1
00:00:06,506 --> 00:00:08,967
You know these iconic moments
in music.

2
00:00:09,426 --> 00:00:13,388
The Beatles landing in the USA,
setting off the British Invasion.

3
00:00:14,472 --> 00:00:17,642
Jimi Hendrix playing
"The Star Spangled Banner."

4
00:00:19,769 --> 00:00:21,771
Madonna at the first VMAs.

5
00:00:26,359 --> 00:00:27,777
Here's one you might not know.

6
00:00:27,986 --> 00:00:32,365
Seo Taiji & Boys performing on a
musical contest show in South Korea.

7
00:00:33,450 --> 00:00:36,327
But you definitely know
what this moment created.

8
00:00:38,413 --> 00:00:40,498
The worldwide industry we call...

9
00:00:40,582 --> 00:00:41,791
K-pop.
K-pop.

10
00:00:41,875 --> 00:00:42,876
K-pop.

11
00:00:45,545 --> 00:00:49,382
Korean pop culture that's sweeping
Asia is now taking hold here.

12
00:00:49,466 --> 00:00:53,053
The explosion of the five billion
dollar global Korean music industry.

13
00:00:53,595 --> 00:00:56,931
It's like when they got to LAX,
it was like The Beatles were here.

14
00:01:09,736 --> 00:01:11,738
So here's a question.

15
00:01:11,821 --> 00:01:16,284
How did South Korea create such a
globally successful music industry?

16
00:01:17,994 --> 00:01:19,746
To begin to answer that question,

17
00:01:19,829 --> 00:01:22,665
we need to rewind right back
to that iconic moment.

18
00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:26,711
You can tell from Seo Taiji's face

19
00:01:26,795 --> 00:01:29,464
they're not getting the best
response from the judges.

20
00:01:29,547 --> 00:01:31,758
Then again, I don't really think

21
00:01:31,841 --> 00:01:33,718
there's enough of a melody.

22
00:01:34,260 --> 00:01:36,930
Everyone who saw the show
was shocked

23
00:01:37,013 --> 00:01:38,973
about their performance on
the stage.

24
00:01:39,057 --> 00:01:42,185
To understand why this
performance was so shocking,

25
00:01:42,268 --> 00:01:45,188
just listen to one of the biggest
hits the decade before.

26
00:01:51,820 --> 00:01:55,365
It was a patriotic anthem
wrapped in an '80s pop song.

27
00:01:55,448 --> 00:01:57,909
It was called... (Korean)

28
00:01:57,992 --> 00:01:59,077
It's old Korea.

29
00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:00,411
I'd hear the song

30
00:02:00,495 --> 00:02:03,289
continuously from TV and from radio.

31
00:02:03,832 --> 00:02:07,752
The reason he heard this song all the
time was because it was a "Healthy song,"

32
00:02:07,836 --> 00:02:10,880
a patriotic tune commissioned
and promoted by the government.

33
00:02:12,006 --> 00:02:16,219
This control of pop culture was imposed
by South Korean dictator Park Chung Hee

34
00:02:16,302 --> 00:02:19,764
and continued after his
assassination in 1979.

35
00:02:21,224 --> 00:02:23,935
During this era the government
controlled the broadcast systems,

36
00:02:24,018 --> 00:02:27,105
which televised wildly popular
musical variety shows.

37
00:02:27,939 --> 00:02:29,232
In order to be broadcast,

38
00:02:29,315 --> 00:02:32,735
pop music either had to be
patriotic, like "Ah, Korea"...

39
00:02:35,029 --> 00:02:37,782
Or safe, like "You're Too Far
To Get Close To,"

40
00:02:37,866 --> 00:02:39,409
a G-rated love ballad.

41
00:02:45,415 --> 00:02:50,170
Back then, we only had
three broadcast agencies,

42
00:02:50,253 --> 00:02:56,217
so it was hard to find new culture.

