Winter Sonata Review

Winter Sonata tells the touching story of two high school lovers, Jun Sang (준생) and Yu Jin (유진), and their maturation through time. Though a modest hit in Korea, Winter Sonata proved to be the most successful Korean import to Japan, thus fueling more energy to the growing Halyu craze and stapling Bae Yong Jun (배용준) as one of the most prominent figures in Asia. The story begins like most Korean dramas with a flashback to the past; we are introduced to Jun Sang, who has recently been transferred to Yu Jin’s high school. Jun Sang, whose extroverted and mysterious behavior draws attention to his classmates, ends up falling in love with Yu Jin after defending her from an attacker. However, their short term love is cut short when Jun Sang supposedly dies in a car accident, leaving Yu Jin heart-broken and fixated on what seems to be her true love.

When watching Winter Sonata, many questions came into my mind. Primarily though, what allowed Winter Sonata, as opposed to other Korean dramas, to succeed outside the Korean peninsula? To me, I think it is holds the traditional Asian values of Confucianism; family is an important element, thus making the story easily be adaptable into Chinese or Japanese. Also, differing from western culture, Asians can easily relate to the characters lives and lifestyle. The target audience seems to be more diverse than the traditional drama. Especially in Japan and Taiwan, the new dramas are aimed toward the younger generation; these stories are usually very simplistic and childlike, whereas Winter Sonata assumes more from our audience and offers a deep and compelling story. Though the story of Winter Sonata can be enjoyed by any age group, it seems primarily popular toward middle aged ladies.

The story line is easy to follow as there are primarily four major characters; this allows for more character development. The characters are often extreme in their personalities and play polar opposites of one another. For example, Sang Hyuk always understands and takes his character’s image of being a nice guy to the extent that it is not believable. The same goes for Chae Lin, as she is always portrayed as what seems to be the villain, often wearing red colors. Her character seems to be the opposite of Yu Jin, who is the traditional conservative Korean girl. There is also the aspect of character duality, where Jun Sang personified anger and Ming Yeong (Jun Sang in the future) happiness. What might have attracted viewers is the idea of incestuous love, which is very much taboo in any society.

The drama also allowed other Asians to see another part of Korean culture. Korean men are often stereotyped to be very aggressive and womanizing, however, Winter Sonata showed the outside audience that there was a very soft side to the Korean culture. Very few non-Koreans know how similar Korean culture is to Chinese and Japanese culture and that it too uses Han Ja characters (한자). To me, it was especially interesting to see the Japanese audience fall in love with a Korean actor. Especially being a former Japanese colony, it could be deemed as a major milestone.

Basically, Winter Sonata is a touching story with unforgettable characters. It really plays on the idea of fate (which is still regarded heavily in Asian society), how Jun Sang and Yu Jin were childhood lovers, and that their love prevailed no matter how dire the consequences.


- Alex Liu

Winter Sonata Drama Fever

http://uniorb.com/ATREND/Japanwatch/wsdramafever.htm

WINTER SONATA DRAMA FEVER
Diana Lee

When the director, Yun Seok Ho, produced Winter Sonata in 2002, he had no idea that he possessed a gold mine, which has been opening multiple doors to political, social, and economic changes throughout Asia. Yun Seok Ho has single-handedly accomplished in one TV drama series that politicians, social trendsetters, and entrepreneurs have tried so hard for many years only to achieve limited success.

The phenomenal hit of Winter Sonata has swept across Asia, making history along its path — melting the cultural barrier between South Korea and Japan; heightening the Korean image and promoting tourism to the peninsula; branding winter fashion overseas; and raking in astronomical profits for the South Korean entertainment industry. Extending across the continent, Winter Sonata catapulted its main actor and actress to world stage as international celebrities — Bae Yong Jun as the Asian heartthrob and Choi Ji Woo as the beautiful, talented idol.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Winter Sonata has done more politically for South Korea and Japan than the FIFA World Cup co-hosted by these two countries in 2002. In an earnest effort to overlook their bitter historical past, both governments promoted cultural exchanges before the World Cup event, but it wasn’t until the huge success of Winter Sonata in Japan that triggered a craze for all things South Korean. Recognizing the important political impact on South Korea attributed by the ever-increasing popular TV drama, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism awarded the prestigious Presidential Prize to its director, Yun Seok Ho, for his immense contribution in promoting exports of cultural products.

