LAWRENCE — As the recent “Gangnam Style” craze illustrates, South Korea has become one of the new giants in entertainment and mass media. But a Kansas University Journalism Professor and a graduate student say perhaps a little too big and influential. KU Professor Tien-Tsung Lee and student Hong Vu have published a study about the influence of wildly popular South Korean soap operas in Asia in general and Vietnam in particular. They say the South Korean soap operas have had a large impact on lesser-educated Vietnamese women. Their study indicates the more often they watch South Korean soap operas, the more likely they are to have an unrealistic idea of South Korea. They are more willing to take part in matchmaking services and marry South Korean men, even though they are illegal in Vietnam. Many of the international matchmaking services have been linked to prostitution and human trafficking. They say the survey shows how important education can be in fighting problems like human trafficking and offsetting the influence of mass media.
Updated 6/13/13 @ 11:05 pm
