Korea booklet by Patrick Lui

Field Trip to Korea 2014

7-12 July 2014

â&#x20AC;Š

Field trip to Korea 7-12 JULY

2014

Class: _____ Group: _____

Name:_________________________ (

Materials prepared by Chai, Lee, Lui, Lo, Tsang & Yip

)

Field Trip to Korea 2014

7-12 July 2014

Content

Itinerary

Map of Seoul

Map of Jeju Island

Geology

Hallasan

Seongsan Ilchulbong Tuff Cone

Cheonjiyeon Falls

Jungmun Daepo Coast

Industry

Kia Hwasung Plant

Samsung Hegemony

Samsung - Economic globalisation

City

Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project

Plastic surgery in South Korea

Income inequality in Seoul

Korean Pop Culture

Tourism

South Korea Tourism Development and Marketing Strategy

Hotel Rating System in South Korea

Appendix

Group List

Room arrangement (4 in 1)

Room arrangement (2 in 1)

Coach arrangement

Things to note

Publication of magazine

Travel notes

Field Trip to Korea 2014

7-12 July 2014

ITINERARY 行程表! 集合：7月6日（日）! 22:10集合 (香港國際機場一號客運大樓J行段)!

第一天：7月7日（一）! 香港國際機場一00:40起飛一乘坐韓亞航空OZ746一05:10抵達一首爾仁川機場香港一月尾島乘坐海鷗船一[10:00] KIA汽車工廠參訪活動(參觀流程：公司的視頻一工廠介紹一參觀展覽區一參觀生產線)一午餐一首爾金浦國際機場一15:40起飛一乘坐韓亞航空 OZ8943一16:45抵達一濟州國際機場一神奇之路一晚餐一渡假村! 住宿：濟州韓華渡假村－四人一房

第二天：7月8日（二）! 早餐一漢拏山國立公園(世界自然遺產) 一登山考察活動一自備午餐於山上食用一濟洲民俗村博物館一晚餐一渡假村! 住宿：濟州韓華渡假村－四人一房! ! 第三天：7月9日（三）! 早餐一支薩蓋岩石(考察柱狀節理帶地形)一將軍石一天地淵瀑布一仙臨橋一五福泉一午餐一城山日出峰(世界自然遺產)一龍頭岩一Mazeland公園一晚餐一渡假村! 住宿：濟州韓華渡假村－四人一房! ! 第四天：7月10日（四）! 早餐一濟州國際機場一10:10起飛一乘坐韓亞航空OZ8962一11:15抵達一首爾金浦國際機場一自費午餐一三星d’light IT體驗館考察一[16:30] 水原KBS電視台參訪活動(分兩組作導覽)一晚餐一渡假村! 住宿：楊平韓華渡假村－四人一房! ! 第五天：7月11日（五）! 早餐一[09:00] Gangchon Rail Park (包乘坐鐵路雙騎Rail Bike飽覽沿途山水自然景色)一自費午餐一[15:30] 當地首爾大學參訪活動一梨花女子大學購物區一韓國地道社區觀察環保生活一明洞購物區一自費晚餐一酒店! 住宿：New Rasung Hotel－二人一房! 第六天：7月12日（六）! 早餐一[10:00] 清溪川文化館一清溪川河畔一分組討論韓國可持續發展議題一午餐一[15:00] Korea Gas 韓國燃料公司–學習天然氣能源一首爾仁川機場一19:50起飛一乘坐韓亞航空OZ745一22:40 抵達一香港國際機場離境大堂解散

Itinerary & maps

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Map of Seoul

The City of Seoul and the surrounding areas

Itinerary & maps

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Map of Jeju Island

! Jeju Island

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GEOLOGY

Questions:

Tectonics of Jeju

The eastern margin of the Asian continent is characterised by the occurrence of extensive magmatism. Most Quaternary volcanoes in this region are built along the convergent plate margins where Pacific and Philippine Plate are being subducted beneath the Eurasian Plate. These volcanic arcs from 100-200 km above the dipping seismic zone located near the surface of the foundering oceanic lithosphere.

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1. Draw an annotated diagram to show the formation of Jeju Island in relation to plate movement. 2. What is the highest mountain on Jeju Island? What is its height? Do you know how this mountain is formed?

From Pleistocene to Holocene period, a total of 5 stages of volcanic activities are identified:

Geology of Jeju

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Stage 1: Basalt formation (1.2 million years ago)

Basalt cannot currently be seen on the ground. The oldest basalt rocks are known to be basalt one, embedded in the “Dragonhead” tuﬀ and are approximately 1.2 million years old. The basalt rocks, acting as the base of Jeju Island, are presumed to have taken their current shape after eﬀusing at the structure which connects Seoguipo and Mosulpo.

! ! ! ! ! Stage 2: Seogulpo Sedimentary Period (1.2 million to 0.7 million years ago)

An oceanic sedimentary layer covering basalt is exposed to cliﬀs across the Chunjiyeon coastal lines, stretching 1 km wide and 35 m deep. The layer reflects fluctuated glacial water level changes at that time to the sedimentary layer and displays the outcome of continual oceanic erosion.

! ! ! ! ! Stage 3: Lava ground formation period (0.7 million - 0.3 million years ago)

Basalt covers the low coastal areas formed between 0.63 million years to 0.31 million years ago.

! ! ! ! ! Stage 4: Hallasan Geological Formation Period (0.3 million - 0.1 million years ago)

Lava at this time period forms Hallasan areas and the plateaux of mid-high mountain highlands.

! ! ! Geology of Jeju

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Stage 5: Parasite Volcano Eruption Period (100, 000 - 25,000 years ago)

The rock is mainly situated in the northwestern top of Hallasan. The lava is formed by the Hallasan volcanic eruption and sporadic eruptions of parasite volcanoes (cinder cone) at the piedmont districts.

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Volcanic activities of Jeju Volcano began at the end of Tertiary Period at a hot spot on the sea bottom. The island was built up to the sea level as a result of volcanic activities that began approximately 1.2 million years ago. In the center of the island, Hallasan Mountain rises 1,950 meters above sea level. Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes comprises three sites that together make up 18,846 ha, 10.3% of the surface area of Jeju Island, the southernmost territory of the Republic of Korea. It includes: Geomunoreum, regarded as the finest lave tube system of caves anywhere, with its multi-coloured carbonate roofs and floors, and dark-coloured lava walls; the fortress-like Seongsan Ilchulbong tuďŹ&#x20AC; cone, rising out of the ocean, a dramatic landscape; and Hallasan Mountain, the highest in Korea, with its waterfalls, multi-shaped rock formations, and lake-filled crater. The property, of outstanding aesthetic beauty, also bears testimony to the history of our planet; to its features and processes.