Riding the crest of a tsunami, Winter Sonata has reached a feverish pitch in Japan — it has captured the hearts of women, baffled the social analysts, and stunned the media. Although South Korean TV dramas have enjoyed popularity in many Asian countries for years, Japan is viewed as a latecomer in joining the “Korean wave.” NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster introduced Winter Sonata as the first South Korean TV drama shown on its satellite channel in 2003. Because of its explosive popularity, Winter Sonata was aired twice in the same year. Knowing a ‘golden egg’ when it saw one, NHK rushed to publish novels based on the screenplay and program guidebooks, as well as to produce DVDs, CDs and videos for both entertainment and for learning Korean. In addition, NHK hosted a classical concert featuring Winter Sonata’s melodic tunes performed by many Korean musicians. Meanwhile, travel agencies offer tour packages that highlight shooting locations of Winter Sonata and rare moments to meet the stars. The members of the Winter Sonata’s cast, including the singer, Ryu, have been repeatedly invited to Japan to make personal appearances for interviews and shooting commercials. The Winter Sonata fever reached its peak when Bae Yong Jun visited Japan last spring to promote “Scandal,” a massive crowd (mainly women) turned unexpectedly into a stampede, injuring a dozen fans at the airport.

The social impact of Winter Sonata has been felt in countries as close as China and as far away as the Philippines — in terms of fashion, social trend, and social behavior. These days, fans tend to imitate their favorite stars, instead of just cheering for them on the sidelines. Even in Singapore, a nation known for its warm and humid climate all year round, fans wanted to learn how to wrap the wool scarf conspicuously worn by Bae Yong Jun and Choi Ji Woo. The Polaris star has found its mark as a symbol of everlasting love in an array of lucrative markets ranging from jewelry to telephone accessories.

Contrary to most entertainment nowadays with a strong emphasis on passion and sex appeal, the TV drama Winter Sonata depicts wholesome love in its purest form without any nude or lustful contents to mitigate the essence of true love. Yet, Winter Sonata’s popularity continues to grow, baffling social analysts and entertainment commentators. With romantic fantasies, women show outpouring adulation for Bae Yong (the Japanese fans even gave him an honorific title, “Prince Yong”) due to the actor’s own personal charm and his convincing portrayal of an ideal mate of modern times in Winter Sonata. Instead of being clad in shining armor on a white horse, the present day Prince Charming is armed with good looks, intelligence, thoughtfulness and success, yet can still be faithful and devoted to one lover. Unlike the commercialized macho image of a handsome stud surrounded by several gorgeous women to conquer, this Prince Charming displays distinguished qualities — sensitive and compassionate to others, understanding of woman’s emotional needs, attentive and dedicated to his woman, and always protective of her, not only from physical but also from emotional and mental harm. It’s a tall order for any man, but not at all impossible.

In the past, South Korea was touted for exporting manufacturing goods, but now it is known for exporting entertainment products. The sensational popularity of Korean TV dramas and movies overseas could be the advent of the second economic boom for South Korea. The economic effects of Winter Sonata in South Korea have enormously benefited the entertainment and tourism industries. The result from Korea and Japan alone is staggering — 1 trillion won in Korea and more than 2 trillion won in Japan (total: 27 billion dollars). Japanese visitors accounted for 41.6% of 1.99 million visitors to South Korea last year, followed by the Taiwanese as the second largest group of foreign visitors, according to Korea National Tourism Organization (KNTO). As a result, flights from Haneda to Kimpo airports will be increased and Pusan will be adding extra ferry runs to some of the six Japanese ports. According to statistics for exports of South Korean TV dramas last year, Taiwan leads with 24.5%, followed by Japan with 19%, China with 18.6% and Hong Kong with 3.3%.

The Korean wave for TV dramas appears to have promises ahead as they recently started courting new audiences in other parts of the world. In Mexico, thousands of viewers organized fan clubs after seeing the hit TV dramas “Everything on Eve” and “Stars in My Heart.” Egypt has already provided good reviews for “Autumn Tale” and will air “Winter Sonata” this year. Perhaps, the popularity of Korean entertainment will spill over to other nations in Central America, Africa, and even to other continents in the world.

Although Winter Sonata fever may not last forever, one thing is certain — as Winter Sonata makes its way around the globe in a Korean wave, this TV drama series and its cast will be remembered in the hearts of fans forever.


