Kim Ho Sang,Producing Director of the Music Bank World Tour made the remark at arecent seminar on the so-called Korean wave, jointly held by the VietnamInstitute of Culture and Arts Studies (VICAS) and the KoreanInternational Culture Exchange Fund in Hanoi.
Kim said theKorean wave has developed in three stages: the introduction of TVdramas, then the K-pop penetration and later on, the movie flow, addingthat the Korean wave has made great contributions to the socio-economicdevelopment of the RoK.
He highlighted that the trend first beganto infiltrate Vietnam in the late 1990s with films such as “FirstLove”, “Doctor Brothers”, “Dea Jang Geum” and “I’m Kim Sam Soon”,Vietnamese audience favourites.
Vietnam and the RoKcooperated to produce “Forever Young”, currently screening in bothnations, Kim noted, adding that Vietnamese youth have also taken a keeninterest in Korean music.
According to a survey conducted among600 respondents in the 15-30 age group in 2012 by Thu Dau MotUniversity, 78 percent were fond of Korean culture, primarily thosebetween the ages of 15 to 22.-VNA