“Park Saeroyi is so cool” and “Woo Young Woo is amazing.”
Park Seo Joon and Park Eun Bin are the most popular 4th generation celebrities that are leading the Korean Wave in Japan. Park Seo Joon is the most frequently spotted K-entertainer at large arcade shopping districts from Namba, the center of Osaka, to Honmachi, two stops away from the Midosuji Line. Still, BTS songs is taking over Shinsaibashi stores, but their advertising signboards have decreased a lot, perhaps due to copyrights.
Instead, it is now Park Seo Joon, the advertising model for CJ CheilJedang’s Bibigo. He is the main character of the Korean dumpling craze. He is also appearing on Japanese terrestrial advertisements and promoting Korean king dumplings and kimchi. Park Seo Joon is digging into Japanese food culture under the Korean name of “mandu.” This is due to a surge in young Japanese fans who liked Jinro and Chamisul soju and became a fan of Park Seo Joon through “Itaewon Class” and “What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim?”
Korean dramas are also shown every morning at accommodations near JR Tennoji Station. “SKY Castle” and “Once Again” are regularly shown on terrestrial broadcasts at 9 a.m. every day. What’s interesting is that they are both Korean versions, not dubbing, which is quite different from Chinese dramas that are 100% dubbed.
If the 3rd-generation Korean Wave in Japan was led by BTS and TWICE, the 4th Korean Wave is ignited by Park Seo Joon and Cha Eun Woo in 2020. In the past, if the 1st Korean Wave, led by the drama “Winter Sonata,” mainly targeted middle-aged Japanese women, the 3rd generation has lowered the age group to the 10s and 20s. It is also worth noting that fan bases are expanding from idol singers to actors. This is a phenomenon that occurred when Generation Z of Japan, who is indifferent to politics, became enthusiastic about Korean webtoons and dramas.
A Korean-Japanese who met in Osaka said, “People here are interested in the fact that Park Seo Joon, who was selected and raised by Bae Yong Joon, has become the new main character of the Korean Wave in Japan. A common interest called the Korean Wave has been created between mothers and their children,” they explained. In fact, Yang Geun Hwan, CEO of Park Seo Joon’s agency, is a person who played a part in creating the 1st Korean Wave boom by traveling between Gimpo and Haneda with Bae Yong Joon for a long time.
A female office worker in her 30s who said she learned Korean because of Jang Geun Seok, shared, “They released ‘Roppongi Class’, a remake of ‘Itaewon Class’ on TV Asahi this summer, but the quality is not as good, so I went back to binge watch ‘Itaewon Class’ again.” She said, “Korean dramas have excellent storytelling and details, so they are highly complete as if we are watching a movie. I also like the fact that the actors don’t repeat fixed characters.”
It was nice to see the 111th issue of “Korean TV Drama,” in which Park Eun Bin appeared as a cover model, at the large bookstore TSUTAYA. She had had interviews with a Japanese magazine after the historical drama “The King’s Affection,” but this is the first time she appeared on the cover. “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” stunned all the J Drama production companies by topping Netflix for a long time. Many Japanese responded enthusiastically to the story about a genius protagonist who grows up over her own handicap against many prejudice in this world. Park Eun Bin’s Japan fan meeting, which will be held in Tokyo on November 19th, is also sold out.
Source: Nate
