SOUTH KOREA AND INDIA……SOME CONNECTION..?

I am sure not many of you have seen the most interesting series in Netflix titled Vincenzo or for that matter the most engrossing and sensitive series titled as Crash Landing On You, or Strong Girl Boong Soon or the very engrossing with a slightly off beat story, Hotel Del Luna. There is something in common in all these series that I have just mentioned. Then again probably not many of you have noticed that stars like Jin, Suga, RM, Jungkook rule the hearts of the young and the old with equal zest and zeal. Stars like, Song Joong-ki, Jeon Yeo-been increases the heart bets of the youth with their Sauvé and exceptional good looks.

The common factor in all these is South Korea. Currently BTS the South Korean band has taken India and the world by the storm. It is imperative that I do write a short history of this Boy band called BTS, introduce them to my readers who might not know them.

In their official Instagram site they have about 43.7 Million followers and the follow only 2 and have around 909 posts. They have about 18 million followers in their official Face book Page. In India they are progressively becoming famous by the day. On June 14the 2021 Hindustan times carried an article on them and their concert which happened just a few days back The concert was named as Muster Sowoozo. Financial Express carried an article on the June 15th 2021 about them “ As brands make a beeline for K-Pop, India too soon to become its playground”

K-Pop band BTS currently endorses a clutch of brands such as Samsung, Adidas, Coca-Cola, Hyundai, Louis Vuitton, and McDonald’s , to name a few. So the question is who are they, who are these young handsome heart throbs of millions of people around the world including India.

BTS : Bangtan Sonyeondan), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a seven-member South Korean boy band that began formation in 2010 and debuted in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—composed of Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-produces much of their own output. Originally a hip hop group, their musical style has evolved to include a wide range of genres. Their lyrics, often focused on personal and social commentary, touch on the themes of mental health, troubles of school-age youth and coming-of-age, loss, the journey towards loving oneself, and individualism. Their work features references to literature and psychological concepts and includes an alternative universe storyline. The group has released several albums and performed on several world tours.

After debuting in 2013 with their single album 2 Cool 4 Skool, BTS released their first Korean-language studio album, Dark & Wild, and Japanese-language studio album, Wake Up, in 2014. The group's second Korean studio album, Wings (2016), was their first to sell one million copies in South Korea. By 2017, BTS crossed into the global music market, leading the Korean Wave into the United States and breaking numerous sales records. They became the first Korean group to receive a certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for their single "Mic Drop", as well as the first Korean act to top the US Billboard 200 chart with their studio album Love Yourself: Tear (2018). BTS also became the fastest group since the Beatles to earn four US number-one albums, doing so in less than two years. Love Yourself: Answer (2018) was the first Korean album certified platinum by the RIAA. In 2020, BTS became the first all-South Korean act to reach number one on the Billboard Global 200 and US Billboard Hot 100 with their Grammy-nominated single "Dynamite", becoming the first group to have three number one debuts on the Hot 100.

Having sold over 20 million albums on the Gaon Music Chart, BTS is the best-selling artist in South Korean history and holds the best-selling album in South Korea with Map of the Soul: 7. They are the first and only Asian and non-English speaking act to be named the IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year (2020) and to chart on Billboard's Top Touring Artists of the 2010s (placing at number 45). During their Love Yourself World Tour, BTS became the first Asian and first non-English speaking act to headline and sell out Wembley Stadium and broke the record for the single highest-grossing engagement in Rose Bowl Stadium history. Featured on Time' international cover as "Next Generation Leaders", BTS has also appeared in the magazine's lists of the 25 most influential people on the internet (2017–2019) and the 100 most influential people in the world (2019), where they were dubbed "Princes of Pop".

Throughout their career, BTS received numerous accolades for their work, including 6 American Music Awards, 9 Billboard Music Awards and 24 Golden Disk Awards, and nominations for a Grammy Award and a Brit Award. Following the establishment of their Love Myself anti-violence campaign in partnership with UNICEF, BTS addressed the United Nations 73rd and 75th General Assemblies and became the youngest ever recipients of the Order of Cultural Merit from the President of South Korea due to their contributions in spreading Korean culture and language.

