April 12th Biweekly Journal

[Jiwon Kang]

This week, Jenna and I learned about K-pop, also known as Korean Hip Hop. Kpop is mainstream music in South Korea and can be compared to artists like Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift. Kpop has many different musical genres involved in it. It can include genres like rock, hip hop, and electronic music. Kpop is a very new form of music when looking at the different genres in Korean music culture. Kpop was created in the 1990s and the roots of Kpop began in the 1950s. Since then, many western music and pop groups influenced Kpop in South Korea. The first Kpop group was Seo Taiji and The Boys. They were most popular in the mid 1990s and were famous with experimenting with many different genres of music. They were the pioneers for integrating rap into South Korean pop music. Growing up, I remember listening to K-pop with my family on long car rides. It was really nostalgic to listen to some of the old music I listened to as a child this week with Jenna. Furthermore, Jenna and I talked about our plans for the podcast at the end of the year. We reviewed the different topics I learned about in the past lessons so I can be prepared to talk about it with Jenna for the final podcast for class. I am excited to wrap up this semester strong and hope to learn more about Korean culture. Jenna and I also reviewed some of the terms we learned over the past few lessons and will continue to learn fifteen new words next week. This week, Jenna and I also talked about a big issue that prevalent in Korean culture. In Korea, men are considered to have more power than women. Many men have been caught for spy cameras and sexual violence towards women in South Korea. Women’s rights in Korea are a big topic issue currently in Korean culture. Feminist issues are becoming more popular and talked more about in the media. Korea has a lot of gender discrimination and it is violent and hateful. There are also many women who have died from sexual violence from men in Korea. Furthermore, there are many celebrities who have been caught for sexual violence towards women in the last decade. Women are taken advantage of in Korea, and it is a serious issue that must be talked about. Women are also having a disadvantage in obtaining a job in the hyper-competitive job market in Korea. Men have a better chance to get a better position and job than women do due to the unequal rights and the traditions of Korean culture. This is similar to America’s problem and issue of women’s rights in the past decade. America is definitely ahead of Korea in social norms for respecting women and giving them the same rights as men. There is currently still an issue in America, but Korea is definitely behind. Jenna and I also decided on what to learn about next week: Korean technology. I know that Korean technology is miles ahead than America, such as the WiFi technology and computer technology.