koreatelenova among filippino audiences

Cultural Space and Public Sphere in Asia 2006, Seoul, Korea / 257

Is it too early to talk about “Hallyu” in the Philippines?

Koreanovela and its reception among Filipino audience

Dong Hwan Kwon

Abstract

“Hallyu (Korean wave)” in China, Taiwan, and Japan has become a new trend since the late

1990’s and its typical aspects seem to have reached the Philippines since 2003, especially

through soap opera, so called “Koreanovela.” This research focuses on the Filipino experience

of the flow of Koreanovelas in the Philippine Free TV to find how Filipino audiences have

received the Koreanovela - specifically, what, why, and how they consume the Koreanovela.

Two Focused groups were facilitated in the department of Mass Communication at University

of the Philippine during September 9 to 12, 2005 to understand the consumption, attractive

elements, and cultural reading and construction of meaning about Koreans. Participants

agreed that Koreanovelas are widely accepted among the Filipino audiences regardless of

gender and age and they have become a “phenomena.” Production quality, succinct plot, fashion

and other aspects in and outside of Koreanovela production supports its wide acceptance in the

Philippines. Interestingly, “cultural discount” is given to the Asian look in contrast to the years

of western media exposure. Community based culture such as hierarchical family relationship

between elders and younger ones, and the extended family relationships are attractive aspects to

affirm cultural closeness and a high level of shared context between the two countries.

Discussants also understand the Koreanovelas as a “cultural window” in experiencing implicit

and explicit Korean way of life in contemporary society.


Introduction

Background : “Hallyu (Korean wave)” Phenomena and Regionalization of media market

The “hallyu (Korean wave)” has been aired since 1990’s from China, Taiwan, and Japan. The regional

distribution of Korean cultural products was begun with trendy dramas, then, extended to popular songs,

movies, with the growth of Korean media markets. The export of Korean popular media contents has

continually expanded even to Singapore (Kim, 2002), Vietnam (Lee, 2002), and Mongolia (Kim, S. H.,

2002), which is beyond East Asia to South East Asia. Now the term, “hallyu” seems to connote the

influence of Korean social and cultural aspects such as clothes, fashion, and technological goods among

the Asian countries.

The international and inter-regional exchange of media products was first understood as the

“Globalization” discourse by U.S. media. For the last few decades, critical scholars have argued that mass

media production being produced from U.S. has destroyed the local value and culture (Shiller, 1976, 1991,

1998; Nordenstreng, 1993; Hamelink, 1993). The center of the argument lies on binary distinction by U.S.

media as a provider and the rest of the world as mere receivers.

Yet the post- colonial analysis of the international exchange of media product has faced the different

patterns of international media markets. Since the 1980s, the Latin Telenovelas, Hong Kong cinema, and

Asian trendy drama popularity in each region has challenged the dominant globalization discourse. At

first hand, such scholars as Barker (1997), Featherstone (1990, 1995), Robertson (1995), Tomlinson

(1997), refused the simple binary relationship between the U.S. and the rest of the world in the media

culture with pluralistic aspects of culture.

Hoskins and Mirus (1988) also tried to explain the reason that U.S. media is widely accepted from the

social context of “cultural discount.” Due to the strong sociological, economical and political supports

from the nation itself, U.S. media get less “discount” from the audiences of other nations.

In the analysis of the inter-regional media exchange, Straubharr (1991) first coined the term “cultural

proximity” that argued that media productions from culturally close countries have greater reception than

those materials from culturally far countries. He (1997) further argued that the world has re-organized

from the major cultural bands such as Latin, Europe, and China cultures. Iwabuchi (200) turned the

attention of cultural proximity into “inter-regional” exchange of media products in Asia (p. 29).

Yet the regionalization discourse was also criticized for exaggeration of regional aspect over western

media power (Ha & Yang, 2002; Yang 2003, and 2004). Furthermore, it overlooks the similarity among

the contents that are consumer-oriented in nature in media production. Though the quantity of mass media


distribution from U.S. decreases, with increase of regionally made production, the mass oriented media

domination gains wider penetration all over the world (Iwabuchi, 2001, Wilk, 1995). It was a change of

the face but not the nature of the media production.

An alternative approach was made with the notion of “transnational culture” versus “regional culture”

(Appadurai, 1998). They have tried to understand the common cultural aspects among particular

consumer groups instead of the ethnic and geographical divisions such as Korean, Chinese, and

Taiwanese etc…

“Hallyu” in the Philippines

In the midst of the great expansion of “hallyu” and its discussion among Korean scholars, its typical

aspect seems to have reached to the Philippines since 2003 especially through soap opera, so called

“Koreanovela.” One of the two major nationwide television networks, GMA 7, began to import

Koreanovela, “Endless Love’ in order to compete with popular Chinovela “Meteor Garden” from ABS-

CBN 2 at that time. It was quite successful, and since then, GMA has been the major player in the

distribution of Koreanovela to the Filipino audience1. Nowadays even the rival network, ABS-CBN, also

airs Koreanovelas2. At the time this research was done, Five Koreanovelas were being aired

simultaneously from both ABS-CBN and GMA7 contrasting to the fact that the greatest hit Chinovela,

“Meteor Garden” was just being reviewed without new series.

The Asian telenovelas’ popularity in the Philippines is somewhat interesting with the understanding of the

social and media culture in the Philippines. Albeit the fact that the Philippines are located in Asia, the

cultural shape has been much different from the rest of other Asian countries. The islands have been

influenced by Spain and U.S. for more than four centuries and it made the country the “A small west in

Asia.” Before and after World War II, U.S. media represented as “Hollywood3” have had a major

1 Since 2003, GMA has aired Endless Love1: Autumn in My Heart (가을 동화), Endless Love2: Winter Sonata (겨울 연가),

Endless Love3: Summer Scent (여름의 향기), All about Eve (이브의 모든것), Irene (인어 아가씨), Save the Last Dance for Me

(마지막 춤은 나와 함께), Stairway to Heaven (천국의 계단), Sweet 18 (낭낭 18세), Attic Cat (옥탑방 고양이), Full House

(풀하우스), Bright Girl (명랑소녀 성공기), and Beautiful Days (아름다운 날들), and Hotelier (호텔 리어)

2 ABS-CBN joined the Koreanovela import since 2005 with Memories of Bali (발리에서 생긴일), Stained Glass (유리화),

Oh! Feel Young (오! 필승 봉순영), and Lovers in Paris (파리의 연인), and Green Rose (그린 로즈)

3 See the website: http://www.seasite.niu.edu/tagalog/Tagalog_Default_files/ Philippine_Culture/50_years_in_hollywood.htm


influence in establishing Western standard in many aspects in Filipino society. Though it has changed

over the years, “white” skinned actors and actresses speaking English with American accent are still

dominant in Filipino TV programs.