43
00:02:57,177 --> 00:03:01,181
Seo Taiji & Boys' television
debut in the spring of 1992

44
00:03:01,264 --> 00:03:05,560
was the defining moment that showed
cultural progress in South Korea

45
00:03:05,643 --> 00:03:06,477
was possible.

46
00:03:07,937 --> 00:03:10,815
Seo Taiji & Boys
might be the cultural symbol

47
00:03:10,899 --> 00:03:13,985
that showed all the changes,
not only in the culture industry,

48
00:03:14,068 --> 00:03:17,363
but also in the whole environment
in Korea.

49
00:03:17,447 --> 00:03:19,908
Seo Taiji & Boys rapped,
they wore baggy pants,

50
00:03:19,991 --> 00:03:21,826
and they danced like B-boys...

51
00:03:23,203 --> 00:03:27,040
Something Korean audiences had
rarely heard a Korean group do.

52
00:03:28,958 --> 00:03:35,256
When I was young, people had
a negative view of dancing.

53
00:03:35,340 --> 00:03:39,052
The adults did not look at it
in a positive light.

54
00:03:39,135 --> 00:03:41,346
In fact, newspapers started
describing them

55
00:03:41,429 --> 00:03:44,057
as the Korean New Kids On The Block.

56
00:03:44,140 --> 00:03:48,019
If they wore something,
it became the trend.

57
00:03:48,478 --> 00:03:55,443
I think they introduced
American hip-hop fashion to Korea.

58
00:03:56,945 --> 00:04:03,159
Thanks to them, what we consider normal
within popular culture in Korea expanded.

59
00:04:05,328 --> 00:04:09,249
Take their 1995 classic "Come
Back Home" about teenage runaways.

60
00:04:21,636 --> 00:04:23,638
This song skirted past censorship,

61
00:04:23,721 --> 00:04:27,016
but "Regret Of the Times,"
another track off the same album,

62
00:04:27,100 --> 00:04:29,018
was banned, because its lyrics

63
00:04:29,102 --> 00:04:31,854
directly disrespected
the older generation.

64
00:04:32,438 --> 00:04:34,315
That didn't stop Seo Taiji & Boys

65
00:04:34,399 --> 00:04:37,777
from becoming one of the most
popular acts in South Korea.

66
00:04:38,403 --> 00:04:39,904
They wanted to go out on top,

67
00:04:39,988 --> 00:04:43,616
and so at the height of their fame,
they announced their retirement...

68
00:04:44,242 --> 00:04:49,038
and understanding the power of an image,
released a music video saying goodbye.

69
00:04:51,082 --> 00:04:56,004
We are so sad because they
left us.

70
00:04:56,504 --> 00:04:58,214
Nearly 40 years before that,

71
00:04:58,298 --> 00:05:00,758
South Korea was
an incredibly poor country,

72
00:05:00,842 --> 00:05:04,345
but it had developed its economy
strategically from the ground up

73
00:05:04,429 --> 00:05:07,640
and by 1996,
when Seo Taiji & Boys retired,

74
00:05:07,724 --> 00:05:10,476
it was the 11th richest country
in the world.

75
00:05:11,561 --> 00:05:12,770
Enter Lee Soo Man,

76
00:05:12,854 --> 00:05:15,773
a former Korean entertainer turned businessman,
who saw music as the next big export.

77
00:05:18,860 --> 00:05:24,115
"Made in Korea" should be stressed,

78
00:05:30,246 --> 00:05:33,207
Lee Soo Man's first hit
product was H.O.T.

79
00:05:34,667 --> 00:05:35,877
Oh, "Candy."

80
00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:37,962
I performed this in school.

81
00:05:38,046 --> 00:05:39,922
The gloves
were the most important part.

82
00:05:40,006 --> 00:05:42,633
Yes, the ski gloves were a thing.

83
00:05:42,717 --> 00:05:45,386
If you look at Seo Taiji & Boys
and H.O.T. side-by-side,

84
00:05:45,470 --> 00:05:47,555
you'll see some remarkable similarities.

