[Issue Plus] K-Content craze...ROSE's "Apartment" MV exceeded 100 million views.

■ Host: Lee Yeo-jin, anchor Jang Won-seok
■ Starring: Kim Heon-sik, pop culture critic

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN News PLUS] when quoting.

[Anchor]
The song "Apartment" sung by Black Pink member Rosé and pop star Bruno Mars is capturing the world. Let's take a look at Kim Heon-sik, a cultural critic, how the games that were commonly seen at drinking parties could have been the main driver of the global craze. Welcome. I didn't even hear it a few times, but it had a very addictive rhythm. There is a prediction that it will become the second Gangnam style, what do you think?

[Kim Heon-sik]
It can be seen as much more explosive than Gangnam style. So in just 5 days, we've exceeded 100 million views on the internet. It broke through on YouTube because of the music video. It's actually a great record even if it surpasses 10 million views in 5 days. In addition, it is the largest global music site, and it also topped Spotify. In fact, these days, people consume music by playing it over and over again rather than downloading it, but in that sense, winning first place on Spotify can be meaningful in that it has become that much more talked about. In particular, native speakers in North America listened to music, so you can see it like this.

[Anchor]
Is it also the first time that a Korean female solo artist has topped the US music charts?

[Kim Heon-sik]
That's right. The center of K-pop is boy groups and there are aspects led by male solo singers. As a result, it is even more difficult for female singers to be at the top of US music sites or charts. That's why it's even more meaningful because Rosé topped Spotify for the first time this time. So, the locals are very interested in it, and it's very meaningful that they paid attention to Rosé as a single singer.

[Anchor]
As you said, it's very popular, and it's based on an apartment game. I heard you know this game.

[Kim Heon-sik]
I've seen this a lot, too. We need an event because a lot of people gather at a drinking party. Especially when it's a little bland and unfamiliar, you get close while playing something simple, but if it's on the sixth floor, the person on the sixth floor will drink a kind of penalty drink.

[Anchor]
They're playing games now.

[Kim Heon-sik]
Foreigners are raising their hands like that. So if you say 10th floor, it will be a simple game where the person who gets caught on the 10th floor will drink. They say it's an apartment game. There's a highly addictive playability where you sing along in Korean. In fact, after the Squid Game, what highlighted us was playability. This is called gamification in English. So I get addicted because I can simply play with the song like that.

Especially these days, we consume content through SNS. So there is a little challenge culture, but now, the culture of enjoying various games and listening to music is spreading like a craze among young people around the world.

[Anchor]
In fact, when we think of apartments, we think of Yoon Soo-il's apartment crossing the bridge where the starlight flows, and even Yoon Soo-il's song is summoned again these days.

[Kim Heon-sik]
That's right. It's a situation where it's rising back and continues to rise on the chart. So Yoon Soo-il also welcomed it very much. It's a cheerful and good song. So I praised Rosé's apartment a lot. So when we think of K-pop, we say that it feels like the old singers have been pushed out a little, but even Yoon Soo-il's apartment, which can be called a masterpiece of the past, is being highlighted because of Rosé. Therefore, it can be seen that the old and new are creating a synergy effect of win-win together. In particular, the word apartment is becoming a hot topic.

We say that it's an apartment in English, but in reality, we ask a lot of questions. If you ask me if it's an apartment or an apartment, I say it's an apartment. That's why we often call it Konglish, but there are a lot of words in Oxford. For example, I told you not to use touch or fighting before, but if you use it in Korea, it becomes the standard of English, so it is also registered in the Oxford Dictionary.

Therefore, I am so interested in our culture in the end that I think that apartments will soon be listed. It is very meaningful in that it has risen to a certain level of rank. So, Rosé also consumes somaek and kimchi fried rice together, and the entire Korean culture is consumed through music video songs. So apartments, these days, to be called apartments, younger generations abbreviate them. So I think that I'll just use it as an apartment in the future.

[Anchor]
We've come to an era where we can reverse-export even foreign words. Looking at it now, pop star Bruno Mars collaborated and drew more attention. I waved the Korean flag or shouted a toast, but the popularity of Bruno Mars must have played a part, right?

[Kim Heon-sik]
That's right. In the case of Bruno Mars, he won the Grammy Awards twice and sold more than 14 million albums. That's why it's famous for collaborating well. But when I saw how they collaborated together, Bruno Mars came to Korea last year, and Rosé used her fan spirit to visit the concert hall and met them together. When I got used to building an apartment this time, I collaborated together to finally complete the song this time. Strategic collaboration worked.

Most of all, the two became close. So I didn't do it because I wanted to do a project like this strategically, but I did it naturally because something was right. If you watch the music video this time, you can feel that we're very close. And I think their vocals go well together. That's why the agency's aspects of such identity match Rosé's personality and Bruno Mars' chemistry, and this is a kind of big hit content.

[Anchor]
But when I heard the back story of the song, I heard that the song "Apartment" couldn't see the light.