Study Framework: Regional and cultural understanding of the reception of Koreanovela

The research borrowed and modified the framework of communication and culture interact model by

Pernia, Pascual, and Kwon (2004). The model focused on the cultural adaptation of religious programs in

the Filipino audience that is based on the interpretive personal community.

“Personal communities refer to the set of active and significant ties

that are most important to people, even if they are geographically

distant. This concept of personal communities provides a better and

more realistic framework to understand how issues affect family,

friends, and community (Pal and Spencer 2003, quoted in Pernia,

Pascual, and Kwon (2004)).

The preposition of the model was that the culture and communication are interactive. In other words, the

culture is transmitted through the act of communication, particularly in the research, through television

contents. The transmission of the culture is made within the particular context, in this case, Filipino

culture. So the model drew upon the religious media reception made among Filipino audience in the

Filipino context.

In this study, the focus is shifted from religious television programs to Koreanovelas. The perception of

Koreanovelas and the understanding of Korean culture out of the mediated channel is the center of the

study. The mediated communication medium, Koreanovelas in this case, represents the image and certain

aspects of Korea and its culture. Therefore, by consumption of the media text, the particular contents

surely make certain perception within the Filipino audience, which the meaning of Korea has constructed

by mediated channel.

Yet the perception made from the media use is embedded with the culture that the audience belongs. It

becomes a ground to understand the explicit and implicit cultures. So the particular cultural background

is important in the perception of the foreign television contents, in this study, Koreanovelas. The cultural

context gives the crucial cues for accepting or rejecting certain media contents.

The interpretive community that the individual belongs to is also crucial for understanding the reception


of Koreanovelas in the particular context. Interpretive and cultural media scholars argued that the media

reception is laid in the social, political, and cultural context. Furthermore, the television consumption is

not only for the personal appreciation but also that of family and peer group, especially in collective and

high cultural context. The limited number of television sets at home also affects the television viewership,

and the discussion and interests shared within the peer group also strongly affect the reception and

perception of television viewing. Therefore, the television reception is both personal and interactional in

nature.

In this study, the perception of Koreanovelas and the understanding of Korean culture will be revealed by

guiding the topics; the consumption, attractive elements, and cultural reading, and construction of

meaning by watching Koreanovela. Mediated by cultural form, television soap opera, the perception is

interrelated with that of personal and personal community, and the reception is embedded within the

cultural background.

Figure 1. Revised culture-communication interact model

Problem of the research

Therefore, the researcher intends to find out the reception among Filipino audiences of the Koreanovela.

Since this is the first attempt to explore Koreanovela or “hallyu” in the Philippines the researcher is trying

INDIVISUAL

& ITS’ COMMUNITY

FOREIGN TELEVISION

CONTENTS FILIPINO

CULTURE

PERCEPTION OF & PERCEPTION OF & PERCEPTION OF & PERCEPTION OF &

UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE

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TELEVISIO


to find out how Filipino audiences have received the Koreanovela specifically, what, why, and how they

consume the Koreanovela from the perspective of the Filipino audience.

LITERATURE REVIEW

With the popularity of Korean cultural commodity especially through mass media, Korean scholars from

media studies, anthropology, and sociology as well as Korean studies have attempted to analyze the

“Hallyu Phenomena” in Asia.

Cultural proximity theses

Based on the cultural proximity thesis (Straubharr, 1991), Ryu and Lee (2001) analyzed the contents of

widely accepted Korean television dramas among East Asia countries to find out the commonalities. From

the content analysis, they concluded that the Korean dramas that have been widely accepted in Asia

contain the Confucian values that are close to Chinese culture. Hu, J. (2002) also argued that Korean

telenovelas contain the common culture and value between Korean and Chinese. With this theory, Jung

(2001) and Kang (2002) attempted to draw a model of Korean television program exports based on

cultural factors in relation to the “cultural proximity” thesis. The content analysis studies strongly

supported the attractiveness of the closed culture in media contents and discovered the cultural factors in

Koreanovelas.

Reception and audience analysis

Turning the attention to the audience, some researchers attempted to get closer to the audiences who

consume the Korean cultural commodities in Asian countries. They tried to find out the actual reasons

watching “hallyu” cultural products among Asian audience. Lee (2003) researched on the reception

among Chinese students who were in Korean Language classes toward Korean dramas and movies. Since

the participations of the survey were the students of Korean Language classes, they have much positive

views and perceptions toward Korean dramas and movies. The perception even created the motivation to

know more about Korea in the future. Chai, B. (2002) applied Uses and Gratifications theory to test the

use of Korean dramas and their satisfaction among Chinese audiences. He proved that the satisfaction

from the use of Korean drama raises positive perception among Chinese audiences.

Using qualitative methods, with in-depth interviews, in the audience study, Xuehue (2002) and Ying

(2003) both examined the reception Korean dramas among the Chinese college students. Similarly with

the other reception studies, they concluded that the consumption of Korean dramas gave positive

receptions. But the finding also showed that some negative factors were also shown from the interviews.


Rhee (2003) tried to find out the economical benefits of “hallyu” popularity toward the effects in the sale

of Korean products. He did the correlation studies about how high acceptance of Korean cultural

commodity affects the reception of Korean products. In the conclusion, he pointed out that general

correlation was made between the use of cultural commodity and the perception of Korea and people. Yet

He also pointed out some factors are considerable not to conclude the correlation between the factors. For

instance, low educated and low-income groups have high consumptions of “hallyu”products and the

factor does not provide high expectation of the sales of Korean products. His research, based on the large

sample population (N=2017), suggests some considerations of the positive assumption on side effects of

“hallyu” in the sales of Korean product.