Here is the opportunity to understand the Korean Culture. Since I along with my daughters have been watching the Korean series for quite sometimes now couple of interesting facts came to my notice and one very fascinating and intriguing fact is the similarities of certain South Korean words with Tamil language. For example : Amma and Appa — denoting mother and father in the Korean language too — are among the first words Korean children learn. These are among the thousands of Tamil words that are part of the Korean language.

Other Tamil words found in Korean with the same meanings are: naal (day), uraam (manure), pull (grass), pudhu (new), sourru (rice) and yerru (plough).

There are more – vanakkam in Tamil is Vankkaamtta in Korean. Bambu denoting a snake, in Tamil, is Bambu-baem in Korean. Santhosham (happiness) in Tamil is Shantutham in Korean.

Recently, the State government started translation of Tirukurral into Korean. “We have a shared heritage. In fact, Chennai has the largest Korean population — 4,000 — in India. Rathina Pugalenthi, a scholar from Viruthachalam near Cuddolore district, said that dance forms such as Korean drum dance and Thappaattam in Tamil Nadu had at least 12 similarities in terms of movements, and composition of eight members in a group, including two drummers.

P. Banumathi, assistant professor, Department of Tamil in Valliammal College for Women, spoke about how the traditional weaving technology of the State was meritoriously followed in the interior parts of Korea even now.

Korean researcher Jung Nam Kim, says many theories have been proposed to explain the origin of the Korean language. “The most prominent of these link Korean to the Altaic languages of central and east Asia, a family that includes Turkish, Mongolian, and Japanese. However, there are very few words, which have the same pronunciation and the same meaning between Korean and each of the Altaic languages. The competing theory associates Korean with the Dravidian languages, notably Tamil, which has many similar words to Korean,” notes the Canada-based researcher.

Kim’s research delved into the arrival of Tamilians in Korea. “Tamilians must have arrived in South Korea in first century B.C. In addition, the Korean people have been called ‘the nation of white-coloured dress’. Why? Traditionally the Korean people like wearing the white-colored dress despite the cold weather. This custom must have been brought in by Indians including Tamilians who are used to wearing the white-coloured dress because of the hot weather,” he adds.

More research is needed in this direction. With the popularity of the south Korean BTS band and the South Korean television , there seems to be a spontaneous connect with Indian diaspora. Scholar Kannan Narayanaa of Tamil Heritage Foundation, who has extensively been researching on the links between the two nations, says there is also a shared genetic connection. “According to popular legend, Heo Hwang-ok, a princess from the distant land of Ayuta, came by boat to Gaya, with her national symbol twin fish. She then married King Suro and became the first queen of the Gaya kingdom. Researchers thought that Ayuta is actually Ayodhya in India. But there has been mounting evidences to indicate that she was from Tamil Nadu, in particular Pandyan or Aai kingdom. Recent genetic studies by researchers Jeong-Sun SEO and Kim Jong-il on the remains of her tomb revealed genetic similarities between Indians and Koreans,” explains the scholar, adding that a lot more research needs to be done.

An article was published in THE KOREA TIMES on 25th January 2010. The excerpts of the article is as follows:

The presidential couple arrived Sunday in New Delhi for a four-day state visit. It is the first visit to India by a Korean president since 2004.

The office said Kim is a descendant of Heo Hwang-ok, a princess who travelled from an ancient kingdom in Ayodhya, India, to Korea. Heo arrived on a boat and married King Suro of Korea's Gaya Kingdom in A.D. 48, according to Samguk Yusa, an 11th-century collection of legends and stories. The chronicle says Princess Heo had a dream about a handsome king from a far away land.

After the dream, Heo asked her royal parents for permission to set out on an adventure to find the man of her fate. The ancient book indicates that she sailed to the Korean Peninsula, carrying a stone, with which she claimed to have calmed the waters.

Archeologists discovered a stone with two fish kissing each other in Korea, which is a unique cultural heritage linked to a royal family in Ayodhya. The stone is evidence that there were active commercial exchanges between the two sides after the princess's arrival here.

The princess is said to have given birth to 10 children, which marked the beginning of the powerful dynasty of Gimhae Kims. Members of both the Heo and Gimhae Kim lineages consider themselves descendants of Heo Hwang-ok and King Suro. Two of the couple's 10 sons chose the mother's name. The Heo clans trace their origins to them, and regard Heo as the founder of their lines. The Gimhae Kims trace their origin to the eight other sons.

