to what extend is the influence of south korean’s hallyu...
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To What Extend is the Influence of South Korean’s Hallyu Culture in Vietnam as an Example of Globalization, Cultural Blending, and/or Cultural Imperialism?
Name: Tran, Thai Bao PhamSubject: IB GeographySupervisor: Junie Michel
Pham
Abstract
The aim of this investigation is to see if South Korea’s Hallyu culture in Vietnam an
example of globalization, more specifically, cultural blending and/or cultural imperialism, by
testing the hypothesis: “The influence of South Korean’s Hallyu culture in Vietnam is an
example of globalization, cultural blending, and/or cultural imperialism to an extend.”
Korea has a very big impact to Vietnam, due to a large number of foreign investments and the
signing of cultural agreement, which introduce more Korean culture towards Vietnam.
First of all, by looking at the renovation of Korean entertainment industry, it explains
the factors that help Korean entertainment globalize, hence, making a strong impact on
Vietnamese teenagers. Through that, show the influence Korea has on Vietnam, such as
Vietnamese singers copy Korean performing and appearance style, or Vietnamese teenagers
have a strong support for Korean music band. Afterwards, the two investigations are going to
show clearer how much Hallyu has an impact on Vietnamese teenagers, which investigate the
reaction of the respondents towards Hallyu, hence, will be able to see more about the
respondents’ perspective towards Korean culture and its effect on Vietnam. The changes,
which Hallyu has made on Vietnamese younger generation, contain the change in fashion
style, which boys and girls adopt unisex style, or changes in behaviors, such as cohabitation.
In conclusion, the investigation will support the hypothesis, that “The influence of
South Korean’s Hallyu culture in Vietnam is an example of globalization, cultural
blending, and/or cultural imperialism to an extend,” and restate the behaviors that
Vietnamese people have that shows the Korean influences. Furthermore, this investigation
will might lead to other investigations on other examples of cultural imperialism/cultural
blending in Vietnam, such as the influence of English in Vietnamese language.
Words count: 281
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Table of Contents
I. Introduction................................................................................................................Page 4
II. Investigation and Analysis.......................................................................................Page 10
III. Study and Survey....................................................................................................Page 20
IV. Conclusion...............................................................................................................Page 26
V. Work Cited Page......................................................................................................Page 28
VI. Appendices..............................................................................................................Page 31
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To what extend is the influence of South Korean’s Hallyu culture in Vietnam an
example of globalization, cultural blending, and/or cultural imperialism?
Introduction
The goal of this essay is to investigate Vietnamese adolescents, using the hypothesis
“The influence of South Korean’s Hallyu culture in Vietnam is an example of
globalization, cultural blending, and/or cultural imperialism to an extend.”
Globalization is the integration of international countries, global relationships, and the
spread of ideas, and lifestyles between cultures. It has an effect on humanity, economy, or
both in a world wide scale (Nagle). Figure 1 shows globalization and its effects towards a
country’s economy, politic, culture/social, and environment; for example, when a country
globalizes, more foreign investors will invest in that country, increasing trading and jobs
availability. However, globalization can have bad effect on the environment, such as the
increase of different types of pollution, or deforest to build more factories in order meet the
demand of foreign investments.
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Figure 1. Globalization and its effectsSource: Waugh, David. "Development and
Globalisation." Geography: An Integrated Approach. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes, 2009. Print.
Globalization has created cultural blending. Cultural blending is the interaction of two
or more cultures, producing a new form of behavior (Beck). Conquest, migration, pursuit of
religion freedom, and trade are the four main activities which cause cultural blending, making
one country becomes unique (Beck). For example, Vietnam uses Roman alphabet from the
French colony, but still uses Chinese terminologies from the Chinese years of colonization,
making Vietnam different from the rest of Asian countries that do not use Roman alphabet as
their native languages.