Geology of Jeju

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Hallasan

Hallasan Mountain is an aspite-type shield volcano, displaying diverse volcanic characteristics such as crater lakes, columnar joints, trachyte dome and lava plains. Throughout the region, numerous parasitic cones can be found that have contributed to the developmental history of a typical volcanic landscape. The pristine state of Hallasan Mountain, as a shield volcano, is preserved in Hallasan Natural Reserve.

Where weathering and erosion have contributed to the development of the landscape, they have produced additional landscape features or have provided opportunities to view the interior of the landscape.

Currently the area, covering approximately 15,338.6 ha, is designated as a National Park (since 1970), the center of which is designated as a Natural Monument (Natural Monument No. 182 since 1966) with an area of 9,093 ha. As such, a large part of the entire area is under careful management so as to prevent damage from human activities.

Geology of Jeju

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Moreover, it remains relatively free from serious natural disasters such as earthquakes. At the summit of Hallasan Mountain, a prominent trachyte dome was formed by intrusion and emplacement 25,000-30,000 years ago.

In addition, a crater, surrounded by trachytic basalt and the trachyte dome, can also be found at the summit. This crater (1.6 ha), which is 108 m deep and about 550 m in diameter, holds a lake. Around the periphery of the crater, the western half is composed of trachyte, while the eastern half is made up of trachytic basalt, which was formed by silent Hawaiian-type eruptions.

Geography students, can you explain the formation of the crater lake on Hallasan based on the diagrams on the left?

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Seongsan Ilchulbong Tuff Cone

Seongsan Ilchulbong Tuﬀ Cone is located in Seongsan-ri, Seongsan-eup, Namjeju-gun, Jeju-do. The summit of the Ilchulbong crater lies at an altitude of 179 m; that of the lowest point in the crater is 89 m. The major axis of the bowl-shaped crater measures 570 m in diameter; assuming a total area of approximately 2.6 ha.

In the late Pleistocene Epoch (approximately 40,000 - 120,000 years ago), a Surtseyan-type underwater eruption from a shallow seabed resulted in a tuff cone. With the exception of the northwestern portion, three sides of the crater have been eroded by wave action, creating exposed cliffs which reveal the structure of the tuff cone in cross section.

Geology of Jeju

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On the northeastern side, the cliﬀ has been eroded to almost the summit of the crater. Since volcanic activities halted or contemporaneously, the incessant erosion of the waves continued to eat away the outer rim of the crater. As a result, today, the Ilchulbong is not a perfect tuﬀ cone.

Nevertheless, where the slopes meet with the sea, the rare internal stratifications, unique to Surtseyan-type phreatomagmatic volcanic activities, can be clearly seen. On the crater's northwestern slope, which remains unaffected by wave cut erosion, the eruption-induced tuff slopes remain intact, serving as a precious archive for geological studies regarding ancient volcanic activities. The rocks that makes up the tuff cone is a composite mix of breccia, massive lapilli tuff, stratified lapilli tuff, bedded tuff, muddy tuffite and tuffite, creating nine layers of sedimentary facies. Depending on the slope gradient from the crater and its proximity, there are four facies associations - steep rim beds, flank deposits, marginal beds and volcaniclastic aprons.

Through repeated processes of eruption and deposition, the slopes of the crater have developed into a virtual museum of highly valuable structures, resulting from phreatomagmatic eruptions; it displays base surge bedding, internal cross laminations, graded bedding, pyroclastic flow lamination, slumping, ripple mark, bedding sag, ballistic blocks, channel system and local unconformities. It is a text-book resource for the study of volcanoclastic sedimentology.

! ! Geology of Jeju

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! Cheonjiyeon Falls !

A quiet trail leads the way to Cheonjiyeon Falls. The path through the thick forest and stepping stones across the stream make this a popular date route for young lovers and newlyweds. The waterfall formed in a valley of hardened lava and measures 22 meters high and 20 m deep. It is called Cheonjiyeon as it is a pond made by the contact of the sky and land. Cheonjiyeon became a scenic spot a long time ago, with its chiseled rock cliďŹ&#x20AC;s and rare subtropical trees.

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Geology of Jeju

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Jungmun Daepo Coast

Columnar Joints at Jeju Jungmun Daepo Coast or Jusangjeollidae are rocky cliﬀs that run for about 2km along the coast line from Jungmun Dong to Daepo Dong in Seogwipo. They were formed by the cooling and solidification of basalt flows from the Nokhajiak volcano from 14,000 to 25,000 years ago.

Jusangjeollidae is a pillar-shaped joint formed by basaltic lava. As high-temperature basaltic lava cools, it shrinks in volume often producing a columnar joint. When viewed from the top, four to six sided polygonal columns of basaltic rocks can be observed. Basaltic columns of 25m in height look like a regular stack or pillars, which can be called the nature's masterpieces.

The dark and reddish, hexagonal columnar joints are spread out like background screens layer upon layer. The invigorating breaking waves, not only clears a troubled mind, but with God’s touch also crafted the lava pillars. The greatness and miraculous work of nature spontaneously come to the senses. It is Natural Monument No. 443 designated on 27 Dec. 2004.

The white foam rushing through breaking waves might carry a sad tale from a stonemason, standing in front of a majestic creation of lava. Sometimes, rough waves rush up as high as 20 meters or more creating a spectacular scene. This theme tour destination is a very popular spot for an increasing number of visitors. They appreciate the scenic masterpiece while enjoying the refreshing sea breezes. Although the geological name is Jusangjeolli columnar joints, the area’s administrative name is Jungmun-dong, Seogwipo city. It is also called “Jisatgae Rocks” in keeping with its old name.

THIS SECTION IS PREPARED BY MR. P. LUI.

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INDUSTRY  KIA

Kia Motors Corporation (기아자동차), headquartered in Seoul, is South Korea’s second largest automobile manufacturer, following the Hyundai Motor Company, with sales of over 2.7 million vehicles in 2012 and almost 2.75 million vehicles in 2013. As of June 2012, the company is 32.8% owned by the Hyundai Motor Company.

According to Kia Motors, the name "Kia" derives from the Sino-Korean words ki ("to come out") and a (which stands for Asia), it is roughly translated as "arise or come up out of Asia" or "rising out of Asia".

South Korea's oldest car company, Kia was founded on June 9, 1944 as a manufacturer of steel tubing and bicycle parts by hand. In 1951 Kia began building complete bicycles. In 1952, Kia changed its name from Kyungsung Precision Industry, and later built motorcycles (starting in 1957), trucks (1962) and cars (1974). The company opened its first integrated automotive assembly plant in 1973, the Sohari Plant. Kia built the small Brisa range of cars until 1981, when production came to an end after the new military dictator Chun Doohwan enforced industry consolidation, meaning Kia had to give up passenger cars and focus entirely on light trucks. Starting in 1986 (when only 26 cars were manufactured, followed by over 95,000 the next year), Kia rejoined the automobile industry in partnership with Ford. Kia produced several Mazda-derived vehicles for both domestic sales in South Korea and for export into other countries like North America and Australasia. In 1992, Kia Motors America was incorporated in the United States. By 1995, there existed over one hundred Kia dealerships across thirty states, selling a record 24,740 automobiles.

