K-pop in Spain

 
 

Vocabulary

activity	boom (2)	these days
drama	demand	express (2)
content	disperse	four corners of the globe
kinda	cool (2)	association
cultural	video clip	promote (2)
interest	translate	in particular
random	take part	secretary (2)
group	popularity	am/be like
gather	drive (2)	as well as
include	wave (3)	high school
lecture	compare	pretty much
quality	skyrocket	choreography
solely	heart (2)	opportunity
adapt	dedicated	moisturizer
mask	grab (2)	ingredient
exact	attention	mesmerize
cute	response	overwhelming
inroad	peter out	packaging
range	cosmetics	market (2)
texture	scenario	win/won/won
trend	light (3)	come up with
catchy	consumer

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

The Korean Wave boom is not hard to find anywhere in the world these days.

Spain is one of the countries where demand for K-pop and K-dramas translated into interest in other areas like Korean products and the Korean language.

KimMin-ji files this report from Barcelona.

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Thanks to the internet, Korean content is being dispersed to all four corners of the globe, and have captured the hearts of many foreigners, even here in Spain.

Daniella Lima, Hallyu Fan: “I saw one video clip, and I was like, ‘this is kinda cool.’ And then from K-pop, it went to Korea in general, and I just got very interested in Korean culture.”

Dana Company, Hallyu Fan: “The culture is very interesting as well. And I just love the completely different society compared to Western culture.”

It’s just so cool.”

Spain even has an association that promotes Hallyu as more and more Spaniards express an interest, in K-pop in particular.

Ariadna Canaves, Secretary, Hanguk Association Catalunya: “You go anywhere, just a random class, a high school class, and you say ‘K-pop’ and at least one or two people will be like, ‘Oh, I like this group and that group’.”

This popularity has also driven demand for Korean language learning.

Kim Min-ji, kimmj@arirang.com, Barcelona: “Spanish students gather here to learn Korean as well as to take part in activities that include dancing to K-pop.

Anabel Guardia, Director, Portal Asia: “We do pretty much everything: we learn Korean. We also do lectures about history and culture — anything that has to do with the real cultural side of Korea. The dramas, the choreography, the songs . . . it’s really good quality and people can feel it.”

This skyrocketing interest in all things Korea has also created business opportunities.

Here in the heart of Barcelona is this store solely dedicated to Korean cosmetics. From face masks to moisturizers, these are the exact same products you can find in Seoul.

The ingredients, quality and even packaging is what’s grabbing the attention of Spanish consumers.

And the response has been overwhelming.

Julia Lucas, Barcelona Resident: “They are very cute. The packaging and everything is very cute. And I think they work; they really work.

And here in Europe, the products don’t even work at all. But the Korean products really work.”

Some Korean cosmetics companies have made inroads into the Spanish market themselves.

Cho Son-kyong, Manager, Missha Spain: “We have a really good range of different colors that are adapted to the Spanish and Western countries. They are really light, the texture is really good, and they are really easy to use.”

It’s been a win-win scenario, but to make sure this trend doesn’t peter out, Korea will need to come up with even more catchy content to keep their global fans mesmerized.

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Questions

1. K-pop is popular only in South Korea. True or false?

2. How has K-pop become popular? How do foreigners know about K-pop?

3. Many Spanish teenagers are fans of K-pop singers. Is this correct or incorrect?

4. Are Spaniards only interested in Korean pop and dance?

5. Is the popularity in K-pop good for Korean companies and businesses?

6. How does Julia compare Korean and European cosmetics? Which is better?

7. Can K-pop and Korean companies make and sell the same things, or do they have to create new songs and products?

 
 

A. Is K-pop popular in your country? Do people like to listen to K-pop and watch videos?

B. Are there K-pop clubs? What happens there?

C. Are other foreign pop music and drama popular in your country, e.g. Brazilian, Cuban, German, Indian, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Venezuelan?

D. Are foreign TV drama, serials and movies popular? Where are they from?

E. What will happen in the future?