Tsai, C. (2003) did similar comparative study between Korean and Japanese dramas and their perception

among Taiwanese audiences. From the study, he found out that Japanese dramas had higher and positive

reception in various factors, although Korean dramas have higher viewer rates. What the research has

revealed is the economical factor in the popularity of Korean dramas in Taiwan.

Political and economical analysis of changing media environment

Seeing from the macro perspective, some researchers attempted to understand the “hallyu” phenomena

from economical, sociological, and political aspects. Son (2001) analyzed the changing social context of

Asian broadcasting situation to explain the export of Korean drama in East Asia. She examined the

expanding quantity of broadcasting market due to the development of cable, satellite, as well as

commercialized free television market in Asia where the local production quality and ability do not feed

the need.

Based on Waterman & Rogers research (1994), Jin (2003) focused on the changing paradigm in the East

Asian countries in exchanging television programs in contrast to the 80’s context,. Based on ten years of

broadcasting exchange among East Asian nations, he argued that neo-liberation political policy,

democratization, and liberation of broadcasting markets results in the changes from Western domination

of media market in 80s. He also pointed out that the Asian financial crisis also helped to turn to the

cheaper import of foreign programs within the region.

Ha & Yang (2002) also argued that the “hallyu” has resulted from the factors of political liberation,

economic growth with development of television technology and capitalism in broadcasting in China

which creates the need of Korean cultural commodities in East Asia. Yang (2003, 2004) further refused

the notion of “cultural proximity” in relation to “hallyu” phenomena in East Asia from the macro

perspective. She explained that the Confucian culture does not firmly hold the changing culture of East


Asia; furthermore, the “hallyu” has far reached not only China and Taiwan but also the Southeast Asian

countries which have more complicated religious, social, and political context.

The synthesis from the literature review

Based on the review, several analyses were made. First, the present studies regarding “hallyu”

phenomena in Asia were attempted with various perspectives, micro way which examine from the

audience’ perspective and contents analysis, then, macro way to look from political and economical point

of view. All attempts are helpful in understanding regional exchanges of Korean cultural commodities in

Asia. Particularly, audience study focused on reception analysis was well developed in a way to

understand different contextual phenomena from the point of view of the viewers. Empirical and in-depth

interviews were used for this purpose in the field.

Yet, the context of the study was limited to China and Taiwan. It was partially due to the popularity of

Korean cultural commodities in both countries but also it shows the limitation of access in the study of

wide acceptance of Korean media in those countries. So far no research was made in the Philippine

context where Koreanovela has been a “phenomena” since 2003. The limited analysis also hinders the

various analyses in understanding the meaning of the popularity of Korean cultural commodity in various

cultures.

In a way, cultural proximity thesis in understanding “hallyu” phenomena is limited due to the lack of

application in different culture. Are Korean soap operas only popular in the Confucius cultural boundary?

Is the culture and value only limited to the Chinese cultural influence? What about other cultures in the

Asia, such as the Philippines? If Korean soap opera is well accepted among Filipino audience what are

the factors in the phenomena? The questions are being raised when the penetration of Korean cultural

product is enlarged.

Furthermore, the reception researches are limited in asking what and why questions on the hallyu

phenomena in China and Taiwan. What, among Korean cultural commodities, are popular in a particular

context and why do they gain the popularity? They lack in asking how they understand Korean and

culture from their media viewing, what are the features that are constructed as Korean and culture from

the point of view of the viewers?

METHODOLOGIES


Methods

The explorative at the same time, explanatory reception study was done with Focused Group Discussion

(FGD) method, to find out the viewership of Koreanovelas and how they have been received from the

viewership. FGD was used to understand the personal and personal communities’ collective reception and

perception of Koreanovelas among Filipino audiences.

Research Procedures

The two FGD were done September 9 and 12 of 2005 at University of the Philippines campus. The first

FGD with graduate students was done in the classroom which took about 40 minutes. The other FGD

with an undergraduate group was done in the Graduate Students Lounge from 11:30 and it lasted 80

minutes.

All FGD was conducted with permissions. Discussions were all recorded and later transcribed by research

assistant, Grace Tia. All the transcriptions were re-validated by the researcher and a research participant.

FGDs were guided by open-ended discussion guide topics (see appendix 1). The guide topics were used

to provide the topics of the discussion by the participants not to direct the discussion by the researcher.

The procedure was maintained as naturally as possible and the opinions and reactions were spontaneously

made to make the discussions fluent.

Focused Group Discussants

For this study, the research wanted to have two groups of which one is randomly selected and the other is

purposely selected to receive various perspectives on the given topic. All discussants were currently

enrolled (both undergraduate and graduate program) at College of Mass Communication, University of

the Philippines, Diliman campus. The graduate group was purposively and randomly selected by the

permission of Prof. Deza. Due to the randomness in this selection, the discussants were not the ones

prepared for the topic but they freely discussed what they have watched and thought about Koreanovela.

On the other hand, the undergraduate group was composed up of a group volunteers for Koreanovela

discussion. The researcher requested five professors of the communications research department for

possible volunteers for the discussion. Among them, Dr. Umali agreed to announce the FGD for her class

then, the discussants were voluntarily gathered and relatively prepared with some insights on the topic.

Neither of them received any financial rewards for the discussion participation. Neither of the groups

were not intended for any representation of the youth or UP in the perception towards Koreanovela.

The first graduate group, whose discussion was done September 9 from 6:30 – 7:10 PM at classroom 201,


is composed of 6 graduate students at College of Mass Communication, UP, Diliman. Most of them,

except one male discussant, the age of 6 female students were between 23 and 31. Most of them were

working as teachers, instructors as well as government employees, and studying with part-time student

status. They are living in urban cities.

