Fandom culture in South Korea

In South Korea, fandom culture has largely formed around Korean pop idols and anime. These fandoms support a large market for official and unofficial fandom memorabilia. Fandoms in South Korea are now viewed as a mainstream culture and not as a subculture.

K-pop fandoms
See also: Korean idol

Fandom culture refers to the phenomenon in which people voluntarily choose a certain celebrity, an epic, or genre and come together to create a specific 'acceptance' culture.

Fandom culture of Korean pop idols began in the 1970s with singers Nam Jin and Nahuna. In 1980, Cho Yong-pil appeared in the public arena, ushering in the fan girl culture.[1] Fandoms started to become popular during the early 1980s and continued to grow rapidly into the 1990s with the emergence of Seo Taiji as a teenage idol. Fan girls gained more prominence in the press after the retirement of Seo Taiji and Boys in the late 1990s, and were described as teenaged girls who dedicated their everyday lives to following, watching, or admiring an idol star.[2]

Around the year 2000, many fan clubs appeared and Korean youth culture became a subject of academic study.[3] Many traditional South Koreans disapproved of enthusiastic fandoms, and early studies of the subject took a negative view. A possible reason for its popularity is that idol fandom was a distraction for the rebellious youth culture.

In the earlier times, K-pop idols were pushed to act and look innocent.  By banning tattoos, earrings for male idols and no risque style of dancing.  This image of idols was modern enough for the Korean youth to enjoy and conserative enough to be supported by the adults.[4]

History

Although early fandom was strongly perceived as a fan culture involving a few fanatic people, it has recently brought about a shift in perception that can be accessed in a variety of ways only by the name of a star or related search terms on portal sites, which is largely due to the development of the Internet and media.[5]

Among the numerous fandoms in cyberspace, especially the nation's "idol" fandom has steadily expanded its influence in various ways to date, starting with "Seotaiji And Boys." In the past, idol fandom culture was called "girl culture" or "teenage culture" and was considered primarily an immature culture for teenage girls, while the third-generation idol fandom has recently expanded to men and over 40s, exerting influence on cultural consumption aspects for all generations.[6]

Fan Relationship

Parasocial relationship is a one-sided relationship as a result of constant exposure to a media persona that a celebrity demonstrates.  This then causes fans to develop an illusion of intimate relationship or friendship.[7] Kpop idols are typically trained to have and form close connections with their fans which leads for this close-knit connection to become a parasocial relationship.  Kpop idols do this through parasocial interaction.[8] Parasocial interaction between fans and Korean idol(s) is a start at explaining kpop fan culture.[9] The idol(s) to become a “parasocial-kin” , an object of consumption and parasocial interaction; such as a family member or a friend.   This “parasocial kinship” is defined on how an individual would treat an extended member of the family.  Allowing for further understanding of the positive and negative aspects of the idol/fan parasocial relationship.[9] 

The “Korean Wave”, also known as Hallyu has become a sensational hit around the world and continues to grow every year since it began to take over the world in the early 2010s. While K-pop had of course existed before that, between 2011 and 2012, the government budget grew over 250% for the business.[10]

Celebrities, especially in South Korea, are icons that are driven by their presence in majorly media driven societies.[11] As time, society, and culture progresses, the idols must change and form along with it. The best way that this is represented is through social media.

In 2015, South Korean Idols set themselves apart from many of their Western counterparts by not only joining the major social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter, but Naver Corporation created a streaming website/app called “V Live” (also known as “V LIVE”). While Instagram and Twitter are international apps that allowed for the idols to reach their fans, V Live allowed for streaming of live (or uploaded) videos or voice only recordings. The idols can read the comments from the fans in real time and respond. The current version of V Live has over 700 channels focusing on a variety of K-pop stars and actors.

Many K-pop idols also participate in a “Hi touch” event, even those that are widely known and popular, such as MONSTA X. A “Hi Touch” is the opportunity for fans to personally meet the idols and essentially give them a high five, with the chance to say a quick word or two. The chance could be either before a concert or afterwards, sending off the idols to their next destination.

With the current state of the pandemic affecting every part of the world, in-person concerts are impossible to attend or even create. Therefore, many K-pop groups are performing online concerts. One of the most famous K-pop conventions, known as ‘K-Con’, hosted an online convention with over 30 artists. K-pop idols were able to interact with their fans, as fans entered contests and had the chance to have a camera stream their picture behind the performers, allowing for interactions.

These are just some of the reasons that K-pop idols and their fans have a unique dynamic. K-pop fans have many opportunities to get exclusive content and interactions with the idols, creating a positive relationship for both parties.

