[KS] RE: Korea-mania in China
Yong-ho Choe
choeyh at hawaii.edu
Thu Oct 4 16:02:01 EDT 2001
Similar to what Young-Key has noted, Korean TV soap operas have been very
popular in Hawaii for some times. A Korean-language TV station in Honolulu
owned and operated by a Korean (more exactly a Korean American) runs a
number of serialized TV dramas regularly with English subtitle, and these
programs have been attracting a large audience beyond the Korean community,
including Caucasians, Japanese, and other Asians. I have encountered a
number of people at groceries and restaurants talking about Korean TV
dramas. On several occasions, I was stopped to answer questions related to
TV dramas. I know of an elderly couple who even told their children and
grandchildren not to phone while they were watching their favorite
programs. I have been told by several individuals that they liked Korean
dramas because they dealt mostly with family situation with a theme of
"warm human relationship" that they cannot find in American society. One
person told me that they contained "a healthy and wholesome family
value." Another said they liked because Korean dramas contained very
little violence. Popularity of Korean TV dramas recently became a subject
of a fairly large news item in the largest newspaper in Honolulu.
Yong-ho Choe
Department of History
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Honolulu, HI 96822
Tel: 808 956-6762
Fax: 808 956-9600
E-mail: choeyh at hawaii.edu
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