Since the early 2000s, South Korean and Chinese pop culture have been fighting for market share in Indonesia. Autumn in My Heart, a Korean drama released in 2000, competed directly with Romance in the Rain, a Chinese drama released in 2001.
Despite their popularity, Chinese plays faded soon throughout the archipelago. Despite the success of Taiwanese drama Meteor Garden in 2001, which had strong ratings in Indonesia, Chinese dramas were waning as Korean dramas such as Full House in 2004 increased in popularity. Rain, the film’s main character, went on to host the largest concert in Indonesia in 2005, gathering 40 thousand people.
Although China has attempted to break into the Indonesian market in the past, it has been unable to match the appeal of Korean entertainment. Why is this the case?
In Indonesia, there is Korean and Chinese entertainment.
Initially, Korea promoted its dramas in China, resulting in a phenomenon known as “Korean fever.” Korean dramas flooded the Chinese market with such force that the movement was immediately dubbed “Hallyu” in Chinese, which means “wave.”
This “wave” then swept into Indonesia, attracting enormous crowds in the ASEAN member state. Following Rain’s spectacular performance in 2005, several more Korean celebrities followed suit and staged concerts across the nation. SM Entertainment, South Korea’s largest entertainment company, performed an SM Town Live World Tour III performance in Indonesia in 2012 with all of its stars in tow, recognizing Indonesians’ strong affinity for Korean entertainment. The event drew over 50,000 people, making it the first and largest K-Pop concert ever hosted in Indonesia.
With greater variety and higher quality dramas and reality TV series based on crime, science fiction, romance, and other genres, this tendency has grown increasingly common.
According to statistics, Indonesia is the most popular country for watching Korean boy and girl bands such as BTS, Blackpink, EXO, and Twice. In 2018, Indonesians accounted for 20% of EXO and Blackpink’s viewership, or about 496 million people.
Twice’s ninth mini album, More & More, debuted this week and rapidly rose to the top of the iTunes Top Album lists in 30 countries, including Indonesia.
The effect of K-Pop on the Indonesian music industry reflects the popularity of the genre in the country. It has spawned a slew of new boy and girl bands, like Smash and Cherrybelle, who are highly influenced by Korean music and dancing.
Indonesian state events have often attracted Korean artists and bands. For example, at the 2018 Asian Games closing ceremony in Jakarta, boy band iKON was one of the special guests.
Chinese entertainment, on the other hand, arrived much earlier in the archipelago. It all began with the success of Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, and other Chinese performers in popular films throughout the 1970s and 1980s. As a result, they became idolized by many Indonesians.
Kpop Random Dance 