Development Process and Characteristics of Korean Wave in Taiwan

Abstract

Korean Wave in Taiwan has been developed in earnest since 2000. Korean Wave in Taiwan did not happen in a short period of time. Since the 1960s, cultural exchanges have taken place in earnest, and the accumulated exchanges were named Korean Wave after 2000. Thus, this study goes beyond a cross-sectional study limited to after 2000, and expands its point to after the Imperial Japan’s forced occupation period. Research on Korean Wave in Taiwan has been intermittent so far. However, previous studies have been focused on Korean Wave research in the 2000s. Previous studies can be divided into two main categories. One is on the Korean Wave phenomenon, and the other is on the impact of Korean Wave on Taiwan. Information on the Korean Wave boom that occurred in the 2000s can be provided through previous studies so far. However, research on Korean Wave before the 2000s has not yet been conducted. It was melodramas such as “Love Me Once Again” and “The One Love” that became the origins of Korean Wave in Taiwan. After the diplomatic severance in 1992, until the early 2000s, many human and material exchanges were blocked for political and diplomatic reasons, but Korean cultural contents were consumed underground even when the diplomatic relations were cut off. The first purpose of this study is to examine the trajectory of Korean Wave and its meaning in Taiwan from the mid- 1940s to the 1980s. The second purpose is to examine the characteristic phenomena and causes that Korean Wave is not widely spread and is stagnant although it has maintained a stable popularity in Taiwan. This study will help to broadly understand Korean Wave in its historical and cultural context, and also give a chance to read information about Taiwan’s history and culture and the foundations of the Kuomintang government’s cultural policy.