For the first time in our history, we are witnessing a new phenomenom called Hallyu, or the Korean Wave, a deluge of Korean TV dramas, movies, and songs in East Asian countries such as Japan, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore, and, to a lesser degree, Mongolia, Malaysia, Indonesia, and India.

Numerous articles and media reports on the Korean Wave have appeared. Most of them have reported on the popularity of Korean dramas and singers abroad, but some have dealt more seriously with the sources of the Korean Wave.

　　Though we have exulted in the evidence of our cultural soft power in addition to our technological hard power, this power will dwindle as long as we indulge self-centered nationalism. We must understand that every culture, including our own, has both unique and universal characteristics.

Korean culture, be it high-class or popular, is unique in many aspects, while universal in others, because human beings share similar natural and physical conditions to a certain degree. A primitive society or ultra-modern society is universal in its own right.

　　Korean culture has universal elements whether or not we are aware of it. This is why other countries enjoy our dramas and songs. We enjoyed Hollywood movies and Japanese animation in the past for the same reason.

　　Then why a Korean Wave now and not earlier? Among numerous hypotheses, most plausible is that democratization after the 1990's nurtured artistic imagination in conjunction with economic prosperity and a technological leap forward in electronics and computer graphics. The younger generations in Asian countries are especially charmed by the gorgeous colors and cheerful tunes of Korean dramas and songs.

　　While the younger generation is attracted to 'appearances', the older one is attracted to the 'contents' of the Korean Wave, i.e., social values, and norms. Frequently enumerated are love, faith, and intimacy in human relationships, quite the opposite to violence-ridden Hollywood movies.

Why is this attractive? The Korean family, the bearer of such characteristics, is unique, and at the same time, represents one of the universal aims of all cultures. In many countries this aim is insufficiently realized or lost on the way to modernity.

Many Japanese and Chinese confess that the Korean Wave reminds them of the 'good old days' when families were full of love, were intimate and dependable, and a biological and spiritual lineage connecting antiquity to eternity.

　　What we may not be aware of is the fact that the strong family ties of Korea overflow to other social relationships, so that we say brother, sister, uncle, aunt, grand-father, or grand-mother to those who are not really so, a phenomenon not common or unknown to other societies. All of those characteristics make social relationships more intimate and reliable, which is envied by other Asians, and possibly by some Europeans.

　　As a Chinese journalist elucidated, the appeal of the Korean Wave comes from the coupling of a modern appearance with traditional content. It is like a Bactrian or two-humped camel: inconsistent, conflicting, or, some may say, contradictory, offsetting each other and degenerating. But many times in human history, contradictions have produced rich thoughts and sparked artistic imagination.

　　A mixture of premodern and modern contents and appearances is an advantage rather than a disadvantage of the Korean Wave. This mixture might help surpass the Europe-centered distinction of the modern world and help people throughout Asia develop a collective identity that transcends national boundaries. Korean culture’s popularity should serve as an occasion for us to avoid petty nationalism and move forward.