K-Pop: Experiments, Challenges & Future
Kim Jinwoo, adjunct professor
Chung-Ang University College of Art
JYP Entertainment is currently conducting a project called America2Korea (A2K). A collaboration between JYP and Republic Records of the United States, the project is designed to launch a global K-pop girl group with members selected from auditions held around North America and trained by JYP. This is no new experiment for JYP, which has already succeeded in running the similarly designed Nizi Project in Japan a few years ago. A2K is essentially the American version of Nizi. HYBE has also undertaken such a project with Universal Music Group (UMG), the results of which are set to be released this year.
A2K audition participants, as seen on JYP’s YouTube channel, all come from diverse backgrounds, and some may consider them to be quite different from the K-pop girl groups seen so far. One could refer to this as “K-pop globalization 3.0.”
For quite some time, K-pop has continuously expanded its territory through a wide variety of challenges and experiments. This began with “K-pop globalization 1.0” in the early 2000s—following the advent of Hallyu or the Korean Wave—and moved on to “K-pop globalization 2.0” in the 2010s, which saw the recruiting of some members from other countries.
The K-pop industry has reason to expand its territory beyond Korean borders. People of all ages, from teens to those in their 60s, have joined idol fandoms, but the core group of fans consists of teens and those in their 20s. Korea was labelled an ageing society in 2018 and is expected to become a super-aged society by 2025. Such changes in the population structure are sure to result in a decrease in “core” K-pop fans in Korea. Under such circumstances, the K-pop industry is almost forced to expand internationally to survive.
“K-pop globalization 3.0,” that is, having Korean production companies train and debut idols in other countries using Korean producing methods, is similar to the concept of “culture technology” pushed by SM Entertainment Head Producer Lee Soo Man since the early 2000s. As stated by Lee during an interview, when learning the art of ceramics, one usually takes on an apprenticeship. However, if such apprenticeships were instead systemized and taught, the intellectual property (IP) rights would bring in royalties and eventually grow into an industry. Lee’s statement hints at “K-pop globalization 4.0” in the coming years.
At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, an athlete representing Côte d’Ivoire won a gold medal in Taekwondo. That made Koreans, the long-reigning champions, boil with rage and criticism, claiming that the “national sport” medal should never be lost to anyone from outside the country. However, it should be noted that there are over 70 million people who practice Taekwondo around the world—a figure that outnumbers the entire Korean population. Taekwondo is not exclusively enjoyed by Koreans, and witnessing an athlete from another country earn a gold medal should be far from strange. I have borrowed an example from the sports world because it provides a glimpse into the future of K-pop.
In 2022, the “Favorite K-Pop Artist” category was added to the American Music Awards, one of three major popular music awards in the US. It was a telling sign that K-pop had been accepted as an independent genre on the global music scene. Last year, all candidates in the category were Korean idols, but before long, competition in the global music market is sure to be fierce among international idols, trained with “K-pop producing technology;” non-Korean K-pop idols, produced outside of Korea by producers who have learned such technology; and idols from Korea. In December 2020, the Philippine idol group SB19, produced with K-pop producing technology made it to Billboard’s “Social 50” chart.
At this point, a debate may arise regarding the scope or definition of K-pop, and many questions may come up. For instance, is a Korean member essential for a group to be considered a K-pop group? Is at least a line of Korean words a requisite for a song to be categorized as K-pop?
K-pop continues to expand its influence and growth in an undefinable way. Recently, it has evolved in a manner that might justify removing the “K” from its name. Perhaps, K-pop is a living creature that instinctively survives and proliferates. Like Taekwondo, an original Korean martial art that is now a global sport, K-pop may gain its immortality through global acceptance as a music genre or a style of producing technology that outlives short-term profits.
This article has been authored by a specialist outside the Korea Foundation and the views expressed here may not reflect the KF’s official position.
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