Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Many fashion magazines in Hong Kong are Japanese,
some translated into Cantonese. However, interest in
Japanese popular culture is subsiding under a recent
wave of Korean influences.
Korean popular culture has invaded the rest of Asia
since public media began paying attention to it in the late
1990s. This phenomenon is known as Korean Wave III .
It all began with the showing of a Korean drama
called Star in My Heart in China, Taiwan, and elsewhere
in Asia. Before seeing the movie, many Asians perceived
Korea to be rough, violent, and lacking material and
cultural refinement. However, the drama was set in the
context of impressive skyscrapers and high fashion.
And the star—Ahn Jae-wook—was attractive to Chi-
nese and Taiwanese women. Shiri , a film that explored
a romance between North Korean and South Korean
spies, offered a peek into the estranged relationship be-
tween those two countries. Suddenly Korea became
very interesting.
Now , Korean movies, soap operas, Internet games,
fashion, and music are all the rage in Asia. Music groups
such as H.O.T . (disbanded 2002), Baby V ox, and CLON
have adopted Western pop music and given it an Asian
twist (Figure 1-18).
Korean media is regarded as “fresh and trendy .”
Perhaps more importantly , it not only contains Asian
values and sentiments (often Confucian) but also as-
sures Asian identity . Korean Wave III demonstrates
than cultural influences are geo-cultural, not simply
transnational.
Figure 1-18
Korean W ave III has arrived in Asia. ©KIM JAE-HWAN/AFP/Getty
Images, Inc.
Recommended Web Sites
www .aag.org
Association of American Geographers homepage.
www .About.com:Geography
Learn how to become a geographer. Country information;
historical geography and exploration; physical and cultural
geography; geographic games and quizzes; downloadable
outline maps.
www .amergeog.org /
American Geographical Society home page. Information on
publications such as the Geographical Review and Focus.
www .atlapedia.com
Excellent downloadable physical and political maps.
www .atlas.mapquest.com/atlas
Downloadable maps.
www .cia.gov/library/publications/theworld-factbook .
The Central Intelligence Agency' s World Factbook with infor-
mation and statistics.
www .hrw .org
An organization dedicated to protecting the human rights of
people around the world.
http://www .ifg.org/
An alliance of scholars and activists who are critical of current
trends of globalization.
www .internetworldstats.com/stats2.htm
Information on Internet users around the world.
www .nationalgeographic.com/
Interactive maps and videos and excellent photos and fascinat-
ing articles about the world.
http://placesonline.org .
Outstanding site with links to Web sites around the world.
Sponsored by the Association of American Geographers.
www .un.org/en/index.shtml
United Nations links to many sites with information about hu-
man development around the world.
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