Transference of Korean culture through Korean television series

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to explore the processes of transferring Korean culture through Korean television series and to investigate the presentation methods of Korean television series. The sample group consisted of two television series. The first one is Dae Jang-geum, Jewel of the Palace, which contains 54 episodes and was first aired on Thai TV Channel 3 from October 2005 to February 2006 on weekends from 18.00 to 20.00 hours and then again from March to May, 2006 from Monday to Friday. The second one is Princess Hours, which contains 24 episodes and was first aired on Thai TV Channel 7 from October 7 to December 3, 2006, on weekends from 09.15 to 11.00 hours and then again from March 10 to May 26, 2008, on Mondays and Tuesdays from 08.30 to 10.30 hours. The study results revealed that there are five aspects of Korean cultural transference through television series, namely dress, consumption, tourism, traditions and customs, and administration. For the presentation methods, they are the same regarding plots, narration methods, scenes and characters, which are in the form of reproduction. However, representation of the Korean culture reflected through the two series is different, with more reflection in historical and period series. For contemporary series, most reflection is the influence of Western cultures that are present in current society. It is further found that the series have influenced several aspects of society, such as, administration, dress, tourism, consumption and traditions.