However, during the Asian financial crisis, Kia declared bankruptcy in 1997; in 1998 Hyundai Motor Company acquired 51% of the company outbidding Ford Motor Company which had owned an interest in Kia Motors since 1986. After subsequent divestments, Hyundai Motor Company owns less than 50% of the company. Since 2005, Kia has focused on the European market and has identified design as its "core future growth engine”. In October 2006, Kia Motors America broke ground for Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia in West Point, Georgia, representing a $1 billion USD investment for the company. Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia opened in February 2010, after Kia recorded its 15th consecutive year of increased U.S. market share.

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Kia Hwasung Plant

Kia Hwasung Plant Introduction

Hwasung is Kiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s flagship manufacturing plant, originally called As an Bay. It was opened in 1990 with the capacity of 340,000 vehicles per year. It has 5,710 employees, producing product lines like Rio/Pride, Carnival/Sedona, K9/Quoris.

Characteristics of automobile industry in Kia Hwasung

Fill in the following table after visiting the factory. Refer to the map and photograph on P.16.

Locational factors Land factor

Descriptions Total area of Hwasung Plant: Geographical location: Relief of the area: Distance from Seoul city centre:

Raw materials

Sources of raw materials: Types of raw materials:

Labour

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Labour characteristics (quality / quantity): Level of mechanisation:

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Locational factors Transport

Descriptions Mode of transport used for raw materials / products:

Accessibility: Market

Main market for sale:

Market potential: Capital

Amount of capital required: Main area of expenditure:

Government

Types of government support:

Technology

Level of technology in production processes: Source of technology: local or overseas?

Agglomeration

Any related industries nearby?

Entrepreneur

Role of corporate management:

Jot down any questions you would like to ask during the Q&A session.

Industry in Korea

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Samsung Hegemony

The Republic of Samsung By Chico Harlan, Published: December 10, 2012 SEOUL — So sprawling is Samsung’s modern-day empire that some South Koreans say it has become possible to live a Samsung-only life: You can use a Samsung credit card to buy a Samsung TV for the living room of your Samsung-made apartment on which you’ll watch the Samsung-owned pro baseball team.

Samsung is South Korea’s greatest economic success, and, more recently, the subject of major controversy. Economists, owners of small- and medium-size businesses, and some politicians say Samsung no longer merely powers the country but overpowers it, wielding influence that nearly matches that of the government.

Debate over how to curb the size and power of Samsung and other family-run conglomerates has become the key issue in South Korea’s Dec. 19 presidential election, with polls showing that about three in four voters say they feel negatively about the country’s few behemoth businesses. Candidates are sparring over how far to go to constrain them.

Samsung draws the greatest scrutiny because it is by far the largest chaebol — the Korean term for corporate groups that were jump-started with government support — and because it is wildly prosperous as the rest of the economy slows down. The conglomerate contributes roughly a fifth of South Korea’s gross domestic product.

Industry in Korea

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Some Koreans call the country “The Republic of Samsung.”

Famous globally for its electronics, Samsung would be one of the largest conglomerates in almost any country. But within its tiny home country, the size of Virginia, it acts more as a doeverything monolith, building roads and oil rigs, operating hotels and amusement parks, selling insurance, making not only the world’s best-selling smartphone, the Galaxy, but also selling key components to Apple for the iPhone — even as the two battle in a series of lawsuits.

In its domestic market, Samsung is far ahead of Apple. Only one in 10 South Korean smartphone users has an iPhone. (Samsung holds about 33 percent of the global smartphone market, while Apple accounts for about 17 percent. In the United States, Apple controls 34.3 percent of the smartphone market. )

Critics say Samsung elbows into new industries, knocking out smaller businesses, limiting choices for Korean consumers and sometimes colluding with fellow giants to fix prices while bullying those who investigate. They also see in Samsung the picture of closed-door wealth, a family aﬀair in which Chairman Lee Kun-hee is passing power to his son.

“You can even say the Samsung chairman is more powerful than the South Korean president,” said Woo Suk-hoon, host of a popular economics podcast. “Korean people have come to think of Samsung as invincible and above the law.”

A reversal of opinion

That sentiment has intensified in recent years, a period during which Samsung has obstructed price-fixing investigations — drawing only minor fines — and seen its chairman indicted for financial crimes, only to receive a presidential pardon “in the national interest,” as a government spokesman put it.

South Korea ranks poorly among democratized countries in corruption rankings, and the traditionally cozy ties between government and the biggest companies were widely seen as the enabler of the country’s economic rise.

“In the economic area, we have emphasized the concept of eﬃciency, and in some sense, we haven’t paid enough attention to the concept of fairness,” she said.

“Samsung has the government in its hands,” Lee Jung-hee, a liberal presidential candidate with virtually no chance of winning, said in a nationally televised debate Tuesday. “Samsung manages the legal world, the press, the academics and bureaucracy.”

Driven to evolve

But Samsung has been steadily growing for decades. It operates 79 subsidiaries, more than twice what it did 25 years ago. Its size relative to South Korea’s economy has also grown: The conglomerate accounts for 28 percent of the nation’s exports, twice its share in 1987.

A powerful Samsung is healthy for the country, corporate spokesman Kevin Cho said, because it makes “major contributions to Korea’s exports, tax revenue and employment.” Cho also

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emphasized that Samsung is a global player, not a just a domestic one. In 2011, 84 percent of its electronics revenue was generated outside Korea.

Samsung has prospered on the strength of its electronics company, which has made a decadelong run of smart bets on tiny batteries, low-cost flat-panel TVs and smartphones. While Japanese companies fixated on ornamental and pricey home electronics, Samsung purchased proven technology and quickly began producing cheaper — and high-quality — versions. In the case of smartphones, such a strategy has led to a global patent war with Apple, Samsung’s top competitor. But it has also turned Samsung, once a non-factor in the mobile phone market, into the world’s leading producer in three years.

Yoonjung Seo contributed to this report. © The Washington Post Company

Task

Observe/ seek/ collect traces of Samsung’s presence in Korean’s daily lives (e.g. leaflets, advertisements). In view of Hong Kong’s developers’ hegemony, what are the diﬀerences/similarities between South Korea and Hong Kong in terms of quality of life?

Similarities

Differences

From your observation and the information provided above, to what extent do you agree “the dominance of a few companies bring more positive than negative impacts?”

Guiding questions: What positive impacts does the dominance of a few companies bring? What negative impacts does the dominance of a few companies bring? Are these impacts comparable (e.g. on the same perspective)? How? Are the positive/negative impacts more influential?

THIS SECTION IS PREPARED BY MR. CHAI.