Table 1. Demographic information for graduate student group

Name Gender Age Course of Study Area of Living Occupation

1 Ira Olan F 23 MA Com Res. Quezon City Training Associate

2 Malaya B. Abadille F 26 MA. Com Res. Manila College Instructor

3 Janice Lopez F 24 MA Media Studies Muntinlupa City Government employee

4 Mary Joyce

Bautista

F 32 MA. Com Res. Pasig City Wedding Planner

5 Marjorie

Naguimbing

Manlula

F 26 MA. Media Studies Nueva Euja Instructor

6 Par, Cresen M 31 Media Studies Pasig City Government Employee

The undergraduate group, whose discussion was done at classroom 201 September 12 from 11: 30, is

composed of 7 graduate students at same school. All discussant are females of age between 18 to 19 years

old. All are living in urban area with full time student status.

Table 2. Demographic information for undergraduate student group


Discussant Name Gender Age Course of Study Area of Living Occupation

1 Kristine H. Bautista F 18 B.A. in Communication

Research.

Quezon city Student

2 Beverly Anne J.

Brul

F 19 B.A. Com. Res. Quezon city Student

3 Camille Rodriguez F 18 B.A. Com. Res. Manila Student

4 Charissa Cortuna F 18 B.A. Com. Res. Makati City Student

5 Jenna Mae L. Atun F 19 B.A. Com. Res. UP Dormitory Student

(Research

Assistant)

6 Via Bonoan F 20 B.A. Com. Res. UP Dormitory Student

7 Cristina O. Diaz F 19 B.A. Com. Res. Quezon City Student

DISCUSSION RESULTS

The focused group discussion was guided by four discussion topic areas: 1. the consumption, 2.

attractive elements, and 3. cultural reading and construction of meaning of Korea. The research was

intended to understand the reception of Filipino audience, what, why, and how they have received

Koreanovelas in the Free networks in the Philippines.

The consumption of Koreanovelas in the Philippines

Viewership of Koreanovelas

Most of the discussants have been familiar with the Koreanovelas since 2003 when Endless Love 1:

Autumn in My Heart or later, Lovers in Paris was shown. They have been exposed to the Koreanovelas

from direct or indirect consumption though some of them have difficulties distinguishing Koreanovelas

from Chinese ones. The undergraduate group discussants had greater viewership than the graduate group

except for the one, discussant 4. They have listed the names of the Koreanovelas at the table.

Undergraduate group says about Koreanovelas they have watched,

All answered: Endless Love 1, 2, 3, attic cat, memories in Balies, full house, all for love,

stairway to heaven, sweet 18…


Facilitator: Mostly from GMA (Participants: And ABS-CBN)

All answered collaboratively: Beautiful days (Facilitator: Beautiful Days) , and Oh Feel

Young (Facilitator – Oh Feel Young), All About Eve… Save The Last

Dance …

Discussant 4: There are plenty of Koreanovelas ..

Some discussants were able to recall the names of the dramas and actors and actresses though they have

confessed the difficulties in memorizing the Korean names. They listed Korean actors and actresses like

Hye Gyo Song, Ji Woo, Choi, Ji Hye Han, Sang Woo Kwon, Rain, and, Dong Gun Lee. It showed the

deep viewership and interests regarding Koreanovelas.

Regarding Korean actors and actresses,

Discussant 1: I recall only their faces… (oh…) their names … hard to learn…

(laugh… )

Discussant 3: Song Hae gyu. Choi Ji woo, Kwon Sang woo, (others say

ohhhh…) Han Ji Hye, I just remember their faces and the names

of the characters they play…

Discussant 5: actually we only address their names in the Koreanovelas

The interests go beyond the personal viewership of Koreanovelas and were extended to the personal

communities around them such as families, friends, and work mates with whom they have daily

relationships. They generally perceived a large and various viewership of Koreanovelas in their personal

communities. One discussant literally said that it is “phenomena” to watch from 4 years olds to

grandparents regardless of genders.

Undergraduate groups said,

Facilitator: Anyway, Not only you but your relatives, your friends, your personal

communities people around you, do they watch Koreanovelas?

All: (strongly, Yesssss) very much. A lot…

**********

Discussant 7: Forties…my mom watches it, Attic Cat… my grandmother…women all

ages actually watch Korean Telenovelas

Discussant 5: Even regardless of gender…

Discussant 2: My brother watches O Feel Young…


Discussant 7: our classmate’s brother not only a teenage boy … and he used to play

basketball all the stuff and when Memories of Bali was shown he goes

home and watch that think a teenage boy… (laugh…) it is

actually funny… He is (someone’s) brother… (laugh)

Graduate group also said,

Discussant 2: My sister she’s addicted to Korean Telenovelas.

Discussant 6: Every household in our compound is addicted to Korean Telenovelas.

Facilitator: So it’s really famous.

Discussant 4: (assertively saying) Yes, everyone.

Extended Korean media consumption by some advocates

Especially from the undergraduate group, some of them already have great degree of consumption of

Korean mass media through Arirang TV, the only satellite Korean channel that is available in CATV in

the Philippines. They have wide interests in Korean cultural commodities such as movies, music, music

video, and Koreanovelas the ones that are not avaible on Philippine Free television channels.

Discussant 6: When I watch TV I always make it a point to switch to Arirang

once in a while (others: me too I watch Arirang) like you’re gonna

see Rain in a music video… and once in a while they have

this because Arirang is in English right? And they have this

show Showbiz Extra and then once in a while you will see

someone…

Facilitator: So do you watch cable TV as well? (Discussant 1: yeah) The

Korean Arirang TV…(answer: yes) how often do you watch?

Discussant 2: 2 to 3 times a week… especially during Sundays because I love

watching Korean movies… they show Korean movies during

Sunday… (Discussant 1: in the evening 11 pm but I still watch it… I

like it…)

Discussant 6: Even before F4 fever I was watching Arirang because they have

really good it’s like short stories they have really good plot it was

very good…and every weekend I make it a point to watch Arirang…

Koreanovela, as a part of Filipino life

Particularly, the discussant 3 from the undergraduate group made the point, “Koreanovela as a way of

life” among Filipinos. She explained how Filipinos reacted to the daily Koreanovela shows and how they


related them to their lives. She said,

Discussant 5: I would also like to bring a point… Korean telenovelas are already serving …

you’re already a way of life…I mean you watch for example Attic Cat during

the night and after that tomorrow you and your friends will talk about it…the

next day you will talk about it…I mean these characters like Noreen and Kevin,

in Full House with Justin and Jessie they all become household

names…everybody knows

Attractive elements in Koreanovelas

Succinct Plots and stories

Discussants pointed out some of the attractiveness of Koreanovelas comparing from the Mexican and

Local ones. They perceived that Koreanovelas have dealt with the universal love stories in a different and

fresh manner, with the plot that is simple, fast, and funny, and the manner of dealing with love story

which is not sensual or sexual compared to Western soap operas.

