By Andrew Rivera
Staff Writer
Annyeonghaseyo, Hello! You may be hearing this word on campus a lot lately, since the major boom in CSUB listening or watching some kind of Korean entertainment. The Korean Wave is something that become influential since the Korean culture is becoming more relevant around the world. People are now listening to Korean pop, watching Korean dramas and watching Korean variety shows.
The Korean Wave began with the popularity of Korean pop music. It started around 2007 with BoA becoming a hit and took off last year when PSY’s“Gangnam Style” became a world phenomenon. With PSY big hit it brought the world attention to Korea’s brand of entertainment.
“Watching and listening to Korean entertainment has now become my favorite type of entertainment to watch and listen to” said Kristin Vong, a Chemistry student at CSUB.
The most popular form of entertainment that came from the Korean Wave is Kpop. Kpop being the name people have given to their genre of music. Most of the more popular Kpop idols are Girls Generation, BigBang, EXO, Super Junior and 2NE1. More and more people here at CSUB are starting to listen to Kpopthe debut of “Gangnam Style. “Students are fascinated by the different styles Kpop has to offer compared to music.
“EXO is currently my favorite Kpopgroug” said Lay Ann Adoc, 23, biology student at CSUB.
The other type of entertainment that was become popular among students are the various Korean dramas and variety shows.
“Running Man is one of the best shows that I watch” said Alex Baldoz, 21, student at CSUB.
One of the more popular shows is Running Man, a Korean variety show. It has become an international hit with people from all over the world tuning in. People watch the show from the website Kshownow.net. Kshownow is an English subbing site that upload the show in English subtitles.
The Korean Wave s becoming a phenomenon everywhere. If you haven’t listened to a Kpop song or watched a Korean variety or drama you are missing out on some very fun entertainment. Annyeong ^o^ , goodbye.