I was surprised that Winter Sonata has already been screened in places like Egypt and Mexico. It really shows how far Korean pop culture is spreading. Also, I think the popularity of the drama is especially important regarding the tourism and economic aspect. Seeing the beautiful cinematography, many people are now interested in visiting Korea, and Japan is even offering special "Winter Sonata" tours to people.
However, do you think Winter Sonata has as much big of an effect as this article says? I'm interested in knowing what has been watched more. Winter Sonata, or the World Cup. I would guess that the World Cup has a wider audience, but Winter Sonata has been screened more.

YYZ

Oldboy Review

Oldboy, the heartbreaking love story

I don’t like disgusting movies. In fact, I hate those. Even when “Oldboy” was one of the must-be-watched movies couple of years ago in Korea, I was literally apathetic. Incest, vengeance, and murder, these unfamiliar and unfavorable topics of this film made me just frowning toward the poster of it. Years later, I found myself as an enthusiastic fan of the film. The heartbreaking love story, hidden behind the mutual bloody vengeance, was unexpectedly impressive enough to attract me.
Oh Dae-su, kidnapped by an unknown person in one rainy day and imprisoned with an unknown reason for 15 years, was definitely ready for his revenge when he was released from the prison. All he wanted to know was why on earth and by whom he was imprisoned, neither where his little daughter would be, nor who killed his wife. After 15 years of imprisonment, he was not Oh Dae-su anymore. He was just a monster eager to retaliate for his years in prison by blood.
Mi-do was the one who helped him to find "the real Oh Dae-su" inside the monster, by love. Getting to know her more and getting to love her, Oh Dae-su finally kneeled down before Woo-jin, who imprisoned him. As a father of, and as a lover of Mi-do, Dae-su begged of Woo-jin not to let her know the truth, cutting his own tongue. Dae-su's 15-year-old plan for revenge was nothing compared to his love.

Woo-jin, who had lost his love because of Dae-su's tongue, followed his sister by committing suicide in the elevator. His revenge on Dae-su might be a way of showing his resentment toward the whole society. Even though he chose a cruel way of revenge, he was a scapegoat of the society which doesn't accept the taboo of love between siblings. When Dae-su cut his tongue in front of him, Woo-jin realized that Dae-su loved Mi-do as much as he loved his sister, Soo-ah. Reminiscing of the moment his sister chose to give up her life, and missing her, he gave up his life too.

Under the dreadfully repeated background music and dark screen, Park Chan-wook hid two sad love stories, both considered as taboos in our society. His unique way of approaching to love with those sensational topics such as bloody vengeance, incest and suicide proved the reason of Oldboy’s glaring success in the international film festivals. Oldboy, a heartbreaking love story disguised as a revenge story, will be remembered in my mind as the most shocking but beautiful Korean film.

Special Lecture on NK Economy

Wondering what all the fuss is about NK's counterfeiting operations?

The Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Pennsylvania
invites you to attend:

A special lecture on
North Korea's External Economy
Dr. Byoung Se Cho, Chairman of Strategy and
Planning Committee, People's First Party, and
Adjunct Professor at Hanyang University

Tuesday, January 31, 4:30PM, Stiteler B21

Bi

It is always encouraging to read about Asian artists trying to hold concerts in the US. The recent coverage of the artist Rain in NYC by the New York Times (and previously by Times Magazine) has definitely offered this budding superstar an unprecedented PR platform within the US. Rain is a protégé of Park Jin Young, who is widely regarded in Korea as an excellent producer, songwriter and dancer. Despite Park’s amazing success as an artist in Korea, he still failed to penetrate the American market (some say his bad looks, some say the markets were not ready – I leave it as it is, unknown). His collaboration with Will Smith, etc. has not been extremely noteworthy (KoreAm covered Park in one of their issues published last year). When I say penetrate the American market, I refer to the mainstream America market. Our discussion on the Korean wave has been based on the ability of Korean popular culture to permeate non-Korean cultures. Likewise, we should apply this criterion to Rain’s performance in Madison Square. His scheduled performance attests to two possibilities

1. there is a large enough Korean audience in NYC and NJ to fill up Madison Square Garden, which speaks about the history of Korean immigration in those places
2. Bi is really that popular that even non-Asians will be flocking to his concert, causing a Shakira like stampede

I am not in charge of manning ticket sales, but I am willing to bet that it is the former is more plausible. When Jacky Cheung and Faye Wong performed to a few hundred thousand audiences during their tours in the US, no one saw it as a Chinese Wave – there were simply enough Chinese people to sell tickets to and make a huge killing. Bi’s concert will not be any different, as much as I would like to see an Asian artist from Asia grip mainstream America. But hey, at least he got covered by the New York Times.

(http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501050919-1103646,00.html)

- Aaron