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Samsung - Economic globalisation

Samsung group is a South Korean multinational company headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul. It comprises numerous subsidiaries and aďŹ&#x192;liated businesses, most of which united under the Samsung brand, and is the largest South Korean business conglomerate.

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The figure above shows the number of employees of Samsung Electronics in diďŹ&#x20AC;erent regions of the world. Based on the figure, describe the changes in the number of employees of Samsung Electronics from 2009 to 2011.

Explain why Samsung Electronics has chosen to develop information technology industry in Asia and China?

In 2013, Samsung began construction on building the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest mobile phone factory in the Thai Nguyen province of Vietnam. What factors have contributed to the shifting of labourintensive industries from Korea to Vietnam?

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What strategies may the Vietnamese Government use to attract more transnational corporations to develop information technology industry in the country?

Under global economic recession, evaluate the probable negative impact of the transnational and multi-point production strategy of Samsung Electronics on Vietnamese society.

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The Samsung headquarters are located in Seocho District in Seoul. The location is shown in the map below.

Based on the map information, explain the locational advantages of Samsung Headquarters in Seoul.â&#x20AC;Š

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CITY Introduction

Seoul is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. The Seoul Capital Area, which includes the surrounding Incheon metropolis and Gyeonggi province, is the world’s second largest metropolitan area with over 25.6 million people, home to over half of South Koreans along with 632,000 international residents.

Seoul is divided into 25 gu (구; 區) (district). The gu vary greatly in area (from 10 to 47 km2) and population

(from fewer than 140,000 to 630,000). Songpa has the most people, while Seocho has the largest area. Each gu is divided into "dong" (동; 洞) or neighbourhoods. Some gu have only a few dong while others like Jongno District have a very large number of distinct neighborhoods. Gu of Seoul consist of 423 administrative dongs (행정동) in total. Dong are also sub-divided into 13,787 tong (통; 統), which are further divided into 102,796 ban in total.

City of Seoul

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Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project Large-scale urban regeneration achieved by removing a two-tier overpass and landscaping the river channel it exposed. Seoul Metropolitan Government successfully addressed a range of economic, social, cultural and environmental problems through a scheme that has provided a template for planning across South Korea and further.

Project summary Location: Cheonggyecheon stream Length: 5.84km Cost: US $280million Dates: 2000-2005

Delivery Delivered through: Government funded, multi-partner project to deliver large-scale urban regeneration. Partners: Cheonggyecheon Restoration Centre, Seoul Development Institute, Cheonggyecheon Restoration Citizens Committee, Seoul Metropolitan Government.

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City of Seoul

Natural stones are used to both create walkways for pedestrians and to help regulate water speeds and levels and various points along the stream.

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I. Why restore? • CBD redevelopment stopped where the Cheonggye Expressway started • Population and employment reduced • Business headquarters moved to Gangnam (new sub-center) • Industries in CBD lost competitiveness • Safety problem • The river was culverted and buried underneath a 12 lane highway • Severe degradation of surrounding area • Poor water quality • Poor quality of the natural environment and lack of plant and wildlife

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Highway in 1967-1971

Highway in 1990s

Unstable structure of the highway system

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II. Objectives of the project History Underground waterways redirected to create a new stream bed with landscaped banks; former bridges used as decorative elements; seating to encourage the public to use the space. Urban and Culture Created a park in the centre of the city with recreation areas, waterfront decks and stepping stones; designed using environmentally friendly materials, with artwork and maps on walls along the river corridor. Nature in the middle of the city Designed to look natural and overgrown; sections of the pier and overpass left as industrial mementoes; wetland designated as an ecological conservation area. Discussion: How far do you agree that the project can achieve the objectives?

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III. Challenges and Solutions 1.Transport

Solutions:

Cheonggye road & highway - Urban backbone corridor - 170,000 vehicles/day Traffic disaster warned - Media, interest group - Traffic simulation - Project delay

Discourage driving cars in the city centre Improve traffic system - Cheong Gye Cheon area - Metropolitan area Improve public transport system - subway system - bus only lane

2. Neighboring merchants

Solutions:

Traffic congestion - access difficulty Noise & dust due to construction - Business decline

Detailed survey on the markets & continuous interviews - consultation offices at the markets - regular meeting on the project Minimize inconvenience for business activity - state-of-the-art technology - provide parking Stimulate business activity - Reduce parking fee - Improve parking system for loading & unloading - Promote Cheong Gye Cheon stores Financial support and subsidies - Low-interest loans - Grants for the market remodeling Special arrangement for street vendors Special business centre in a outer area space nearby

! City of Seoul

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IV. Step-by-step 1. Scaffolding (July, 2003)

! 2. Highway demolition (Aug, 2003)

! 3. Covered road demolition (Jan, 2004)

! 4. Sewer, road & bridge construction (Sep, 2004)

! 5. Landscaping for the recovered area (May, 2005)

V. Benefits • Urban renewal and revitalization • Economic growth and tourist attraction • Public access to the river – fishing and bathing • Educational resource • Historical and cultural values reflected in design • Significant ecological improvement • Air and water quality improved • Reduction in air temperature (cooling effect) in surrounding area by an average of 3.6°c demonstrated by thermal imagery City of Seoul

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Discussion: 1. What are the challenges of restoring Kai Tak River and preserving the ancient well in To Kwa Wan station on the Sha Tin Central? 2. What can we learn from the case of Cheongyecheon for carrying out CBD regeneration, historic and ecological restoration in Hong Kong?

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Plastic surgery in South Korea Issue for enquiry: Why is plastic surgery so prevalent in South Korea? Related concepts: Medical tourism, ideal self, self-esteem, globalization, public health, cultural homogeneity, popular culture (K pop), mass media, gender identity Task 1: Describe the following graphs

! City of Seoul

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Task 2

! Based on the above advertisement, what is meant by a “perfect face” in the eyes of the Korean? What are the advantages of having a “perfect face”?

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Source A Some interesting facts about South Korea’s cosmetic surgery culture

The Miss Korea 2013 contestants were 2. mocked in the media for looking so similar — with suggestions that some had had plastic surgery.

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Lots of women in S. Korea wants the same look: Light skin, tiny nose, wide eyes with double lids, and a small face with a Vshaped chin.

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Girl groups like T-ara readily admit to what 4. procedures they've had done.

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8. 9.

10. 11. 12. 13.

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Korea has gained a reputation as a plastic surgery mecca, where South Korean doctors are all highly trained and have access to the latest technology. There's even a law that allows other doctors to switch into the plastic surgery field.

