Get Ready for the Next Wave
Korea’s Minister of Culture Kim Jongdeok (BFA 87; MFA 89)
Whether it’s K-pop star Psy’s “Gangnam Style” music video blowing up YouTube records or the global popularity of television dramas like Boys Over Flowers, these days Korean culture is impossible to ignore.
The rapid spread of Korean culture beyond its country’s borders has been dubbed Hallyu, or the Korean wave, and if Film alumnus Kim Jongdeok, South Korea’s newly appointed Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, has anything to say about it, this current wave is only the first of many to come.
During his first press conference, Jongdeok said that, lest the world lose interest, the next Hallyu needs to move beyond overseas idol sensations and shift towards cultural exchanges and diversity.
No small task, but Jongdeok should be up for the challenge—his impressive resume includes earning a PhD in communication from Seoul National University, working as dean of Hongik University’s Graduate School of Film and Digital Media in Seoul, and serving as president of the Korean Society of Design Science.
And yes, let’s not forget he graduated from Art Center.
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