A news article on the frontpage of the online edition of Korea Times talks about how Filipino teens are hooked on K-pop (Korean pop music) nowadays. When I met with my friends to celebrate Wendy’s birthday more than two weekends ago, we talked about how rich these kids may be that they could afford to buy original DVDs, CDs and photobooks of their favorite K-pop groups.
Hallyu, popularly known as the Korean wave, continues to cast its spell in the Philippines. Not only are Korean dramas being embraced by Filipinos but more teens and young adults are becoming ardent fans of K-pop artists as well.
Thanks to the Internet, non-Korean fans in Southeast Asia including the Philippines and as far as North America and Europe can get a daily dose of Korean music, dramas and anything in between.
Source: Filipinos Get Hooked on K-pop Craze by Jonathan Hicap
Jonathan Hicap also wrote an article on the popularity of Korean dramas in the Philippines. Seeing these kids’ pictures made me suddenly feel old. It has been almost 10 years ago when I began to get hooked on K-drama and later K-pop. I still remember how my friends would mock me and asked if I could even understand the songs (H.O.T. and g.o.d.) I listened to that time. Now that I got over the “addiction”, it’s now my turn to laugh and mock them. At least I can now understand Korean language, not fluently though.
As for Korean dramas, I don’t watch them as often as before. It happened when I saw “Sandglass“. I felt like I’ve seen the best and I didn’t want to waste time and be disappointed watching the same love stories all over again. Know what I’m talking about? Cinderella stories with someone dying of a certain illness. I would watch anything that has Kim Myung Min in it though. And Seo Ji Sub, Lee Byung Hun, Won Bin and not to forget… Jang Dong Gun 
It’s fun to join groups to share your interests with. I’ve been there before and I’ve done crazy things (like sneaking at Ginebra’s dug-out at the Cuneta Astrodome with my friend Jane in 1997) I never thought I’d do. I had fun, but now my priorities are different. Thankfully, these things go away but it’s nice to experience some craziness at any age…
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Betch! I really don’t know if this article would make me feel proud of being a Filipino. Honestly, I feel so sad ‘coz until now we still patronize others rather than our own… I may sound patriotic… but I really am. It’s just that… It make me feel so sad. Sorry Betch na-carried away ako ha..
Habang buhay na lang po ba tayong magiging anino ng ibang lahi?
I hope someday not very far from now, we can recognize our own strength as Filipinos…
Not just the young Pinoys are into K-dramas. My mom who’s turning 60 next year, really liked “Boys over Flowers” and was rooting for Jun Pyo and Jan Di all the way! I think part of the charm of the K-dramas is that the stories are fast-paced and they really go all out and spend more on production, location, etc. (compared to local Pinoy dramas). All for the sake of art and entertainment…Ann P.
wow hehe kasama po ako dyan sa nasa article ^^
maka-h.o.t. at g.o.d. rin kami hehehe
18 years old lang po ako, pero nabuhay na ako sa panahon ng g.o.d. at nagustuhan sila ^^
At nandun nga po kami ni Ate Tintin sa article. Haha. Nakakatawa mang isipin na nahihilig kami sa mga kantang di namin naiintindihan
)
i also feel sad that filipino’s taste for music has drastically declined. it’s good to appreciate other music, in fact, i do listen to spanish, italian, french songs, etc.. but filipino songs are far better than korean songs. voicewise, koreans don’t really have it. honestly, they don’t possess great voice. i hope that this liking for koreans is just a fad will and not last for long. i’m sure if more and more koreans will become aware how filipinos are getting more stupid about them and their culture discrimination against us will go to worse. let’s not be blind, only few koreans don’t discriminate us. most of them are mocking us because in their eyes we’re just a dust. they think they are better than us in every way (which is funny because pinoys think of them in that way too)sige na nga, ok lang to like their music as long as pinoy will treat k-pop music as no different from butchikik, otso-otso, spaghetti, and other novelty songs. hi-tech lang naman music video nila, nothing more special.
yup, i’ve read that article too.. i guess it should be a challenge on the country’s tv stations (abs & gma) to provide us with good telenovelas because frankly kakainis ang mga telenovela dito kasi alam mo na ang susunod na mangyayari sa story at para din sa mga ibang artista natin jan na kahit walang talent sa pagkanta ang bilis-bilis makapaglabas ng album porket sikat lang…
K-pop is cool. I like 2NE1 the most
Mike´s last blog ..How To Love Mondays
Pinoy turn to kpop and kdrama because opm or pinoy music is dead it gasped for breath in the 80’s and died in the 90’s no producer in his right mind will shell out a hundred thousand dollars to make a single song and lose it on mp3, as to film industry its dying simply because Filipinos have yet to learn to read. The nexus to films is that more readers more books comics or short stories will be written/published giving the movie producers more stories to choose and select the best to turn to film or tvdrama.
shinee’s coming dito sa pinas together with mighty mouth for korean cultural festival…^^
We know there are downsides in the rising popularity of Korean entertainment market here in the Philippines. If you have to be critical about this, this is one of the product of globaiization.
We could go all day just talking about glabalization but in the end of the day the one solution I could see is to adapt…
In our post-modern world what is left are gray spaces. There is no point into fighting in the cultural aspects. We can’t go around talking that we are loosing our Filipinoness because there is none in the first place. We can’t go on initiating children to dance into tinikling than dancing into the rising nobody by the wondergirls. What is Filipino anyway? Even our entertainment industry is bombarded by western influences.
But commenting on the positive side, the rise of the Korean market is a good change for the Asians. Why? For once the westerns are as vulnerable as other countries. Movies like the The Grudge and My Sassy Girl is penetrating them. It only shows that we can influence them…. Even Bollywood beats Hollywood in film productions.
Let us see the future of the world…. i can’t wait for it… and that is what I am more excited about.
I’m 16 years old and I’m 5 years addict to Koreans and Japanese pop…
as a fourth year student.. i decided to have my own research about these kind of addiction…even thought this is a part of my English project,personally,i want to know how to stop these addiction which spins my mind.
if someone got some suggestions regarding this matter…please reply me on this website or email me @ ndao_jks6@yahoo.com
lets help our industry
thank you
im 16 years old an i’m 3 years addict to korean an taiwanese songs..:))
tulad ni ‘ndao_jsk6′ we have our english project too..:)) and my topic is all about
“the effects of asian music to filipino teenagers/ the influence of Asian Music to Filipino Teenagers.”
if someone can help me in this matter.. please email me at: mimi_live09@yahoo.com