Undergraduate group said,

Discussant 5: But I personally think that the reason behind the rise of these

Koreanovelas, I think, is based on the stories that they

create … that they share and … I mean… we were fed up these long and

complex stories of Mexican telenovelas and our local telenovelas.

And … I think we wanted the changes in the stories….

Graduate group also said,

Discussant 4 For Latins’ there’s a big difference like the context, the theme, and

even the (VO: the story line) yeah the story line, as I’ve said the Latin

or western oriented soap are more sensual most especially Latin,

Mexican sensual because its part of their culture and even the clothes

that they wear …

Undergraduate discussants also pointed out the typical happy-ending plot among Filipino and

Latin soap operas, which they considered as boring. As compared to the other novellas, they appreciated

the ending of the Koreanovelas as fresh and different from the typical ending, which sometimes made

them disappointed and unsatisfied.



Discussant 1: But I have to commend Koreanovelas because I like the plots

especially love stories… compared Filipino

telenovelas… poor boy meets rich girl or vise versa… they fall in

love and family resists (hahaha…) then happily ever after … but in

Koreanovela there’s twist you have to think what is going to

happen … among protagonists…. It is not given. You have to

use your mind. That is what I like best.

**********

Discussant 7: Yes and one thing, I think the ending. (yea…) there’s something to

do with it …. in Filipino novellas you always you’re sure that they’ll

probably end up together… you’re sure that they’ll end up together. If

we don’t watch the whole season, you are sure that they end up

together so might as well watch the last episode. But Koreanovela, I

think every ahh…

As the discussant 6 of undergraduate group mentioned above, the realistic plot that seems to be happening

in the life made audiences interested in Koreanovelas. They particularly pointed out that Koreanovelas

did not attempt to mystify the story in the soap opera. The story projects the life of the contemporary

Koreans.

Graduate group said

Discussant 2: All About Eve. Actually they project a real story in the media

industry…All About Eve. The way people compete in

one position how

you pull down this people just to get that position. It’s

projecting the real

story.

Discussant 4 Actually my father watches some of them because sometimes they

focus on situation in the certain industry like O Feel Young (laughs),

he likes that because it’s about a business from a … is it a

supermarket …

They also pointed out the distinction on the female characters sometimes, assertive or aggressive, leading


the plot of Koreanovelas. Filipino audience perceived the negative aspects of the stereotypical female lead

characters in the local novellas and understood the distinction to be positive compared to the local ones.


Discussant 2: The Philippines … the lead female always have to be this good Damsel in

distress…always they always to follow the typical Filipina that is soft spoken

always obedient but in Korean telenovelas we see lead female characters that

are really feisty…and Vivian… that has a lot of attitude… they are assertive…

always negate the typical Filipino character…

Yet the discussants also found a formulated conflict in the Koreanovelas and that they understood as a

formula of any telenovela. They clearly pointed out the dyad conflicts between rich boys and the poor girl,

the relational conflicts among the leading characters though some variations have been found in the

previous discussion.

Undergraduate group said

Discussant 1: For me, one thing that I quite remember is that all Koreanovelas are made up or

the yung …bida… the main actors are actually are sons businessmen CEOs.

(hahaha…) and you know are all Koreans that rich and really to have each of

them seem to have one company each (hahah…) then you know the girl is

always so poor tapos parang at first , I was so excited of the plot but more and

more as Koreanovelas I notice that all of those novellas have sons of CEOs and

this waitress … who is living in slums so…(Fac. – yah..)

Discussant 4: The rich and poor girl…

Asian attack in the Philippine television

Interestingly discussants strongly pointed out the regionalization of media consumption as Straubharr

(1991) argued. Both the undergraduate and graduate group agreed that the Asian character was considered

as new and fresh in their eyes at this time. Filipino audiences, having been long influenced by western

media, have a new taste from the Asian telenovelas particularly, Taiwanese, and Korean ones.


Discussant 6: Because we are westernized I think that’s one point… but for me that’s the main

attraction of Filipinos to Korean because we are just so tired of western stuff so

we are gonna focus … instead on the Asian…

Facilitator: So is it gonna cultural trend that you prefer Asian faces?


Discussant 5: Right now… right now…you can’t really tell the future

The regionalization of media consumption was not only limited to explicit culture but also the

contextual and implicit similarities found among Koreanovelas. The discussants felt more comfortable

with and culturally close with the implicit and high contextual expression of love in the soap operas

unlike Western telenovelas. Furthermore, they pointed out that the Koreanovelas described the ordinary

Korean people who are not much different from Filipinos.


Discussant 7: Yes. Actually I noticed that as compared to western telenovelas, love scenes in

Koreanovelas as well as Taiwanese and Filipinos are less … they are …

conservative… taboo… di ba as compared to western telenovelas, Mexican

parang .. very obscene I think I’d be offended. … for me so I think being

conservative is one factor… … (ahah…)

**************

Discussant 6: Not only the love scenes but also the way they dress… I think If you watch

Mexican telenovelas even western ones the girls are usually very made up…

they have very heavy make up and they have wear flanging necklines (laughs)

short hemlines like that but in Asian especially in Korean they dress like how

we dress everyday (Facilitator: like ordinary people) yes because you don’t

really see like when you’re at home dress up like your going to the party all the

time… high heeled shoes…and your going to sleep with make up…laughs…

Continuing to discuss on the plot as an attractive element, undergraduates distinguished Koreanovelas

from other ones saying that they are story-based compared to other star based novellas. In other words,

Koreanovelas focused on the plot compared to the Taiwanese and, even, Mexican telenovelas. This

discussion showed the recent penetration of Koreanovelas in the Philippines. Its characteristics are

different from the previous popularity of other novellas in the Philippines.


