Korean wave spreads to Iran

(pictures: Emperor of The Sea (top) Jewel in The Palace (bottom) )

By Shirley Han Ying
Journalist at Press TV, Iran-based English-language TV Network

From clothes to hairstyle, pop music to TV dramas, Korea has been affecting the life of many Asians in recent years, now even in Iran.

Mohammad Fazaeli turned on TV and started watching the tele-drama at home with his whole family. It was the latest hit series on Iranian State Television - a Korean blockbuster.

"Jewel in the Palace" ("Dae Jang Geum"), a soap opera about a cook who overcame hardships to become a royal palace physician in ancient Korea, was known as Yangom in Iran.

This drama along with "Emperor of The Sea" (Haesin) was among Fazaeli's favorites. "My family and I watch most of the Korean dramas aired on TV, and also the latest Korean and Asian movies popular in the world", said Fazaeli.

Iran was unclaimed ground until about a year ago, when MBC hit soap "Jewel in the Palace" ("Dae Jang Geum") was first aired there. The response was explosive. Since then, three out of Iran's seven channels have broadcast a Korean TV series. Two to three dramas were aired throughout the year and in the case of movies, there were even more.

The 27-year-old journalist explained that television was a family entertainment in Iran, and people looked at it as a chance to spend some valuable time with their families. He said that was why most Iranians prefer Korean dramas, which are less violent and contain less sexual content than Hollywood or western productions.

He added that Korean dramas had both action and emotion in them. The actions were attractive and the emotional aspect was not very sloppy.

Alireza Abazari, a 38-year-old expert in political and international relations, has also been a long-time fan of the Korean TV series. "Their approach toward traditions in the modern day, and they pay attention to socio-humanitarian values", said Abazari.

Anoushirvan Akhlaghi, 43, a TV news producer, said he found the Korean dramas had very interesting plots, good story lines and unique pictures. He also enjoyed the pace very much.

Maryam Ebrahimi, a 26-year-old computer engineer, considered one of the reasons that made Korean productions popular in Iran was because they fit the conservative values of the Islamic nation.

Iran is a non-secular country dominated by restrictive Islamic rules.

Foreign films are not commonly shown in movie theaters as part of a ban on films originating from the West. Except for Iranian domestic productions, some classic and contemporary Hollywood productions are also available on state television, but are normally heavily censored.

Korean dramas and movies on the other hand act as a filter for Western values, making them more palatable to Iranian people. Korean TV dramas typically deal with family issues, love, and filial piety in an age of changing technology and values. The shows tend to reinforce traditional values of Confucianism that Iranians find more closely aligned to Islamic culture.

"Jewel in the Palace" ("Dae Jang Geum") is just one of the Korean imports turning on many generations of Iranians and influencing them to buy Korean products.

Fazaeli said Korean brands, such as LG, Samsung and Daewoo, are very common in Iran. These electronic Korean imports have become a part of many Iranian families' daily life. Abazari on the other hand said his main interests in Korean products are shoes and clothes.

Culturally, Fazaeli told me that "Korean music has become popular through the TV dramas. Many people even use the music as their mobile phones' ringtone".

The overwhelming success of Korean dramas, movies, and music served as a major tourist magnet since 2005, attracting millions of tourists each year from the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, the Marshall Islands and China.

As the Korean wave carries on in Iran, people are expected to see another surge among the Iranian tourists to join the nonstop heat.

"After watching the 'Jewel in the Palace', the natural sceneries of Korea shown in the dramas along with historical monuments have interested me so much that I really want to visit the country", said Abazari.

Not only in Iran, the Korean Wave is also the latest trend sweeping the Middle East. More than three hundred Egyptians launched a fan club and opened a "Winter Sonata" website. A growing number of Egyptians have been requesting a rerun of the KBS soap.

"Emperor of The Sea" was broadcast by Turkish Radio and Television for an hour every Sunday night. The drama received rankings of top 30 out of 100 shows aired. KBS also agreed with Jordan to air the show in the country, and could take "Winter Sonata" to Tunisia and Iraq.

Other Korean broadcasters are also looking into a plan to distribute the drama for free in more Middle Eastern countries. Within the next a few years, the Korean Wave in the Middle East would grow stronger and stronger, maybe even more wide-spread than in the South and
East Asia.

Source: Korea Policy Review, July 2008