From Gangnam Style To Butter: Uninstalling South Korean Music, K-Pop Kian Ngetop

Psy-style horse dance in the Gangnam Style clip video makes K-Pop even more endemic in Indonesia. (The Daily Beast)

JAKARTA The seriousness of the South Korean government in promoting its entertainment industry has reaped current results. Korean dramas and films are selling well in the world market. Likewise in music, the success of Bangtan Boys (BTS) in winning the Top Social Artist Billboard Music Awards for four consecutive years since 2017 seems to force the world to recognize K-Pop as a new genre in music.

It started with the economic crisis that hit Gingseng Country in 1997. South Korean President Kim Dae-jung designed a number of strategies to overcome the crisis, including strengthening the industrial sector by cooperating with parachaebols (South Korean conglomerates) to become drivers.

Returning the prestige of the entertainment industry, which had grown rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s. The Financial Times said the government had allocated 148.5 million US dollars for promotion and development costs.

Slowly but surely, the South Korean TV drama series: What is Love, Though? immediately explored China, aired on Chinese local television, CCTV.

The second place in imported video content of all time in China. Starting from here, the term Hallyu or Korean Wave first appeared, referring to the global trend of Korean culture," the Financial Times wrote in August 2022.

Then in 2003, the TV drama series, 'Winter Sonata' was also able to become a popular show in Japan and a number of countries in Southeast Asia including Indonesia. This success has encouraged K-Pop to be able to penetrate the world market.

The 2000s media, idol groups like TVXQ, Kara, Big Bang, Girls' Generation, and 2NE1 gained tremendous popularity in Asia including China, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore, sparking a global interest in K-Pop.

Girlband Wonder Girls became the first Korean singer to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 with a hit Nobody in 2009. Then the appearance of a hit Gangnam Style popularized by Park Jae-sang or better known as Psy on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2012 for 7 consecutive weeks further solidified Kpop in the world music scene.

The video clipGangnam Style has become a trend on YouTube. In fact, it has approached 4.5 billion views at this time according to the Financial Times. Psy's global success is often seen as a moment when K-Pop culture steps to the west stage, and more broadly becomes a turning point for Hallyu.

The next period BTS appeared which managed to exceed the popularity of other South Korean artists. Album Map of the Soul: 7 and hit Dynamite are able to occupy the Billboard charts and last for several weeks.

Now, apart from Psy and BTS, world music fans also know other South Korean singers, such as BLACKPINK, TWICE, EXO, Red Velvet, SF9, NCT, ITZY, MONSTA X, and many more.

In Indonesia, K-Pop fever has been increasingly felt since at least the video "Gangnam Style" went viral in 2012. Psy-style horse dance in this video captivates everyone to sway. Thousands of people even held a flash "Gangnam Style" at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout, Jakarta.

Now, fever is still continuing. It is clearly illustrated by the crowds of fans that always occur when South Korean artists come or appear in Indonesia. This is also illustrated by Twitter's row of trending topics that are almost never separated from things related to K-Pop.

The results of counseling carried out by clinical psychologist at the Faculty of Psychology, Atma Jaya, Nanda Rossalia showed that the K-Pop fever could last a long time in Indonesia due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Teenagers vent their saturation during the pandemic on social media, a platform often used by idols-Pop, building closeness to fans.

"Some fans can even feel that only their idols pay attention to them and the term halu develops, although not in a real sense," explained Nadia, quoted from Antara.

Because of the K-Pop fever, King Dangdut Rhoma Irama was willing to cover the BTS hit, Butter when appearing at the birthday of a private television station, Wednesday (11/1).

Rhoma got a new nickname as Rhoma Sunbaenim which means Senior Rhoma.

"Geez, Rhoma Irama Sunbaenim is solid, @BTS_twt must look at this, his grip is steady," tweeted @sqnada explaining how Rhoma Irama sang BTS hits with a dangdut style, Wednesday (11/1)

Of the many Indonesian artists who cover BTS songs, they don't think Rhoma Irama is one of them.

I never thought that Haji Rhoma Irama would sing BTS's song, tweeted another Twitter activist.

The charm of K-Pop is not limited to music. ParaIdolK-Pop seems to have prepared all aspects ranging from dancing, choreography, singing skills, and manners to creating extraordinary stage performances. They are ready to go worldwide.

As Euny Hong wrote in his book The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation Is Contracting the World Through Pop Culture, If it weren't for a crisis, it might never have been a wave. Before the crisis, the South Korean entertainment industry did not make aggressive efforts to peddle its wares overseas.

However, post-crisis they were able to do well. In 2020, the Financial Times recorded the export value of South Korean cultural content, which includes industries such as music, film, and broadcasting reaching around 11.92 billion US dollars according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism. Up 16.3 percent from the previous year.