KOREA RISES

In recent years South-Korean culture has gone from being seen as a pale imitation of its neighbours, Japan and China, to becoming the dominate pop culture in the world. Be it the jaw dropping record sales of pop Juggernaut BTS or the unprecedented success of film director Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite. South Korea has become the cultural hot spot of the world. So, both London’s K-Music festival and the city’s, Victoria and Albert museum’s mammoth exhibition Hallyu! The Korean Wave, arrive in London at an appropriate moment. Both highlight how South Korean culture is now very much a power to be reckon with.

The K-music festival, now in its ninth year, returns and provides a musical backdrop to Hallyu! The Korean Wave exhibition at London’s Victoria and Albert museum. The festival has traditionally showcased, musical performers who are as far away from K-pop as possible. Performers fascinated by innovation as well as the ability to fuse traditional music with new, contemporary musical forms. One of the standout performers of this year’s festival is Jaram Lee, a star of the traditional Korean music form called Pansori (Korean opera). Lee’s The Old Man and the Sea takes Hemingway’s classic as the starting point and turns it into an allegory for modern South Korea, where a new resilience emerged out of the rubble of the country’s post war struggles.

The original text, draw heavily on Hemingway’s time living in Cuba and in it he tells the story of an old man who struggles to recapture the strength of his youth, as he pits himself against a giant fish. Determined to capture it, he struggles over the course of several days, and this time gives him an opportunity to reflect on his past life, both his victories and his defeats. He ultimately draws on an inner strength he was unaware he possessed in order to succeed.

Written by Hemingway thousands of miles away from a Korea still emerging from the catastrophic twin effects of both World War II and Japan’s longstanding occupation. The cumulative effect of both events would leave much of Korea in ruins. The country was then divided without the consent of its population, into North and South Korea, a division that, even now has very serious ramifications. South Koreans though decided to focus on preserving what had survived from the conflict and then launched the country on its torturous journey toward democracy. Throughout it all, South Korea worked to forge a new sense of identity; much as the fisherman has to do if he is going to successfully capture the giant fish. Becoming lost in his past life would not have helped his current situation.

Jaram Lee is a memorising presence, as she sings this powerful tale and is on stage throughout. The twists and turns of the story, are reflected in Lee’s astonishing vocal range and you are simply enchanted by her performance. What emerges ultimately isn’t so much a glimpse of an exotic musical form, but rather a look into the soul of the fisherman. Someone who despite the obstacles before him, ultimately triumphs.

If anyone wants to see the journey that South Korea has made in the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of this one, all they have to do is simply look at a set of photos of the Gangnam district. The district from which the infections South Korean hit Gangnam Style by Psy takes its title from. A photo of the district, taken in the early eighties shows a farmer ploughing his land next to a small number of recently built apartment buildings. The contrast between the housing blocks and the farmer could not be more startling. Even more astonishing is that it looks like an image from post war South Korea not one from the early eighties. Next to it you see a photo of the same district today. The difference could not be more surreal, the Gangnam district has transformed into one of the most expensive areas to live in anywhere in the world.

^{Gangnam view of Hyundai apartment blocks. Photo Jun Min Cho, courtesy Museum of Contemporary History of Korea}

Like these two photos many of the other exhibits are constant reminders of exactly how far the country has come, in such a relatively short period of time. A photo of a Samsung factory again in the eighties shows hundreds of identical looking women all busy labouring at building Samsung products. Again, the photo looks like a picture from the post war period and you are astonished to find that it was taken in the 80’s. These photos underscore the fact that the current material success of South Korea has been hard won.

The room, which will perhaps draw the most attention, is of course the one devoted to the celebration of Korean pop music. When you walk in, you see video clips by world conquerors such as BTS, EXO or Black Pink, they are all there. You are even invited, to attempt a few steps from a dance routine, which is then duly filmed and recorded, and later displayed on a wall alongside other volunteers. It’s a lovely use of technology, which encourages visitors to take part in their very own K-pop video.