85
00:05:47,638 --> 00:05:49,515
They blended hip hop
with dance music,

86
00:05:49,599 --> 00:05:51,851
and they wore clothes
meant for the slopes.

87
00:05:51,934 --> 00:05:54,187
You have to understand,
we love H.O.T.,

88
00:05:54,270 --> 00:05:57,106
but their music videos
confused us as well.

89
00:05:59,650 --> 00:06:02,904
People were wearing those gloves
on the streets.

90
00:06:02,987 --> 00:06:05,198
It was shocking to me as a child.

91
00:06:05,281 --> 00:06:09,952
They wore ski apparel once,
and the next thing you know,

92
00:06:10,036 --> 00:06:14,082
everyone was wearing
the same clothes at the slopes.

93
00:06:15,333 --> 00:06:17,627
And then there was
the choreographed dance.

94
00:06:17,710 --> 00:06:19,712
And there was this dance, the...

95
00:06:20,380 --> 00:06:22,048
Yeah, the... This thing.

96
00:06:22,131 --> 00:06:25,385
It was called the man chi chun,
which is like a hammer dance.

97
00:06:25,468 --> 00:06:28,096
If you're a kid, and you don't
like awesome choreography,

98
00:06:28,179 --> 00:06:29,680
then you're not really a kid.

99
00:06:31,974 --> 00:06:33,893
This song was huge,

100
00:06:34,394 --> 00:06:38,272
and there were about, like, 200 songs
that tried to do what this did.

101
00:06:38,356 --> 00:06:41,192
Lee Soo Man had clearly
tapped into something,

102
00:06:41,692 --> 00:06:44,404
and a year later, when a
catastrophic financial crisis

103
00:06:44,487 --> 00:06:45,446
pummeled Asia,

104
00:06:45,530 --> 00:06:48,866
the South Korean government had
the same idea as Lee Soo Man.

105
00:06:48,950 --> 00:06:52,912
Culture could be the county's
next big export industry.

106
00:06:53,371 --> 00:06:56,207
They even passed a law devoted
to bolstering the arts,

107
00:06:56,290 --> 00:07:01,045
and vowed to dedicate at least 1%
of the entire state budget to culture.

108
00:07:01,129 --> 00:07:03,965
There were three main companies
ready to take advantage:

109
00:07:04,048 --> 00:07:07,593
Lee Soo Man's SM Entertainment,
and two other new music agencies,

110
00:07:07,677 --> 00:07:09,387
JYP and YG.

111
00:07:09,512 --> 00:07:12,432
YG's founder was none other
than Yang Hyun Suk,

112
00:07:12,557 --> 00:07:14,976
a member of Seo Taiji & Boys.

113
00:07:15,351 --> 00:07:18,771
These three companies established
the formula for making K-pop

114
00:07:18,855 --> 00:07:20,148
that still exists today.

115
00:07:25,445 --> 00:07:29,240
First things first, the "K" in "K-pop"
stands for Korean, so it's...

116
00:07:29,323 --> 00:07:31,242
Korean pop.

117
00:07:31,325 --> 00:07:34,120
I would describe K-pop to
someone who's never heard it as...

118
00:07:34,203 --> 00:07:35,204
Pop on crack.

119
00:07:35,288 --> 00:07:38,374
I don't want to call it manufactured,
'cause that feels rude,

120
00:07:38,458 --> 00:07:41,419
but there's this whole presentation
to the groups.

121
00:07:41,502 --> 00:07:47,300
It's absolutely not cynical music
at all. It is just pure optimism.

122
00:07:49,594 --> 00:07:53,931
Even in the Korean market,
We often talk about what K-pop is.

123
00:07:54,015 --> 00:07:55,725
Does it refer to a band made in Korea?
Does it only include idols?

124
00:07:58,269 --> 00:08:00,563
Across the world,
we're used to the term K-pop,

125
00:08:00,646 --> 00:08:02,315
but in Korea they're called
"Idol groups"

126
00:08:02,398 --> 00:08:05,276
because they were made through
a very specific process.

