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To What Extend is the Influence of South Korean’s Hallyu Culture in Vietnam as an Example of Globalization, Cultural Blending, and/or Cultural Imperialism?
Name: Tran, Thai Bao Pham
Subject: IB Geography
Supervisor: Junie Michel
Abstract
The aim of this investigation is to see if South Korea’s Hallyu culture in Vietnam an example of globalization, more specifically, cultural blending and/or cultural imperialism,by testing the hypothesis: “The influence of South Korean’s Hallyu culture in Vietnam is an example of globalization, cultural blending, and/or cultural imperialism to an extend.” Korea has a very big impact to Vietnam, due to a large number of foreign investments and the signing of cultural agreement, which introduce more Korean culture towards Vietnam.
First of all, by looking at the renovation of Korean entertainment industry, it explains the factors that help Korean entertainment globalize, hence, making a strong impact on Vietnamese teenagers. Through that, show the influence Korea has on Vietnam, such as Vietnamese singers copy Korean performing and appearance style, or Vietnamese teenagers have a strong support for Korean music band. Afterwards, the two investigations are going to show clearer how much Hallyu has an impact on Vietnamese teenagers, which investigate the reaction of the respondents towards Hallyu, hence, will be able to see more about the respondents’ perspective towards Korean culture and its effect on Vietnam. The changes, which Hallyu has made on Vietnamese younger generation, contain the change in fashion style, which boys and girls adopt unisex style, or changes in behaviors, such as cohabitation.
In conclusion, the investigation will support the hypothesis, that “The influence of South Korean’s Hallyu culture in Vietnam is an example of globalization, cultural blending, and/or cultural imperialism to an extend,” and restate the behaviors that Vietnamese people have that shows the Korean influences. Furthermore, this investigation will might lead to other investigations on other examples of cultural imperialism/cultural blending in Vietnam, such as the influence of English in Vietnamese language.
Words count: 281
Table of Contents
I. Introduction...... Page 4
II. Investigation and Analysis...... Page 10
III. Study and Survey...... Page 20
IV. Conclusion...... Page 26
V. Work Cited Page...... Page 28
VI. Appendices...... Page 31
To what extend is the influence of South Korean’s Hallyu culture in Vietnam an example ofglobalization, cultural blending, and/or cultural imperialism?
Introduction
The goal of this essay is to investigateVietnamese adolescents, using the hypothesis “The influence of South Korean’s Hallyu culture in Vietnam is an example of globalization, cultural blending, and/or cultural imperialism to an extend.”
Globalization is the integration of international countries, global relationships, and the spread of ideas,and lifestyles between cultures.It has an effect on humanity, economy, or both in a world wide scale (Nagle). Figure 1 shows globalization and its effects towards a country’s economy, politic, culture/social, and environment; for example, when a country globalizes, more foreign investors will invest in that country, increasing trading and jobs availability. However, globalization can have bad effect on the environment, such as the increase of different types of pollution, or deforest to build more factories in order meet the demand of foreign investments.
Figure 1. Globalization and its effects
Source:Waugh, David. "Development and Globalisation." Geography: An Integrated Approach. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes, 2009. Print.
Globalization has created cultural blending. Cultural blendingis the interaction of two or more cultures, producing a new form of behavior (Beck). Conquest, migration, pursuit of religion freedom, and trade are the four main activities which cause cultural blending, making one country becomes unique (Beck). For example, Vietnam uses Roman alphabet from the French colony, but still uses Chinese terminologies from the Chinese years of colonization, making Vietnam different from the rest of Asian countries that do not use Roman alphabet as their native languages.
Cultural imperialism is also another result of globalization, meaning the cultural influence and dominance of one country over another country. It usually happens in the relationship between a powerful and a less powerful country, for example, a MEDC – more economically developed country – can have a cultural imperialism effect on a LEDC - least economically developed countries. It can also be a result of conquest, migration, religion practice, and trading (Beck). An example of cultural imperialism is the use of Western terminology among the Vietnamese younger generation like saying no, yes, or salutation in English (Vo).
The reason why this essay chooses to study about the effects of Korean culture on Vietnam is because as the world is globalizing, along with Korean media’s expansion, and the consumerism of different countries on Korean entertainment.It has been a recognized characteristic of the MEDCs, for instance, Korea (Cooke, Nagle). Its consequence can be cultural diffusion, or the cultural ideas spreading from one place to another. Consumerism is the behavior andthe reaction of the consumers towards the material goods (Cooke, Nagle). Korea entertainment has been exposing to various countries, specially in Asia, because of the demand of consumption globally. Korea entertainment has been able to produce more goods with sensible prices (Cooke, Nagle); and through globalization, by exposing with too much Korean media, Vietnamese can become a product of cultural cultural blending or cultural imperialism.