Fansumer

"Fansumer" is a compound word of "fan" and "consumer." This means consumers who participate in production, in other words productive consumers. Then, the fan base, which was classified as a fandom, turned into a very active fan who focused on the interaction of planning, investing, and checking while participating in the overall production and production process for products or entertainers, not just one-sided love and purchase for one-sidedly.[12]

[Table 1] Fandom vs. Fansumer[13]
Fandom Fansumer
Target Celebrity, Brand Enterprise products, brands, and influencer.
Relationship Yearning Complementary and check
Role Supporter Partner
Core value Support Involvement
Ripple effect Brand Power Up Changes in manufacturing system processes

As shown in the table above, Fansumer's sphere of activity is very wide. As mentioned above, they invest in startup idea products, engage in corporate product development, engage in marketing activities as supporters, and support or criticize celebrities or influencer, not to mention fostering celebrities before their debut. The driving force behind these Fansumer's activities is the pride that 'it was made by me.' It's called Byme Syndrome, noting the efficacy of being created by me.[14]

1) Subway advertisement

The fandom culture of posting celebrities they like or support on subway billboards along with cheering phrases is expanding. The actual number of subway advertisements is used as a measure of idol popularity. Behind the popularity of subway advertisements is the expansion of survival audition programs. As "슈퍼스타K6" and "쇼미더머니 시즌3" began to gain popularity in 2014, subway advertisements supporting participants began to be posted, and Mnet's idol-building program "프로듀스101" appeared for the first time in 2016. Ads for idol and famous celebrities are expanding into a culture to communicate with celebrities rather than just a culture for fans to enjoy. In fact, many celebrities take pictures of advertisements, and fans enjoy the "pilgrimage" by bowing in front of their favorite celebrity billboards, posting post-its and taking photos.[15]

2) Streaming of music

Idol fans routinely play their favorite singer's songs on various music sites. They should stream music videos and Naver TV Casts that were uploaded on YouTube. This is for the sake of high music records and music video views. It is hard to explain in a word why fans should streaming. The reasons vary. In order to show off the robustness of one's favorite idol, there are various reasons why it is difficult to define one by one, such as to show the strength of the fandom, to top music programs that reflect the number of views on music charts, to win year-end awards, to wish others to listen to the song a lot, and to let their favorite idols be disappointed if their music rankings fall.[16]

3) Crowd funding

It means receiving funding from the crowd, which means that individuals, organizations and companies that need funds use the web or mobile network to raise funds from unspecified sources. It is also called social funding because it often participates through social network services (SNS).[17]

Superstar penguin Pengsu has started to help farmers affected by the cold weather. Pengsoo rolled up his wings to promote consumption of peaches and plums on his YouTube channel, "Giant Peng TV." Pengsu's funding through Naver's Happy Bean Crowding Happy Bean is aimed at helping peach and plum farmers affected by the cold sea. This spring, the fruit tree was damaged by cold weather due to low temperatures during the flower season, and as the production decreased amid trees with no fruit on them, the company started to promote sales. Pengsu was on a live show, urging consumers to buy. When Pengsu went public, all the supplies ran out shortly after the broadcast began. Pengsu immediately secured the second batch for his fans, but even that was sold out in less than 20 minutes.[18]

1) Reformation of the music market[19]

The phenomenon of fandom making No. 1 idol has become a form of ritual event. Once ranked first, it is exposed to the top of the music site and published in articles, which leads to other broadcasts and activities, which greatly affects popularity. To make it number one, fandom voluntarily set up a music streaming work team exclusively for music streaming labor to hold events that give prizes when they receive donations and certify streaming, or create hundreds of music site IDs to pay for music site usage rights and stream music.

Therefore, it has become difficult for singers and rookies of different genres to be on the charts compared to idols who rank first with the power of their fans. However, it was important for other singers to get popular on the charts, and there was a hoarding of music that imitated fans' streaming culture. Music hoarding refers to the act of manipulating the chart's ranking or unfairly purchasing certain music sources for the purpose of copyright revenue. After subscribing to several music platforms through thousands of smartphones and tablets, music hoarding takes place by repeatedly streaming certain music sources. As it was revealed that many singers hoarded their music, there was a controversy over whether fans' streaming labor culture should also be regarded as hoarding.

In response, Melon, the site with the highest market share among music sites, announced a plan to revamp the real-time charts. The company said it will change the standard to 24 hours on the real-time chart, which newly aggregates usage every hour. Fans, who conducted streaming labor for a time when there were not many people listening to music at dawn or during the day, complained, but in order to reduce the hoarding culture that resulted from it, the reorganization of the music charts is inevitable.