Cultural imperialism is also another result of globalization, meaning the cultural
influence and dominance of one country over another country. It usually happens in the
relationship between a powerful and a less powerful country, for example, a MEDC – more
economically developed country – can have a cultural imperialism effect on a LEDC - least
economically developed countries. It can also be a result of conquest, migration, religion
practice, and trading (Beck). An example of cultural imperialism is the use of Western
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terminology among the Vietnamese younger generation like saying no, yes, or salutation in
English (Vo).
The reason why this essay chooses to study about the effects of Korean culture on
Vietnam is because as the world is globalizing, along with Korean media’s expansion, and
the consumerism of different countries on Korean entertainment. It has been a recognized
characteristic of the MEDCs, for instance, Korea (Cooke, Nagle). Its consequence can be
cultural diffusion, or the cultural ideas spreading from one place to another. Consumerism is
the behavior and the reaction of the consumers towards the material goods (Cooke, Nagle).
Korea entertainment has been exposing to various countries, specially in Asia, because of the
demand of consumption globally. Korea entertainment has been able to produce more goods
with sensible prices (Cooke, Nagle); and through globalization, by exposing with too much
Korean media, Vietnamese can become a product of cultural cultural blending or cultural
imperialism.
Vietnam has an agricultural tradition, with a 75% population living in the countryside,
farming (H.N.V). During the momentum of Doi Moi, or the Renovation, in 1986, Vietnam
government decided to industrialize and modernize the country by opened for international
trading, and allowed foreign direct investment (FDI) to invest in Vietnam. In the process of
internationalizing, Vietnam has joined the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary
Fund (IMF), Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and the Association of Southeast Asia Nations
(ASEAN), being an active member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
(H.N.V). And most important, Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in
2007. The join of different organizations, interactions with different countries, and the
diverse countries’ cultures and ideas have lead to cultural diffusion in Vietnam.
Korean and Vietnamese top political leaders usually visit the trading partners, in order
to increase the bilateral relationship (“Tổng Quan”). The two nations increase long-term
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commercial and investment. It enhances cultural, art, journalism, sports, academia, and
tourism exchanging between the young people of two countries (“Tổng Quan”). Also, the
Korean and Vietnamese political leaders work together; strengthen the bilateral relationship
in the United Nations (UN), WTO, ASEAN, APEC, and ASEM. They reinforce the
cooperation in the field of engineering, industry, technology information, energy, and
resources. The beneficial is to increase the economy, the GDP/capita of the country,
preventing the country from poverty, and helping the citizens to be more open-minded.
Korean has also become an important economic partner of Vietnam. Throughout
fifteen years, Korea is always been in the top five countries that have the strongest economic
relationship of Vietnam. In figure 3, the second highest foreign investor in Vietnam is Korea,
with 11.5%, after Taiwan with 11.8% (Figure 2). Even though Korea is the 2nd highest in
number of investors, it has the highest number of projects of investment (Figure 3). The
bilateral relationship between two countries and the high number of Korean investments in
Vietnam has shown why Korea has such great impact on Vietnam. The reason why the FDI
can make such an impact of Vietnam is because when Korean companies invest in Vietnam,
they also bring to Vietnam their ideas and their beliefs. Not to mention, the Korea
entertainment industries investment in Vietnam can increase the amount Vietnamese
consumers by increasing the number of supplies simultaneously.
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Figure 2. The Foreign Investors in Vietnam from 1999-2010 in pie chart indicates that Korea has one of the top investments in Vietnam. Source: "FDI in Vietnam from 1990 - 2010." Chart. BMI View on FDI Attractiveness of
Vietnam in Year 2011. Viet Partners. Web. 9 May 2012.
Figure 3. The FDI in Vietnam in 2010 Source: "FDI in the First Half of 2010." Chart. BMI View on FDI Attractiveness of
Vietnam in Year 2011. Web. 9 May 2012.
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With many Korean investments in Vietnam, especially the entertainment industry, the
two countries have signed cultural agreement in August 1994 (“Tổng Quan”). Since then,
cultural exchanges, art exhibition, cinema and public performances frequently occur (“Tổng
Quan”). Vietnam has over 1000 students attend at undergraduate, graduate school, language
program in Korea through scholarships and self-sufficient (“Tổng Quan”). The Vietnamese
students bring back Korean idea, culture to Vietnam, cause cultural blending in the country.
