The cultural Korean wave, or hallyu, is generally understood as the global popularity enjoyed by polished productions of Korean television dramas, movies and music. Hallyu owes its origins and possibility to the minjung movement that not only lifted the rule of stifling military dictatorships supported by the USA for nearly half a century, but also loosened the creative spirit and expressive capacity of ordinary Koreans—making people into artists and producers of great works of art. For nearly all of the 20th century, Koreans were restrained from freely expressing themselves. When the dam finally broke, the torrent of creativity that emerged resonated internationally. During the harsh period of repression, plays, music, poetry, visual arts and fiction had been media in which a modicum of space existed for the articulation of critical insights. Once a new atmosphere of freedom was constructed, these very same media blossomed in the high-tech global market...