Koreans get plastic surgery to achieve this idealized look more than any other nation. It's estimated that one in five women in Seoul has had some type of plastic surgery. Plastic surgery has become so normalized that everyone talks about it. Instead of where did you get your designer handbag, people might ask you where you got your chin or your nose. One of the most popular reality TV shows is "Let Me In," on which contestants share sob stories of being bullied and picked on before a team of experts "fixes" them. At the end of the show, they parade down a runway to unveil the new look to a live audience. They may seem to conform to Western standards of beauty, but surgeons and patients deny this claim. Some parents even encourage their children to get plastic surgery. "Everyone is getting prettier and prettier and some parents don't want their child to be the 'ugly' one," said one Korean woman. Getting your eyes done might even be a graduation present. All plastic surgery comes with risks, including permanent facial numbness or even paralysis. But to many women, that's just the price they pay to look beautiful. It's widely accepted in Korea that gorgeous women will do better in life: They'll find a husband, get the job they desire, and have people treat them better. South Korean men are also targeted by clinics, with ads saying they will find a wife and get hired if they look more handsome. Due to an increase in popularity, there are now male-only clinics like Man & Nature in Gangnam. The booming market has made procedures more affordable for consumers than ever. "An average â&#x20AC;&#x201D; not excellent â&#x20AC;&#x201D; face-lift in the United States will set you back about US$10,000," a Korean surgeon told CNN. "But in Korea you can get the same service for US$2,000 or US$3,000." Source: different local and international newspapers

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Source B SOUTH KOREA: Government promotion and encouragement of medical tourism is working

!Korea attracted 110,000 patients from abroad in 2011, an increase of 30 % from 81,800

in 2010. A substantial proportion of those visited the country for cosmetic surgery, according to government data. The government aims to increase the figure to 300,000 by 2015.

!The Ministry of Health and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute have

launched a project to improve the medical service system for foreign patients by designating 38 tasks, including seven major issues to minimize inconveniences for foreign medical patients.

!Korea's seven major tasks for foreign patients include adopting a compensation system

for medical injuries; easing floor area ratio regulations for the building and remodeling of lodging facilities in medical institutions; allowing drug dispensing in hospitals; expanding training programs at the Medical Korea Academy and permissions granted to foreign medical professionals to participate in clinical studies; increasing the cultivation of professional medical workforces; assessing foreign patient accommodation in each medical institution; and improving the visa system.

!Korea is considering establishing a credit union for hospitals that treat foreign patients

and providing partial support for the funds with government subsidies. It plans to ease floor area ratio regulations when medical institutions build or remodel lodging facilities in hospitals for foreign medical tourists and provide them with financial support or loans through a tourism promotion fund.

!New one-stop medical services to foreign patients will allow hospitals to dispense drugs so that foreign patients do not have to suffer inconveniences resulting from the separation of drug prescription and dispensing. Korea is also planning to actively cultivate professional medical workforces, such as medical interpreters. Source: Adapted from a Korean newspaper

Questions to ponder:

1. Why are there more women than men interested in cosmetic surgery? 2. How does Korea pop (K-pop) promote the trend of plastic surgery? 3. Is undergoing cosmetic surgery a local or a global phenomenon? How does globalisation accelerate the growth of medical tourism? 4. Do you agree that the Korean are conforming to Western standards of beauty? 5. What are the roles of the South Korean government in promoting medical tourism? What are the benefits brought by medical tourism? 6. What are the public health risks associated with cosmetic surgery? How to minimise these risks?

! ! ! THIS SECTION IS PREPARED BY MS YIP.

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Income inequality in Seoul Source 1

Seoul's poverty lingers in the shadows of Gangnam-style prosperity Tuesday, 23 October, 2012, 12:00amâ&#x20AC;Š Agence France-Presse in Seoul

Worlds apart but right next door, upmarket Seoul district that inspired rapper's viral hit rubs shoulders with a community living in squalor Shadowed by the high-rises of Gangnam - Seoul's wealthiest district - Kim Bok-ja, 75, pulls her trolley of folded cardboard through a shanty town that sits uncomfortably in one of Asia's most developed cities. At a local recycling yard, Kim smiles thinly as she counts out the meagre cash return she gets for the load of boxes and packaging she spent all day collecting. "This is all I can do to survive, probably up until I die, because I live alone with no proper income," she said. Kim's home is Guryong - a squalid, sprawling slum of plywood and tarpaulin shacks settled in 1988 by squatters evicted from other areas in a push to beautify Seoul as it prepared to host the Olympic Games. Nearly 25 years later, Guryong (which translates as "Nine Dragons") has more than 2,000 residents scrabbling out a subsistence living with Third World poverty levels and little or no proper sanitation. It's about as far removed as possible from the opulent, glitzy world of neighbouring Gangnam - the upscale district of luxury boutiques and nightclubs made world famous by rapper Psy's viral hit, Gangnam Style. Taxi drivers have difficulty locating Guryong, although it is separated from Gangnam by a six-lane highway and covers an area of 30 hectares. "Our village is Seoul's biggest slum settlement but it will not appear on any maps," said Lee In, the 59-yearold deputy head of the Guryong residents' council. A significant portion of residents are in their 70s or 80s and live alone, most of them without any sort of state assistance. "Many are engaged in rough work or odd jobs to earn their daily living," Lee said. "The fact they don't starve is largely down to help from volunteers and religious groups." Guryong dwellings are all illegal, and gas and electricity supplies almost non-existent, leaving smoky coal briquettes as the main heating source during Seoul's bitter winters. A fire in January spread through the flimsy plywood shacks in a matter of minutes, gutting scores of homes,

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while floods triggered by heavy rains in July last year destroyed a large section of the village. The only advantage of living in such crude housing is that it can easily be replaced. "What comes down during the day, we can erect again at night," said 54-year-old resident Kim Mi-Ran. The irony of Guryong's squalor - and the factor most likely to lead to its eventual disappearance - is that it sits on an area of prime real estate which developers have long coveted. The land is privately owned, but the squatters have been there so long that they have acquired a quasi-legal status buttressed by the municipal government's decision to grant them temporary residency cards last year. Earlier this year, a private developer came up with a plan to build low-rent accommodation to house Guryong residents and redevelop the land they vacate. City authorities have since proposed a similar plan of their own, and the two proposals have split the community down the middle with a heated debate over which would be more beneficial. Forcible eviction is an obvious alternative, but the authorities are particularly wary of taking extreme action. An effort to force illegal tenants out of a building slated for redevelopment in another Seoul district in 2009 triggered clashes that left five people and a police officer dead. Park Won-soon, a long-time liberal activist who was elected Seoul mayor last October, has made it clear that any solution in Guryong must reflect the opinions and interests of its residents. "Under the current mayor, there is no question of using coercion," a city official said. For Kim Kyo-seong, a professor at Chung-Ang University's graduate school of social welfare, Guryong is a concentrated embodiment of everything that is wrong with South Korea's rapid economic development. "It's a powerful symbol of inequality in our society," Kim said. Source URL (retrieved on Jun 19th 2014, 10:53am): http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/1067492/ seouls-poverty-lingers-shadows-gangnam-styleprosperityâ&#x20AC;Š 37

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Source 2

S. Korea's income disparity widens at one of fastest ratesâ&#x20AC;Š SEOUL, June 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's income disparity significantly widened over the past years with the gap between top and low income earners growing at one of the fastest rates in the world, data showed Sunday. According to the state statistics office, the average monthly income of South Korea's urban households nearly doubled from about 2.1 million won (US$2,060) in 1990 to a little over 3.9 million won last year. However, the country's Gini coefficient widened from 0.256 to 0.280 over the cited period.

