Monday, November 28, 2016

Seoul: The Cutting-Edge of Cool in South Korea

South Korea's capital unites red-hot energy with cool-blue breeziness.



Are you familiar with the Korean Wave? Are you among the more than one billion(!) people who tune in to watch the Korean drama Descendants of the Sun? Do you swoon whenever Lee Byung-hun appears on the big screen? Do you follow, with perhaps a slightly unhealthy interest, the tangled love lives of K-Pop’s megastars? Are you aware that LeBron James really does drive a Kia? Have you ever found yourself, late at night, on YouTube, watching PSY’s 2012 totally bonkers live performance of “Gangnam Style”? The one in Seoul, outdoors, with 80,000 delirious fans singing and dancing in unison? Did you experience the shivers? Did you become a little emotional? Did you feel the Great Happiness wash over you like a summer rain?

If you answered no to these questions, well, I’m afraid you are behind the times, my friend. Your attachment to iPhones, Game of Thrones, and Taylor Swift is, I’m sad to say, a little parochial. The world has moved on. But it’s not hopeless. You too can ride the zeitgeist. All you need to do is turn your gaze to Seoul.



Click here to see the entire article in the National Geographic

From National Geographic

No comments:

Post a Comment