Further researched on Korea. I found out the contemporary culture of South Korea which developed from the traditional culture of Korea. Since 1948 due to the division of Korea, it has developed separately from North Korea's culture.
The urbanization of South Korea have brought many changes to the way Korean live. Changing economics and lifestyles have led to a concentration of population in major cities, especially the capital, Seoul, with multi-generational households separating into main family living arrangements.
Since 21st century, many people even from other countries has being influenced by Korea's contemporary culture, whereby it is called K-wave or Korean fever. The term was created in China in mid-1999 by Beijing journalists surprised by the fast growing popularity of South Koreans and South Korean goods in China. South Korea is among the world's top ten cultural exporter and the Korean wave began with the export of Korean TV dramas. The growing success of Korean dramas was soon matched by Korean movies,popular music, food and language.
Popular music:
Modern Korean popular music first appeared in the 1930s. In the 1950s and 1960s, the musical performances organized by U.S. forces in and around the American military bases in South Korea provided South Koreans with examples of other modern music. It was constantly developing was arranged by many musicians. In the 1970s and 1980s many musicians appeared. The South Korean pop music scene soon had several genres: Boy or girl bands whose appeal lay mostly in their appearance; a technically difficult, older genre that had its roots in the colonial period and was popular with older Koreans; and the often amateur acoustic guitar singer-songwriters, who became popular in the 1960s and sang in a simple vocal style. In 1970s, rock music was introduced into South Korea, Trot, pop music inspired by Japanese-styled music, also became a main genre in pop music.
Noraebang (Karaoke):
Karaoke is most commonly called "Noraebang" which means song room in Korea. Noraebang is even conducted in transport vehicles such as tourist buses.
Film and Television:
Since the success of the Korean film "Shiri" in 1999, Korean film has become much more popular, both in South Korea and abroad. Today South Korea is one of the few countries where Hollywood productions do not enjoy a dominant share of the domestic market. This fact, however, is partly due to the existence of screen quotas requiring cinemas to show Korean films at least 73 days a year. "Shiri" was a film about a North Korean spy preparing a coup in Seoul. The film was the first in Korean history to sell more than two million tickets in Seoul alone. This helped "Shiri" to overtake box office hits such as "The Matrix" and "Star Wars". The success of "Shiri" motivated other Korean films with larger budgets.
In 2000 the film "Joint Security Area" was a huge success and even overtook the benchmark set by "Shiri". One year later, the film "Friend" managed the same. In South Korea the romantic comedy "My Sassy Girl" outsold "The Lord of The Rings" and "Harry Potter" which ran at the same time. The director of "Joint Security Area" has gone on to direct many popular films in Korea and abroad especially the cult film of 2003, "Oldboy". Kim Ki Duk is also a well respected filmmaker and is known for using minimal dialogue between characters to create an emotional response from the audience. He is known especially for "3-Iron" and "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring". As of 2004, new films continue to break records, and many Korean productions are more popular than Hollywood films. Both "Silmido "and "Brotherhood" were watched by over 10 million people, which is almost a quarter of the Korean population. "Silmido" is a film based on a true story about a secret special force. The other is a blockbuster movie about the Korean War directed by the director of "Shiri". "The Host" (2006) part monster movie, part social parody broke Korean box office records and has become fairly popular in the United States as well.
This success attracted the attention of Hollywood. Films such as "Shiri" are now distributed in the United States. In 2001, Miramax Films even bought the rights to an Americanized remake of the successful Korean action comedy movie, "My Wife is a Gangster".
Many Korean films reflect the unique circumstances of the division of Korea. Many of the critically recommended films focus on subtle emotions, inviting comparison to French films, but with the recent international successes and growing budgets, the Korean film industry has also been criticized for imitating Hollywood blockbusters.
Korean television and dramas series by Koreans have become extremely popular outside of Korea. Dramas were foremost among cultural exports driving the Korean Wave trend in Asia and elsewhere. The trend has driven Korean stars to fame and has done much to boost the image and prestige of Korean popular culture.