2) New business that reflects the Fansumer trend [20]

The fandom will support the idol group they support. In support activities, they present gifts such as lunch boxes to idols, place advertisements on public transportation such as subways and buses, and collaborate with cafes to include phrases and images to support the idols of cup holders, or create special menu lights in cafes to hold events. As "cupholder events" began to emerge, cafes specializing in renting cupholder events for fandom activities began to emerge, reflecting this trend. Companies that used to produce and sell slogans or fans only for corporate advertising are also producing design products made from photos of idols cheered by fans, while others specialize in coffee and snack cars sent by fans to the idol's filming site.

Global fandoms

Many fandoms of K-pop are located outside of South Korea as part of a phenomenon called Hallyu 2.0, which is characterized by the extension of the Korean Wave into global markets, especially the West, and largely attributed to the development and use of Social media technologies by fans and consumers of K-pop.[21] Due to location barriers, fans belonging to global fandoms turn to social media as a platform to consume K-Pop as well as network with other fans to organize and distribute fan activities and products such as dance cover videos, fan fiction, and group orders to purchase K-pop products.[21]

Social media technologies such as Kpop fan sites allow international fans to form a deep emotional attachment to K-pop idols.  Kpop fan sites allow fans to view idols as beautiful, talented, and approachable which leads them to be role models for international fans.   This extends to the image that South Korea portrays as well. Global fans from Romania, Peru, and Brazil have been found to seek out Korean restaurants, Korean language lessons, and other fans to dance to Korean music.  Creating an online and physical identity.[22]

Online communities based around Kpop have also emerged in various spaces such as Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr.  Though the majority of the members in these online communities are non-native Korean speakers, Korean language is seen to be used among the fans.  Fans have been found to play a significant role in creating fan content which may have resulted  in positive and negative impact of fan and idol engagement.[23] The geographical distance for international fans may make it hard for fans to form a connection to the idols. Though the internet has been a major role of allowing international fans to easily form a connection with their idols right at their fingertips. Global fans are found to possibly appeal to the Lacanian imaginary that Kpop-idols provide to them.[24]  

Japanese fans have been represented as an “active audience.”  Active audience can be defined as the fans attend the concerts often, collect information, and try to find ways to interact with idols through letters and handshake practice.[25] Japanese females who have been exposed to the Korean Wave have been found to develop a positive idea towards Korea and the citizens by associating them to their Korean idols.[25]

In the Philippines fans attend the Philippine Kpop Convention, Inc. (PKCI) where they partake in activities that promote K-pop and Korean culture. PKCI active participation provides a key role  for local fans in the Philippines to form a connection and motivation to participate in Korean culture that includes K-pop.[26] 

In Europe, kpop idols have motivated young fans to start learning Korean language and culture.  As a result, major media such as YouTube and academic institutions started to spread Korean culture.[27] Thousands of teenage boys and girls are found buying CD’s and tickets for Korean idols/musicians to join their idols in singing and dancing to their lyrics in Koreans.

K-pop fans & Soft Power

The phenomenon of the Korean Wave and the strong connection between kpop idols and their fans resulted in  South Korea to develop soft power.  Soft power is the ability to shape the preferences of others through appeal.[28] Kpop idols allow fans, globally, to view South Korea positively which results in South Korea to improve the country’s ability to gain trust and preference in trade internationally transforming them into political and economic strength.[29] After the Korean wave became more apparent, the government gave credit to the role of avid fans that contributed to the growth of Korean popular culture.[30]

Positive

Members of idol fandoms may better themselves in the pursuit of their obsession, such as by studying to enter the same university as their idol, learning foreign languages to follow their idol's career abroad or learning image-processing techniques to edit photos of the idol. Fandom may also lead to other interests, for example, idol group JYJ's fans like musicals because of musical appearances by Kim Junsu.[1]

Fans role in creating their own fan content allows for idol groups to gain mainstream exposure in the west, and have tours abroad.[23]

Negative

Stalker fans,[31] a.k.a. sasaeng fans, are considered to have become overly obsessed with a public figure and engaged in behavior that constitutes an invasion of privacy.[32] Stalker fans may disguise themselves as a stage hand or manager to approach the star, or pretend to be reporters in order to gain entry to a press conference. Many fans use the Internet and social media to find and track the location of their idols. According to a Korean idol group JYJ, some of the fans came to the group's hostel, stole the members' underwear, took pictures of them sleeping, and later sent the pictures to the members by text message. Many normal fans have an unpleasant feeling about such fans' actions.

