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V&a Celebrates ‘Korean Wave’ of Popular Culture with New Exhibition

Multiple screens, left, show a music video of PSY's "Gangnam Style", alongside PSY's bubblegum pink jacket from the video, right, designed by Dsquared2, at the "Hallyu! The Korean Wave" exhibition at the Victoria and Albert museum in London, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022. (AP)
Multiple screens, left, show a music video of PSY's "Gangnam Style", alongside PSY's bubblegum pink jacket from the video, right, designed by Dsquared2, at the "Hallyu! The Korean Wave" exhibition at the Victoria and Albert museum in London, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022. (AP)
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V&a Celebrates ‘Korean Wave’ of Popular Culture with New Exhibition

Multiple screens, left, show a music video of PSY's "Gangnam Style", alongside PSY's bubblegum pink jacket from the video, right, designed by Dsquared2, at the "Hallyu! The Korean Wave" exhibition at the Victoria and Albert museum in London, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022. (AP)
Multiple screens, left, show a music video of PSY's "Gangnam Style", alongside PSY's bubblegum pink jacket from the video, right, designed by Dsquared2, at the "Hallyu! The Korean Wave" exhibition at the Victoria and Albert museum in London, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022. (AP)

From the bright pink guard costumes in hit Netflix series "Squid Game" to a large sculpture of rapper G-Dragon, London's V&A museum is celebrating South Korean popular culture and its rise to global prominence in a new exhibition opening this week.

Among the items on display at "Hallyu! The Korean Wave" are K-Pop costumes, K-drama props as well as a replica of the bathroom set in Oscar-winning film "Parasite".

"This exhibition is actually celebrating the vibrant and colorful popular culture from South Korea from its inception to its place on the global stage," curator Rosalie Kim told Reuters at a preview on Wednesday.

"'Hallyu' actually means Korean wave and it refers to this meteoric rise of popular culture from South Korea that has taken the world by storm in the past few decades."

The exhibition is split into different sections including K-pop and its fans, television drama and cinema, fashion and beauty.

Greeting visitors is the pink jacket singer PSY wore in the music video for his 2012 mega hit "Gangnam Style". Other outfits on display include ensembles worn by G-Dragon and K-pop groups ATEEZ and Aespa as well as colorful designer creations.

From the world of television, there are costumes from historical dramas as well as the recognizable pink boiler suits and a green tracksuit from "Squid Game".

The "Parasite" bathroom replica is the first time the set from the protagonist Kim family's basement flat has been recreated, with the museum working closely with the film's production designer Lee Ha-jun.

Other items on display include photographs, posters, record covers and K-pop fan banners. Visitors can also take part in an interactive K-pop dance challenge.

"Hallyu! The Korean Wave" opens on Saturday and runs until June.

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South Korean Cult-Horror Series ‘Hellbound’ Returns at BIFF

In this picture taken on October 2, 2024, (L-R) South Korean actors Im Seong-Jae, Kim Hyun-joo and Kim Sung-cheol arrive on the red carpet during the opening ceremony of the 29th Busan International Film Festival in Busan. (AFP)
In this picture taken on October 2, 2024, (L-R) South Korean actors Im Seong-Jae, Kim Hyun-joo and Kim Sung-cheol arrive on the red carpet during the opening ceremony of the 29th Busan International Film Festival in Busan. (AFP)
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South Korean Cult-Horror Series ‘Hellbound’ Returns at BIFF

In this picture taken on October 2, 2024, (L-R) South Korean actors Im Seong-Jae, Kim Hyun-joo and Kim Sung-cheol arrive on the red carpet during the opening ceremony of the 29th Busan International Film Festival in Busan. (AFP)
In this picture taken on October 2, 2024, (L-R) South Korean actors Im Seong-Jae, Kim Hyun-joo and Kim Sung-cheol arrive on the red carpet during the opening ceremony of the 29th Busan International Film Festival in Busan. (AFP)

Netflix's Korean cult-horror thriller "Hellbound" returned for its much anticipated second season with a world premiere at Busan International Film Festival, showcasing intense performances from the new cast members, particularly Moon Geun-young.

Created by Yeon Sang-ho, known for zombie flick "Train to Busan", the first season of "Hellbound" achieved critical and commercial success with its portrayal of a world where supernatural beings suddenly appear to tell people of their impending death, followed by monstrous entities that drag the condemned to hell.

Yeon, whose early works included a dark animated film about a Korean cult organization, elevates the dystopian thriller into a more philosophical realm in its second season, while still delivering the spectacle of creatures, violence, and collective religious hysteria.

"I believe that the concept of disaster in the work 'Hellbound' refers more to a mental or ideological catastrophe than to a physical disaster," director Yeon said at a BIFF event late Friday.

The show had to let go of actor Yoo Ah-in, who played a key character in season one, after he was charged with illegal drug use. Yoo was subsequently found guilty.

Kim Sung-cheol takes on the role of the charismatic leader of a cult that arose amid the horrific supernatural deaths that triggered a wave of social media frenzy, delivering a convincing portrayal of this intricate character.

But the most captivating -- and gut-wrenching -- performance of the second season arguably belongs to Moon Geun-young, a much beloved former teen actress in South Korea, who portrays a young wife gradually transforming into a deranged cult fanatic.

Yeon said he decided to cast Moon after seeing her in a 2021 TV drama where she portrayed a tormented wife who succumbs to alcoholism while caring for her alcoholic husband.

Moon did not attend this year's BIFF, but fellow cast member Kim Hyun-joo said: "Moon Geun-young made a tremendous contribution. I already knew (she was immensely talented), but I was pleasantly surprised and delighted by her performance."

The series was featured at BIFF in its big-screen theaters, even as the festival faces criticism from cinephiles for selecting a streaming title, "Uprising", also from Netflix, as its opening film this year.

Cineastes blame OTT streaming platforms for some of the challenges encountered by the traditional theater market and independent filmmakers.

"BIFF has been a key player in showcasing fresh Asian films by young, emerging talents in the region, and this has been their priority," Kay Heeyoung Kim, owner of the film studio K-Dragon, told AFP.

"But the lines between traditional independent cinema and big-budget streaming titles have blurred at this year's festival, which is unfortunate to see."

Yeon, who began his career as an independent animated filmmaker, along with his work "Hellbound," is credited with increasing the global visibility of South Korean content in recent years, alongside works like "Squid Game" and "Pachinko."