There is no question that Korea’s history with America has played a huge role in shaping Korean pop culture. Some music scholars, such as music critic Pak Yong-ku, suggest that Korean traditional music was essentially forced into adopting Western music styles through the lens of the Japanese during the colonial period (Maliangkay 2007:54). While others argue that Americanization was not a dominating force that infiltrated Korean culture through imitation of Western ideology, but rather a process that had been gradually spread incorporated into various aspects of Korean culture (Shin & Ho 2009: 85). Despite the opposing views, it is evident that Americanization has had a huge impact on Korean pop music dating far back into history and I believe its impression continues to grow today.
Through the process of, what Shin and Ho termed, “translatability”, Western music traveled globally, thus be adopted into various music genres across Asia, really took off as an influencing force on Korean pop culture since the Cold War (Ibid., 84). The military shows are a prime example of 
“translatability”, where American entertainment mannerisms were adopted by Korean performers such as ‘stage manner’ and ‘showmanship” (Ibid.). The stage presence of K-Pop idols today, such as the incorporation of complex choreography and charismatic stage presence is an aspect of K-Pop that fueled its global domination.
Even some negative aspects of these military shows are present today, such as the demanding training and tight scheduling needed to keep up with the worldwide audience demand. Shin and Ho also suggested that creativity of the artist was not a focus of these performances, and that many good musicians couldn’t pass the audition because they did not fit the look that was in demand (Ibid.). The “production” of idols has been a topic of criticism, with some suggesting the image of what “idols” is and the songs they release may reflect the views of their companies, rather than creativity and musical style of the musician themselves. This longstanding issue is why I believe that some underground artists choose to stay underground and call rappers who join idol groups “sellouts” or the influential force behind decisions of artists, suggested by Jay Park in a 2016 interview with i-D magazine, leaving companies so they can have more freedom in what they produce, incorporating their own originality.
Roald Maliangkay suggested that various qualities of Western music, such as individuality and exhilaration of performers and, of course, the use of foreign language, attracted Korean students (Maliangkay 2006: 23), which is still largely appealing to Korean youth today. Just think of all the song choruses that non-Korean speaking audiences can sing along too. K-pop, and many other forms of Korean music, have been incorporating foreign languages, particularly English, to not only appeal to the international 
audience but also to display the exoticism of language for young Korean audiences. There are many rap competitions shows, such as “Highschool Rapper” and “Show Me the Money” that exemplify this incorporation of foreign language into lyrics. By watching the reaction of the other contestants, the rappers who use English in their raps are clearly seen as more impressive lyricists.
Therefore, with all this in mind, I believe that “americanization” remains a leading influencer on South Korea politically, economically and, most relevant to this course, culturally in the form of K-Pop.
Glasby, Taylor. “International Superstar Jay Park Talks Controversies and Creative Freedom.” i-D, October 25, 2016. https://i-d.vice.com/en_us/article/bjngkv/international-superstar-jay-park-talks-controversies-and-creative-freedom. (accessed 10/01/2018)
Maliangkay, Roald “Their Masters’ Voice: Korean Traditional Music SPs (Standard Play Records) under the Japanese Colonial Rule”. The World of Music 49:3 (2007): 53-74.
Maliangkay, Roald “Supporting Our Boys: American Military Entertainment and Korean Pop Music in the 1950s and Early 1960s.” In K-Pop Music: Riding the Wave, edited by Keith Howard. 21-33. Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental, 2006.
Shin, Hyunjoon and Tung‐hung Ho. “Translation of ‘America’ During The Early Cold War Period: A Comparative Study on the History of Popular Music in South Korea and Taiwan.” Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 10:1 (2009): 83-102.
There is no doubt that American influence has been, and still continues to be significant in K-pop today. As you mentioned, much of it dates all the way back to the 50s and 60s when Korean performers had to learn American stage mannerisms to entertain their troops. “Stage manners,” stage presence, and other aspects of the mannerisms are used today to judge idols’ performances.
