Underwood Global Forum with Park Jin-Young “Everything about the Korean Wave will change, from the products, field, producers, to even the term ‘Korean Wave’ itself.” CEO Park Jin-Young (Geology, 1992) of JYP Entertainment, the first Asian to have succeeded in the world of American pop music, gave a lecture on the future of the “Korean Wave” as part of the Underwood Global Forum, held at the New Millennium Hall on May 30. 200 students attended the lecture, reflecting the great interest Koreans have on the topic of cultural globalization. Park said: “While up to now the Korean Wave was focused on cultural contents such as music, movies, and TV series programs, from now on, we must sell the systems that create such contents, and the market will expand from Asia to the world, including the U.S. The U.S. is the center of pop culture industry, so we must begin in the States and expand out to the world. Asians have made it in other areas including movies, sports, and business, but not a single Asian has succeeded in popular music. To become number one in Asia, success in the U.S. is important.” Park also explained, “In order to succeed in the U.S., you must create a team of Americans; if you want to succeed in China, you must create a team with Chinese people. It is important to put together an international team.” According to Park, if the Korean Wave was a one-way process up to the present (from Korea out to Asia), it must become a cultural exchange from now on. Park also pointed out that nationalism cannot be a successful strategy in globalizing the Korean Wave. During the Q&A session, a student pointed out that, “the Korea Wave is not actually ‘Korean’ but a copy of American culture,” to which Park answered, “It is not important whether the music is influenced by American music or Japanese music. Making good music, rather than unique music, is the point. In the past, I’ve tried things like combining traditional Korean music and hip hop, but my conclusion is that good music is better than just unique music.”