The most Korean regconized trend in Vietnam that causes cultural blending and
cultural imperialism is called Hallyu, which is one’s growing desire to learn, or know more
about Korean culture. Most of the Southeast Asia countries are influenced by Hallyu, like
Burma, Vietnam, Philippines, along with China, and United States, which has a large number
of migrated Asians (“Geography”). Since two countries have had the cultural agreement,
Vietnam opens for more Korean culture. Young Vietnamese teenagers have embraced the
trend enthusiastically by supporting lots of Korean sensations (Ngoc).
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Investigation and Analysis
I. Aspects of Hallyu Influence:
Korean movie industry are influenced by Hollywood blockblusters’ stratergies. In
Korea, the spread of multiplexes movie theaters and production cost of local movies have
increased 60%, while foreign movies’ share decreased almost 40% (Lee). The rise of
production cost is one of the factor, which helps increase the movies’ quality, in terms of high
definition, scripts, with more expensive and meticulously set locations, professional crews,
actors, and actresses (Lee). Korean movie industries purposefully adjust the creation of the
movies in order to attracts the foreign audiences, therefore, it can affect the audience
behaviors and beliefs.
Figure 4 shows the importers of Korean movies by region between the year 2000 to
2004; the number represents the total number of people watch Korean movies. The table
shows that the number of people watch Korean movies in the world increases rapidly
annually; the continent with the highest change is North America with 22,207%, or 28,87
million people. In Asia, the number of people watch Korea movies increases by 683%. Even
though there is a significant percentage increase in North America, Asia is still the most
potential country in terms of Korean movies consumption, with the increase of 39 million of
people watch Korean movies in four years. In addition, the number of exporting Korean
movies to foreign countries has increased 259% comparing quarter 1, 2011 to quarter 1, 2012
(Figure 5). The increase of the number of movies export and movies consumption show that
the influence of Korean entertainment is gloabally, therefore, increase exposure to Korean
culture resulting in Vietnam.
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2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Asia 5,784,395 8,260,865 10,499,979 19,024,000 45,327,500
North America 13,000 1,234,600 695,500 4,486,000 2,900,000
South America - 15,000 47,000 82,500 141,500
Europe 1,256,350 1,473,412 2,365,500 5,724,000 8,245,250
Oceania - 10,696 123,600 30,000 152,850
Others - 255,000 1,220,500 1,632,500 1,517,500
Figure 4. The total number of people watching movies in each region.Source: Lee, Shi Young, Eun-mee Kim, and Sung Hee Jung. "On the Exportability of Korean
Movies." Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2009. Web. 7 May 2012
Figure 5. Sustainable Growth. Content Industry Trends 1Q12 Report Content Industry Trends Report (side) Film Industry.Rep. no. 7. N.p.: n.p., 2012. Web. 28 Aug. 2012.
Korean music industry is more popular than Chinese and Taiwanese’s because of their
focusing on production process along with globalizing the projects, instead of focusing on the
number of products consumption domestically (Hyunjoon). Korean pop music, K-pop, has
become very successful among East and Southeast Asia pop music since the late 1990s
(Hyunjoon). Since there’s cultural agreement between the two countries, more Korean
performances have taken place in Vietnam. One of the example of sensational Korean star in
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Vietnam is Bi Rain. As an international singer, Bi Rain is very familiar to Korean audiences,
other Asian countries’ audiences, Vietnamese specifically, through an acting role in the
movie Full House and his singing career (K. Nguyen). Since Rain has a big impact on
Vietnamese audiences, he was chosen by the Korean government to be an emcee (Figure 6)
in Vietnamese-Korean relationship concert in 2012 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of
diplomatic relations between the two countries (Linh). His tour in Vietnam in 2006 was not
just a tour to advertise the Korean music, but it also combined the movement of ideas
between Korean and Vietnamese (Linh). It created a chance for Vietnamese and Korean
directors, and singers to share their ideas and ways of doing things two each other
(K.Nguyen). Because the directors have the chance to work together to share ideas, this lead
to a cultural blending in the Vietnamese entertainment industry, which has a big influence on
Vietnamese audiences.
