Passport Podcast

Seoul: Is K-pop the Soul of Seoul?

E5
May 26, 2020
51:12

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About this Episode

Unless you've been living under a rock you've probably heard about K-pop by now. South Korea's homegrown popular music is huge. Like, really huge - BTS, the world’s most popular K-pop band, are basically the new Beatles. And it’s not just Korean music that’s blowing up - this year a Korean movie won the most exclusive award in film - Best Picture at the Oscars. All this popular pop culture is drawing fans and curious onlookers to Seoul - South Korea's hi-tech capital and Korean culture’s epicenter.

How did we get here? How did a little Asian country on a divided peninsula, which has been pummelled by centuries of war and dictatorship, manage to cultivate the world's most exciting new music trend? And can the country's pop music tell us anything about the soul of its biggest city? This week we’re jetting off to Seoul to find out.