Vietnam has an agricultural tradition, with a 75% population living in the countryside, farming (H.N.V). During the momentum of Doi Moi, or the Renovation, in 1986, Vietnam government decided to industrialize and modernize the country by opened for international trading, and allowed foreign direct investment (FDI) to invest in Vietnam. In the process of internationalizing, Vietnam has joined the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN), being an active member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) (H.N.V). And most important, Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2007. The join of different organizations, interactions with different countries, and the diverse countries’ cultures and ideas have lead to cultural diffusion in Vietnam.
Korean and Vietnamese top political leaders usually visit the trading partners, in order to increase the bilateral relationship (“Tổng Quan”). The two nations increase long-term commercial and investment. It enhances cultural, art, journalism, sports, academia, and tourism exchanging between the young people of two countries (“Tổng Quan”). Also, the Korean and Vietnamese political leaders work together; strengthen the bilateral relationship in the United Nations (UN), WTO, ASEAN, APEC, and ASEM.They reinforce the cooperation in the field of engineering, industry, technology information, energy, and resources. The beneficial is to increase the economy, the GDP/capita of the country, preventing the country from poverty, and helping the citizens to be more open-minded.
Korean has also become an important economic partner of Vietnam. Throughout fifteen years, Korea is always been in the top five countries that have the strongest economic relationship of Vietnam. In figure 3, the second highest foreign investor in Vietnam is Korea, with 11.5%, after Taiwan with 11.8% (Figure 2).Even though Korea is the 2nd highest in number of investors, it has the highest number of projects of investment (Figure 3). The bilateral relationship between two countries and the high number of Korean investments in Vietnam has shown why Korea has such great impact on Vietnam. The reason why the FDI can make such an impact of Vietnam is because when Korean companies invest in Vietnam, they also bring to Vietnam their ideas and their beliefs. Not to mention, the Korea entertainment industries investment in Vietnam can increase the amount Vietnamese consumers by increasing the number of supplies simultaneously.
Figure 2. The Foreign Investors in Vietnam from 1999-2010 in pie chart indicates that Korea has one of the top investments in Vietnam.
Source: "FDI in Vietnam from 1990 - 2010." Chart. BMI View on FDI Attractiveness of Vietnam in Year 2011. Viet Partners. Web. 9 May 2012.
Figure 3. The FDI in Vietnam in 2010
Source: "FDI in the First Half of 2010." Chart. BMI View on FDI Attractiveness of Vietnam in Year 2011. Web. 9 May 2012.
With many Korean investments in Vietnam, especially the entertainment industry, the two countries have signed cultural agreement in August 1994 (“Tổng Quan”). Since then, cultural exchanges, art exhibition, cinema and public performances frequently occur (“Tổng Quan”). Vietnam has over 1000 students attend at undergraduate, graduate school, language program in Korea through scholarships and self-sufficient (“Tổng Quan”).The Vietnamese students bring back Korean idea, culture to Vietnam, cause cultural blending in the country.
The most Korean regconized trend in Vietnam that causes cultural blending and cultural imperialism is called Hallyu, which is one’s growing desire to learn, or know more about Korean culture. Most of the Southeast Asia countries are influenced by Hallyu, like Burma, Vietnam, Philippines, along with China, and United States, which has a large number of migrated Asians (“Geography”). Since two countries have had the cultural agreement, Vietnam opens for more Korean culture. Young Vietnamese teenagers have embraced the trend enthusiastically by supporting lots of Korean sensations (Ngoc).
Investigation and Analysis
I. Aspects of Hallyu Influence:
Korean movie industry are influenced by Hollywood blockblusters’ stratergies.In Korea, the spread of multiplexes movie theaters and production cost of local movies have increased 60%, while foreign movies’ share decreased almost 40% (Lee). The rise of production cost is one of the factor, which helps increase the movies’ quality, in terms of high definition, scripts, with more expensive and meticulously set locations, professional crews, actors, and actresses (Lee). Korean movie industries purposefully adjust the creation of the movies in order toattracts the foreign audiences, therefore, it can affect the audience behaviors and beliefs.