The gap became more apparent between the country's top and low income earners. In 2012, the country's top 1 percent earned more than 290 million won, which was over 17.5 times higher than the average annual salary of 16.6 million won for all workers, according to Rep. Hong Jong-haak of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy. Such a claim was based on related data submitted by the National Tax Service, he said. Experts said a growing income gap between the rich and poor may hamper the country's economic growth.

Gini coefficient is one of the main measures that gauge income disparity between the haves and havenots. A reading of zero means complete income equality, while higher numbers nearing 1 indicate a widening gap in earnings between the rich and poor. The Gini index for the country's overall households came to 0.302 in 2013.

"Once the income disparity worsens, it may weaken consumer sentiments, especially those of the middle class that has the highest propensity to spend, which in turn lead to a dip in overall economic growth," said Lee Dong-eun, an official from the state-run Korea Institute for International Economic Policy.

A recent report from the Asian Development Bank showed that South Korea's Gini index grew at the fifth fastest rate among 28 Asian countries surveyed between 1990 and 2010 after those of China, Indonesia, Laos and Sri Lanka.

The International Monetary Fund, too, noted the adverse effect of growing income disparity on economic growth in its recent report, which said a large income gap will eventually lead to lower economic growth while also hindering sustainable growth.â&#x20AC;Š

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Korean Pop Culture Korean Pop Culture (K-pop) is a hot topic related to globalization, consumption, quality of life, trend and many other concepts in Liberal Studies. It basically includes modern South Korean cultural elements, e.g. music, dance, movies, TV dramas, fashion, food and so on.

We may explore (1) the features of the phenomenon (indicated by data showing evidence of K-pop trends in Hong Kong and in other parts of the world); (2) the reasons why it has become popular; and (3) its impacts (e.g. on consumption, quality of life, interpersonal relationships, cultural globalization)

Enquiry Questions: 1. a. Why has K-pop become popular? b. What are the characteristics and trends in the development of K-pop? 2. a. How do people from different parts of the world react to K-pop? Why? b. How should Hong Kong meet the opportunities and challenges of K-pop? 3. a. What are some impacts of K-pop? b. Are they similar or different between countries and within countries? c. Does K-pop promote homogeneity or diversity in culture and values? Does it bring mutual rejection or integration and evolution? d. Does the spread of globalization (e.g. K-pop) promote international understanding or cause greater conflicts among different stakeholders, e.g. ethnic groups, religions, cultures and political entities?

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Perspective

Impacts of K-pop

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Eva Yu Chong Wai Tung

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Source A1

Source A2

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Source A3

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Source A4

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Source A5 (Extract) Korean Wave Seen through K-Pop and Drama Search Trends Lee Ji-hong, Analyst, LG Economic Research Institute. Kim Min-hee, Senior Consultant, LG Economic Research Institute http://www.koreafocus.or.kr/design2/layout/content_print.asp?group_id=105242

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Source B1 (extract) 'Korean Wave' of pop culture sweeps across Asia By Lara Farrar for CNN December 31, 2010 -- Updated 1140 GMT (1940 HKT) http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/12/31/korea.entertainment/

! Super Junior is one of the most famous boy bands in Asia -- arguably even the world

Boy band mayhem in South Korea

Shanghai, China (CNN)

Over the past decade, South Korea, with a population of around 50 million, has become the Hollywood of the East, churning out entertainment that is coveted by millions of fans stretching from Japan to Indonesia. Koreans use the term "hallyu" to describe the phenomenon. It refers to the "Korean Wave" of entertainment that has swept across the shores of almost every single country in the region, even increasingly beyond. Some are now even referring to the trend as "hallyu-wood." According to Sung Tae-Ho, a senior manager in the Korean Broadcasting System's content business office, part of the reason why the country's culture industry is so successful abroad stems from the fact that the content is high quality and also cheap, at least compared to entertainment that could be bought from other, particularly Western, markets. The Korean Broadcasting System, or KBS, is one of the country's four major television networks. Culture also plays a role. Korean content, especially dramas, is as, if not more, popular than Western series because, simply put, Asians relate to it more. "Even though the languages are different, we share an Eastern mentality. We respect the father and mother and a very hierarchical society and Confucianism," Sung told CNN. "So based upon that cultural background, we exchange our emotions, what we think and what we feel. There is a low cultural barrier to crossover with our content. It is kind of a syndrome. Asian people love to enjoy Korean stuff." In 2005, KBS exported $43 million-worth of content abroad. Last year, the network's exports reached $65 million, going to 38 countries, Sung said. Overall in 2009, the country exported nearly $3 billion in entertainment, more than double 2002 exports, according to an article on MK Daily, a Korean news portal. Today there are up to 400 independent studios creating content for domestic and international markets. Korea's success as an entertainment exporter began in the late 1990s when its TV series began to be broadcast in Japan, China and Southeast Asia. The government has also backed the expansion of the country's culture industry abroad, seeing it as a vehicle for soft power -- a tool to boost Korea's reputation in the region. "They start watching Korean drama on television and then after that come the pop songs from the boy bands. All of it has influence in Thailand," said Vorasuang Duangchinda, a professor at Sripatum University in Bangkok. "After that, they become fans of everything Korean -- Korean food, Korean culture. Many of my students can even speak Korean because of [the entertainment]." According to Duangchinda, Thai producers are traveling to Korea to learn how to make better TV shows while Bangkok is full of dozens of cosmetic shops offering services that promise to make young women look more Korean. The professor even has one student so obsessed with the country's pop culture she's renamed herself "Mee-so," which means "smile" in Korean.

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"After she finishes her degree, she will further her education in Korea, and she also has a Korean boyfriend right now," he said. "Many young people are just crazy like this. Younger generations want everything Korean." Yvain Lu, a graduate student in Shanghai, wears a purple jacket from a Korean clothing brand called Thursday Island. Her favorite K-pop band is called 2AM. Secret Garden, a drama about a man and a woman who go into the mountains and mysteriously change bodies with each other, and We Got Married, a reality show, are her favorite Korean TV programs. Song Hye Kyo is her favorite Korean actress. Yet there is one problem with Lu's infatuation with Korean culture: Patronizing Korean culture is perceived as unpatriotic by some in China -- so much so that female fans of K-pop boy bands say they have to form password-protected online groups to fend off accusations that their fetish with cute Korean singers is antiChinese. The backlash means Lu has to hide her infatuation. "I am not proud to tell people I love Korean things," she said. "It's complicated, actually. Just like Japan, Korea is not very friendly with us [China]. Many people think Korean series are silly."