It’s interesting that you brought up the lack of creativity as one of the negative American influences, which is interesting because this “production” of idols is brought up almost exclusively for K-pop, and never American popular music. I’ve seen many people, online and offline, criticize K-pop for being “fake” and “unoriginal” while refusing to admit that American pop music has the same problem. Yet, it was Americans who invented the technique and exported it to Korea.
Last thing I want to discuss is your claim that rappers who use English in their lyrics are seen as superior lyricists. I somewhat disagree with this. While most Korean rappers do use some degrees of English, it is mostly used to add a couple small catchphrases into hooks and complete rhymes on what are otherwise mostly Korean verses. If anything, writing too much English disconnects the rapper from the Korean audience who want to listen to and understand the lyrics of the verses. It’s true that hiphop culture itself originated from America and influences most if not all Korean rappers. However, very few Korean rappers have been praised for their lyricism over their English verses. Rather, it’s always been the meaningful and relatable Korean lyrics that fully connected with the Korean audience that earned rappers their respect and created the greatest hits.
I agree that it is hypocritical for people from Western audiences to criticize K-pop idols for unoriginality. Although, as you said, they did start this form of commercialized entertainment, I think the audience do not really see what really goes on behind the curtain. Many pop stars and rappers today don’t write their own lyrics, produce their own songs or choreograph their dances (if they have any), yet they are seen as more “real” than K-pop stars. And on the other side there is a ton of Korean musicians and idols that do write, produce and choreograph and don’t get recognition because of the general stereotype that they are shaped by companies. I personally believe it’s a mix of both so there shouldn’t be any kind of generalization.
In terms of the use of English in rap, I agree with your view that the Korean audience appreciates lyrics in Korean because it allows them to connect to the artist through their words. As a non-Korean speaker who loves rap music, I can personally say that although the song will still sound powerful and I can google lyrics to a song, a punch-line of a verse or word play would be 100 times better if I knew what they were saying as soon as I heard it. I probably shouldn’t have used rap shows as an example since its usually the bilinguals that use English in a way that would make it impressive, especially new artists who are born and raised in Korea but learned English on their own. By this I mean the use of English shows the duality of an artist, especially rappers. One of the reasons why Jay Park and Tablo are some of my favourite artists is because they can rap in both languages with a flow, articulation, and meaning that allows both English and Korean speakers to understand and relate to their lyrics. So, it’s not the incorporation of a few English words to complete a verse that I believe would be seen as impressive (my bad for stating it like that) but rather the ability to rap verses in both languages, and have the switch between language still have meaning.
I agree. The country of origin of music has nothing to do with its originality. The hypocrisy and generalization is toxic and unhelpful for artists and fans of any genre.
On the English in rap topic, I see what you mean more clearly now. As a bilingual, I agree I like Jay Park and Tablo for the same reasons as you. It really is amazing to see talented artists who incorporate both languages in their verses naturally and skillfully, and I feel that these artists will only become more popular with time. I can already see more Korean American rappers gaining popularity in Korea, even their English-heavy tracks, through shows like Show Me the Money.
I also agree that it is very unfair for Western audiences to accuse K-pop artists as “copycats” or “unoriginal” when it was the Americans, as Andrew has pointed out, that brought their own music culture to South Korea in the 1950s. The reason why some K-pop songs sound similar to some hit Western songs is because a lot of K-pop artists work closely with Western composers, although in some cases, it is blatant plagiarism. Due to its cookie-cutter system, people tend to undermine what K-pop artists are capable of doing. There are many advantages of training hopeful starlets to become well-rounded entertainers. In order to stand out from other American girl groups that were dominating the music scene in the 1960s, The Kim Sisters were urged to play musical instruments. In a similar fashion, there are a few companies that encourage their artists to show off their creativity by participating in the album’s making process and/or in creating the choreography for the title tracks, in hopes of breaking the stereotype that idols are “untalented” and/or “robotic”. Idol life has a short shelf life — meaning that there is a limit on the longevity of their popularity. Therefore, idols try out acting or hosting at their peak so that they can find out if this would benefit them in the long run.
