[PMI] K-pop Interpretation Content That Creates A New Culture

“Thanks to K-pop content, I became interested in the differences between American and Korean culture. If you ask any American student passing by, they’ll likely be able to name a K-pop singer that’s popular.”

Jeffrey R. Alton (43, US), who was interviewed at UConn University Asian American Cultural Center on August 1st, said he became interested in Korean society and culture while interpreting K-pop. “K-pop interpretation content” refers to finding the meaning of Korean song lyrics, music videos, teaser images of albums, and album concepts and “interpreting” them independently.

As K-pop is gaining huge popularity worldwide, cultural content that interprets Korean lyrics is also becoming more popular. When “Channel PNU” examined YouTube, several K-pop interpretations of content already exceeded 10 million views on YouTube. Popular YouTubers covering the content are jaeguchi, dkdktv, and 김일오 15KIM, who have 5.33 million subscribers, 79.3 million, and 219 million subscribers respectively.

One of the most notable features of K-pop interpretation content is that it helps people who don’t know Korean understand the lyrics. “jaeguchi” is one of the channels that upload videos that interpret song lyrics. The videos on this channel show English pronunciation and interpretation subtitles under Korean lyrics. This allows international audiences listening to K-pop for the first time or unfamiliar with Korean to understand and pronounce the lyrics.

In some cases, it not only explains the meaning, but also explains the meaning of Korean culture in the lyrics of the song. The YouTube channel “김일오 15KIM” introduces Korean culture through K-pop music videos or interpretation of song lyrics. One example is a video interpreting Korean culture and Orientalism through singer Lim Kim’s “Yellow” music video on this channel. Additionally, it’s spreading Korean culture globally by showcasing the beauty of Hanbok through content featuring Korean singers wearing traditional attire.

Interpretation content is not limited to YouTube channels. This content has spread to various social media platforms, creating a new subculture. On Reddit, a major US SNS, K-pop fans share their opinions on K-pop content in comments, correct each other’s mistakes, and interpret K-pop independently. A discussion was held to infer the meaning of the teaser image of the K-pop idol group Red Velvet’s album “Chill Kill,” which was released last year. The discussion was sparked by the design of the Korean idol group “Red Velvet” in the teaser image, where “RED” and “VELVET” were capitalized and arranged to resemble Chinese characters. On Reddit, K-pop fans actively interpreted it in comments, mentioning Chinese characters that resemble logos, such as 虎, 街,詩.

However, there is also a concern that YouTubers post videos that subjectively interpret K-pop. To generate revenue through increased views, some YouTubers use provocative thumbnails and content, which can lead to misrepresentations or misinterpretations of Korean culture. When Korean idol group IVE released a Korean-style concept song called “HEYA” in April, a YouTube channel posted an aggro-themed video titled “IVE Stealing Chinese Culture in Their Music Video HEYA Receives.” In the video comments, there are still conflicting comments about the issue.

In response to these distorted interpretations by YouTubers, Seo Lee-Ji (Prof. of School of Global Studies, PNU) said, “Some YouTubers were foreigners who did not have deep musical knowledge of K-pop and applied other unrelated cultural concepts or interpretations to K-pop. There is also a problem that foreigners without musical or Korean knowledge apply foreign culture to Korean K-pop interpretation.”

Reporter Seo Ye-Jin

Translated by Seo Ye-Jin