Figure 6. Bi Rain as an emcee in the Vietnamese-Korean concertSource: "S.Korean Star Bi Rain Emcees VN-Korea Friendship Concert." Tuoi Tre
News. Tuoi Tre Newspaper, 20 Mar. 2012. Web. 23 May 2012.
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After the concert, Vietnamese singers begin to follow Korean performing style (“Khi
Sao Viet”). My Tam, a famous Vietnamese singer, after Rain’s concert, has studied abroad in
Korea to learn about filming techniques, rendering, harmonies, and instrumental
arrangements (Figure 7) (“Sao Viet”). Another singer, Nam Cuong, has visited Big Bang’s
company, a sensation Korean music band and their company, and watched their live concert
in other to see the popularity of the band in their own country, along with studying about the
filming techniques (Figure 8).
Figure 7. My Tam in Korea with a Korean choreographerSource: Thanh Trung. "Mỹ Tâm Hạnh Phúc Với Những Bận Rộn Tại Hàn
Quốc." Dan Tri Online Newspaper. Dan Tri Newspaper, 23 Oct. 2006. Web. 18 July 2012.
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Figure 8. Hoang Hai’s visit to Big Bang live concert in Seoul, Korea.Source: "Sao Việt "thua" Sao Kpop Ngay Trên "sân Nhà"?" EVA. Phu Nu
Newspaper, 16 Mar. 2012. Web. 18 July 2012.
Other artists copy and cooperate Korean celebrities’ sense of fashion style into their
music video. Vietnamese singer, Nguyen Vu, was criticized for copying G-Dragon, a Korean
singer, in his music video. Nguyen Vu’s hairstyle looks similar to G-Dragon’s, with long, and
platinum blond, with long fringes. Their clothes are also alike, with silver details on the
jacket (Figure 9).
Figure 9. The similarity between the two music videos; on the left is G-Dragon, Korean singer. On the right is Nguyen Vu, Vietnamese singer. Source: "Khi Sao Việt Bắt Chước Hình ảnh." Zing News. VNG Cooperation, 25 Apr. 2010.
Web. 18 July 2012.
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The same case applies to Vietnamese singer Hoang Hai, with a similar styling to a Big
Bang’s member, Taeyang. Their haircuts are both Mohawk, with shaved on both sides, and
longer noticeably hair in the middle. In Hoang Hai’s photo-shoot, he also wears a denim
jacket with T-shirt inside, indistinguishable compare to Taeyang’s photo-shoot (Figure 10).
Therefore, given that Vietnamese singers copy and combine Korean singers fashion style,
choreography, and filming technique, show a strong Korean artists influence on Vietnamese
artists. This does not just impact Vietnamese celebrities, but it can also influence the
Vietnamese audiences, who watch Vietnamese media. They will be affected by the
Vietnamese celebrities appearance, or action like a domino effect; and this can be considered
as cultural imperialism.
Figure 10. Taeyang and Hoang Hai’s haircut. On the right, Taeyang; on the left, Hoang Hai.Source: Pham, Nguyen. "Hoàng Hải 'nổi Loạn' Với Phong Cách Becks." Hoàng Hải
'nổi Loạn' Với Phong Cách Becks. VNG Cooperation, 05 Apr. 2010. Web. 18 July 2012.
Source: Taeyang's Photo-shoot. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 July 2012.
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The fact that Vietnam has joined different international organizations helped the
country become more open for foreigner performances. Private companies have been
sponsoring for different foreign singers, coming to Vietnam to perform. Another example of
globalization and the Korean influence would be the Soundfest 2012 happened in March,
2012 (Figure 11). Before the concert, Phu Tho stadium was crowded, by thousands of young
enthusiastic audiences. Majority of the audiences come to see Big Bang, a well-known band
in Korea. The audiences were over-exciting, lead to pushing, shoving situation, create a huge
chaos (Figure 12). The performances had to stop in order to restore order (Figure 13).