Paparazzi also exist in South Korea.[33] The tabloid magazine Dispatch reports on the private lives of people in the Korean entertainment industry, and has violated privacy by exposing secrets and illicitly taken photos. On January 1, 2013, Kim Tae-hee and the story of Rain were published. On July 3, 2013, the relationship of Won Bin and Lee Na Young was exposed to the public and fans. There was also a report on Noh Hong-chul's drunk driving in the Infinite Challenge. While the Dispatch is an important source of information for many fans, it can be invasive to celebrities.

Animation fandom

Seoul Comic World is a large animation fandom festival and is considered to be one of the biggest anime conventions in the world . Some fans cosplay (wear costumes) as a public display of their favorite characters. Amateur artists can showcase their work, and attendees can meet voice actors and artists.[34] A large amount of Korean animation fandom is based on Japanese animation, because of its many genres to satisfy the differing tastes of fans.[34]

Memorabilia
McDonald's Happy Meal as a "kidult" item

Fans collect memorabilia including idols' photographs and items marked with logos, collectively known as fan merchandise, to express their identities as fans. Fan merchandise was first produced by entertainment companies of first-generation idol groups such as H.O.T. and Sechs Kies whose fans started to buy balloons and raincoats in the group's color.

Sharing and selling merchandise

Most fan merchandise in South Korea is promoted through social media outlets like KakaoTalk and Twitter. The ability of consumers to find exactly what they want has resulted in an expansion of the market to about 100 billion South Korean won (US$89 million as of November 2017).Teenagers are the trend-setters and are often active as sellers and producers as well as consumers.[35] Fan merchandise sells at a higher price than the nominal value of the commodity because of its sentimental value and appeal as a collectible.

In addition to the official merchandise produced and sold through entertainment companies, fans themselves produce a great deal of merchandise.[36] In some instances, fans have responded to poor-quality official merchandise by producing their own higher-quality products, which are often cheaper. Official goods have an advantage as a commodity, while fan-produced merchandise may correspond to more specialized tastes, such as a fan-made photobook focusing on a particular member of a band. Producers and sellers of fan-made merchandise are known as "home masters".[36]

Although it is illegal to sell products using celebrities' pictures without permission in South Korea, most entertainment media outlets do not defend the right of permission to use a likeness. Some believe that unofficial merchandise fandom cannot be regulated.[37]

See also

References
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  2. Jeon, Seulgi (2015). The impact of media reporting on the celebrity to Fandom 연예인들 팬덤에 대한 미디어의 영향력. Inha University. pp. 10–11.
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  13. "김기원(Kim Kiwon), 변정민(Byun Jungmin). (2020). 한국 대중문화산업에 나타난 '팬슈머' 현상 연구. 문화와 융합, 42(2): 57-83".
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  15. "류인하, "아이돌 팬덤문화 인기↑ 지하철 광고 문화 바꿨다"".
  16. "한겨례, 한심해 보여? 아이돌 팬들 오늘도 '스밍 총공' 나선다".
  17. "[네이버 지식백과] 크라우드 펀딩 [crowd funding] (두산백과)".
  18. "펭수, 농가 돕기 펀딩으로 증명한 인기…"완판은 다 내덕"".
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  28. Nye, Joseph S. (2004). Soft power : the means to success in world politics (1st ed.). New York: Public Affairs. ISBN 1-58648-225-4. OCLC 53951715.
  29. Trunfio, Marissa. "Hallyu and Soft Power: The Impact of the Korean Wave". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  30. East Asian Pop Culture: Analysing the Korean Wave. Hong Kong University Press. 2008. ISBN 978-962-209-892-3. JSTOR j.ctt1xwb6n.
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  32. "[ENTERTAINMENT] Fan Cults: Social Problem or Stress Reliever?". Korea JoongAng Daily (in Korean). April 9, 2001.
  33. "The term of Paparazzi and the rise of it in Korea 파파라치의 의미와 한국에서 증가하는 파파라치의 상황". PMG. November 11, 2015. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  34. Seung Hwan, Lee (2015). A Study on Manhwa Animation Fandom Culture – Focusing on Seoul Comic World 한국의 애니메이션 팬 문화에 대한 고찰 – 서울 코믹콘을 중심으로. The Korean journalism of animation. p. 12.
  35. Yoon, Sujin (2016). Study on goods manufacturing activities of youth in fandom 한국의 20대의 굿즈 생산 활동에 대한 고찰. Chung-Ang University. p. 3.
  36. Hye Min, Ji (2016). Study on the Capitalization of Fandom focusing on the Commercialization of Idol Fan-made Products 아이돌 팬메이드 상품에 대한 광고성의 고찰. Korea University. pp. 28–29.
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