Dating : I Want a Korean Boyfriend

THIS IS WRONG

Hallyu

Hallyu is a Chinese term that refers to the global popularity of South-Korea’s cultural influence. If it wasn’t for this article I would have never known there was an actual term for it. An article stated that in the year 2019 Hallyu had estimated a USD 12.3 billion boost on the Korean economy. It truly has been a blessing for the business of the country as much as it has for the image.
One of the strong factors that helped this boost, was the decision of the government to lift the borders for foreign travels. This happened in the early 1990s. Koreans who studied in foreign countries came back with different knowledge, perspective, and therefore new abilities to run certain businesses. This opened up opportunities within the country.

I Want a Korean Boyfriend

First things first, if you think like this we most likely won’t get along. I noticed an earlier article of mine getting some attention. It was about this subject. That article is the perfect example of the ‘right idea wrong execution’. I know what I thought when I wrote it, but I’m not sure everyone else did. So here we go, again.

I keep mentioning this in my articles, but I am learning Korean. For a little over six months now. It’s the main reason this subject keeps me occupied.

The history of K-pop

While it’s relatively new, you can’t say you haven’t noticed the impact it has on at least of these: the music, film, and even fashion industry. Especially K-pop has been put in the top 10 of the world music market. A small fraction of this world is actually able to speak the language. Yet it’s interesting to see that a boy group like BTS has such a loyal fanbase all over the world. People are united by this specific type of music. That’s not where it started though.

A small throwback to 1992, when Seo Taiji and Boys were a thing. A boy group, existing of 3 members ( Seo Taiji, Lee Juno, and Yang Hyun-suk), heavily inspired by American hip-hop. With big hits as ‘Come Back Home’ and I Know they sang about the taboos of South-Korea and made modern dance music. It was something very unusual among other Korean artists. It’s almost funny how Seo Taiji, the founder of the group, initially had no interest in debuting as a dance group. Even to them, the mainstream success came as a surprise.

After their fourth album, the members announced their retiring. This lead to a lot of disappointment from their fans. In 1996 they gave out their compilation album and split their ways. Where Seo Taiji moved to the United States to establish a solo-career, Lee Juno and Yang Hyun-suk went out of their way to start record labels. This lead to Yang Hyun-suk founding one of the top 3 biggest record companies of South- Korea: YG Entertainment.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the way I see it Seo Taiji and Boys walked so artists like Psy and eventually, BTS and Blackpink could run.*

But back to the subject:

I wAnT a KoReAn BoYfRiEnD.

These days, we have the audacity to fetishize everything. Especially on the internet. I thought fetishizing a race was by far the worst, but then I remembered this one YouTuber who made merchandise out of a mental illness.

The rise of Korean pop music or K-pop has been a major part of this issue. Not enough (often young) women realize that men don’t differ that much from each other. Those idols are keeping up an image and you fall for it. And don’t even start about having a type. A type or preference isn’t nearly the same as thinking dating only a specific ethnicity is the way to go. The not-so-funny-but-let’s-call-it-funny part is that it’s not even about race. It’s actually the idea of them being like the boys you read about in books, listen to on Spotify, or watch on Netflix. Even the Youtube channels about this matter are actually facades of who they are and what is going on in their lives. This case is about Korean men. But this can be about any man from any country. Don’t fool yourself. This can happen anywhere.

The amount of interracial couples I have skipped on Youtube is ridiculous. To think every Korean man who slightly looks like that idol would be any similar in characteristics would be a huge mistake. The behavior it boosts is not cute. It’s downgrading the person. There are not enough words that will explain my hate towards the superficial eyes of human beings. It is an insult to the person in question and you.

I remember when we would side-eye men for ‘importing’ their soon-to-be-wife from the Philippines or Thailand. To me, someone who actually enjoys visiting the country (pre-covid) and learning about the culture, it’s such an embarrassment to see how women are catching up with these exact plans. Some no longer visit South-Korea to teach kids English. It’s about moving there, finding a man, and brag about it on Youtube. It gives me and many others a bad name.

Screenshot twitterposts by @miskeencore

*I am aware there are a lot more Korean artists than the ones I mentioned earlier. I don’t want to come across as uneducated, or even give the impression I mock the artists or their fanbase. I just want to set clear examples in order for people to understand the article. Which in this case happen to be these widely-known artists.