Three Main Kinds of Channels in Korea

Although I blogged about specific programs such as One Night Two Day Season 2 and Korean song TV shows, I forgot to mention three major broadcasting channels that I will mostly talk about in this blog. They are SBS, KBS, and MBC. SBS stands for Seoul Broadcasting System. KBS stands for Korea Broadcasting System. MBC stands for Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation. These three broadcasting systems are shown around the world and all of Korea, even the small islands.

In this post, I will focus on SBS which is Seoul Broadcasting System. SBS’s representative dramas are Sandglass (1995), All In (2003), Stairway to Heaven (2003-4), Lovers in Paris (2004), Something happened in Bali (2004), Money’s War (2007), Iljimae (2008), Gourmet (2008), Brilliant Legacy (2009), Giant (2010), and Secret Garden (2010-2011). Out of these, I like Gourmet and lljimae the most. Gourmet is one of the first drama that made food the main focus of the drama. In Gourmet, the actor’s names are Kim Rae Won (Lee Sung Chan), Nam Sang Mi (Kim Jin Soo), Kim So-yeon (Yoon Joo Hee), Won Ki Joon (Min Woo), Choi Bool Am (Chef Oh). In the 2008 SBS drama awards, Kim So-yeon received the Female Supporting Awards - Special Planning Drama. Also Iljimae is a drama that is based on the Chinese folktale from the Ming Dynasty. In Iljimae, the actor’s names are Lee Jun Ki (Gyeom/Yong/Iljimae), Han Hyo Joo (Eun Chae), Lee Young Ah (Bong Soon), and Park Si-Hoo (Cha Dol/Shi Hoo).

One night Two day

This show which started in 2007 is called <One Night Two Days> in English and 1박2일 in Korean. <One Night Two Days> introduces  food and tourist attractions of each province in Korea. The people who starred on the show sometimes had to do missions such as going to one of the mountains and getting the official flag of the show, buying the speciality of a location, or going to a tourist attraction and taking a picture there.

강호동, 김종민, 이승기, 이수근, 엄태웅, and 은지원

 Every episode, the members had to choose  people who would sleep outside and who could eat dinner. To choose, they sometimes played games, such as the Analogue game or BokBulBuk. BokBulBuk is a game where each member chooses randomly among a group of things and if they choose the “wrong” ones, they have to be punished in various ways such as drinking sand eel fish sauce. At the beginning, the members of the show were 노홍철, 이수근, 은지원, 김종민, and 상근 and the MC of the show was 강호동. Later on, 노홍철 & 상근이 left the show for some personal reasons. On November 11, 2007, 이승기 became a new member. 김종민 left the show because he had to join the army, so in his stead, quiet and serious 김C came to the show. 김종민 came back two years later and 강호동 had to leave the show since he had to temporarily retire from the entertainment business because of some personal problems. Eventually, in the recent days, the 1박2일 members are 김종민, 이승기, 이수근, 엄태웅, and 은지원. During season 1, there were a lot of special events such as going to Dokdo or Baekdusan in North Korea. Once they even decided to go to the South Pole but they couldn’t go because there was a problem at the second airport. In February 2012, Season 1 is going to end.

In March, season 2 will start. Season 2 is based on adventure projects like finding endangered animals and global projects that present Korea to the world. Also other members such as 성시경, 차태연, 주원, and 김승우 will be joining three of the original members 이수근, 김종민, and 엄태웅 on  <One Night Two Days season 2>. In season one, the members had to pair up into teams to play games as Old Men versus Young Men. In season 2, however, there are 7 members. It is really dubious of how they are going to progress if they are required to play any games in teams.

Indepedent Reading 3

Empire of the Sun 

By J.G. Ballard

Genre: Autobiographical

Korean song TV SHOWS

The recent trend of Korean TV programs has become reality tv singing competitions where contestants participate in tournaments to show off their talents. American Idol, Pop Idol, Britain’s got talent are all programs that show the trend is worldwide.

These programs are mostly based on a same format. The competition is carried out as a tournament and judges with the voting of the viewers sometimes too. This format is similar to that of traditional talent search shows. However, in these reality competition shows, “reality” show components are added. Often contestants live together, showing the relationships they have with each other and the reality shows sometimes show the contestants’ backgrounds, personality etc.


Some contestants rely on the humane aspect of the viewers to gain more popularity. The winner of “Superstar K Season 2” was Hu-gak who was very talented and at the same time gained a lot of sympathy because of the poverty he was living in. These humane aspects of the shows stimulate the viewers’ emotions and thoughts more than a simple talent show. People feel hope just by watching ordinary people go on to fulfill their dreams. It is different from watching talented, professional singers sing at concerts. People are not just watching talents, but putting themselves in the stars’ shoes, getting vicarious satisfaction..

 

Right now in Korea, the most popular program was Superstar K. It is the Korean version of American Idol and it has increasingly gained more and more popularity as time has passed. When Superstar K was at the height of its popularity in season 2, the final winner of the program was Hugak. He has recently debuted as a professional singer.