K-pop stars aim to revive Korean Wave in Japan

Korean idol groups are reaching out to Japanese television drama market in a bid to create new Hallyu in the neighboring country.

The idol stars are aggressively targeting the market, departing from the passive ways which were heavily relying on exporting music and dramas produced in Korea, with fine Japanese language abilities and fresh images.

Unlike Korea where acting ability regarded as one of top qualifications for actors, Japan offers more opportunities to new faces that don’t have much experience in acting.

“As the two countries’ drama production environment and acting style are different, neither popularity level in Korea nor acting experiences affect on casting in Japan,” an official of Tokyo’s television station TBS said.

L, a vocalist of Korean boy band Infinite, who had no prior acting experience, made his debut as an actor in 2011 with the drama “Jiu” on TV Asahi in Japan.

The producer of the TV series, Oe Tatsuki, said he gave credit to L for his appearance which was “shockingly” matched with the main character of the drama.

TV Tokyo’s late-night drama “UraKARA” gained high audience rating at 4.2 percent by casting all of the five members of Korean girl group Kara. Given that the average rating of Japanese midnight programs is lower than 2 percent, Kara’s achievement is significant.

Although the idol stars have gone beyond expectations, anti-Korean sentiment involving various disputes between the two nations remains as an obstacle for them to go further.

Gu Ha-ra, a member of Kara and her agency came under attack as she made cameo appearance in popular TV series “Galileo” on Fuji TV on June 17.

Some Japanese viewers accused the agency of using the drama as a tool to promote a Korean musical running in the nation.

In March, Japanese right wing group protested against a pharmaceutical company, calling for cancellation of a contract with Korean actress Kim Tae-hee as its commercial model. The group took issue with the actress’ participation in a promotion event for Dokdo where the two countries consistently conflict over sovereignty of the islet. 

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)