#K POP
-
영어 이야기누군가를 상징하는 색 'signature color'
On an ordinary day, the broad avenue between Gyeongbok Palace and Gwanghwamun Gate carries buses, office workers and clusters of tourists.A few days later, hundreds of thousands of fans dressed in purple - BTS’ signature color - are expected to flood the boulevard for the group’s first full-band concert in nearly four years.Six years ago, it chose New York’s Grand Central Terminal to introduce its music to the world.This time, the group is coming home, inviting its global fan base to the capital city of South Korea.“This concert will be a historic moment tying Seoul’s identity to BTS,” said Kim Yoon-ji, a researcher at the Export-Import Bank of Korea and the author of a book on the global spread of Korean culture.“Gwanghwamun, in particular, could become a place the world remembers as part of K-pop’s global story.”평소 경복궁과 광화문 사이의 넓은 도로에는 버스가 오가고, 직장인과 관광객의 발길이 끊이지 않는다. 하지만 며칠 뒤면 이곳은 그룹 방탄소년단(BTS)의 상징색인 보라색으로 가득 찰 것이다. 거의 4년 만에 열리는 BTS 멤버들의 완전체 공연을 보기 위해 수십만 명의 팬이 이 거리를 메울 것으로 예상되기 때문이다.6년 전 BTS는 정규 4집 공개 장소로 미국 뉴욕의 기차역 그랜드 센트럴 터미널을 선택했다. 하지만 이번에는 서울 광화문에서 정규 5집 앨범을 공개한다. 전 세계 팬을 한국의 수도로 불러들이는 셈이다.한류의 세계적 확산을 다룬 책의 저자인 김윤지 한국수출입은행 연구원은 “이번 공연은 서울의 정체성과 BTS를 잇는 역사적 순간이 될 것”이라며 “특히 광화문은 K-팝의 서사까지 더해서 전 세계가 기억하는 상징적 장소로 자리매김할 수 있다”고 전망했다. 해설 지난 21일 K-팝을 대표하는 그룹 방탄소년단(BTS)이
-
생글기자Non-contact Services Heighten Popularity of K-pop Culture
K-pop platforms have begun to spread worldwide even in the outbreak of the COVID-19. ‘Lysn,’ ‘Universe,’ and ‘Weverse’ are the frontiers that help K-pop culture expand its horizen beyond the Korean Peninsular. It is nothworthy that the platforms have found out ways to break the barriers that Covid has built. The ways are ‘non-contact’ communications between fans and K-pop stars. To take examples, video calls and online concerts.Lysn and Universe are new comers that drew a huge attention from the young after the COVID pandemic. They are not free. Subscribers have to pay fee for the service that links fans with stars in 1-on-1 chatting system. Stars would read the messages from fans, and personally respond to them.The communications do not simply end after a short response. Stars would share chats not only about arts but also about their life. Sometimes they talk about their inner states of mind and the behind-scene stories of the entertainment circles that they cannot open up anywhere else. That‘s why Lysn and Universe are so popular at home and abroad. Subcribers are not allowed to leak stories they shared. This tends to build the popularity and cement the connections between K-pops and consummers. This is the important element to make fans more fanatic.Fan sign meetings with video calls are the killer-service that were first introduced after the outbreak of the COVID-19. Artists first converse with their fans for minutes, sign their albums on line with a personal note on them, and send them by parcel delivery. Fans refer to it as ‘Video fan sign.’ What a brilliant idea! Video fan-meeting is kind of a solution to the virus. In this non-contact era, ‘non-contact communication’ is the winner that links fans and their stars. There is not against the social-distancing guidlines that limits spatial contacts. It has been seen as an excellent measure that could build the fandom of K-pop around th