I think you have brought up an interesting point that the “showmanship” or “stage manners” that we often see in K-pop came from the Americans due to the military shows. K-pop is best known for its intricate dance moves and powerful stage presence. One aspect of military shows that has also been adapted in today’s system is the audition. Everyone who wanted to be a part of the military shows must pass the audition in order to perform. So then, companies grabbed the chance to train performers in order to gain profit from them because they were paid in dollars, which is prevalent up to this day – except that idols do not only perform for soldiers. In conclusion, American influences are still alive in the present South Korean music scene.
Very solid essay, Waris. I really feel like you’ve managed to process the historical part of the class in your mind and produce your own interpretation, which was the point of this question. I’ll let Ms Kim give you additional comments though, as I’m really just cruising by to monitor and point out that in a bibliography you need to use the same style of capitalization for all entries, regardless of the original. That means probably switching the capitalization in the Shin and Ho. Also, watch the order for names of second authors (check the guide).
Thank you for the feedback Dr.Saeji! I’ll make sure to fix those errors.
First of all, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your essay and you added perfect examples to support your thoughts on the influence of America on Korean culture, especially K-pop.
As we have discussed in class, Korean culture has been intertwined with Western culture since way back in the 50s and 60s, largely due to American troops residing in Korea during the war and American music constantly played and performed in order to entertain the soldiers. As American soldiers were unfamiliar with the Korean language and culture, Korean performers were pressured to sing and dance to English songs. The Mipalgun show is a great example; this was when Korean performers had to cover American songs to become successful and make money because American government spent millions of dollars every month hiring performers who were able to perform in English. Since then, the Koreans have been exposed to various Western cultures and the influences are still present to this day.
During many years of my life in Korea, I experienced numerous transitions from one trend to another and I can confidently say that Korea is responsive to changes and the companies would quickly adjust to the changes and do whatever it takes to attract more audiences and consumers. This applies to all companies including entertainment agencies. K-pop has become globally popular and the international demands have been increasing nonstop. Because of this reason, almost every new idol group is now produced with at least one English-speaking member and it seems like the requirement for success in the entertainment world is to find the perfect fusion of Western and Korean music.
Like you said Waris, singing and rapping in English can be impressive in the eyes of both foreign and younger fans and can also attract more diverse audiences. I agree with you on Americanization that it is one of the main factors that influence K-pop.
I agree with your arguments about the training way of performers which brought by military shows. There is no doubt that American still effect on K-pop music style and the business operating mode. In the 1950s after the end of the colonial era, America soldiers became the chief consumers of the entertainment in Korea. Korean musicians had to learn how to cater to American soldier’s preferences and to shape their performance skills in order to stand firm in the brutal competition between various performers. Korean musicians listened to plenty of American music and practiced their vocal and dancing skills for giving the best performance in the live military shows, and only the outstanding musicians could get the opportunities for higher level performances. This form of practicing and screening is somewhat similar to K-pop idol production. For debuting, young musicians and dancers should pass various assessing and undergo rigorous training. These young people should be well prepared for appearing in public with a perfect impression. It is obvious to see that this unique way of shaping performers had started in South Korea under the effect of American’s military shows.
As you mentioned in your essay, one of the effects of American on Korean music is that many Korean rappers employ English in their lyrics, and I think that even combining rap in K-pop music is also an effect of American. As we learned in class: after the broadcasting such as AFKN and KBS had built up, the popularity of American songs exceeded that of Korean popular songs until the second half of the 1980s. Accordingly, South Korea accepts hip-pop culture earlier and faster than any other Asia countries, and this is the reason why rap always appears in K-pop music. Comparing with Chinese music which less affected by American, rap is hard to see in it. Therefore, we can still see the influences of American in recent K-pop music.
