Sometimes it’s not easy to be a fan of Korea. The language is very difficult for one thing. The country can be hard to understand and the people can be fairly intolerant of foreigners (not all, but definitely some). What makes it really difficult are the many fans who seem to like Korea because of the recent Korean wave, known as Hallyu. The popularity of Korean dramas and pop-music has led to fans calling anything Korean K-something or other: from food to dramas.
I don’t hate K-pop, I think it’s enjoyable if inane part of Korean culture. I like the old traditions and I don’t think that K-pop, or K-drama has anything of value to say about Korean culture. That hasn’t stopped seemingly thousands of fans from making annoying you-tube videos with pop-up emoticons and sappy music. Most of them are extremely boring They also try and copy Korean behaviour such as age-yo, where every expression is exaggerated and baby-talk is used. Most korean women rarely act in this way but that hasn’t stopped them from adapting it in a bizarre piece of cross-cultural appropriation.
Korea has a rich history dating back thousands of years but most fans (they seem to be mainly female) seem to think Korean culture starts with Girls Generation and Super Junior. I would be surprised if someone based their love of England on songs by the Spice Girls and Take That.
Although I enjoy learning about Korea (I’ve read several books about its history) I don’t think everything that has come out of the country has done in recent years has been great. However these fans are making me wonder if I should start loving a different Asian country (like Japan) instead.