Korean broadcast launches in Asia
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Toting sneak peaks of TV dramas, cartoons and documentaries as well as business commodities, dozens of South Korean TV people visited Jakarta to sell some of their finest broadcast productions to local TV stations earlier this week.
Their schedule in the first-of-its-kind Korea TV Showcase 2005 is quite tight as they plan to continue the marketing tour to Thailand on May 30 and later to India in early June.
When it comes to their cultural products, it is obvious that Koreans mean business.
Putting a nice touch on the marketing attempt, the Korean Broadcasting Commission (KBC) appointed one of the country's TV stars to carry the mission to expand South Korea's charm to not only Indonesia, but also later to Thailand and India.
Twenty-four-year-old Kim Jae Won, who has starred in 12 TV dramas and movies, was scheduled to go to the three countries to help promote Korean programs as "Honorary Ambassador" for the TV Korea Showcase 2005.
"The overarching mission is to introduce things about South Korea to the world. The particular mission is to introduce Korean drama to the world," Kim said in a press conference on Thursday, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Jakarta.
"To the world". It might not be as overly ambitious as it sounds.
"Hallyu" or Korean Wave is popular across much of eastern Asia as is South Korean pop music, TV dramas, movies and fashion.
Korean TV dramas have penetrated Japan and China and now Indonesia. If the industry succeeds in selling the programs to India, well they would already have a hold of almost half of the world's population.
Take into account their ardent marketing strategy and the nation's staunch love of their own cultural creations, and it is easy to speculate that it will not be long until the world sees Korean productions competing neck-and-neck with Bollywood flicks and Hong Kong movies.
In Indonesia, the Hallyu began transmitting when a private TV station aired Winter Sonata, which was a hit in Japan and China.
The drama, set against beautiful scenery of Korean winter time, later spurred Korean tourism, generating a trend where travel agents in Japan began offering "Winter Sonata" tour packages.
Although no Korean drama has ever surpassed the popularity of Taiwanese Meteor Garden in Indonesia, it does not mean their clutch on the Indonesian market is weak.
After the booming Winter Sonata, Indonesian TV viewers eagerly watched a string of other programs like My Love Patzzi, Full House, which just finished this week. And now the latest is Sunshine of Love, aired by Indosiar.
Meanwhile, Taiwanese drama programs have been on the decline here since Meteor Garden 2, while Japanese dramas have long been in the back of the minds of girls as well as women, since Tokyo Love Story in the 1990s.
Once again, when it comes to cultural products, Koreans mean business. The government, in this case KBC, is willing to facilitate such marketing tours for its broadcast industry.
Bimo Nugroho, from the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission, which was also involved in the showcase's preparation, said that the Korean Showcase would not benefit only the Korean industry, but also the Indonesian industry.
"In the showcase, we also provide opportunities for Indonesian TV stations to sell their programs to the Korean TV," Bimo said.
The showcase is largely comprised of business meetings and presentations of TV programs on the shelves. KBC is reported to be looking forward to having the event annually in Indonesia.
"I'm sure Indonesian TV stations have a lot of interesting programs to offer to Korea," Bimo added.
Well, let's see whether the Korean TV stations would be interested in buying our (Indonesian) soap operas.