Afterwards, the concert continued with Western singers like Taio Cruz and Kimberly
Caldweld after Big Bang’s performance. However, the concert has lost the audience interest,
some of them even left after Big Bang’s performance, since 80% of them were K-pop fan
(Hien). Another reason is Taio Cruz, and Kimberly Caldweld are unpopular and are not well-
advertised in Vietnam. This shows a much stronger influence from Hallyu and Korean culture
than Western culture in Vietnam.
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Figure 11. Big Bang’s performance in Soundfest 2012 with professional choreography, high technological sound, and light effects.
Source: Hien Nhi. "Cuồng Nhiệt Với Soundfest." Thanh Niên Online. Thanh Niên Newspaper, 14 Apr. 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2012.
Figure 12. Enthusiastic fans during Big Bang’s performanceSource: Hien Nhi. "Cuồng Nhiệt Với Soundfest." Thanh Niên Online. Thanh Niên
Newspaper, 14 Apr. 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2012.
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Figure 13. Chaos during the performanceSource: Hien Nhi. "Cuồng Nhiệt Với Soundfest." Thanh Niên Online. Thanh Niên
Newspaper, 14 Apr. 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2012.
After becoming a member of WTO, and UN, Vietnam has a chance to interact with
other international countries using technologies and telecommunication (“Vietnam Internet
Usage”). Internet network is global channel that enable to link people with information and
help increase the communication between people in different countries. They can share their
belief and experiences, obtaining information, and expressing feelings through Internet.
Information flow is increasing rapidly; a piece of news can be uploaded on the Internet within
minutes after it happens. Internet using has become a part of daily life of the Vietnames,
especially the younger generation (“Vietnam Inernet Usage”). In 2011, there are 34.7% of the
population uses Internet, when there’s only 26.3% of the Thai population uses Internet
(Figure 14) (“Asian Internet Usage Stats”). Ater the extension and density of networks,
Vietnamese teenagers nowadays have access more to Internet; they can obtain to Youtube,
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different online forum, such as Facebook, and information online. Therefore, teenagers can
be influenced more by Hallyu because of its online and offline entertainment globalization.
CIndia
Japan
Indo...
Sout... Vie
Phili... Pak Tha
Mal1344 1241 127.8 242.3 49.78 87.84 94.85 176.7 69.52 28.86
513
121
101.255
40.3 30.5 29.729.1
18.317.7
Asia Top Internet Countries and Their Population
Total Population(millions) Internet Usage (millions of users)
Figure 14. Asia Top Internet Countries Statistic. Source: "Asia Internet Usage Stats Facebook and Population Statistics." Asia Internet Usage
Stats Facebook and Population Statistics. Miniwatts Marketing Group, n.d. Web. 18 July 2012.
Source: United States Central Intelligence Agency. "The World Fact Book - Country Comparison: Population." CIA. July 2012. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.
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III. Study and Survey:
Just like Vietnamese artists, Vietnamese teenagers begin to adapt Korean fashion style
as their personal style. Furthermore, the study shows how Hallyu has influenced Vietnamese
teenagers and their diverse opinion (Appendix 1). 96% of Vietnamese have seen Korean
movies, regardless of whether they like it or not, showing very popular Korean influence in
Vietnamese entertainment. Majority of the reactions towards Hallyu culture are positive,
demonstrating a big impact of Hallyu culture on Vietnamese people.
Korean movies
Idolize singer/actor/actress
Want to travel to Korea
Want to learn Korea
Korean fashion
0 50 100 150 200 250
241
158
173
124
201
9
92
77
126
49
Number of People Reaction Towards Dif-ferent Aspects of Hallyu
NoYes
Figure 15. Number of people’s reaction towards different aspects of Hallyu culture.
In looking at people’s reaction in Soundfest, which contributes to the Korean
influence in Vietnam, 68% of the people who went to Soundfest attended to see Korean band
– Big Bang; the rest went to see Vietnamese and Western singers (Appendix 2) (Figure 16).
