BOOM!
With the advent of COVID-19, the Korean music industry was bound to be impacted in 2020, including Big Hit Entertainment and BTS. However, by maximizing the value of its IP (Intellectual Property) assets, Big Hit Entertainment has been
Photo Courtesy: bighitcorp.com Big Hit Corporate Briefing with the Community YouTube Video
Community (2H 2020).
is a given. After all, no-one with a modicum of business sense would be happy to operate at a loss. However, a 2013 article titled: “Why Making Money Is Not Enough,” emphasized that “companies need a purpose that transcends making money; they need sustainability strategies that recognize that you can make money by doing good things rather than the other way around.”
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Photo Courtesy: FILA Twitter mmall.lottechilsung.co.kr Hyundai Worldwide Twitter
Hard-Hitting Soft Power business fashioned from BTS’ existing Big Hit’s most recent Corporate (and seemingly endless) supply of content. As more new content is dollar signs, and deliverables— all indicative of the magnitude of ways to demonstrate their love BTS’ midas touch. Additionally, and support, often in the form of a BTS continues to impact charts purchase. and records across the globe and collaborations, whether they are musical or marketing, producing ‘winwin’ results for all involved. While BTS can stand on its own merits, we should also remember that BTS is part of a much larger phenomenon -- that being K-pop. A case study published by Harvard’s that the unprecedented success of Big Hit Entertainment and BTS has taken the K-pop industry by storm, much to Dal Yong Jin and Tae-Jin Yoon (2017) remind us that K-pop comes under the umbrella of Hallyu and “due to the increasing role of the Korean Wave for the national economy and culture,” cultural policy has changed K-pop, and BTS are prime examples of South Korea’s ‘soft power’ takeover. BTS, along with actively showcasing the products that they sponsor such as Fila, Hyundai, and Chilsung Cider,
BTS: Their Own Economic BOOM! | 22
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According to Associate Professor Wantanee Suntikul, BTS epitomizes “the power of grassroots ‘peopleto-people’ diplomacy in spreading soft power. People-to-people diplomacy happens when positive feelings about a nation or culture are spread through shared experiences between individuals across cultural divides.” Because of this, products like cosmetics and laundry detergent; clothing and shoe lines; accessories and snack foods are highly sought after by BTS’ fans worldwide.
integral factor of their business model and practice. Even with high-quality content, not always be the case), and a well-developed platform to handle the hype is meaningless.
Which is why we need to ask this question: how are fans coping with all of this content? For the millions of fans whose lives have been turned upside-down and inside-out this year, we can only imagine the ambivalence they must experience when new BTS content is released. Yet, despite What About the End the prices (which User—the Fan? can sometimes seem With all of BTS’ success, ridiculously extravagant a seemingly neverin proportion to the ending supply of actual items), ongoing shipping delays, and the content, and the fans’ economic impacts of a BTS merchandise—what worldwide pandemic, consumerism is alive does all of this mean and well it would seem. for the fan experience? After all, Bang Si-Hyuk
23 | BTS: Their Own Economic BOOM!
Ending Ment Big Hit Entertainment has worked exceedingly hard over the past three years to develop its positioning as a formidable business entity, without compromising the integrity of its artists. Understanding the philosophy that guides Big Hit Entertainment’s purpose is key to its success. Similarly, while IP is Big Hit’s ‘golden goose,’ IP is not just about Intellectual Property.
For Big Hit, it is also about Investing in its People, which in this case are Big Hit’s artists, fans, and employees. With a ‘content powerhouse’ like Big Hit Entertainment backing them, it is no surprise that BTS have now become their own economic BOOM!
We are back again, and I am incredibly excited about the topic for this edition of Korean 101! In this article, we will be discussing the two verbs 있어 and 없어, both of which are my personal favorites in the Korean language. Once you unlock these two verbs in your repertoire, your ability to speak in sentences will drastically improve!
To Have? Or Not to Have? Before we discuss how to use the words 있다 and 없다 we must first discuss what they both mean. 있다 is a funny little word because by direct translation it means “to have” but it can also mean “to be located” or “to exist in a place.” For the first definition, in Korean you can say “저는 사과를 있어요” or “I have an apple.” Notice the structure of the sentence. 있다 is located at the end of the sentence, hence, it must be a verb. You can also use the same word to ask a question, “아미는 사과를 있어요?” “ARMY, do you have an apple?” To ask a question in Korean all you need to do is raise the inflection of your tone at the end of a sentence; many questions in Korean do not require the use of like this: “책을 있어요?” “Do you have a book?” “네, 책을 있어요” “Yes, I have a book.” 25 | Korean 101: 있다/없다
enables you to use 있다 similar to the words “be” or “are” in certain circumstances. For example, if someone asks you where something is, you can respond using the 있다 word. “탄이 어디에 있어요?” “Where is Tannie?” “탄이 여기 있어요.” “Tannie is over here.” Now, let’s say you wanted to say you didn’t have something, what would you use? You can use the antonym of 있다 which is 없다. Notice the “ㅅ” after the “ㅂ” in 없다? You pronounce the ㅅ as a soft “d/t” (for my linguistics fans out there, this is known as a glottal stop) if the following syllable begins with a consonant, or in this case, while 없다 is in its unconjugated is likely due to convenience, as it is much easier to pronounce the following consonant if the tongue is already in position to pronounce it. We have a similar thing in English when we pronounce “ten-pin bowling.” Many people pronounce the “n” as an “m” - “tem-pin bowling,” and this is because it is easier for the mouth to transition from “m” to “p” than it is “n” to “p.” Cool, huh?
Using 있다, 없다, and the words I have provided in the box below, try to make your own question-and-answer conversation! (I have added the location particle 에 to the location words, which is something we will discuss in a later lesson).
Let’s Practice! Using 없다 is much the same as using 있다, in which you can — like in English — use the verb to mean you do not have something. You can also use 없다 in a question too, adjusting the inflection of your voice just as you did for 있다. “책을 있어요?” “Do you have a book?” “아니요, 책을 없어요” “No, I do not have a book.”
So, how did it go? Continue practicing your sentences and questions, write out new ones, and say them out loud to practice your sentences with me by using the hashtag #BVKorean! And don’t forget to stay in tune with Borasaek Vision Magazine for our next edition of Korean 101!
Korean 101: 있다/없다 | 26
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27 | BTS Recommendation
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31 | BTS Round Up!
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BTS Round Up!| 32
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