Figure4 shows the importers of Korean movies by region between the year 2000 to 2004; the number represents the total number of people watch Korean movies. The table shows that the number of people watch Korean movies in the world increases rapidly annually; the continent with the highest change is North America with 22,207%, or 28,87 million people. In Asia, the number of people watch Korea movies increases by 683%. Even though there is a significant percentage increase in North America, Asia is still the most potential country in terms of Korean movies consumption, with the increase of 39 million of people watch Korean movies in four years. In addition, the number of exporting Korean movies to foreign countries has increased 259% comparing quarter 1, 2011 to quarter 1, 2012 (Figure 5).The increase of the number of movies export and movies consumptionshow that the influence of Korean entertainment is gloabally, therefore, increase exposure to Korean culture resulting in Vietnam.
2000 / 2001 / 2002 / 2003 / 2004Asia / 5,784,395 / 8,260,865 / 10,499,979 / 19,024,000 / 45,327,500
North America / 13,000 / 1,234,600 / 695,500 / 4,486,000 / 2,900,000
South America / - / 15,000 / 47,000 / 82,500 / 141,500
Europe / 1,256,350 / 1,473,412 / 2,365,500 / 5,724,000 / 8,245,250
Oceania / - / 10,696 / 123,600 / 30,000 / 152,850
Others / - / 255,000 / 1,220,500 / 1,632,500 / 1,517,500
Figure 4. The total number of people watching movies in each region.
Source: Lee, Shi Young, Eun-mee Kim, and Sung Hee Jung. "On the Exportability of Korean Movies." Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2009. Web. 7 May 2012
Figure 5. Sustainable Growth. Content Industry Trends 1Q12 Report Content Industry Trends Report (side) Film Industry.Rep. no. 7. N.p.: n.p., 2012. Web. 28 Aug. 2012.
Korean music industry is more popular than Chinese and Taiwanese’s because of their focusing on production process along with globalizing the projects, instead of focusing on the number of products consumption domestically (Hyunjoon). Korean pop music, K-pop, has become very successful among East and Southeast Asia pop music since the late 1990s (Hyunjoon). Since there’s cultural agreement between the two countries, more Korean performances have taken place in Vietnam. One of the example of sensational Korean star in Vietnam is Bi Rain.As an international singer, Bi Rain is very familiar to Korean audiences, other Asian countries’ audiences, Vietnamese specifically, through an acting role in the movie Full Houseand his singing career (K. Nguyen). Since Rain has a big impact on Vietnamese audiences, he was chosen by the Korean government to be an emcee (Figure 6) in Vietnamese-Korean relationship concert in 2012 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries (Linh). His tour in Vietnam in 2006 was not just a tour to advertise the Korean music, but it also combined the movement of ideas between Korean and Vietnamese (Linh). It created a chance for Vietnamese and Korean directors, and singers to share their ideas and ways of doing things two each other (K.Nguyen). Because the directors have the chance to work together to share ideas, this lead to a cultural blending in the Vietnamese entertainment industry, which has a big influence on Vietnamese audiences.
Figure 6. Bi Rain as an emcee in the Vietnamese-Korean concert
Source:"S.Korean Star Bi Rain Emcees VN-Korea Friendship Concert." Tuoi Tre News. Tuoi Tre Newspaper, 20 Mar. 2012. Web. 23 May 2012.
After the concert, Vietnamese singers begin to follow Korean performing style (“Khi Sao Viet”). My Tam, a famous Vietnamese singer, after Rain’s concert, has studied abroad in Korea to learn about filming techniques, rendering, harmonies, and instrumental arrangements (Figure 7) (“Sao Viet”). Another singer, Nam Cuong, has visited Big Bang’s company, a sensation Korean music band and their company, and watchedtheir live concert in other to see the popularity of the band in their own country, along with studying about the filming techniques (Figure 8).
Figure 7. My Tam in Korea with a Korean choreographer
Source: Thanh Trung. "Mỹ Tâm Hạnh Phúc Với Những Bận Rộn Tại Hàn Quốc." Dan Tri Online Newspaper. Dan Tri Newspaper, 23 Oct. 2006. Web. 18 July 2012.
Figure 8. Hoang Hai’s visit to Big Bang live concert in Seoul, Korea.
Source: "Sao Việt "thua" Sao Kpop Ngay Trên "sân Nhà"?" EVA. Phu Nu Newspaper, 16 Mar. 2012. Web. 18 July 2012.