Discussant 2: And Korean telenovelas always focused on the stories as compared to the

Taiwanese one, In Koreanovelas, they are different characters what you will

see…for examples, Lee Dong Gun you can see him in the Lovers in Paris but

you can … he still plays someone in Sweet 18 you don’t get confused that his


character is being brought from Lovers in Paris and Sweet 18. But… as

compared to Taiwanese ones, when you think of F4, you think of meteor

Garden how the story involved around their personalities, and mainly not i… t

focuses on the characters as F4 singers and boy band types instead of stories

Production elements

Discussants also mentioned some production related characteristics in the reception of Koreanovelas.

They pointed out that music, location and setting of the story, and, cinematography were considered as

strengths of Koreanovelas.

Undergraduate also group said,

Discussant 7: I think with Koreanovelas the songs we have the local versions of the songs…

and the songs become popular as well because of the Koreanovelas, right? …

Kitchie Nadal… one local artist she’s not really well known before but because

of Lover’s in Paris, Wag na Wag Mong Sasabihin she became a hit…

**************

Discussant 5: And also one thing the song…Mama bear ay maganda (the three bear song)…

all the people know that song… and you can really see when you go to other

communities you can actually see how Full House is very very popular even

with the low income communities.

Graduate also mentioned,

Discussant 1: I heard this before…this point was raised before there was emphasis on the

settings…like in the story Attic Cat the story happens in the attic… full house in

the house of Jessie, in Endless love 1 the beach is significant… in Endless love

2 in Choon-Chun… it’s really important … but here (Filipino telenovelas) the

story takes place any where and (Discussant 5: the world is too small) they

always bump into each other…

Outside elements besides production quality

Discussants also pointed out the outside factors beside the production aspects of Koreanovelas in the

recent phenomena. They received the Filipino dubbing as culturally relevant and a contextualization

process of foreign television contents in the Filipino context.



Discussant 7: But I like watching Korean telenovelas in tagalized version than in English

Subtitles because I don’t know the tagalog version I can really relate and

understand what they have to say…(Facilitator: O really ? can you see the

dubbing is relevant?)

Discussant 6: yeah… very much… sometimes they change the dubbing to fit the culture…

how Filipinos talk…

Yet, some argued that the dubbing actually distorts the real meaning of the original culture, which is

Korean. They understood that there might be some loss of original meaning in the translation. Some even

pointed out the loss of original meaning as deception.


Discussant 7: Actually that’s the one thing that the non-fans …ahhh… I know some people

who do not watch Koreanovelas and any other dubbed because they say that are

you sure that’s what their trying to say their just fooling you… as in I don’t

know if that’s what their trying to say but as far as I can understand that and I

can appreciate it… I will watch it… o they’re just fooling you…

One more outside factor that the discussant pointed out was the promotion of Koreanovelas from the

network that imported. They understood the recent popularity of Koreanovelas was supported by the

forceful promotion and advertisement from the network.

Graduate group said,

Discussant 5: I think that’s also one factor the way how the network promotes a program.

Discussant 7: Yeah very true… aggressive promotion.

Discussant 5: Whether you like it or not, the way they market the program you will be glued it.

Some negative aspects in the reception of Koreanovelas

Some discussants did not appreciate the plot that was too melodramatic and the story which was

somewhat exaggerated from the real world.

Graduate group said

Discussant 1 They’re too melodramatic. I don’t like the melodramatic soap operas kase. I

like the funny ones like Full House, Sweet 18, Attic Cat, Lovers in Paris. Kase


I don’t like people who cry all the time. That’s why I don’t watch Green Rose.

It’s too depressing. I didn’t watch Stairway to Heaven. I don’t’ like

characters who die. (laughs) di ba. You’re suppose to be entertained right

then go home at night you want to be entertained so why watch something like

that…

Telenovela as cultural products and meaning constructed

TV viewing as culture education

Discussants understood the cultural construction of the Koreanovela among Filipino audience as it was

drawn in the study framework. They perceived and appreciated the Korean culture from the mediated

form of lessons from telenovela. Discussants literally mentioned, the Koreanovela as a culture

“education” apparatus, which Filipinos see and understand the everyday life and society of Korea. They

perceived viewing Koreanovelas as a way to understand Korea.


Discussant 4: I think Koreanovelas open the mind of Filipinos about Koreans …. Our

professor, Prof. Umali said before that Filipinos think Koreans are noisy people,

something negative. But, then because of the Koreanovelas… the perception of

Filipino people toward Koreans become positive so people wanted to go to

Korea and experience the culture there… and also one more thing,

Koreanovelas help really, before I’m not familiar with Korean culture I don’t

even know what they look like so through Koreanovelas, I think it gave us

window so we can see Korea and we can see the culture … and we could see

how they live there… so it became something like an advertisement something

like that for me so sometimes I before I think now I think of going to Korea

someday to really see what they actually look like something like that...

Common Hierarchical and close family relationship

Among many cultural features that the discussants perceived, hierarchical and extended family or

community based family relationships were dominantly mentioned both by graduate and undergraduate

discussion groups. They thought that those features are commonly shared within Asian countries

including the Philippines. With watching the Asian-ness in the Koreanovelas, they felt more closeness in

the cultural aspects, which actually made them more interested in watching the Koreanovelas. The

perception agreed with the cultural proximity arguments (Straubharr, 1991) but in different ways from the

argument in East Asia.



Discussant 4: And maybe the stories are very much similar to our culture. (Facilitator: oh

really?) Like we can understand ah, we can understand ah that ah children listen

to their parents (Facilitator: obey your parents) … it’s very, very similar to our

Asian values…


Discussant 1: And I also would like to add… that the strong family ties in Koreanovelas. It is

always present. Like in one show titled Irene shown in GMA7… the grand

mothers is living… still living with her son’s house and even the married son is

also living in the same house … so we can see the extended family ties… same

goes to with Filipino marriage … when a child married he or she can stay at

his or her parents house…

Different work values

In addition to that, particularly the discussant 3, in the graduate discussion group, understood the different

work values, such as greetings among peers and break within working hours, from watching

Koreanovelas.


