Abstract

In this paper, I will pursue initial ideas I formulated in 2012 about the permeation of Korean influences in Philippine popular culture, particularly in the production of serialized TV drama/soap operas or the “teleserye” [tele for television + “serye” or series; thus, TV drama series]. I called the phenomenon the “Korean Turn” as I observed the emulation of Korean televisual drama (nowadays called K-Drama) modes and practices by local production through various means of cultural appropriation. This time, I will expand my exploration to other aspects of Philippine entertainment and other cultural practices. I will also update my observations on the continuing “Korean turn” in the teleserye. I will argue, on the one hand, about the success and soft power of hallyu or the “Korean wave” in the Philippines; and on the other, about Philippine culture's enduring ingenuity in its reception and repurposing of hallyu. Ideas to be yielded here will form part of a potential framework in understanding the dynamics of the interface between Korean and Philippine cultures, in the context of globalization. I assert that popular culture remains to be an undervalued field of inquiry, as far as these contexts are concerned.