An analysis of DNA samples taken from the site of two royal Gaya tombs in 2004 in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, confirms that there is a genetic link between the Korean ethnic group and certain ethnic groups in India.

Over the past decades, there have been efforts to shed new light on the historical links between Korea and India. In 2000, a Gaya clan raised money to send a large memorial tablet to India and establish a park in Ayodhya.

Another article was published in INDIAN EXPRESS on 21st Januray 2010. The excerpts of that article s here as follows verbatim:

But, it is not this connection alone that has brought the archaeologist here as he also seeks a cultural connect between Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh and Kimhae city in Korea. "For the last 40 years, I have been tracing the route taken by the princess between Ayodhya and Kimhae city and after five visits, I have all the evidence to culturally connect the two cities."Nearly six years ago, the Korean government had declared Ayodhya as the sister city of Korea and a monument in the memory of Princess Hoh was also established here in the city.

"The Kara clan is the biggest community in Korea and we like to visit our queen mother's place. Through these visits, we are making attempts to talk to the Uttar Pradesh government to open up their doors for strengthening cultural relations between the two countries," said Prof Kim. Ayodhya Shodh Sansthan director Dr Y P Singh said the state's culture department is making all efforts to help the Koreans find their missing links.

"Through these interactions, we have been able to find new facets of Ayodhya and now in addition to being Lord Ram's birthplace, the city has another significance attached," said Singh.k

Times of India reported, "What's South Korea's Ayodhya connection? To get the answer, pay a visit to the picturesque banks of river Saryu in the holy city. Here one will find a monument in memory of an Ayodhya princess who is believed to have 'mothered' a dynasty in South Korea".

That there was a link between India and Korea after the advent of Buddhism is an established fact. However, links with the Far East are mentioned in Valmiki Ramayana too, which refers to the huge land mass of 'Shalmali Dvipa' which is the present day Australia and the smaller islands around it.

Geo politically also there are certain similarities and they are none the less intriguing too. Both India and South Korea are thriving economies with troublesome rogue nations as their neighbors like Pakistan and North Korea respectively.

Apart from the geopolitical situation, drawing parallels between the Korean Peninsula and Indian-Pakistan might seem peculiar at first, but consider this:

We have Bollywood, they have k-dramas and k-pop. They have De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) around the 38th parallel, we have the LoC at Kashmir. All four countries got independence in August. Both India and South Korea celebrate 15th August as their Independence Day on 15th August. Theirs is also an omnipresent patriarchal society. Both Pakistan and North Korea are failed states, politically and economically – both are on the verge of bankruptcy. One peculiar similarity is that every time they need some sort of external help, like funds or easing of trade restrictions, they start acting responsibly.

For instance, Pakistan had returned back wing-commander Abhinandan and its PM, Imran Khan was vouching for peace talks. On the other hand, it seems like North Korea has ditched its nuclear ambitions for the time being.

Undivided India got freedom from Britain in August 1947, while the Korean peninsula was freed from Japanese occupation in August 1948. Both the events occurred at the end of World War 2 as both the colonial powers we no longer in a position to keep their colonies.

Lastly let’s get a glimpse of the cultural connection that s developing with ever more pace with an interesting fact. Daler Mehndi’s 90s-hit ‘Tunak Tunak Tun’ till date pops up on Korean drama and variety shows. Last month, K-pop singer Seungri of the band Bigbang, uploaded a video on Instagram performing to the Punjabi pop song meshing it with the dance cover of a K-pop song.

The iconic Punjabi song has featured in several Korean shows since 2000s and was recently featured in 2017-Korean drama ‘Strong Girl Bong-soon’ where it was used as ringtone by one of the characters.

With these facts I leave my readers with the option of forming their own opinion and I would definitely appreciate if anyone can share any more researched document of the links between us and them. I have been to Incheon airport many a times but did not visit the capital city Seoul or Incheon as my flights were on a turnaround basis from Honk Kong and never was I stuck at Incheon due technical snag of the aircraft , but somehow the airport and the people around and the climate everything had a feel good factor always.

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