Kyoul yonga Fuyu no sonata Winter Ballad and

Kyoul yonga (Fuyu no sonata, Winter Ballad) and Korea-Japan relations Alison Tokita Monash University June 28, 2005

Korea-Japan relations in the past • Inherent affinity between the two cultures – Ethnic and linguistic – Chinese ecumene – Korea introduced Chinese learning to Japan

Japan’s invasions of Korea • 1590 s - Imjin Wars • 1905 “Protectorate” – legitmized by International Community of the time • 1910 Annexation • 1910 -1945 Colonial rule

Recent changes in Japan’ images of Korea • Korea’s economic miracle • Spicy Seoul – mega-metropolis / tourism / gourmet • Tourist destination: gambling, esthetic surgery, gourmet • Creation of Korean spaces in Japan for Japanese • Sport • Reception of Korean popular culture • Cinema box office hits

Postwar Korea-Japan relations • Landmark events – 1965 Diplomatic normalization – 1988 Seoul Olympics – 1998 Kim Dae Jung’s liberalization of Japanese popular culture – 2002 Co-hosting of FIFA Word Cup – 2003 -2004 Fuyu no Sonata Boom (buumu)

Korea-Japan relations in the present • • “Distant but close neighbours” 2005 Year of Korea-Japan Friendship March 1 st, Dokdo issue flared up Perennial issues of history textbooks, Yasukuni Shrine, Comfort Women • Ecnomic interdependence • Complicitness, Japanese collaborators

How to overcome the legacy of the past? • The potential of shared popular culture • Chua Beng Huat: East Asian popular cultural sphere

Soft power and popular culture • Joseph Nye • Japan: deficient in military power (Peace Constitution), and in global ideological appeal • But has potential soft power resources

Japan’s “Gross National Cool” (GNC) • Douglas Mc. Gray 2002 • MOFA: Gaikou Forum Special Issue on Cool Japan, June 2004 • Linked to ODA • Eliding of Cool Japan and Soft Power

“Japanese Cool”

Cute is Cool too (kawaii vs kakkoii)

Koizumi (Lionheart) is cool

Discourse of hallyu • Two national discourses in competition • Is this a “soft power battle”? • Hallyu boom continues in Japan, despite diplomatic coldness • This is different from conventional “cultural exchange”

The Kyoul yonga effect: Creation of Japan’s Fuyusona boom • • 2003 NHK’s BS 2, end of year repeat 2004 April-August NHK’s general channel 2004 December end of year repeat May 2004 clear signs of a massive fad with visit of Bae Yongjun – “Yonsama” • Blogs, tourism, goods, Korean language courses

Causes of the popularity (popular explanations) • The male lead actor Bae Yongjun • Nostalgia; cultural proximity; but not coeval • “Pure” love story, unrequited, indefinite postponement of fulfillment over 20 episodes • Characters, locales, music, fashions, lifestyles

The story and its themes • • • “Secrets and Lies” Karmic consequences First love, true love Memory and forgetting Accident and injury: a major plot device

Allegoric level? • Allegory for modernity and a break with the premodern past • Narrative present (2002) is bright, affluent, Seoul centred • Narrative past (1992 and 1968) is dark, poor, Chuncheon centred. Has a warm feeling as well as gloom

Snow power • • • Separate bright world, not the everyday Effaces the everyday Pure, bright, cold, clean and cleansing Energizing, soft, playful A medium for physical engagement No shadows

Kang Junsang (past) • • • Shadowland Dark, doesn’t smile Misfit, antisocial Doesn’t know who his father is Transfers to Chunchon to find father, to find himself • Mother is concert pianist

Li Minhyung (present – future) • Raised in the US • No memory of Korea, but speaks Korean, and has Korean body (and bodily memory) • Seoul is his natural medium • Happy, warm, confident (until he learns about his past) • “Best thing is to forget the dead”

Effacement and recovery of memory • • Junsang’s past was effaced Memory recovered painfully Yujin’s memory constant Recognition and non-recognition: after losing memory, after gaining consciousness after accident, after 3 year separation and blindness • Memory restored, eyesight lost

Absence of the father - aboji – Korea, the past • Dangerous, dark, threatening, full of conflict, unpleasant memories of the past • Image of “walking on the edge / ledge”, precarious, scary (says Sanyok), need to hold someone’s hand • Climbing a wall is also possible (over the school wall) if there is someone to step on • Minyong’s dark (Korean) past was lost, effaced, replaced with bright US past / present / future • The love triangle of the parents’ generation is part of that dark past from Meehee wanted to escape; she created lies and fictions in order to do so • Snowy world was another way of escape from the dreary past / present, effaces the normal world, magic wonderland of play

Bodily memory • Bodily memory (the body remembers): smell of her hair, memory of playing piano, nukkim (Yonguk and Jinoo) • Resolution / denouement possible only after eyesight is lost, but this is compensated for by other senses (he recognizes her presence without sight), and the full capacity of memory this time. (Scenes in which groping, or blindness prevent direct meeting. )

Ethical and religious dimension • Regret and apology. Self-blame and betrayal. “I will be punished for this. ” “I will never forgive you. ” • Myan hada is like a refrain. (Cheson hamnida. Hananim yolso juseyo. ) Hurting people. Let’s not hurt those we love. • Religious syncretism

Image conveyed by the drama to Japanese audiences • These are profound themes of memory and forgetting, of pure love involving deferral and self-sacrifice, of punishment for bad actions • Surely these themes have been responsible for the impact of the drama, not only the aesthetic appeal, the romance, the cool Asian masculinity

Presence of Japan • • A place of success, recognition of ability. Meehee’s concert tours Chelin’s fashion shows Junsang and Kim’s architectural business

America • The ultimate source of cultural legitimacy • Minyong “grew up” there • Meehee’s career was established, developed there • Minyong retreats there when the going gets tough in Korea • The ultimate getaway, escape route, place of freedom • There is no hint of US presence in Korea, even there is a military base in Chunchon.

France • Less work than play, and study (also a kind of play, and a form of escape), and cultural capital • Chelin met Minyong there, both were studying? • Escape route for Yujin, as her mother comments

• • What was the consumer experience? Commercialization and trivialization Chiezou 2004 word of the year : Yonsama Manga version Character goods (life size doll, Junbear) Theme park Yonsama socks etc.

Fantasy dream world of romance? • • • Not just a virtual experience Tourism to location sites (like pilgrimage) Learning Korean language Donate to Tsunami appeal like Yonsama Join a virtual cultural community as a Yonsama fan and contribute to blogs • Create links with Koreans in Japan?

Consumer experience • Japanese (middle-aged female) fans have responded to the deeper themes • Reversal of directionality of Japan as source of popular culture • Can be read as subversive