[KS] RE: Korea-mania in China

[Yong-ho Choe]

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