Source B2 (extract) Korean Pop Culture’s Considerable Influence on Chinese Shoppers June 2 2014 | in Media & Entertainment Trends | by red luxury w http://red-luxury.com/trends/korean-pop-culture-considerable-influence-on-chinese-shoppers-22819

Korean pop culture has taken China by storm, and it’s having a big influence on Chinese shoppers. The phenomenon, known as Hallyu, includes Korean pop artists and television shows, and retailers are starting to take notice. The Korean drama My Love From the Star has led to a shopping craze for products featured on the show as well as goods endorsed by the show’s stars. When Song-yi, a main character on the show played by Gianna Jun, celebrates the first snowfall with the traditional chimaek, a meal of fried chicken and beer, Chinese imports of Korean beer hit $1.04 million in March, a 201% increase compared to the year before. In fact, Breweries in Korea are now “aggressively targeting the Chinese market,” and Chinese beer drinkers now have a number of Korean beers to choose from, including a variety of beers from Hite Jinro and OB Beer. Samsung Mobile in China has already inked the show’s two stars to a $2.5 million endorsement deal and Kim caused a near riot as fans squeezed in to see him at his appearance at the Beijing Auto Show. According to Want China Times, Kim has earned at least 110 million yuan (US$17.6 million) from his appearances in Chinese commercials, and he earned an additional US$480,000 for a single appearance on a quiz show on Jiangsu Satellite TV. Kim Soo-hyun and Gianna Jun aren’t the only Korean stars finding fame in China. According to Inside Korea, Lee Min-ho, the star of the Korean drama The Heirs, recently beat out Kim Soo-hyun for the title of most popular Korean actor in a March survey by Kugou.com in which he won 510,764 votes out of 1.35 million cast in total. The popularity of Korean soap operas in China has led to crossovers in other popular Chinese shows. According to KpopStarz, Korean pop stars Fei of MissA and Nichkhun and Chansung of 2PM will appear on the Chinese dating show If You Love. China Daily has a reasonable explanation for the increasing popularity of Korean shows in China: “Chinese TV screens are flooded by knock-off and/or poorly made soap operas. Most of the Chinese TV dramas either distort the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, which is a distortion of history, or blindly copy foreign programs. The lack of good stories has of late resulted in loads of TV series on time travel or fights in the harems of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) emperors. These, in short, are the bane of Chinese TV productions.”

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Though Korean dramas began to catch on in China beginning with 1997′s “Star in My Heart,” the new wave of success for Korean dramas is largely due to embracing online streaming. Inside Korea points out that the streaming services allow Korean dramas to skirt Chinese censorship and allow Chinese viewers to watch Korean shows almost simultaneously with Korean fans. Since their premiers, The Heirs and My Love From the Star have gained billions of views on Chinese streaming video websites such as IQIYI. Korean retailers have taken notice of the Hallyu wave in China, which has led to explosive expansion among Korean retailers in Chinese cities. South Korean retailers took up 4.17 percent of Hong Kong’s new leases in trendy shopping areas last year, according to South China Morning Post. Furthermore, six new Korean retailers have opened stores in Hong Kong during the first quarter of this year, triple the number that opened in the first quarter last year. South Korean cosmetic brands, including Etude House, Innisfree, The Saem, and Nature Republic, have also opened stores in Hong Kong over the last two years. As the crossover between Korean and Chinese pop culture continues to grow, look for more Chinese and international brands to expand their product placements and endorsements in Korean pop culture exports.

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Source B3(extract)

K Pop Among Hong Kong Teenagers Media Essay http://www.ukessays.com/essays/media/k-pop-among-hong-kong-teenagers-media-essay.php#ixzz35ciWjR7N

Introduction

“I want nobody, nobody but you. I want nobody, nobody but you” No matter you are a Korean mania or not, you must have heard this song somewhere before, as its great popularity among Hong Kong teenagers. Korean pop music (K-pop), which attracted much debate in the past several years, is considered as a part of Korean wave. One issue that the success of K-pop is merely due to the Korean drama effect. Research done in Korea has indicated that the success was bolstered by anti-Japanese sentiment, government subsidizes and outstanding dancing ability. The debate, however, has missed an important focus: Hong Kong teenagers’ dissatisfaction with the Hong Kong music industry. While people keep admiring the other’s advantages without introspection what self lacks, it may likely lead to providing a chance for others to step in. The paper aims to argue that K-pop captivated Hong Kong teenagers as a result of dissatisfaction with the current Hong Kong music industry due to several inadequacies of the current Hong Kong music industry: lack of diversity of song genres, creativity and music TV programs. Background “Korean pop music became fashionable throughout East Asia and Southeast Asia in a phenomenon commonly dubbed ‘Korea[n] Wave”. K-pop is considered as a segment of Korean wave. Besides K-pop, there are TV dramas, movies, fashion and etc. In the past several years, there are continuously many discourse on this since its abrupt and comprehensive descent upon the other Asian countries with a systematic and tactical plan. K-pop in fact could not the most representative item that spread Korean wave abroad, but TV dramas. If we trace the history back to the first Korean product that appeared in Hong Kong, that is the drama named “Star in my heart” in 1997. The drama obtained instantaneous popularity among Hong Kong people. With the increasing popularity of Korean dramas, many people started curious about Korea and hence expanded the Korean wave to K-pop. The formation of popular music industry is quite different. In Korea, popular music industry tends to produce music groups rather than solo singers. However, in Hong Kong, popular music industry tends to produce solo singers. Thus it is fairly easy for K-pop to step in if Hong Kong teenagers seek substitutes. In Hong Kong, with an increasing number of K-pop is imported and broadcast through two main broadcasting companies, the awareness of K-pop among Hong Kong people is booming. Ringtones in Korean songs, following the news of K-pop singers and watching K-pop TV programs could be considered as the typical characteristics of K-pop mania, “Hahanzu” in Mandarin. The proportion of K-pop mania in Hong Kong keeps rising rapidly. In the following, the reasons why K-pop is able to penetrate into Hong Kong will be introduced: (1) Great diversity of song genres; (2) Outstanding dancing ability; (3) Korean

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government subsidizes; (4) Anti-Japanese sentiment; (5) Drama effect – original soundtracks; (6) Dissatisfaction with the stagnant Hong Kong music industry. Great diversity of song genres In K-pop, many different sorts of music style can be easily discovered, from ballad to techno, classic to rock, and even the traditional Korean music has also intermixed in the current K-pop. As the traditional Korean music contains diversified music elements and special cultural features, it gave a consolidated ground for the development of the K-pop. Moreover, after the Korean War, as South Korea became more liberal to the culture from foreign countries and frequently interacts with United States, a constant flow of western culture and instruments have been penetrated into South Korea. As a result, with the integration of Western and Korean music, diversified song genres were developed and eventually turned into the Korean’s unique style of music. For that reason, it is easy for current K-pop to be accepted and liked by anyone in the world. However, as Cho stated, the Korean group music industry is in fact a duplicate of the United States’. This might be true when Western music first flew into Korea. Nevertheless, in the current situation, K-pop has already generated its own manner by absorbing and then reforming the features of Western music. Combining varied music elements together, K-pop, therefore, provides a fresh and distinct impression comparing to other countries’ music.

