They have become popular in the world with their music, movies, dramas, and appetizing street flavors and cuisine; connected to its traditional culture; Koreans are a people who have witnessed interesting events in their history.
The Koreans, an East Asian community of Manchurian origin, are now recognized as two different states. After the Second World War, the Japanese administration ended in the region, and during the Cold War period, the negotiations between the USA and the Soviet Union regarding the establishment of a unified Korea failed; North Korea, supported by the Soviet Union, was established in the north, and South Korea, supported by the United States, in the south. Both these governments aimed to dominate the entire Korean peninsula. The only wish of the two governments was to start a Korean war between 1950-and 63 and both entered a path that has not been clarified until today.
These two countries contrast with each other in many respects as they do in their locations. North Korea’s doors are closed to the rest of the world, and it is placed under Martial Law. While North Korea is unknown to many people due to restrictions, South Korea next to it is so wide open to the world that it has crossed the oceans thanks to technology and socialized with the rest of the world starting K-Wave. This situation actually started exactly in the 1990s with the spread of K-Drama and K-Pop thanks to social media, and this wave has influenced people so much that the groups with the most fan bases today are people who take part in K-Pop music. Of course, this wave not only gave people the pleasure of music and TV series but also, thanks to TV dramas, K-Drama, Koreans’ food cultures, and languages were recognized and even curiously learned and adopted by other people.
Three interesting things about food cultures are the absence of breakfast culture, street food, and the consumption of rice as an indispensable grain. Tteokbokki, corn dog, fried chicken, and kimbap, which they usually eat for breakfast, are the most well-known and delicious ones. Rice is to Koreans what bread is to Turks, but since their rice is oil-free and salt-free rice is preferred to be satiated with the main dish.
Korean is an agglutinative language just like Turkish. King Secong invented the Hangul alphabet with his scientists, since it was difficult to learn while using Chinese characters until the 15th century, and the Hangul alphabet has been used since then. Since it is a language similar to Turkish and an alphabet that aims to be learned easily, those living in Turkey can learn this language without much effort.
This nation has become popular through social media and has created a “wave” all over the world. Those who were caught in this wave, on the other hand, have included Korea’s music, dramas, languages , and dishes into their lives with great pleasure.
Author: Damla Kaya
Translator: Duygu Mersin