[Kim Heon-sik]
I will make a song with a game called "Apartment". I didn't have this thought, and I prioritize the characteristics of this musician, including BLACKPINK. However, it is said that at first, he tried to share the apartment game with the artists around him or with the producers related to the drinking game. I thought there was a drinking game like this. Then, I thought about making a song based on this game, so I made it at first, but I was worried that it would look too light, especially since it's a drinking game. He also requested to delete it because he thought it might have a bad effect because it contains alcohol.

Then, the producer and the composer were already addicted, and I came to like it so much. I used the word "addiction" carefully, but I came to like it a lot, and then the producer told me that people would love it, so let's pursue it as it is, so I came out to the world like this. In the end, I think it will be a good example to think about the role of the producer and how important the role of co-creation is. Anyway, this case shows that there is a high possibility that more can be shared if we make it together.

[Anchor]
Rosé offered Bruno Mars, a member of the same label, to collaborate and asked him to send three songs, so he sent three songs, one of which was an apartment. However, when Bruno Mars asked what apartments meant, he said it was a Korean alcohol culture, a game, and he said he would do it right away, and he told me this behind-the-scenes story, but I think that's how much foreigners like Korean alcohol culture and fun play culture.

[Kim Heon-sik]
First of all, the culture of young people now needs to have a gamification called playability. So after Squid Game, such gamification became important, so when there is playability, including the Internet, the transmission speed is much stronger. For example, in the case of Gangnam Style, there were elements of fun and interest. And there was an element that I could imitate together called horse dance, but it was less of an opportunity to enjoy it together and get closer to something.

That's why it has a song element that can become much more popular than Gangnam Style. So, I think it will become much more popular than Gangnam Style in the future and is more likely to establish itself as a culture of young people. Bruno Mars looked at the meaning and value of it from an objective perspective. In the end, we found out that although ours is good, it is desirable to continue collaborating with artists who have high interest in us overseas for further spread.

[Anchor]
There are many indicators about the success of the song, but don't we hit the Billboard main single, Hot 100? But what are your chances of being in the top 10?

[Kim Heon-sik]
I think there is enough. In the case of Billboard Hot 100, it's actually a very fierce situation. No matter how popular the group is, it's not easy, but what's important is how much it's broadcasted on local radio broadcasts. Next, it will be very important to know how much local native speakers enjoy it. From that point of view, I think there will be a lot of radio broadcasts already.

On the other hand, I enjoy listening to it a lot on the Internet and Spotify, so I will have great significance in the Hot 100. That's what I think. Meanwhile, my first full solo album is coming out soon. He is said to have participated in writing and composing all 12 songs. Eventually, as Lee Rosé's apartment became popular, if many new regular albums are sold, it will eventually perform very well on the album chart, Billboard 200. In fact, even if the performance is good on the Billboard 200, it is often not good on the Hot 100, but I think it is likely to be an exemplary case where the performance is good on the Hot 100 and also on the Billboard 200 album chart. In particular, as a female solo artist, I think it will be a case where we expect a successful record in these two charts.

[Anchor]
I looked up the composer and it seems that 11 people, including Rosé and Bruno Mars, co-wrote the song. And the same 11 people who wrote the lyrics co-wrote the lyrics. Do so many people collaborate?

[Kim Heon-sik]
It's actually not common to do a lot of collaboration. That's why you can think that it's Rosé's style. In some cases, it's often left to one or two people and we don't know until we finally get the output, but I think it's Black Pink's style after all. So when we participate together and feel and share together, it is highly likely that it will be shared with many fans around the world. Therefore, it showed well this time that the more songs created through collaboration in a horizontal relationship, the more likely they are to receive global attention. As you can see in the video, it claims to fit well like that.

This will be a new attempt at K-pop. K-pop has only shown very formal and diverse performances such as sword dance, but it is Black Pink or Rosé's style that shows them happy, like their close friends playing or enjoying themselves. This is a new new era of K-pop. I think this atmosphere is likely to show the popularity of another K-pop 2.0.

[Anchor]
Rosé's agency had three. Atlantic Records, The Black Label, YG Entertainment, is this divided into individuals and groups and overseas activities?

[Kim Heon-sik]
It's also a very experimental attempt. In the past, one agency is in charge of everything. For example, they are in charge of domestic and overseas corporations. For example, BLACKPINK is now a member of YG as a whole group, and individual members have their own independent agency. Then, overseas corporations are being selected separately. In this case, you can actively do individual projects because you have autonomy and independence.

In fact, apartments are also separated flexibly in this way, so it is immediately reflected in making songs, and good results were produced by revising, supplementing, or reinforcing them. Because we can create works flexibly according to the flow, this is also a little limited in the solidifying organizational culture of large agencies. I think it will be a good outcome as an alternative to overcome those points. Because it immediately accepts global trends and trends quickly, there is a high possibility that it can be better accepted.

[Anchor]
Let's also look at the next topic. I heard that there will be a celebrity-only door at Incheon International Airport from the 28th, so what is a separate door?