Discussant 3 Yeah… in terms of work relationships… I used to have a Korean boss he use to

own this IT oriented company and he’s my boss … He always ask me… “Why

Filipino love break?”… “What do you mean break Joe?”… “Filipino observe

early morning break and then before you go you have breaks in Korea it’s not

allowed.” “Ok Joe.” Now I understand when I watched the ad agency soap

opera I understand why these Koreans how these Koreans value their work and

even observe their time their official working time. May coffee break ka na …

you observe coffee break… as soon as we … bout this we attend to our work…

we love making coffee we love to take our breaks don’t you have official

breaks… but for Koreans the only official break is lunch break.

Negative gender and other relationship

Besides similarities and positive interests, discussants also perceived some negative values among

Koreans through the viewing of Koreanovelas. Especially in the relationship between male and female,

police officer and the criminals were not culturally accepted among Filipino audience.



Discussant 5: The relationship of man and a woman … I mean here in the Philippines, when

you see some guy kicking or slapping a woman … I mean.. It should not be…

but with Koreanovelas, I mean …with Full House, with Attic Cat… what else…

we see…men physically …not abusing… men are very physical with women. I

don’t know if it is bad thing or a good thing in Korea but here in the Philippines

it’s not a good thing

**********

Undergraduate group again said,

Discussant 4: I see in some Koreanovelas or even Korean movies the police are like it’s a

normal practice they treat badly the criminals… something like that… They

abuse the criminals they punch that…but if you that in the Philippines you will

be liable for a crime some thing like that…Is it normal for Korean police to

treat the suspects like that? …

Cultural tapestry 1: Food, dining, and communication

An important part of the cultural tapestries of any culture, food is an essential part of their life.

Discussants saw various dishes and the dining culture, which are different from that of Filipinos. And

they understood the meaning of dining together within a family. It was the place to share and made

decisions for family matters. Interestingly they perceived the drinking as an interesting social aspect of

distinctive Korean collective culture. They understood different context in the drinking with peers. They

also see the gender equality in drinking scenes in Koreanovelas.


Discussant 4: One more thing… I always see in Koreanovelas like for example after work

they always have a drinking session… I don’t know if it’s a culture or it is a

point of recreation for men like that…but here you only drink when you have a

problem……(bill- really) o he’s drinking he has a problem there has to be a

problem…

Discussant 5: And girls … the women (in the Philippine soap operas) do not drink but in

Koreanovelas they also drink…

Graduate group said


Discussant 4: I like the food. Kimchi. (Discussant 2: see weed) They actually cook while

their eating. I would like to do that. And they always drink the one in the

green bottle Korean beer or something, Korean wine, So Ju…

Facilitator: Korean liquid, it’s not beer but it’s a (Discussant 4: So Ju) yeah…

Discussant 4: Even women like to drink (and they drink and they drink) yeah, they drink

and drink…


Discussant 6: And the… in every episode, at least three times… we see them at the dinner

table. The most important decisions made are always talked about while they

are eating…with the family … very Filipino…(Discussant 3: but we have chairs

and they don’t ) (laughs) some have chairs… even beds… they have a lot of

food.

Cultural tapestry 2: Traditional custom and contemporary fashion

Custom is also another way of appreciation of any given culture. Discussants pointed out the distinctive

feature and the use of Korean traditional clothes, Hanbok, as a way of life in Korea.

Graduate group said

Discussant 4 In Sweet 18, they are wearing the traditional Hanbok, was it Hanbok, it’s about

two prominent families in Korea it’s part of their tradition to marry the children

their suppose to be wearing that thing, that Hanbok while their newly wed or

something. They even have the traditional Korean wedding with the knots and

all the bowing they keep on bowing actually, they love to bow. It’s very

Korean I think. Filipinos is just (Discussant 6: Kissing the hand …)

They also saw some advocates of Koreanovelas following the fashion and hairstyle as the expressions of

cultural appreciation.

Undergraduate group said

Discussant 6: Even the fashion for the girls, what’s her name? Jessie, she’s always wearing

cute clothes… it’s like jacket with shorts…and the hair and right now it’s like a

trend you will see in the dept. stores with those kind. (Facilitator: I didn’t know

about that)

Discussant 1: And I have a friend when she watched Endless Love – Jenny episode…I don’t

know the title when she watched that… Jenny is dyeing right? … because she


has cancer she was also wearing cardigan jacket… with different colors pink,

green… and one time I asked her why are you wearing that it’s so hot… ah I

saw it…she bought a lot of cardigan…

Discussant 5: Filipinos love straight long hair… and in Full house we saw Jessie wearing

different kind of hairstyles… and it’s curly… and actually my friend watching

full house made her hair curly…

Besides the cultural tapestry, discussants also perceived an impression with the way of Korean wedding,

engagement party, marriage by arrangement of parents, social taboo that unmarried couple staying in a

house, as social and cultural aspects.

Expansion of worldwide viewership through Oversees Filipino Workers (OFW)

Interestingly the popularity of Koreanovelas among Filipinos was not limited to within the Philippine

Islands. Some discussants eye-witnessed the spread of Koreanovelas through the Oversees Filipino

Workers (OFW) all over the world.


Discussant 1: I would like to share… my sister lives in Dubai then she came here in the

Philippines while she visits… this happened last month…Green Rose was

showing on ABS-CBN 2… then she watched 3 to 4 episodes of Green Rose she

became hooked attached to the show. Now she is back in Dubai she’s asking me

to look for a copy of Green Rose and I ask her, “where am I going to get a

copy of Green Rose?” and she told me …find a way…(laughs)

Discussant 6: Yeah… even my niece who’s 6 years old she’s living in Saudi… but then last

month they came back she didn’t know how to speak Tagalog but she was

watching Attic Cat… she didn’t understand a thing but she like she calls Noreen

ugly girl but now she calls her Nice girl… and then the boy she calls him good

boy and then Denise she calls her bad girl…and then Dominique she knows him

because it’s the name of the King in Barbie in the Princess and the Pauper so

she knows Dominique the rich guy…then she just watch she watch it more than

I do… it’s very cute I think she watch more on the visuals rather than the

story… and she’s only 6 years old…

The future of Koreanovela in the Philippines: a trend, a fed

Interestingly, in the wide acceptance of Koreanovelas among the Philippine audience, discussants


predicted the future of Koreanovelas as a faded trend and would be substituted with something new. In

addition, Discussants also saw the changes among the local networks with adaptation of the pattern of

Koreanovelas. But they continued seeing the regional exchange or interests in Asian contents among

Filipino audience.


