Series, films, music, gastronomy… Many French people have fallen under the spell of South Korean culture. This dazzling breakthrough even has a name: “hallyu”, literally meaning “Korean wave”.
BTS, Blackpink, EXO or Twice… These are K-pop groups followed by millions of fans around the world, who have numerous hits. The clip of Dynamitefrom the group BTS, for example, has more than 1.7 billion views on YouTube, and this is not an isolated case.
Appearing in the early 1990s in South Korea, K-pop established itself across the world at the end of the 2000s. The secret of this success? Catchy music, dynamic clips with elaborate choreography, but not only that. It’s also a whole industry, from recruiting new artists to the crazy shows they put on on stage and on television. The teams of “1:15 p.m. on Saturday” (X, #1:15 p.m.) explore behind the scenes of this globally popular musical movement.
A devouring passion
Antoine is 24 years old, he is French and is part of this generation fascinated by South Korean pop, which he discovered a few years ago by chance while surfing Facebook. It was the group BTS, the most popular boy band in the world, which was the trigger for his passion. Antoine watched one of his clips, then a second… and he soon discovered other artists.
Antoine even joined a K-pop “dance cover” group, in which he reproduces the choreographies of his favorite stars. And he doesn’t miss a concert with his idols when they come to France: like 15,000 other fans, he was at the Blackpink concert in Paris.
A report by Claire Leisink, Benjamine Jeunehomme and Thibault Pomares.
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