Reddit reviews The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation Is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture

Euny Hong wrote "The Birth of Korean Cool".

You should read it and it will give you a very clear idea about what areas and sources you can explore.

The political impact of kpop is so fascinating to me. Have you read The Birth of Korean Cool? Its not perfect, but still its really interesting.

Not really fiction, but it's new and written so well and it's so entertaining that I finished it in two nights. Here

"The New Koreans" is a recent publication (copyrighted 2017, although the narrative ends right before the juiciest moment of the decade, choigate, so more like 2016) that goes deep into korea's past and present. Even some points I never considered before.

However, read it with a grain of salt, because some of the things it says are just flat out wrong or biased (like claiming that korea's panic over pyramid scheme con artistry were an act of protectionism against western soap products, and implying that comfort women issue is nothing to bat an eye about because Joseon was a patriarchal society at the time. REALLY? ).

The summary says it outlines the three miracles of korea, each reportedly blew the author's mind as it happened. Economic miracle of the 70s, then democratic miracle of the 90s, then the miracle of breaking out in the world stage as a cultural powerhouse in the last decade. He doesn't really go into the last part in detail, and I can't blame him because he's been alive since the days of Park Chung Hee.

If you want a nice, entertaining and also informative reading on the cultural part, then pick up Birth of Korean Cool

Are there set dances to these tunes, like I imagine, or is it just a free for all dance style?

Also, if you havent read it yet. Heard a ton about it. Sounds fascinating and is on my long list of reads. https://www.amazon.com/Birth-Korean-Cool-Conquering-Through/dp/1250045118