Greater part of people is more interested in Korean music, showing the dominance of Korean
music and the unpopularity of Vietnamese music in Vietnam.
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0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
121
68
Number of People Went to Soundfest Concert 2012
Korean bandOther bands
Figure 16. Number of people went to Soundfest Concert and their purposes.
Like Vietnamese singers, teenagers begin to adopt Korean fashion into their styles.
For example, like Korean girls, Vietnamese girls start to get highlights, straightening their
hair, or even dye their hair blond (Ngoc). They learn beauty secrets and applying heavy but
natural looking make-up from Korean movie stars (Ngoc). The boys begin to wear piercings,
grow long hair (Ngoc). Both boys and girls readjust their style, dressing themselves in unisex
style, which can be referred to as androgyny (Ngoc). These clothing items usually contain
baggy pants, T-shirts, and sneakers (Figure 17).
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Figure 17. Korean (on the left) and Vietnamese (on the right) girl with unisex style.Source: Park Yong Hee, a Korean girl with unisex style. Digital image. Tumblr. N.p., n.d.
Web. 18 July 2012.Sourse: Le, Amber. Vietnamese student with unisex style. Digital image. Facebook.
Facebook, 22 Sept. 2011. Web. 18 July 2012.
According to the investigation, 201 out of 250 people are influenced by Hallyu’s
fashion, and the rest do not support it. Up to 80% of respondents admit that they are more or
less influenced by Korean fashion through different aspects (Figure 18), and have at least one
item of clothing what are made in Korea (Figure 19). Given these points, Korean style has a
stronger influence than Vietnamese style over the Vietnamese younger generation; thus, this
can be seen as cultural imperialism.
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Make-up
Clothing items
Accessories
0 50 100 150 200
197
201
143
Number of People Influenced by Dif-ferent Aspects of Hallyu Fashion
Figure 18. Different aspects of Hallyu fashion and the number of influenced people (out of 201, which is the number of people who owns at least one type of Korean clothing).
0
50
100
150
200
250
201
49
Number of Respondents own Korean Clothing Item(s)
Own Korean clothing item(s)Do not own Korean clothing item(s)
Nu
mb
er o
f peo
ple
Figure 19. Number of people own Korean clothing item(s)
Some of respondents believe in cultural imperialism (Figure 20), that Korean movies
and music affect the Vietnamese teenagers living style and behaviors negatively. Since
Vietnamese teenagers are students, they change their behavior, and start acting likes the
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Korean movie characters. For example, in Korean TV show version of Boys over Flowers,
there are a group of four rich boys, who go to school by airplane. They call themselves ‘F4’,
become disruptive to the entire school. This is an unrealistic detail that only happens in
movie. However, the young generation, especially the teenagers, admire the ‘F4’, and start to
act like them (“Ảnh hưởng xấu”). Teenage boys can get whatever they ask for; therefore,
they’re spoiled, become extravagant (“Ảnh hưởng xấu”). Not to mention, the characters are
based on the good-looking, rich, but arrogant and pragmatic type of personalities (“Ảnh
hưởng xấu”). Evidentially, in each high school in Ho Chi Minh City, there are at least three
groups of boys, calling themselves F4, F5, having excessive actions; like teasing and sexual
harassing girls, street fighting, stealing money from parents for partying (“Ảnh hưởng xấu”).
24%
76%
Number of People Believe in Cultural Imperialism
Believe in Cultural ImperialismDon't Believe in Cultural Im-perialism
Figure 20. Number of respondents believes that Hallyu is a sign of cultural imperialism in Vietnam.
