Vietnam has risen to a position of leading power during the post-China era. The nation showed a high rate of economic growth (6.7%) amidst the worldwide economic recession in 2015, and it’s the third biggest export market of Korea, just behind China and the United States. The Korean wave fever in Vietnam that began in the late 1990s gave rise to at least 47 or more K-pop clubs, and the Korean language departments have been set up in 15 universities, allowing approximately 3,200 students to learn Korean. Vietnam is an important economic partner to Korea and a state that is at the center of the spread of the Korean wave throughout Southeast Asia. In Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, along with CJ E&M and Sejong Hakdang Foundation, the Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange carried out a business called <Establishing the base from which the integrated Korean wave can be spread overseas>. 

The K-Pop cultural experience space and the MCN studio

<Establishing the base from which the integrated Korean wave can be spread overseas> was inaugurated in 2012 in order to urge companies to take social responsibility and vitalize non-governmental cultural exchanges between the word countries. Afterward, it became a successful model for public-private partnerships formed for the purpose of setting up the base on which the Korean wave is exported overseas.

K-Pop Cultural Experience Space and the MCN Studio Become Popular Places in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

Due to the rapid economic growth, new apartments and modern buildings are built day and night in Vietnam. Half or more of the population in younger than 30, and 54% or more of the entire population are internet users. As much as any other surrounding nation, the Vietnamese are passionate about recent trends and actively express themselves through SNS, sharing their daily life and experiences.

The Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange, CJ E&M, and Sejong Hakdang Foundation established an experience space for the cultural content of the Korean wave and the MCN studio, which Vietnamese creators can use freely. The experience space looks like a pretty cafe that can be found in any Korean television series, and promotes cultural content of the Korean wave. People can enjoy recent Korean television shows and films through a large-size screen, and anyone can freely listen to K-pop music and use the internet. The MCN studio is a place where new Vietnamese creators (individual creators) from various fields including beauty and food can film content, produce, and edit without constraint. It is anticipated that the experience space for the Korean wave cultural content and the MCN studio will become new cultural playgrounds for the Vietnamese youth and give rise to a new Korean wave boom in Vietnam’s MCN industry.

Talent Donation Including Top Creators of the Korean Wave (Individual Creators) Holds Class about Korean language and K-beauty

For two days, from December 7th to 8th, a Korean culture class was held by two top creators (individual creators) who represent the Korean wave. On the first day, the creator “Cheri Hyeri” conducted a class on Korean culture. “Cheri Hyeri” is an expert creator and authority in Korean-Vietnamese relations who introduces the Korean language and Korean culture in Vietnamese. She fully carries out her role as a mediator between the two nations and is as popular as any other Korean star in Vietnam. In the lecture she gave, she introduced Korean language that is actually used in daily life, such as words Koreans enjoy using and aegyo (the way Koreans refer to a cute display of affection often expressed through a cute/baby voice, facial expressions, and gestures), rather than the rigid and formal terms taught first by textbooks. 

Creator Cheri Hyeri's class on Korean culture

Creator Ssinnim's beauty class 

On the second day, December 8th, K-beauty top creator “Ssinnim” conducted a class on imitating the make-up of Korean stars and performing Korean-style make-up. According to a survey carried out at the Kotra trade center in Ho Chi Minh, Korea took the top spot (46%) for a country that the Vietnamese think of first when they see a term like cosmetics, music, and fashion. As this result indicates, the Vietnamese youth who participated in the class showed great interest in what they were being taught, trying to catch every detail of the hand movements by “Ssinnim,” who demonstrating how to put on make-up.    

To the Vietnamese youth who participated in this Korean Culture Class, cosmetic kits, sponsored by Amore Pacific, were presented. They were very happy to receive their gifts, and shared pictures of their experience in real time on SNS.      

The Korean K-beauty top creator Ssinnim shared her thoughts: 'I didn’t know I had so many fans in Vietnam. I had a good time since I was able to personally meet foreign fans and interact with them.'