The K-Pop Dictionary

Like it or not, South Korean entertainment has taken the world by storm. BTS is one of the most popular music groups in the world right now, and it’s something I could easily compare to Beatlemania back in the 1960s. Squid Game became one of the most watched shows on Netflix. Everybody is talking about romantic K-dramas that have similar plots to each other, and yet they all offer aesthetics and gripping soap-opera like storylines that keep people addicted. The reason why South Korean entertainment has gripped so many is because of the gruelling work that goes behind it. If you thought the training in Hollywood was intense, this is something else.

I do like my music and I do like songs from BTS and other bands line Blackpink and SHINee. Because I know how toxic their fandoms can be and how some idols and stars are pushed to suicide and mental health illness, it puts me off becoming fully engrossed in the K-Pop fandom. On the other hand, all fandoms have their good and bad communities. It’s so easy for people to fall into obsessive habits with everyone’s obsession with perfection.

What I’ve always liked about Asian entertainment is how they don’t follow the typical Hollywood formula. There’s always plenty of twists that stops the shows becoming unpredictable. They always seem to pack that extra punch. It may have been obvious who was going to win Squid Game, but nobody expected things to turn out the way they did.

Four of my favourite films of all time are directed by Park Chan-Wook. All three installments of his Vengeance Trilogy, which are all different stories but are connected with a common theme of brutal and violent vengeance . My personal favourite out of Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance is the latter for its marriage between the soundtrack and cinematography. I also adore Handmaiden which is South Korean retelling of Sarah Water’s novel, Fingersmith.

So when I came across this book for a £1 at a local charity shop, I snagged it straight away. I thought it was an excellent bargain. I think it would be a great book as a gift for somebody who is a K-Pop fan, wants to learn Korean or likes Korean dramas.

The reason I bought this book is because I am working on a novel about a K-Pop duo who are pretending to be a couple to boost sales, but end up falling for each other in the end. I haven’t made as much progress as I would have liked, so I hoped this book which teach me some new words. I hoped to be inspired and appreciate Korean entertainment more.

I love the way everything is displayed out. Everything in this book is easy to read and I also like how each word has a detailed description of why the word is so important. Korean looks like an interesting language to learn. I’ve heard people say it is so easy to learn, but I think it’s possible if you fully devote yourself to it.

I like the layout and how things have both romanised text, the Korean Hangul text as well as English examples.

After reading this book, I feel educated. I had always liked Kimchi, but never realised how important it was in Korean cuisine until I read this book. I didn’t know there was a 5 year curse in music acts until I read this book. It’s a great book that is easy to read and understand.

I considered hosting this to somebody I knew who is a big fan of Korean dramas, but in the end I have kept this copy to myself because I think it will come in so useful when working on my K-Pop project. My friend is always welcome to borrow it or I can give her another copy at a later date.