“Girls Capitalism”: Dissecting Consumerism and Fan Culture in K-pop

Abstract

The origins of modern K-pop, like many double-edged and superficial pop phenomena, began with the arrival of Western culture. After gaining independence from Japan in 1945, South Korean popular music steadily became influenced by American genres like Jazz, Blues and Rock & Roll, as U.S. troops remained in the country. Radio stations were set up and music auditions were held for Koreans to perform at U.S. army clubs, which enabled the country’s economy to blossom after its impoverished, post-war condition, and which lead to an import of American pop culture (Kim, 2011). Fast forward to the 1990s, where the world of Rap and Hip-Hop opened up to the youth of South Korea, and shortly after, entertainment companies began incorporating the ‘idol’ business model into their musical groups, an idea pinched from Japanese pop culture (Shim, 2006), consequently developing what we now know as K-pop idols.