Outstanding dancing ability The rise of K-pop is, secondly, advanced by the Korean singers’ outstanding dancing ability. In accordance with a survey conducted by對韓國流行音樂文化的研究, in response to the question “why Korean music attracted you”, half of the interviewees replied with the same reason that Korean singers have outstanding dancing ability and deeply impressed them when Korean singers perform a live show. During 90s, the Korean music industry abounded with dance music and many people greatly enjoyed this kind of music, which lead dance music climb up to the peak and spread abroad. As Sang stated, “[G]roups, such as NRG, Baby Vox, S.E.S. and Shinhwa began to penetrate China, Hong Kong and Taiwan”(2006). The great success of dance music provided a consolidated ground for development of contemporary K-pop, which is still principally occupied by dance music. Therefore, audience could have more chance to enjoying singers’ dancing. On the other hand, those singers also ought to raise their dancing strength to survive. In order to survive, long training period is necessary for being a singer in Korea. Normally, if someone would like to be a singer in Korea, he/she have to pass an audition and then receive several years of training organized by the company in terms of dancing, singing, instruments, and etc. Training of dancing is the part that will never omit because dance music occupies a great proportion of K-pop. Therefore, singers in Korea, almost everyone, are possessed of great strength of dancing. According to Seo, with outstanding dancing ability and a country that a number of people enjoy dancing, Korean dance music could be exported to the world successfully. Subsidies from Korean government Subsidies offered by the Korean government is another reason that bolstered Korean pop music groups captivate Hong Kong teenagers. In accordance with 梁旭明, the subsidy policy was trapped and launched internally in South Korea before 1996. However, as times goes on, in order to recover from the economic downturn, the government tried to revise the subsidy policy to support producing and exporting Korean cultural products, which became more extroversive to other countries. Hence, with the great support by the government, pop music groups or their music companies could produce songs or other related products without any worries and have a more smooth way to export their productions. Furthermore, as Cho stated, “the [Korean] government moved quickly to increase the national culture industry’s budget, to station government specialists in large cities in China and elsewhere and to set up a “hall of the Korean Wave”. When the government noticed that great benefits could be made from exporting the cultural products, it speeded up to advance the progress of internationalization of Korean culture, which thus provided more resource for Korean pop music groups to enter other countries’ industry. Anti-Japanese sentiment Another factor that boosts the popularity of K-pop in Hong Kong is the anti-Japanese sentiment, which has been discussed in many articles regarding discussions on Korean Wave. Japanese cultural flow has entered into Hong Kong for many years. Before the widespread popularity of K-pop in Hong Kong, Japanese pop music groups were the most popular foreign culture. 1990s could be said as the peak period of the Japanese

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culture. However, with weary of the long-lasting Japanese culture, Hong Kong people started seeking something new, something different from Japanese’. Therefore, started from 2000s, as Korean cultural product were broadcast or sold in Hong Kong, the popularity of Japanese culture declined. Nevertheless, some people indicated that it will not disappear completely. Cultural proximities Another reason is that similar cultural background and appearance brings people cordial feeling more than westerners. “As globalization develops and cultural exchanges become more and more frequent, Asia is no longer dominated by American popular culture. Asians are choosing things that are more culturally similar.”. In many aspects, it is obvious that there are many similarities between Hong Kongers and Koreans. For instance, we celebrate the same festivals such as Lunar New Year and Middle Autumn Festival and also the same ideology Confucianism that has been rooted in both Hong Kong people and Koreans’ mind. Besides, both places were also colonized by Japan and received great influence from Japanese culture. Drama effect – original soundtracks The following reason is that the songs which come along with TV dramas generated people curiosity and interest on K-pop. In every drama, there must be at least one theme song. In accordance with”對韓國流行音樂文化的研究”, almost all the hit dramas in Hong Kong, the theme song will also gain great popularity without any additional promotion but the drama itself only. Once the drama succeeds, a chain reaction would normally occur. In other words, a popular drama would bring its theme song popularity too. Therefore, there could be a good chance for those, who never listen to K-pop before, get to know K-pop. Dissatisfaction with the Hong Kong music industry The last but the most important reason, that previous research and studies have missed, lies on Hong Kong teenagers’ dissatisfaction with the Hong Kong music industry. Normally, while people keep pointing out and admiring the other’s strengths, it may likely lead to less reflection on their own. Without introspection what self lacks, no progress would be made. It, hence, could be doubtlessly bombarded by the others. The Hong Kong music industry now is exactly in that situation. When K-pop was penetrating Hong Kong, the Hong Kong music industry just kept praising K-pop’s strengths but did not act to fight against the huge constant flow of K-pop. It, hence, is doubtlessly bombarded by K-pop. Nowadays, K-pop or other related products could be easily discovered everywhere. There are three inadequacies of the current Hong Kong music industry that contributed to dissatisfaction: lack of diversity of song genres, lack of creativity and lack of music TV programs. Firstly, the Hong Kong music industry contains few song genres. Lack of diversity of song genres could not satisfy all people in Hong Kong, which lead people seek their flavor in other countries. Secondly, lack of creativity Moreover, according to “韓流背後看香港”, the innovation ranking of Hong Kong among the world is 23 only, lagging behind Korea, Japan and Singapore, which implied that lack of creativity is another inadequacy. As the influence of K-pop is increasing day by day, if the Hong Kong music industry still does not act to contend with. Therefore, Hong Kong has to enhance the competitiveness of our own industry to emulate this successful invasion. The first thing we should do is refer to the success of K-pop, learn the strengths and even try to duplicate it. Intermixing with our style, Conclusion K-pop, a part of Korean Wave, successfully penetrated Hong Kong, especially among teenagers due to several reasons: great diversity of song genres; outstanding dancing ability; Korean government subsidizes; Anti-Japanese sentiment; Cultural proximities; Drama effect – original soundtracks; and the main reason: dissatisfaction with the stagnant Hong Kong music industry.

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THIS SECTION IS PREPARED BY MR. T.C. LEE.

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TOURISM South Korea Tourism Development and Marketing Strategy ✰

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Refer to the following chart, what was the trend of visitor arrivals to South Korea from 2007 to 2012?

Refer to the graph inn P.48, what are the common characteristics between South Korea’s major markets in visitor arrivals?

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â&#x153;° What are the possible factors that would affect tourist flow in South Korea? Consider the sociocultural, economic, political and environmental aspects.