Zee English Cluster partners with Korean Cultural Centre India to fortify Hallyu Wave

Zee English Cluster has partnered with Korean Cultural Centre India to bring the best of Korean content. Viewers will now be treated to Korean content across Zee Café, &Flix and &PrivéHD.

The recent success of the Korean motion picture industry has been described as the rise of “Hallyuwood,” suggesting that Korea has become the third pillar of the global motion picture industry. Expectations about the vibrant Korean movie industry are mounting. Same is true for fans in India who have taken to ‘Hallyu’ from K-movies, K-dramas, K-beauty and much more! Catering to this burgeoning interest,

As part of this alliance, the Korean Culture Centre shall extend the golden opportunity of witnessing top-rated Korean content to fans across India. With a robust social media amplification plan, the invite for the premiere will be extended to the ever-evolving community of Korean culture enthusiasts spread across all corners of the country. "Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films," said the Golden Globe awardee and Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-Ho in his award-winning speech.

Amit Shah, Cluster Head – North, West & Premium Channels, ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, said: “At Zee English Cluster, we have always evolved to suit the changing tastes and preferences of its discerning audience. In the past year, various industry reports suggested a massive spike in the popularity of K-pop and K-dramas. Moreover, reports also suggest a 2.5x increase in Korean language learners in India in 2020 as against the previous year. A major catalyst for this trend is the relatable storylines and themes of these highly emotive plots that truly make for a compelling watch. With our continued commitment of bringing the best of content from all over the world, Korean movies and K-dramas is truly a step in this direction. Also, with our current association, we aim to further strengthen the cultural ties between India and Korea. We’re thrilled to collaborate with the Korean Culture Centre in bolstering and taking this vision forward by enabling countless movie and international show fans to fall in love with foreign content that feels familiar.”

Hwang Il-yong, director of Korean Culture Centre India, said: “Any meaningful product cannot come out all of sudden or by luck without meaningful input and hidden aim or strategy. The Korean government and all governmental bodies in India like we, Korean Cultural Centre India have planted seeds and worked so far with certain policies and strategies.

Korean culture is basically to respect others and to make harmony. The harmony between human parties, sender, receiver, mediator, between tradition and new, etc. We can say Korean culture is the culture of coexistence. With its original character, we also have been operating and organizing all cultural and educational programs to introduce Korean culture and invite Indian friends to participate and regenerate their own culture with our basis through the participating events like contests and challenge events. We do not insist on our authenticity, we do respect and encourage glocalization.

Korean culture which has been localized and reproduced by Indians can be the product of this character and strategy. More glocalizations in various fields, fashion, beauty, items, pop culture to come up and produce the fruit."

Also, as a treat to Hallyu fans in India, Zee Café will continue to bring a slew of K-dramas for fans. A must see if you are a K-fan, or even your introduction to the fascinating world of Hallyu, here are shows which have garnered reviews, awards and hearts around the world will take your breath away all through the month:

 "Boys Over Flowers" the IMDB 8.3-rated South Korean romantic drama series starring Lee Minho, Ku Hyesun, Kim Hyunjoong, Kim Bum, Kim Joon, and Kim Soeon, airs weekends at 5PM.

“Descendants Of The Sun” awarded as the ‘Best Drama Series’ by Asian Television Awards and starring the heartthrob ‘Song Joong-ki’ airs weeknights at 7 and weekends at 10am and 12noon. The romantic drama tells a heart-warming tale of love between a surgeon and a special forces officer.