Page 37 - issue 29 En

ELITE ISSUE 29, MARCH 2021

We can associate the beginning of Hallyu with several The success and huge popularity of Hallyu in such
influential movies such as the movie "Swiri" which a short period of time is a rather interesting
was released in 1999 achieving great popularity across phenomenon, as South Korea was able to

several Asian countries, along with several Korean successfully compete with the entertainment
dramas that aired in China, Japan, India and others industries in the United States of America and
such as "Autumn in my heart" as well as "Winter Europe. Not only compete, but also exceed them as
Sonata". These works truly started the export of the we witnessed in the Oscars last year,
Korean culture across Asia. Furthermore, several accomplishing a respectful cultural position as well
Korean bands and solo artists started to gain fame in as economic income using its soft powers. The
Asia, thus forming large fan bases of Korean pop question is: can we see other countries replicating
music across the continent. the Hallyu wave? Can we in Egypt benefit from
Korean pop culture continued to spread till the this unique experience?
appearance of social media and smartphones, which

further facilitated the spread of Hallyu to reach
Europe as well as North America. The music video of
the song "Gangam Style" is a clear evidence of the
expansion of Hallyu through social media, as it was
the most watched video on YouTube after its release
in 2012, so much that it became the first video to ever
reach 1 billion views on the platform. In addition,
streaming services played an important role in
introducing more people to Korean dramas and
movies, further spreading Hallyu on and on.

Undoubtedly, the people of the Korean republic are
continuously reaping plentiful benefits as a result of
Hallyu, as the global growth of the phenomenon
greatly contributes to the Korean economy through
the huge revenues attained by the producing
companies of Kpop and Kdramas. For example, "Big
Hit Entertainment" which is the producing company
behind "BTS" managed to achieve revenues
exceeding 500 million dollars throughout 2019.
Additionally, the tourism industry has witnessed
remarkable swell thanks to Hallyu; as millions of
tourists yearly arrive to the various Korean
metropoles with hopes of visiting the locations
where their favorite dramas, movies or music videos
were shot. Over and above, there are noticeable

boosts in the export revenues of many Korean
businesses as a result of Hallyu. Consequently, we
can conclude that Hallyu also resulted in the creation
of countless job opportunities in numerous fields.
Finally, the Hallyu wave promoted the broadcasting
of a positive image of Korean nation.

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