Ministry to monitor ‘effects’ of K-Pop on young Turks
ISTANBUL
Turkey’s Family and Social Services Ministry has decided to start a research on K-Pop (Korean pop music) and monitor the effects of it on Turkey’s young generation closely after three girls were caught running away from their houses to go to South Korea.
“The ministry is scrutinizing allegations that K-Pop is distracting young people from their parents and leading them a genderless lifestyle,” daily Milliyet reported on Aug. 29.
On Aug. 10, two sisters and a friend ran away from their houses in the Hadımköy neighborhood of Istanbul with an intention to go to South Korea for their love of K-Pop and K-drama (Korean TV series.)
BTS, EXO, Blackpink, Big Bang, GOT7, RedVelvet, TXT and Twice are the most known K-Pop bands. BTS has some 20 million followers on social media that the band members call “Army.”
“The ministry is researching ‘popular world cultures and the healthy improvement of children.’ Officials think some country’s music has influence on young Turkish generations,” the daily noted about the increase in interest for K-Pop.
“Trends emerging in some countries that benefit from mass media, internet and technology, turn those countries’ images into good with the help of fans across the globe,” ministry sources, requesting anonymity, said.
“These trends emerge from TV series, movies, music, fashion, cuisine, language or tourism,” they added.
“The fans of these global trends have a common lifestyle due to the popular products they share in common.”
“Korean pop bands evoke admiration globally by images and their different style music by using social media effectively,” the officials said.
The daily underlined that the ministry is monitoring famous social media platforms, especially Twitter and YouTube, about the rise of K-Pop in Turkey.
“Fans league together on online accounts and consolidate their bonds to K-Pop bands by calling themselves special nicknames,” it added.
Within the scope of the ministry’s works on the influence of other cultures on Turkish youngsters, a digital directory has been penned for young generations and their parents, speaking of the digital dangers that children can face.
The ministry also contacted representatives of social media platforms in Turkey to get together against harmful online content that will negatively affect the children.
Some interviews called “Child-Friendly Talks” have started broadcasting on YouTube.
To promote traditional Turkish games to youngsters, the authorities are also touring Anatolian provinces to organize events for children.
Some institutions affiliated with the ministry are also conducting workshops to children and parents telling of the importance of “body privacy.”
Some 637 mobile crews have visited some 125,000 teens and 40,000 parents to inform them about popular internet trends.
K-Pop is a genre of music that emerged with the formation of one of the earliest K-pop groups, the boy band “Seo Taiji and Boys” in 1992. As of 2003, TVXQ and BoA started a new generation of K-Pop idols that spread the music into neighboring Japan and continue to popularize K-pop internationally today.
According to a Twitter report published in September 2020, Turkey is one of the 20 countries that Twitter users actively write and use hashtags on K-Pop. EXO’s song “Obsession” and BTS’ “On” are two songs Turkish Twitter users mostly made comments on, the report said.