127
00:08:06,235 --> 00:08:09,363
The entertainment company
auditions or scouts the idols,

128
00:08:09,447 --> 00:08:11,282
trains them to sing,
dance and act,

129
00:08:11,365 --> 00:08:12,909
and carefully assembles them

130
00:08:12,992 --> 00:08:15,661
into incredibly polished
and well-rounded groups.

131
00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:17,788
Now, this process can take years,

132
00:08:17,872 --> 00:08:21,125
and it's a process
that K-pop didn't invent.

133
00:08:21,584 --> 00:08:24,462
That same factory system
was used by Motown,

134
00:08:24,545 --> 00:08:28,007
the label that cultivated hit acts
like The Supremes, The Temptations,

135
00:08:28,090 --> 00:08:29,717
and The Jackson Five.

136
00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:31,260
Speaking of The Jackson Five,

137
00:08:31,344 --> 00:08:34,055
K-pop bands usually have
at least five members,

138
00:08:34,138 --> 00:08:37,808
often a lot more, and they
all take on specific roles.

139
00:08:41,187 --> 00:08:44,273
You'll very rarely find a group
where two people are very similar.

140
00:08:44,357 --> 00:08:47,151
The K-pop groups will typically
have titles to them

141
00:08:47,235 --> 00:08:48,402
about their positions.

142
00:08:48,486 --> 00:08:52,198
As for me, I got a role of a leader
and a songwriter and rapper.

143
00:08:52,281 --> 00:08:54,450
You have the singer,
the rapper, the dancer.

144
00:08:54,534 --> 00:08:55,826
J-Hope, him.
Yes.

145
00:08:55,910 --> 00:08:57,286
He's the dancer of the group.

146
00:08:57,370 --> 00:08:58,913
You have the magnae,
the youngest one,

147
00:08:58,996 --> 00:09:00,540
which is a role unto its own.

148
00:09:00,623 --> 00:09:02,416
That makes the chemistry of us.

149
00:09:02,500 --> 00:09:03,960
It's like The Avengers.

150
00:09:05,169 --> 00:09:09,382
Imagine, like, The Avengers
with nine Tony Starks.

151
00:09:10,007 --> 00:09:11,259
That doesn't work.

152
00:09:11,342 --> 00:09:14,428
You gotta have Ant-Man,
you have to have the Hulk,

153
00:09:14,512 --> 00:09:17,139
you gotta have
very different personalities.

154
00:09:17,223 --> 00:09:20,184
Now, they may all be different,
but every K-pop idol

155
00:09:20,268 --> 00:09:21,852
has to be squeaky-clean.

156
00:09:21,936 --> 00:09:25,439
Idols must be kind and polite,

157
00:09:25,523 --> 00:09:29,277
and never be involved with
alcohol, drugs, or scandals.

158
00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:32,196
Love is the biggest topic,

159
00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:35,199
and it's also the topic that
K-pop stars

160
00:09:35,283 --> 00:09:37,994
are never allowed to really
talk about personally.

161
00:09:38,077 --> 00:09:41,205
There's this idea
that every single K-pop star

162
00:09:41,289 --> 00:09:43,332
is meant for the fans.

163
00:09:43,416 --> 00:09:45,626
And when a K-pop group
looks for an audience,

164
00:09:45,710 --> 00:09:48,671
they almost always look
beyond Korean borders.

165
00:09:48,754 --> 00:09:51,132
You'll see clues
of that international strategy

166
00:09:51,215 --> 00:09:53,009
in the very names of the groups.

167
00:09:53,092 --> 00:09:54,719
They're almost always acronyms,

168
00:09:54,802 --> 00:09:58,180
so there's no issue translating
them for a global market.

169
00:09:58,264 --> 00:10:00,808
It started when the uniquely
Korean Seo Taiji...

170
00:10:03,936 --> 00:10:07,356
Was followed by the easily
marketable H.O.T.

