Hallyu By Way of Hawaii

"My Lovely Sam-Soon," a Korean "Bridget Jones" (Photo: Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin)

The Korean pop culture wave (hallyu) that swept Asia in 2004, has steadily spread to the U.S. by way of Hawaii. Local Korean station KBFD was the first U.S. TV outfit to air the hugely popular Korean soap operas produced in recent years. Now, California-based YA Entertainment, the exclusive distributor of English-subtitled Korean TV dramas in the U.S. is releasing DVD box sets of many of these series. YA Entertainment's general manager, Tom Larsen, said, "Hawaii has been the doorway to the U.S. market, and KBFD is a big reason for that. They're the pioneers in putting English subtitles on the dramas from Korea in order to attract a wider audience." LVHIFF-goers got a taste of the craze over all things Korean last month when we witnessed screaming Asian and Asian American women swarming around fest guest and Korean Brad Pitt, Lee Byung-hun.

>> Hawaii ‘hallyu’ [Hnl Star-Bulletin, 11/28/05]

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