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Korean Wave washes over Brunei

Members of UBD's Korean Culture Club performing a traditional Korean dance. The Korean culture has made an impact on Bruneians from movies, television to music. Picture: BT file

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

THE Korean Wave, a term used for the popularity of Korean culture abroad, has made a significant impact on Bruneians, with the emergence of Korean television dramas, movies, music and even clothing that has made its way into many Bruneian lives.

This impact of the Korean culture in Brunei was the reason stated for hosting the ninth Korea Forum in the Sultanate yesterday at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), where scholars and experts from the Korean Institute of Southeast Asian Studies exchanged knowledge and opinions on issues of mutual interests relating to Korea.

According to Dong-Yeob Kim, Korea's Director of International Cooperation, the Korea Forum is held twice a year but in a different Southeast Asian country each time. The main theme for the forum is "Hallyu", or Korean Wave.

"Hallyu is the word used for Korea's recent surge in the entertainment industry that has sparked tremendous interest from abroad, particularly Southeast Asia. With this high impact, it has come to our interest to explain what it is and also to let them know the direction of this Korean wave," said Kim.

The Korean delegation consisted of five Korean scholars and one business man. According to Kim, all of the representatives present have a fascination with Southeast Asia through different fields like culture, economics, history and environment.

The director also explained that the forum should not be executed in a single direction but a two-way direction as it is also an opportunity for Korea to learn about Southeast Asian cultures, which in this case means Brunei.

"Our Korean business man who decided to come with us said that he saw Brunei as a potential market for some Korean businesses and would like to one day establish them here after getting to know more about the country," said Kim.

During the forum, Professor Dr Hung-Guk Cho from Korea's Pusan National University and Professor Dr Byung Wook Choi from Inha University enlightened the students at UBD on "Korean Wave in History".

Both professors elaborated on subjects like "Contacts and social interactions between Korea and Southeast Asia between the first and eighth century" and "Korean poems sung in Vietnam during the 17th century".

In the afternoon session, Professor Dr Shim Doobo from Sungshin Women's University elaborated on the "Korean Wave in popular culture in Asia" while Professor Director Kim Jinsub, who is also a film director, talked about "Social and cultural value of Korean films in Korean Wave".

The final briefing was presented by Professor Dr Yang Seung Yoon from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies about "Emerging Wave of Korean Studies in Indonesia: The Case of Inakos".

"This is the first time that we've actually come to Brunei and so far, we've enjoyed the sights of the water village, museums, and the big mosques which are simply marvelous," said Kim.

"We really feel the calm and peaceful aura here which adds to the clean environment of this country, so we look forward to coming here again in the near future."

The 10th Korea Forum will be held in Singapore later this August. The Brunei Times