171
00:10:07,481 --> 00:10:09,900
If you take a closer look
at the K-pop group EXO,

172
00:10:09,984 --> 00:10:12,653
you'll see another marketing
strategy: Subgroups.

173
00:10:12,737 --> 00:10:16,616
Two members are there specifically
to sing and rap in Chinese.

174
00:10:16,741 --> 00:10:20,119
Not only does the group frequently
release two versions of one song,

175
00:10:20,202 --> 00:10:23,497
they sometimes even shoot two
versions of the same music video.

176
00:10:25,416 --> 00:10:27,168
People talk about K-pop as a
music genre.

177
00:10:27,251 --> 00:10:29,670
It's not really a music genre,
it's a music idea.

178
00:10:29,754 --> 00:10:32,465
And it's as much a visual art
as a musical one.

179
00:10:32,548 --> 00:10:35,926
You can see it in the bold colors
and impeccably timed choreography

180
00:10:36,010 --> 00:10:37,136
of their music videos.

181
00:10:37,219 --> 00:10:39,639
Even at this point,
if you're from a small label,

182
00:10:39,722 --> 00:10:42,183
your production for a music
video is still gonna be

183
00:10:42,266 --> 00:10:45,394
a thousand times better than a
music video coming out in the U.S.

184
00:10:45,478 --> 00:10:47,271
A K-pop music video looks like...

185
00:10:47,355 --> 00:10:48,230
Oh, my God.

186
00:10:48,314 --> 00:10:51,567
Crazy choreography with amazing,
intricate sets

187
00:10:51,651 --> 00:10:53,444
and weird costumes.

188
00:10:53,527 --> 00:10:55,905
I don't think there's a single
group that cannot dance well.

189
00:10:55,988 --> 00:10:59,825
They'll have a vague story element
that's just complete inscrutable,

190
00:10:59,909 --> 00:11:03,120
so something like BTS's
"Blood Sweat & Tears."

191
00:11:03,204 --> 00:11:05,623
Very European art museum.

192
00:11:06,832 --> 00:11:10,086
But no one's got any idea what's
happening and then they intersperse that

193
00:11:10,169 --> 00:11:13,756
with beautiful dance moves,
which is fantastic.

194
00:11:13,839 --> 00:11:17,093
Music videos like "Blood, Sweat
& Tears" have been a driving force

195
00:11:17,176 --> 00:11:19,762
of K-pop's viral success
around the world,

196
00:11:19,845 --> 00:11:22,765
and while K-pop songs
are largely sung in Korean,

197
00:11:22,890 --> 00:11:26,977
you'd be hard-pressed to find a K-pop song
that doesn't have some English lyrics.

198
00:11:34,652 --> 00:11:37,363
Yes, there are occasional
English words here and there,

199
00:11:37,446 --> 00:11:40,533
but the good thing about the English
words is that it makes it catchy.

200
00:11:41,033 --> 00:11:43,494
Over the decades, East or West,

201
00:11:43,577 --> 00:11:46,831
there's been a back and forth
with the influence.

202
00:11:46,914 --> 00:11:49,208
That's what pop basically is.

203
00:11:49,291 --> 00:11:52,878
You know, you can't really
pinpoint, like, a location to it.

204
00:11:52,962 --> 00:11:57,883
In fact, many K-pop songs

205
00:11:57,967 --> 00:12:04,014
are written by foreign composers

206
00:12:04,223 --> 00:12:07,059
from Sweden and the U.S.

207
00:12:08,394 --> 00:12:10,938
K-pop is happy to take good
ideas from anywhere.

208
00:12:11,021 --> 00:12:14,942
Take "Red Flavor," one of the
biggest K-pop hits of 2017.

209
00:12:15,651 --> 00:12:18,154
It was immortalized by Jack Black in a viral video
taken from a Korean show, Infinite Challenge.

210
00:12:20,823 --> 00:12:23,451
Infinite Challenge,
it's a very popular show here.

211
00:12:26,704 --> 00:12:30,666
The song was written by Caesar
& Loui, two Swedish producers.

