By Park Chung-a
Staff Reporter

Asian media experts warn that Korea’s one-way flow of cultural products will result in only short-term success of the ``hallyu (Korean Wave)’’ phenomenon.

``Do you just want to earn quick money relying on the boom of the Korean Wave? I hope the Korean Wave is not a one-sided flow of culture but a channel for interactive culture for mutual interest,’’ said Lee Jih Jyen, a chairman from INSERIA in Taiwan, at the National Assembly’s public hearing on Wednesday to discuss the boom of Korean culture in neighboring countries.



It was the first time for the National Assembly to invite pop culture experts from Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam for such an open discussion, amid an increasing interest of the government in making the best of the current hallyu phenomenon.

According to Ministry of Culture and Tourism, as of 2004, exports of Korean TV programs abroad brought in $71.5 million, more than two times the imports of foreign TV programs into Korea, which marked $31 million.

Lee, who introduced Korean dramas for the first time in Taiwan in 1999, advised that Korea should be modest about the current success of hallyu.

``It has only been five years since hallyu started. Korea should be modest and try hard to root culture deep into foreign countries rather than focusing on economic success. In order to do so, Korea should develop foreign partners, global distribution channels and marketing experts with a long-term perspective. If not, hallyu can last no longer than five years,’’ Lee said.

Lee also expressed concern that overseas consumer demand for Korean TV contents and Korea’s profits could decrease due to the sky-rocketing price of contents.

``In 1999, at the early stage of hallyu, an average price of one TV drama cost $750. Now it’s in the range of $15,000 and $20,000, more than a 20-fold increase,’’ he said. ``Taiwanese businessmen in the TV industry are having a hard time doing trade with Korea, bearing the costs.’’

Goike Kow, a Japanese chairman of Oricon Sound Co., pointed out that there are many difficulties in doing broadcasting contents business with Korea.

``Recently, one of the largest Japanese publishing companies published a photo album of a famous Korea actor only to be sued by the actor,’’ he said. ``It was an agent from Korea who made such an offer to the publishing company first, saying that he had bought exclusive rights over the photos, which was found to be ineffective.

``The matters related to copyrights over contents are too complicated in Korea. Like the United States, Korea should manage copyrights over contents on the governmental level and make a system which overseas partners can trust,’’ said Kow.

Vu Lan Anh, a culture reporter from Vietnamese news daily ``Sonbong,’’ said that due to ``Taejanggum,’’ a popular Korean historical drama which airs at 10 p.m., the average bedtime for Vietnamese people is getting later.

``However, since the telecasting period of Korean dramas is getting longer, there is a possibility that the viewers could get bored with them at any time. In order to continue the current Korean wave, the government should build a long-term strategy for cultural exchange,’’ he said.

Anh also went on to say that although TV dramas are most effective regarding its accessibility, in order to foster a deeper interest in Korean culture, cultural exchanges should be expanded to fields of poetry and novels as well.

michelle@koreatimes.co.kr