Other artists copy and cooperate Korean celebrities’ sense of fashion style into their music video. Vietnamese singer, Nguyen Vu, was criticized for copying G-Dragon, a Korean singer, in his music video. Nguyen Vu’s hairstyle looks similar to G-Dragon’s, with long, and platinum blond, with long fringes.Their clothes are also alike, with silver details on the jacket (Figure 9).
Figure 9. The similarity between the two music videos; on the left is G-Dragon, Korean singer.On the right is Nguyen Vu, Vietnamese singer.
Source: "Khi Sao Việt Bắt Chước Hình ảnh." Zing News. VNG Cooperation, 25 Apr. 2010. Web. 18 July 2012.
The same case applies to Vietnamese singer Hoang Hai, with a similar styling to a Big Bang’s member, Taeyang. Their haircuts are both Mohawk, with shaved on both sides, and longer noticeably hair in the middle. In Hoang Hai’s photo-shoot, he also wears a denim jacket with T-shirt inside, indistinguishable compare to Taeyang’s photo-shoot (Figure 10).Therefore, given that Vietnamese singers copy and combine Korean singers fashion style, choreography, and filming technique, show a strong Korean artists influence on Vietnamese artists. This does not just impact Vietnamese celebrities, but it can also influence the Vietnamese audiences, who watch Vietnamese media.They will be affected by the Vietnamese celebrities appearance, or action like a domino effect; and this can be considered as cultural imperialism.
Figure 10. Taeyang and Hoang Hai’s haircut. On the right, Taeyang; on the left, Hoang Hai.
Source: Pham, Nguyen. "Hoàng Hải 'nổi Loạn' Với Phong Cách Becks." Hoàng Hải 'nổi Loạn' Với Phong Cách Becks. VNG Cooperation, 05 Apr. 2010. Web. 18 July 2012.
Source: Taeyang's Photo-shoot. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 July 2012.
The fact that Vietnam has joined different international organizations helped the country become more open for foreigner performances. Private companies have been sponsoring for different foreign singers, coming to Vietnam to perform. Another example of globalization and the Korean influence would be the Soundfest 2012 happened in March, 2012 (Figure 11).Before the concert, Phu Tho stadium was crowded, by thousands of young enthusiastic audiences.Majority of the audiences come to see Big Bang, a well-known band in Korea. The audiences were over-exciting, lead to pushing, shoving situation, create a huge chaos (Figure 12). The performances had to stop in order to restore order (Figure 13). Afterwards, the concert continued with Western singers like Taio Cruz and Kimberly Caldweld after Big Bang’s performance. However, the concert has lost the audience interest, some of them even left after Big Bang’s performance, since 80% of them were K-pop fan (Hien). Another reason is Taio Cruz, and Kimberly Caldweld are unpopular and are not well-advertised in Vietnam.This shows a much stronger influence from Hallyu and Korean culture than Western culture in Vietnam.
Figure 11. Big Bang’s performance in Soundfest 2012 with professional choreography, high technological sound, and light effects.
Source: Hien Nhi. "Cuồng Nhiệt Với Soundfest." Thanh Niên Online. Thanh Niên Newspaper, 14 Apr. 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2012.
Figure 12. Enthusiastic fans during Big Bang’s performance
Source: Hien Nhi. "Cuồng Nhiệt Với Soundfest." Thanh Niên Online. Thanh Niên Newspaper, 14 Apr. 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2012.
Figure 13. Chaos during the performance
Source: Hien Nhi. "Cuồng Nhiệt Với Soundfest." Thanh Niên Online. Thanh Niên Newspaper, 14 Apr. 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2012.
After becoming a member of WTO, and UN, Vietnam has a chance to interact with other international countries using technologies and telecommunication (“Vietnam Internet Usage”). Internet network is global channel that enable to link people with information and help increase the communication between people in different countries. They can share their belief and experiences, obtaining information, and expressing feelings through Internet. Information flowis increasing rapidly; a piece of news can be uploaded on the Internet within minutes after it happens. Internet using has become a part of daily life of the Vietnames, especially the younger generation(“Vietnam Inernet Usage”). In2011, there are 34.7% of the population uses Internet, when there’s only 26.3% of the Thai population uses Internet (Figure 14) (“Asian Internet Usage Stats”). Ater the extension and density of networks, Vietnamese teenagers nowadays have access more to Internet; they can obtain to Youtube, different online forum, such as Facebook, and information online. Therefore, teenagers can be influenced more by Hallyu because of its online and offline entertainment globalization.