212
00:12:38,632 --> 00:12:40,926
We actually wrote "Red Flavor"
for a Western girl band.

213
00:12:41,010 --> 00:12:44,722
It was called "Dance With Nobody."
It was about a break-up.

214
00:12:44,805 --> 00:12:47,767
We had... ♪ Dance with nobody,
nobody but me ♪

215
00:12:47,850 --> 00:12:51,145
SM ultimately changed the lyrics
to be a breezy summer hit,

216
00:12:51,604 --> 00:12:56,859
but hidden right before the song's chorus
is a little ode to Swedish pop royalty,

217
00:12:56,942 --> 00:12:58,903
ABBA.
A little ABBA piece there.

218
00:12:58,986 --> 00:13:01,947
They always have these parts,
it's like they answer the melodies.

219
00:13:02,031 --> 00:13:03,657
43 seconds into "Dancing Queen"

220
00:13:03,741 --> 00:13:06,076
you'll hear exactly
what they're talking about.

221
00:13:12,041 --> 00:13:15,461
And 43 seconds into "Red Flavor"
you'll hear this.

222
00:13:23,344 --> 00:13:25,930
Which brings us to the next
key part of the formula:

223
00:13:26,013 --> 00:13:28,891
How K-pop songs mix and match genres.

224
00:13:28,974 --> 00:13:31,060
K-pop is all about experimentalism.

225
00:13:31,143 --> 00:13:34,605
You can go from super
bubblegum-y pop one minute

226
00:13:34,688 --> 00:13:37,817
to a hardcore breakdown the
next second.

227
00:13:37,900 --> 00:13:40,319
Most K-pop fans won't even
blink at this point.

228
00:13:40,903 --> 00:13:44,240
Take 2013's "I Got a Boy"
by Girls' Generation.

229
00:13:44,740 --> 00:13:48,452
There are at least nine moments
where different genres work together...

230
00:13:49,870 --> 00:13:50,871
Like here.

231
00:13:56,335 --> 00:14:00,256
Skip ahead just 20 seconds and
another unexpected shift happens.

232
00:14:00,381 --> 00:14:02,758
♪ Stop, let me put it down
another way ♪

233
00:14:07,847 --> 00:14:09,390
I got a look at "I Got a Boy,"

234
00:14:09,473 --> 00:14:14,687
every popular genre at the time
is something packed into one song.

235
00:14:16,188 --> 00:14:18,357
It's a K-pop classic,

236
00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:22,444
and hints of its structure can
be found in a lot of K-pop tracks.

237
00:14:24,363 --> 00:14:28,993
In terms of how agencies create the
music, K-pop is more product than art.

238
00:14:29,076 --> 00:14:31,662
But the fans don't consume it

239
00:14:31,745 --> 00:14:36,917
merely as a product,
like a car or a laptop.

240
00:14:37,001 --> 00:14:40,087
Rather, they're interpreting

241
00:14:40,170 --> 00:14:44,550
and finding their own ways
of enjoying it.

242
00:14:45,175 --> 00:14:48,554
In 2011, the K-pop industry
hit a big milestone.

243
00:14:48,637 --> 00:14:50,097
The big three entertainment companies

244
00:14:50,180 --> 00:14:52,433
organized their first tours
outside of Asia

245
00:14:52,516 --> 00:14:55,436
and Korean television broadcast
those images back home,

246
00:14:55,519 --> 00:14:59,690
proof that Korean culture had
finally found its global audience.

247
00:14:59,773 --> 00:15:04,278
I saw the news, some European
fans made some kind of flash mob

248
00:15:04,361 --> 00:15:06,780
in front of the Louvre Museum
in Paris.

249
00:15:08,824 --> 00:15:09,950
A year later...

250
00:15:12,828 --> 00:15:13,996
There was this.

251
00:15:15,497 --> 00:15:18,709
The video took K-pop style
to a ridiculous extreme,

252
00:15:18,792 --> 00:15:22,671
and it was the first ever YouTube
video to reach a billion views.