Having the American soldiers in Korea during the 1950s has really influenced K-Pop today because the Korean performers back then had to adapt to the Western entertainment industry to satisfy the American audiences during military shows. Therefore, the Korean performers had to practice their dancing, stage presence and singing skills to match the Western entertainment industry as well as trying to be more popular than the other Korean groups to perform at the show due to the limited capacity for performances. Even today a lot of K-Pop groups/idols practice their dancing, singing, and stage presence until perfection to gain popularity. Another way the Americans have influenced Korea’s pop culture is when the AFKN was introduced in the 1950s. The AFKN was placed in Seoul for the soldier to listen to popular American music and news. A lot of Korean’s back in the day would travel to Seoul to listen to the AFKN since they didn’t have any radio’s in Korea back then, which influenced a lot of Korean artist since they got a feel of what popular music was like in the west. This can also be seen today with K-pop groups/idols using trendy beats that are popular in the West. For example, G-Dragon’s song “Heartbreaker” was influenced by Flo Rida’s song “Right Round”, which became a huge hit because it sounded very Western due to the trendy beat and similar rap flow as Flo Rida.
From reading your discussion, I definitely agree with your statement that America has played a huge role in shaping Korea’s pop culture. For example, hip-hop and R&B were not popular music genres in Korea during the 1950s and 1960s until Seo Taiji and Boys debuted their song “Nan Arayo”, which was a huge hit for the newer generations because it was unique and refreshing to listen to (music that’s not trot or rock etc.). Korea now have several rap shows (which you have mentioned) such as “Show Me The Money”, “Highschool Rapper”, and “Unpretty Rapstar”, which are widely seen domestically and internationally due to the popularity of Korean rap (Korean rappers have nice flows and trendy beats). Going back to what you said about Korean rappers using another language to make themselves stand out more. I do agree with this statement because as you mentioned in your discussion, it allows more international fans to feel more involved with the K-pop group/idol by allowing them to sing along. For example, Jay Park debuted his album “Everything You Wanted” with his hit song “All I Wanna Do”, which he released in two versions (English and Korean) so that his international fans could sing and enjoy the lyrics of the song. BLACKPINK is another group that has done something very similar to Jay Park by releasing two versions (Korean and Japanese+English) of their hit song “DDU-DU DDU-DU”. Lastly, I believe Korean rappers add English into their lyrics because they think it sounds cooler and sets them apart from the other Korean rappers.
The rise and spread of k-pop was built on an active adaption of American pop culture with Korea’s own music and art, so one can expect that the American influences still is and will most likely continue to be present in K-pop culture. The influence of the Americanization is evident then and now: from the artists in Mipalgun shows, to the success of the Kim sisters overseas (their ability to learn and adapt new instruments, languages, and dances in their performances), compared with the diversity in the characteristics of kpop we see today, we can draw the comparison between these two eras appreciation of American pop cultures. Like Waris mentioned, the use of foreign languages, which is many among the various qualities that are adapted into K-pop from western pop music, attracts both the younger generation of Korean audiences and also the international audiences. Since English is a language that is learnt in many other countries aside from those that takes it as their official language, such as China and Japan, it helps international audiences and fans to sing along and feel engaged. I noticed that when I play my longlist, my roommate, who doesn’t listen to Kpop on her own, can follow along with all the catchy phrases or chorus in English after she listens to a song only a few times. She also asked the question, how come all these Korean artists (I played songs by artists from YG and SM mostly) have such perfect pronunciations of the English parts. I thought this observation was interesting coming from the perspective of someone that is not a k-pop fan.
A second point I wanted to discuss regarding Waris and Hyunah’s take on the subject, is how the Hallyu culture shifts and changes, and how it manages to keep their consumers intrigued. When we look back at popular culture’s progress, groups such as EXO and BTS, although their debut is only two years apart, we can see how vastly different their focuses and music styles are. In terms of Rap music with english versus and newer rappers incorporating english into their lyrics, i also believe that the popularity of artists such as Tablo and Jay Park demonstrates the consumer’s inclination to the ability of incorporating and absorbing American influences into the Korean music industry.