Discussant 5: actually I think it’s more a trend… I mean you go with the trend… you go with

the flow…I mean people are fed up with Mexican novelas…let’s go with

something new… I mean people are getting fed up with Taiwanese so they go

with something although it’s not really new I mean… sometimes the faces are

just the same…Taiwanese and Korean you can’t distinguish which is Taiwanese

which is Korean… but the stories …I mean … the stories are different…the

plots are different.

The last account toward the future of Koreanovelas provided fast changing trends and interests among

Filipino audiences. They all agreed that the pick of the popularity of Koreanovelas in the Philippines

would not last long due to the nature of soap opera audience to look for something “new.” And the loyalty

toward Koreanovela was not significant. They see the last popularity from Mexican, Taiwanese

telenovelas and actors and actresses that have faded away. Providing new and fresh contents with various

plots and actors and actresses are suggested in order to keep the interests from the Filipino audience.

CONCLUSION

Summary and Conclusion

The answer of the topic, “Is it too early to talk about Hanliu in the Philippines?” can be answered as

“No,” by the discussions made by the research participants. The number of imported Koreanovelas in the

Philippine free television networks, and its reception among discussants clearly showed the wide

reception and its cultural effects among Filipino society and people. Discussants asserted that the

television viewing of the Koreanovelas has become “a way of life” among Filipinos and the influence of

the viewership extended to the interests on the explicit and implicit culture.

Discussants mentioned wide acceptance of Koreanovelas regardless of gender, and age among Filipino

audience. They literally mentioned that it is “phenomena.” Some advocates mentioned that they have

used some other Korean mass media channels, particularly Arirang TV, which is the only Korean satellite

network, and Pirated movies and VCDs and DVDs for review and collection. They have great interests in


the Korean mass media as a new way of entertainment, culture, and trend.

Interestingly “cultural discount” was given to the Asian look and culture, which was quite different from

the original argument. Due to the long and strong western influence in the Philippine media, discussants

strongly mentioned that Filipino television audiences have felt the need of something “new” out of

western contents on TV. They understood the popularity of both Taiwanese and Koreanovela in the

Philippines as the trend to Asian face, story, and culture, which are more relevant and close to the Filipino

audience. They affirmed that the trend would be continued regardless of any telenovelas as long as they

are from Asia.

At the same time, “cultural proximity” argument was also proven. Discussants have found some cultural

similarities in the social aspects such as hierarchical family relation between elders and younger ones, the

extended family relationship, and others… At present, the regionalization argument was only done within

the nations which Chinese and Confucian cultural value have been deeply embedded, such as China,

Japan, and Taiwan. Yet similar but different cultural proximity has been shared within Filipino audience

with toward Koreanovelas. When the Filipino audience recognized the cultural similarities, they felt more

relevance and close sympathy, which eventually have led them to closer viewership of Koreanovela.

Discussants have perceived Koreanovelas as a “widow” of understanding Korean and its culture.

Koreanovelas have become a cultural window to view what Korea and its people look like, such as

traditional and contemporary fashion, music, food and others... They have found some cultural aspects

from which they have constructed the Korean-ness.

Not only the explicit material cultures but also implicit cultures and values from the Koreanovelas have

helped Filipino audiences in understanding of the given country. A discussant pointed out how she

perceived the different values and attitudes among Koreans in relation to work. Yet through the

viewership of Korean telenovela she expressed that she was able to understand and work together with

Koreans in her workplace. Due to the nature of television soap opera, which deals with life and the people

with a culture, the viewership from another culture has served as an opportunity to understand the explicit

and implicit culture.

Limitation and Recommendations for further study

The research has attempted to know the perception of Koreanovelas among Filipino audiences. Due to the

limited existing knowledge and research regarding the matter in the Filipino context, the research was

limited to exploring broad reception among Filipino audience, if it is not too general topic as Koreanovela

in the Philippines. The research would be better if the scope of the subject is limited to certain aspects,


such as a particular time, telenovelas, and group of audience.

It was also limited in the character of this study to have purposively selected discussants from

undergraduate and graduate students at University of the Philippines, the College of Mass

Communication to generalize the finding as general reception among Filipino audience or youth. Due to

the nature of the subjects who are currently studying mass communication, their perception towards the

subject might be somewhat different from the general audience, though their critical and analytical

insights made this research fruitful.

The result of the research suggested to further investigation of reception among various audience groups.

Due to the wide variety of audience groups regardless of gender, the comparative study of receptions

between the different audience groups both rural and urban area, such as how the different social groups

read and receive the Koreanovela as a way of learning Korea and its culture could be done.

In the research, advocates have gone to use Ariang TV as another media channel for Korean media. It has

been aired to propagate and introduce the culture of Korea by the government. The reception and

viewership of the Arirang from both Koreans who live in the Philippines and the Filipinos was suggested.

The content analysis of the Koreanovelas that have been shown in the Philippines was also worthy of

investigation. The research was limited to understanding the perception among Filipino audiences. The

contents that have been filtered by broadcasting companies were left for the further study.

Appendix A.


Focused Group Discussion Guide Topics

1. The consumption of Koreanovela

a. Familiarity of Koreanovela in the Philippines

b. The period of the familiarity

c. The personal and personal communities’ viewership of Koreanovelas

“Personal communities refer to the set of active and significant ties

that are most important to people, even if they are geographically

distant. (Pahl and Spencer 2003, quoted in Pernia, Pascual, and

Kwon (2004)).

2. Interests or attractiveness in the viewership

a. The attractiveness of Koreanovelas

• Actors/ actresses,

• Stories and Plots

• Cultural Background

• Fashion and others

b. Positive and negative differences between Korean telenovelas and other novellas such

as Latinovela, and Chinovela

3. Telenovela as cultural products and the meaning constructed

a. The representation of Korea through Koreanovelas

b. The cultural features that represented by Koreanovelas

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