253
00:15:22,755 --> 00:15:25,966
When "Gangnam Style" happened,
we were there with Psy

254
00:15:26,050 --> 00:15:29,136
when it was being created
to, like, when it exploded.

255
00:15:29,219 --> 00:15:33,098
He was confused the entire time.
Even now he doesn't understand it.

256
00:15:33,182 --> 00:15:36,060
He's like, "What's going on?"
I'm like, "How would I know?"

257
00:15:36,143 --> 00:15:37,227
But it's awesome!

258
00:15:38,103 --> 00:15:41,106
K-pop was now a worldwide sensation.

259
00:15:41,190 --> 00:15:45,569
In 2005, the whole Korean music
market was ranked 29th in the world.

260
00:15:45,653 --> 00:15:48,072
By 2016, it was ranked eighth.

261
00:15:48,364 --> 00:15:51,492
That incredible success
also put a worldwide spotlight

262
00:15:51,575 --> 00:15:54,328
on the long-standing criticisms
of the industry,

263
00:15:54,411 --> 00:15:57,998
that entertainment companies push
their young recruits into long contracts,

264
00:15:58,082 --> 00:16:00,834
controlling every aspect of
their careers.

265
00:16:00,918 --> 00:16:03,462
The industry still has a way
to go,

266
00:16:03,545 --> 00:16:06,256
but some criticisms have been
met with reform.

267
00:16:06,340 --> 00:16:08,801
In 2009,
the Korean Fair Trade Commission

268
00:16:08,884 --> 00:16:10,886
began regulating agency contracts,

269
00:16:10,970 --> 00:16:14,390
removing terms they deemed
excessively long or restrictive.

270
00:16:15,265 --> 00:16:18,519
Of course there are still problems
in the relationship between artists

271
00:16:18,602 --> 00:16:20,813
and agencies,
with how contracts are managed.

272
00:16:20,896 --> 00:16:26,860
That might have been true in the past,
but K-pop has changed since then.

273
00:16:26,944 --> 00:16:31,949
This image of idols with no freedom
whatsoever is no longer true.

274
00:16:32,866 --> 00:16:34,368
That rigid factory structure

275
00:16:34,451 --> 00:16:37,496
also gets to something
the headlines often overlook.

276
00:16:37,663 --> 00:16:41,709
That actually gets to the
core of K-pop.

277
00:16:41,792 --> 00:16:43,502
It's "so K," so to speak.

278
00:16:43,585 --> 00:16:49,049
To be patient and endure and
finally achieve what you want

279
00:16:49,133 --> 00:16:52,803
is greatly valued and
respected in Korea.

280
00:16:52,886 --> 00:16:55,639
Even after "Gangnam Style's"
incredible success,

281
00:16:55,764 --> 00:16:59,643
the U.S. market was still stubbornly hard
for the K-pop industry to penetrate,

282
00:16:59,727 --> 00:17:02,271
and for one key reason.

283
00:17:02,354 --> 00:17:06,066
The U.S. market has historically been
really averse to non-English music.

284
00:17:06,942 --> 00:17:08,318
That is, until BTS.

285
00:17:08,402 --> 00:17:11,655
Making their U.S. TV debut,

286
00:17:11,739 --> 00:17:14,700
make some noise for BTS.

287
00:17:14,783 --> 00:17:17,786
It's like when they got to LAX,
it was like The Beatles were here.

288
00:17:18,537 --> 00:17:20,456
BTS will always have a special
place in my heart.

289
00:17:20,539 --> 00:17:23,042
I love BTS so, so, so, so much.

290
00:17:23,125 --> 00:17:27,254
I like a lot of their music,
but their fans are a bit scary.

291
00:17:27,713 --> 00:17:31,341
BTS has basically smashed every
U.S. record for a K-pop band.

292
00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:35,345
To understand how,  you have to look
at Billboard's social media chart.