Another example is the trend of cohabitation begins after the success of the movie
Full House (“Ảnh hưởng xấu”). Cohabitation is when a couple live together, having a sexual
relationship without getting married. This goes against Vietnamese traditional belief, that
young unmarried couples can not live together and cannot have pre-marriage sexual
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intercourse. Statistically, 1/3 of the Vietnamese young generation is cohabiting (“Ảnh hưởng
xấu”). Before the influence of Hallyu, there wasn’t situations like that happened in the
Vietnamese social life (“Ảnh hưởng xấu”). These ideas of behaviors are considered ‘foreign’
towards Vietnamese society. However, since it is practiced more frequently, Vietnamese’s
belief and lifestyle are now slowly replaced with Korean’s lifestyle. This is considered as
cultural imperialism, because the more powerful country’s ideas and belief have dominated
the weaker country’s ideas, in this case, Korean belief dominates Vietnamese’s.
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Conclusion
The aim of this essay to investigate the question: Is the influence of South
Korean’s Hallyu culture in Vietnam as an example globalization, cultural blending,
and/or cultural imperialism? The research question is answered through different
investigation and study, and reached to the conclusion that “The influence of South
Korean’s Hallyu culture in Vietnam is an example of globalization, specifically, cultural
imperialism.”
The research question is answered, that globalization, especially cultural imperialism,
is growing in Vietnam. This has been proved through the diplomacy relationship between
Korea and Vietnam, the increase of exporting Korean movies products, and the 68%
respondents support Hallyu out of 250 people in the survey. The cultural agreement contracts
between Korea and Vietnamese have enhanced cultural exchanging between the young
people of two countries, shown why Korean has such great impact on Vietnam, such as the
Hallyu trend among Vietnamese teenagers. The renovation of set locations, professional
crews, actors, and actresses in Korean entertainment industries has attracted more
Vietnamese, affecting their behaviors and beliefs. It is proved through the music they listen
to, the movies they watch, and the sense of fashion style they follow. Vietnamese singers
begin to learn and copy Korean singers’ choreography, appearance, and filming technique.
The support towards Big Bang in Soundfest Concert in March 2012 shows that Vietnamese
teenagers choose Korean music over other countries’ music. Teenagers adopt Korean fashion
through different aspects, such as dying hair blonde, boys grow long hair, wear Korean
clothes. They change their way of living, thinking, and acting towards the society. Students
rejected Vietnamese traditional beliefs and replace them with Korean lifestyle, like
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cohabitating, or forming in groups and have excessive behaviors. The practice of promotion
of values and behaviors of Korean among the Vietnamese of the teenagers are several
examples of cultural imperialism.
Therefore, to complete the big picture of globalization and cultural imperialism, there
should be investigation on the Western, as well as other culture influence in Vietnam. It
would consolidate the cultural imperialism hypothesis. The investigation could be on the
influence of Western language, specifically English, to Vietnamese language. However, there
might be some changes in investigate the range of ages, and inquire into the government
body, in order to see a clearly vision in cultural blending and globalization.
Word Count: 3819
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Appendices
Appendix 1. This survey shows the Korean music and movies influence in Vietnam, therefore, conclude the cultural imperialism/cultural blending in Vietnam. This survey was written in Vietnamese.
1. What do you think about the Korean music and movie influence towards Vietnamese teenagers?
2. Do you like to listen to Korean music or watch Korean movie?
Yes No
3. Do you idolize any Korean singer/actor/actress?
YesNo
4. Do you want to travel to Korea?
YesNo
5. Do you want to learn Korean?
YesNo
6. Do you like Korean fashion?
Yes (If yes, answer why below)No
Why?
7. What do you like about Korean music and movies?
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8. Did you go to the Soundfest 2012 Concert?
Yes (answer question number 9)No I would love to, but I could not.
Other reason: _________________________________________
9. If yes, why did you go to the concert? (i.e. to meet Big Bang, to meet Vietnamese singer, etc.)
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Appendix 2. This survey shows the Korean music and movies influence in Vietnam, therefore, conclude the cultural imperialism/cultural blending in Vietnam. This survey was written in Vietnamese.
1. Do you think that Hallyu has a strong influence on Vietnamese teenagers nowadays?
2. Which Korean entertainment aspect do you think has affected Vietnamese younger generation?
3. Do you think that Korean living styles affects Vietnamese living styles nowadays? (i.e. cohabitation)
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