[Kim Heon-sik]
First of all, it's not that there's a separate one, but it's that you can allow it to pass if you apply in advance to celebrities for the passage that used to be used by flight attendants or pilots. So, there is a controversy over whether celebrities can use this passage, but once you submit an official letter of application in advance, the airport will decide considering the applicants in advance. There should also be evidence such as whether private security guards are present. In particular, it is known that the current control reinforcement plan is also considered.

[Anchor]
There seems to be a controversy for and against this. It is a measure to prevent inconvenience to ordinary passengers, but there were also criticisms that celebrities are not performing public duties, so they are giving special benefits.

[Kim Heon-sik]
That's right. So when you ask why people who are doing public work for customers who use the airport, like flight attendants and pilots, why don't you give them unnecessary preferential treatment? In particular, they say that it is a measure for the safety of general users, but in the case of celebrities, if they apply in advance, will they be able to use it? The original intention is to prevent this if the complexity of the airport increases, but then there are various types and serious differences in celebrity.

So when you ask who will judge these points, you should talk about clear standards and guidelines because the celebrity and the celebrity's seriousness and comparison issues can arise. If you apply in advance, everything will be solved, I think it may be pointed out that you overlooked the reality too much.

[Anchor]
You also pointed out the ambiguity of the standards. On the other hand, many celebrities often use the appearance of leaving or entering the airport as a venue for indirect advertising. Outfits and items. However, I also wondered whether such a dedicated door would be effective.

[Kim Heon-sik]
That's right. Therefore, it seems that one of the doubts about whether a dedicated door can be effective in these problems is to ban and control it in terms of using it as a runway as an indirect advertising promotion means such as PPL. Rather, there are definitely points that are used as a marketing tool when entering and leaving the airport. That's why I think it should be a priority to ban the behavior of using the airport privately in such a way.

Then, the information when celebrities enter and exit the airport, how these things are shared, and how can they be prevented. I can tell you whether the agency really cannot stop it or if it is using it on purpose, and that close control or guidelines are needed for this.

[Anchor]
Let's move on to the next topic. After Han Kang's announcement of the Nobel Prize in Literature, sales at large bookstores increased by 40% over a week. Can this reading craze continue?

[Kim Heon-sik]
First of all, it's been a while since it's been over 1 million copies, and now it's over 2 million, but there are still people who haven't received the book. In the meantime, there is a conflict between large bookstores and local bookstores. Local bookstores are not receiving books. Therefore, I think it will be very important to promote reading and reading culture to make sure that the people can receive the books they want on time and on time. Above all, it's not just reading by purchasing books, but it's also taking a long time for public libraries to wait for loans.

Therefore, in the end, when there is still a problem of expanding public books, there is room for reconsideration as to whether the people should experience inconvenience again when there is such a case in the future, so it is necessary to change these systems and systems and increase or increase costs related to libraries and books.

[Anchor]
In the midst of this, a parent group referred to Han River's novel "Vegetarian" as a harmful medium. I told you that some expressions are not good for children, but I insisted on not putting them in the school library, what is it about?

[Kim Heon-sik]
So in the case of vegetarians, it's a collection of novels containing several works. Not only vegetarians, but there are also works called Mongo Banjeom. It's true that there are scenes and sexual expressions that depict violence here. However, Han Kang's intention was expressed so explicitly that readers should not use violence as they felt very closely why it was bad and what kind of pain it caused. This is a stark description to show that if someone uses violence, there are people who suffer like this and that can be targeted.

However, just because the description itself is uncomfortable, it is not desirable to ban it. Rather, it is artistic and has been recognized abroad, so in this case, the tutor or parents should read it together. Reading together can be interpreted in a certain context, and the intention of the artist who wrote this work must be closely discussed together, but if you prevent them from receiving such educational opportunities in the school field, you may think that the function of education or the right to education is shrinking.

That's why I won the Nobel Prize for Literature, so I think the second and third Han River can be born when there are many literature classes that are discussed and discussed together. So, one side says that a new post-Han Kang writer should come out, but I don't think it's desirable to interpret the meaning like this in the school field, so it seems necessary to come up with a compromise within a form that requires reading guidance prospectively.

[Anchor]
Baekbeom Kim Gu said that the only thing he wants to have is the power of high culture, what do you think? Do you think Kim Gu achieved this wish at a time when the Nobel Prize winner has been produced and K content continues to be a hot topic?

[Kim Heon-sik]
I think it's an interim transition period. First of all, the last puzzle was put in. So, there was only one literature left, but now literature has been recognized worldwide, and the important thing is that literature serves as a source of cultural content. It creates a very serious and centralized topic here, and K-pop, K-movies, and K-drama release it again, and literature fills in the gaps here. If we have a win-win effect in this way, I think it will become the country of K culture, cultural powerhouse, and culture that Kim Koo said.

[Anchor]
I see. This has been Kim Heon-sik, a cultural critic. Thank you for saying that.