293
00:17:35,429 --> 00:17:38,182
BTS has been at the top
for over a year.

294
00:17:38,265 --> 00:17:40,517
Billboard eventually cashed in
on that enthusiasm,

295
00:17:40,601 --> 00:17:44,063
releasing collector's edition
covers for each band member.

296
00:17:44,146 --> 00:17:46,607
The music's great,
but the thing about BTS

297
00:17:46,690 --> 00:17:47,858
is social presence.

298
00:17:47,941 --> 00:17:50,152
That makes them very accessible
to many fans.

299
00:17:50,235 --> 00:17:52,571
That's something that is impacting
other K-pop companies.

300
00:17:52,654 --> 00:17:55,824
A lot of times,
they just seem like old friends.

301
00:17:55,908 --> 00:17:57,659
They also are very genuine,

302
00:17:57,743 --> 00:18:00,329
and they have a lot
of chemistry together.

303
00:18:00,412 --> 00:18:02,915
They're still individuals,
but the chemistry between them

304
00:18:02,998 --> 00:18:06,168
is almost unmatched
in all the K-pop groups.

305
00:18:07,711 --> 00:18:09,630
But what really sets BTS apart

306
00:18:09,713 --> 00:18:12,174
from most other K-pop acts is their lyrics.
We always talk about the young people's lives.

307
00:18:15,803 --> 00:18:17,763
BTS deals with some
subversive themes

308
00:18:17,846 --> 00:18:21,809
that speak directly to a generation
that feels enormous pressure.

309
00:18:29,441 --> 00:18:31,110
Those messages are very similar

310
00:18:31,193 --> 00:18:34,905
to the band that inspired the
K-pop industry in the first place,

311
00:18:34,988 --> 00:18:36,490
Seo Taiji & Boys.

312
00:18:36,573 --> 00:18:39,868
In 2017, BTS even covered their
classic "Come Back Home."

313
00:18:43,038 --> 00:18:44,706
And when Seo Taiji gave a concert

314
00:18:44,790 --> 00:18:47,501
to celebrate the 25th anniversary
of their debut,

315
00:18:47,584 --> 00:18:49,628
BTS joined him on stage.

316
00:18:52,172 --> 00:18:54,842
South Korea became
a pop culture powerhouse

317
00:18:54,925 --> 00:18:58,470
by taking Seo Taiji & Boys' style
and turning it into a formula.

318
00:18:59,429 --> 00:19:01,181
The formula is so successful

319
00:19:01,265 --> 00:19:03,684
that K-pop has now touched
nearly every continent.

320
00:19:03,767 --> 00:19:05,269
Hi, I'm Anubhuti from India.

321
00:19:05,352 --> 00:19:07,688
And I come from Finland.
From the Philippines.

322
00:19:07,771 --> 00:19:09,523
Costa Rica.
I'm from Canada.

323
00:19:09,606 --> 00:19:13,318
This is my K-pop tattoo.
K-pop is my life.

324
00:19:14,278 --> 00:19:17,698
K-pop helped the world understand
and open up to a country

325
00:19:17,781 --> 00:19:18,907
it knew little about.

326
00:19:19,449 --> 00:19:23,078
If someone sees a video
of a K-pop idol group

327
00:19:23,704 --> 00:19:25,205
for the first time,

328
00:19:25,289 --> 00:19:27,666
with high probability they're
going to be kind of confused.

329
00:19:28,208 --> 00:19:29,543
That's not a bad thing.

330
00:19:30,127 --> 00:19:31,920
It's one of the reasons why
K-pop is so great.

331
00:19:32,004 --> 00:19:34,214
Fans are able to connect
with the artist,

332
00:19:34,298 --> 00:19:36,842
even though there's a difference
in culture sometimes.

333
00:19:37,593 --> 00:19:40,470
As K-pop acts start going outside
of the formula,

334
00:19:40,554 --> 00:19:44,057
expressing their own ideas
about their country and culture,

335
00:19:44,141 --> 00:19:45,809
there are millions of fans