Dramas showcase a wide range of stories, but the most prominent among the export dramas have been romance (Autumn Fairy Tale, Winter Sonata, Goong, Stairway To Heaven, Full House, Boys Over Flower) and historical fantasy dramas (Dae Jang Geum, Hwang Jin Yi, Iljimae). Korea has also aired their first blockbuster spy drama, IRIS.
Language:
Modern literature is often linked with the development of hangul, which helped spread literacy from the dominant classes to the common people, including women. Hangul, however, only reached a dominant position in Korean literature in the second half of the 19th century, resulting in a major growth in Korean literature. Sinsoseol (new novels or new fictions), for instance, are type of Korean novels which began and grew during the Korean Empire, in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Food:
Rice is the staple food of Korea. That's why they eat rice every meal everyday. Having been an almost exclusively agricultural country until recently, the essential recipes in Korea are shaped by this experience. The main crops in Korea are rice, barley, and beans, but many supplementary crops are used. Fish and other seafood are also important because Korea is a peninsula.
Fermented recipes were also developed in early times. These include pickled fish and pickled vegetables. This kind of food provides essential proteins and vitamins during the winter.
A number of menus have been developed. These can be divided into ceremonial foods and ritual foods. Ceremonial foods are used when a child reaches 100 days, at the first birthday, at a wedding ceremony, and the sixtieth birthday. Ritual foods are used at funerals, at ancestral rites, shaman's offerings and as temple food.
Korean cuisine as a national cuisine known today has evolved through centuries of social and political change. Its roots can be traced back to myths and legends of antiquity. Originating from ancient agricultural and nomadic traditions in southern Manchuria and northern Korean peninsula, Korean cuisine has evolved through a complex interaction of the natural environment and different cultural trends.
Dining Etiquette:
Dining etiquette in Korea can be traced back to the Confucian philosophies on the Joseon period.
Suggestions below include items such as amongst many other recommendations which emphasized proper table etiquette:
-When you see a fat cow, pig, or chicken, do not immediately speak of slaughtering, cooking or eating it.
-When you are having a meal with others, do not speak of smelly or dirty things, such as boils or diarrhea.
-When eating a meal, neither eat so slowly as to appear to be eating against your will nor to fast as if to be taking someone else's food.
-Do not throw chopsticks on the table.
-The rice bowl is not lifted from the table when eating from it.
This is due to the fact that each diner is given a metal spoon along with the chopsticks known collectively as Sujeo. The use of the spoon for eating rice and soups is expected. There are rules which reflect the good manner of sharing common side-dishes.
-Not picking through the dishes for certain items while leaving others that the diner does not desire
-The spoon being used should be clear of other food particles, because usually diners put their spoons in a same serving bowl on the table.
-Diners should also cover their mouths with a hand when using a toothpick after the meal.
The eldest male at the table was always served first, commonly served to them in the men's quarters by the women of the house. Women usually dined in a separate portion of the house after the men were served. The eldest men or women always ate before the younger family members. The meal was usually quiet, as conversation was discouraged during meals. In modern times these rules have become lax, as families usually dine together now and use the time to converse. Of the remaining elements of this decorum, one is that the younger members of the table should not pick up their chopsticks or start eating before the elders of the table.
The manner of drinking alcoholic drinks at dining is particularly important in Korean dining etiquette. Each diner is expected to face away from the eldest male and cover his or her mouth when drinking alcoholic drinks. In more strict situations, when the eldest male offers a diner a drink, the diner should politely refuse it three times. After three refusals, when the eldest male offers one more time, then finally the diner can receive it and start to drink.
STILL HAS A LOT MORE TO RESEARCH ON~ T.T
- Hanbok
-Beliefs
-Crafts and paintings
- Hanbok
-Beliefs
-Crafts and paintings
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