Europe: Hallyu's global gateway?

South Korean pop music stars made a successful landing in Europe with the enthusiastic support of thousands of European fans who packed Le Zenith de Paris concert hall on Friday and Saturday. About 14,000 Europeans who gathered in Paris from across France, Italy, Spain, Poland and Serbia went wild over performances by K-pop acts including Girls' Generation, Super Junior, TVXQ, SHINee and f(x). Braving a heavy downpour, the European youths waited in front of the hall for four hours before they were admitted. Once inside, the crowd, chanting the names of stars and singing along to songs, were submersed in catchy tunes throughout the live performance that lasted for three and a half hours. Journalists from around the world covered the event. The South Korean organizer of the concerts, a talent agency, originally planned only one concert on Friday but later added another as hundreds of French fans called for an additional show in a rally in front of the Louvre Museum on May 1. Tickets for the first show sold out in 15 minutes. The Paris concert is part of the agency's live world tour, serving the demand of fans worldwide who discovered these artists through video-sharing Web sites such as YouTube and social networking services (SNS) It is very meaningful that Korean pop music made such a successful debut in Paris, called the world's capital of culture. South Korea has often been complimented for its economic development from the ashes of the 1950-53 Korean War. Now its pop culture has revealed the potential for global success. The spread of Hallyu, or the "Korean Wave," had been limited mainly to Asia. But now, its prospects in Europe and other regions like Central America and Africa look good. It wasn't easy for K-pop stars to make successful inroads into Europe. But the competitiveness of Korea's pop culture industry contributed to the success. Local management agencies of pop stars have responded quickly to changes in the world's music market. The use of new media such as YouTube and Facebook also helped the spread of the Korean Wave across the world. Based on South Korea's state-of-the-art information technology standards, the growth potential of Hallyu is very great. K-pop talent agencies should leap at the opportunity to expand the spread of Hallyu created by the great success of the Paris concert, but they must consider carefully some points. First of all, they should avoid excessive commercialism of their artists. Korean fever is not sustainable if artists simply sell out and fail to produce quality content. To give Hallyu global reach, agencies need to develop a variety of content that can appeal culturally and emotionally to people around the world, especially in such markets as Europe, Central America and Africa. Relevant industries and government authorities should make joint efforts to this end.