Hallyu Club bands Korean pop culture lovers together

By Lena Zhu | Published by April 18, 2019

The Korean word “Hallyu” is used to describe the Korean entertainment industry making its way overseas and gaining popularity. The Hallyu Club on campus seems to be doing the same.

With the recent and new successes of popular K-pop bands such as BTS or BlackPink making its way through the charts, Hallyu Club president, Natalia Rios, thought that the club would be a great hit.

According to CougarLink, the purpose of the club is to “spread knowledge of Korean pop culture by bringing people with the same interest together. Our goal is to educate others on the growth and the history of Korean pop music by being physically involved.”

Min-Chung Han, a Marketing professor at Kean, believes that the club is an important and creative way for students on campus to learn about differences and Asian culture.

“In the era of cultural globalization, it is important to understand different culture and accept the differences,” Han said. “Hallyu club students learn dance, music and the language which will facilitate to understand foreign culture.”

She believes that culturally, the club will bring more diversity onto Kean campus.

“Although Kean is already very diverse campus, due to the low population of Asian students in campus, Asian culture is relevantly unfamiliar to Kean students,” Han stated in an email. “Hallyu club will play an important role to introduce Asian culture to Kean campus and students and it will contribute to strengthen multicultural environment in Kean campus.”

For Kiara Munoz, a sophomore studying Media and Film, the Hallyu club was a perfect place to get out of her comfort zone and make new friends.

“I wanted to join the club to try and meet new people who had similar interests as me,” Munoz said. “I don’t know many people who enjoy K-Pop at Kean so I decided to get out of my comfort zone and attend to share my love for the music.”

Victoria Cardieri, freshman, felt like she could be herself without being judged.

“[The last meeting] was fun. I enjoyed the dancing,” Cardieri said. “I felt like I finally found a place on campus where I belonged.”

Many students in the club, like Munoz, have a huge respect for the way that the Korean entertainment field is trained along with their successes.

“I genuinely love the music and really appreciate/respect how hard the industry is so I try to support everyone that I can.” Munoz said.

As the club gains popularity, the members of the e-board wish to have future meetings that start with a small Korean language lesson and proceed onwards to learning dances from K-Pop bands.

“A big part of why I love the kpop scene so much is because it connected me back to my old friends from high school.” Massucci said. “I think that was a big factor in why I’m so immersed in it because I like the sense of community.”

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