What are society and culture like in South Korea?

This week was really interesting to look at the current cultural influence in South Korea. At my school I am the advisor for the Korean Activities Club, so this week I smiled because items mentioned in the PowerPoint and readings my students talk about at each meeting. For examples last meeting they were obsessing over Koreans Soap operas I should watch. We YouTube a few videos and it reminded me of the telenovelas my abuelita watches. So to see Korean shows being mentioned really connected with me. I guess in my mind I had a different view of a very different Korea. An image I have from K-pop groups, beauty ads, and Korean Soap Operas. But that has changed. In the article on Multiculturalism it was interesting to see how South Korea embraces other cultures compared to the previous readings and topics. I found this fascinating how quickly South Korean culture has changed since the 1990s. Few things I was fascinated about South Koreans culture was the double eyelid surgery. I had to look this up because I was not aware of the name. After watching 30 minutes of videos on the surgery, it really helped me understand the beauty standard more set in Korea. Especially when it is considered a rite of passage. I enjoyed the article about the corset movement where the photographer was photographing Korean women fighting back against what has been come socially acceptable.

As I am finishing my response, some members of my Korean Activities Club are performing to K-pop videos on YouTube. It is really fascinating to see how obsessed my girls are by K-pop, the discussions they have about the groups, the meaning behind songs, and their obsession on learning new things about Korean culture. I have defiantly had my share of K-pop videos and discussions on the meaning of the bands. One thing I found interesting about the K-pop groups is are the flower boys. Before I had started learning more about K-pop I wondered why the boys seemed so nice or affirmative in my opinion. It was interesting to see how the K-pop boy bands have evolved, especially when you look the first group of Seo Taiji and Boys who seemed more aggressive. But they were fighting or writing against the government. Perhaps with South Koreas rapid modernization they have evolved k-pop to represent a more neutral or as BTS says “love yourself” image. I really enjoyed this week’s readings.