Craze for Korean TV soaps reaches US
HONOLULU (AP) _ It's become a daily ritual for Gayle Stephens. She laughs and cries while getting her daily fix inside the privacy of her home in suburban Ewa Beach. She's even tried to get her family hooked on her latest addiction - Korean TV dramas.
Stephens is among a growing number of Americans with no ties to Korean culture who say the shows are a compelling and wholesome alternative to the usual U.S. daytime TV fare.
``I like the fact that they're cleaner, they're not as smutty as the American dramas,'' said Stephens, who is 32 and grew up in Durham, North Carolina. ``I didn't think I would enjoy watching, but I really got caught up in it.''
Mainstream commercial outlets also are joining in the Korean craze, with TV dramas becoming South Korea's hottest export since cell phones, women golfers and kimchi. The craze, which includes music and film, has swept through Japan, China, the Philippines, Singapore and most of Asia and is now making its way across the United States.
``It's just a small peninsula nestled between Japan and China, but they've just hit it right,'' said Tom Larsen, general manager of YA Entertainment LLC, a major North American distributor of Korean dramas. ``They know how to put together a good drama that their neighbors in Asia are eating up.''
Now, more Americans are saying hello to ``hallyu,'' or the so-called ``Korean wave'' that Larsen said has come to encompass ``all things Korea.''
``It stopped in Hawaii, built up some momentum and reached California shortly after and is continuing to spread across the states,'' he said. ``The mainland is three, four, five years, behind Hawaii.''
Korean soap operas, once sold only in Asian specialty stores, have gone mainstream with English subtitles.
In Hawaii, retailers such as Wal-Mart, Costco, Borders, Blockbuster and Tower Records offer Korean drama DVD sets for $ 60 to $ 120 (euro50 to euro100), and the DVDs are sold in mainland cities with large Asian communities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and New York.
Since opening in 2003, San Bruno, California-based YA has seen revenue triple in each of the past two years behind strong sales of its top sellers: the tearful love story ``Stairway to Heaven'' and historic drama ``Dae Jang Geum,'' named after an imaginary woman court physician in the 16th century. YA plans to release 22 titles this year.
Fans say the Korean shows, centered around relationships and family, focus more on story lines than special effects and are a refreshing change from American programming they see as too violent and too racy.
Annette Marten, a 69-year-old nurse from Kailua, said Korean soaps depict love in a more romantic and artistic way, without steamy bedroom scenes.
Many Korean dramas have themes similar to American soap operas-- love triangles, forbidden love, evil mothers-in-law and corrupt business partners. But a key difference is that Korean series usually end after 16 to 20 hour-long episodes -- no matter how popular they become. In contrast, CBS's ``Guiding Light'' has been on the air since 1952.
There are blogs, chatrooms, a weekly column in Hawaii's largest daily newspaper, even tours to Korea to visit filming locations. And Korean restaurants, shops and language classes are filled with curious non-Koreans.
Music plays a prominent role in Korean TV dramas, and there's a lot of crossover in acting and singing, such as pop stars Jung Ji-hoon and Eric Mun. Jung, featured in the hit romantic-comedy series ``Full House,'' is better known as the singer ``Rain'' who gave two sold-out concerts at New York's Madison Square Garden last month and played to 40,000 fans at Beijing Workers Stadium in October.
Stephens is among a growing number of Americans with no ties to Korean culture who say the shows are a compelling and wholesome alternative to the usual U.S. daytime TV fare.
``I like the fact that they're cleaner, they're not as smutty as the American dramas,'' said Stephens, who is 32 and grew up in Durham, North Carolina. ``I didn't think I would enjoy watching, but I really got caught up in it.''
Mainstream commercial outlets also are joining in the Korean craze, with TV dramas becoming South Korea's hottest export since cell phones, women golfers and kimchi. The craze, which includes music and film, has swept through Japan, China, the Philippines, Singapore and most of Asia and is now making its way across the United States.
``It's just a small peninsula nestled between Japan and China, but they've just hit it right,'' said Tom Larsen, general manager of YA Entertainment LLC, a major North American distributor of Korean dramas. ``They know how to put together a good drama that their neighbors in Asia are eating up.''
Now, more Americans are saying hello to ``hallyu,'' or the so-called ``Korean wave'' that Larsen said has come to encompass ``all things Korea.''
``It stopped in Hawaii, built up some momentum and reached California shortly after and is continuing to spread across the states,'' he said. ``The mainland is three, four, five years, behind Hawaii.''
Korean soap operas, once sold only in Asian specialty stores, have gone mainstream with English subtitles.
In Hawaii, retailers such as Wal-Mart, Costco, Borders, Blockbuster and Tower Records offer Korean drama DVD sets for $ 60 to $ 120 (euro50 to euro100), and the DVDs are sold in mainland cities with large Asian communities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and New York.
Since opening in 2003, San Bruno, California-based YA has seen revenue triple in each of the past two years behind strong sales of its top sellers: the tearful love story ``Stairway to Heaven'' and historic drama ``Dae Jang Geum,'' named after an imaginary woman court physician in the 16th century. YA plans to release 22 titles this year.
Fans say the Korean shows, centered around relationships and family, focus more on story lines than special effects and are a refreshing change from American programming they see as too violent and too racy.
Annette Marten, a 69-year-old nurse from Kailua, said Korean soaps depict love in a more romantic and artistic way, without steamy bedroom scenes.
Many Korean dramas have themes similar to American soap operas-- love triangles, forbidden love, evil mothers-in-law and corrupt business partners. But a key difference is that Korean series usually end after 16 to 20 hour-long episodes -- no matter how popular they become. In contrast, CBS's ``Guiding Light'' has been on the air since 1952.
There are blogs, chatrooms, a weekly column in Hawaii's largest daily newspaper, even tours to Korea to visit filming locations. And Korean restaurants, shops and language classes are filled with curious non-Koreans.
Music plays a prominent role in Korean TV dramas, and there's a lot of crossover in acting and singing, such as pop stars Jung Ji-hoon and Eric Mun. Jung, featured in the hit romantic-comedy series ``Full House,'' is better known as the singer ``Rain'' who gave two sold-out concerts at New York's Madison Square Garden last month and played to 40,000 fans at Beijing Workers Stadium in October.
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