Politics play a major role in shaping ideologies, consumption, and popular culture. Before 2016, South Korea and China often collaborated on cultural exports like films and dramas, benefiting both sides.

Cultural appropriation is something that we oftern hear about in the media. Being from Canada I think that this subject is particularly popular. In Korea however, this topic never seemed to be as important, considering that minorities groups are still developing.

In K-pop, sexualization and objectification were quite prominent in music videos, especially between 2005 and 2010. While these elements still exist today, they seem to be less present or are more subtly implied.

Women in Korea often face significant barriers when trying to express their ideas openly. Despite being admired by younger girls and expected to serve as role models, many are still silenced or discouraged by those in positions of power.

Back home, I would often hear people comment that my “Kpop boys” looked too feminine, often describing their appearance as representing “soft masculinity.” This stereotype is frequently reinforced in Western media, where there is often a limited and rigid understanding of masculinity.

According to Jin and Ryoo, English appears in Kpop as a form of cultural hybridization. As this article is more then 10 years old, English lyrics in Korean songs was something relatively new. Since the mid-1990, the sociocultural environments accompanying globalization have caused a rapid

JYP Entertainment, founded by 박진영 in 1997, is a multinational South Korean entertainment company renowned for managing numerous successful artists and being one of the leading labels in the K-pop industry.

Once again, in one of my class we discovered a new singer, at least new for me. 한대수 is known for being a folk rock artist. He started performing around 1969 in the Korean underground scene until he was drafted for the usual military service. He is also know for being a photograph.

In a conservative society like Korea I think everybody as a role to play in protecting the artist that we like. Could be an actor or even a singer. As a K-pop fan I think we have to be really careful on what we share online and not give into the hate that can be easy to propagate.

Not long ago, I read an article in class talking about music, particularly in a certain era. The author talks about a certain feeling of remembering a song not only for its lyrics but also the context in which it was made. In the case of Korean music in the 70’s

Recently i saw a social media post in class discussing toxic fandom. Many kpop fandoms seems to be really toxic and most people dont even realise it. The author wanted to highlighting the importance of self-awareness within a fandom, especially when the community or group has harmful behaviors.

Rencently in class I discovered a new South Korean group called the 산울림. The group originated in Seoul and was formed by three brothers. The group was active from 1971 until 2008. But it is only around 1977 that their career really took off when they published their first album

Recently in class we talked about 최승희, an artist who became famous in 1927 and founded a dance school in 1929. But it was only in 1930 that she gave her first solo performance. She is remembered by being a real pioneer of modern dance. She developed her own choreography.

In a society like South Korea, which has faced significant challenges in shaping its national identity, it is understandable why the public might want their K-pop idols to embody nationalism. However, my concern with this expectation lies in the demand for "perfection."
#nationalism

I just watched a really good music video by the group 고래야. The song was 잘 못 났어 or in English, Born wrong. In this video we can really see the use of traditional Korean music that is then mixed with pop music. In this video we can see the use of some traditional instruments.

A lot of people would argue that k-pop idols are puppets used by their companies and are being made in what we could called “factories”. I would say that this ensure that idols are on the same level and dont embarrass the labels…