Ramyun : Culture Industry in Korean Series

Abstract

The objective of this article is to study ramyun from the selected Korean series using concepts on culture industry and the commodification of culture to analyze the production, dissemination, and domination of Korean food culture specifically “ramyun as a late-night meal” which spreads worldwide and becomes viral among Korean people that it turns to be their lifestyle.  The study methodology is a qualitative one using documents and information from Korean TV series, YouTube and other social media.  The result of the study according to an objective mentioned above can be explained in threefold: (1) Korean drama series, YouTube, and K-pop artists help create and reproduce delicious images of ramyun domestically and internationally: the image of delicious ramyun; the image of how to eat boiling ramyun deliciously…slurping loudly; and the image of happy activities, cooking and eating ramyun, that can be easily done by anyone. (2) Those social media lead to culture industry and the commodification of culture when ramyun made a lot of income to Korea’s economy. (3) Ramyun has long term impacts against health as its ingredients contain high level of calories, carbohydrate, and sodium which may induce diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, etc.  Finally, it has been concluded that this kind of culture industry and the commodification of culture are the process of mass deception to influence people that they become victims consciously and lose freedom to be self-awakening.