This was of interest because when we opened up Twitter on Saturday morning, a Korean actor was in the top ten of trending topics.  Very impressive when you think about all the things that people tweet about.  Apparently he reached all the way up to #2.  Wow!  People sure love Korean pop stars.  Find the latest on Kim Bum, the star of Boys over Flowers at AllKpop.

At the beginning of this year, who would’ve thought that a girl band from South Korea would be the opening act for one of the biggest musical tours in the U.S. this summer?  Well the Wonder Girls did the unthinkable and performed as the opening act for the Jonas Brothers.  In fact, 48 shows in 65 days is what they accomplished.  Monday night in Canada, the Wonder Girls performed their final opening act (48th) for the Jonas Brothers tour.  It all started in Portland back in June and it’s been a whirlwind run across America.  Along the way, they played softball with the Jonas Brothers and made numerous appearances on American airwaves.  They soared in popularity as they found their hit video “Nobody” as one of the top selling videos on iTunes.  This all happened because of entertainer extraordinaire, JYP, who imported the Wonder Girls to America.  What these very young ladies may have done is pave the way for other Korean artists to become accepted in American music.  BoA and Se7en have been struggling to find their way but the Wonder Girls look like the real winners in the summer of the Korean Wave, by correctly partnering with a big musical act which provided them a platform to introduce Kpop to the American masses.  They became somebody with their hit song “Nobody.”  It’s sad to see a tour end and you can see by the Tweets of the young ladies that they’re getting emotional about the end, but it may only be the beginning for greater things for these Wonder Girls.

The Hollywood Reporter published a very interesting article this morning about the Korean wave (“hallyu” in Korean) of actors finding their way into big hollywood studio films.   Coincidentally, we published a similar article yesterday about this occurrence.  Very interesting.  Coincidence?  Perhaps.

They beg the question, what’s with the interest in South Korean actors when they can barely speak English?  Someone once said, “don’t think it’s just about the money, it’s ALWAYS about the money.”  Hollywood used to view Asia as a region of incremental dollars for their films, but with the significant rise of South Korean films, dramas, and their talent pool, Hollywood has taken notice of its big potential.  For example, the Hollywood Reporter article starts off by noting that South Korean actor Lee Byung-hun was the most anticipated sighting for the fans waiting at the hotel, and not Sienna Miller and the other actors in G.I. Joe.

“For Hollywood, it [hallyu] is a sign that Korean actors hold major ticket power in Asia,” said Choi Min-soo, the head of marketing at CJ Entertainment, the importer of “G.I. Joe.” “It’s also a sign that the Asian market is no longer just ‘one of them.’”

Hollywood may have almost exhausted what it can do domestically, and the last few years we’ve seen Hollywood look to remake dozens of films that were first produced overseas and the subsequent trend is to import the actors and actresses that have a strong following.  In the business world, it’s about scale and Hollywood is finally realizing that the scale is much bigger when you start weaving and integrating pieces together from outside the U.S. borders.

For Paramount Pictures, the film’s distributor, this was a promising sign — one that suggests the potential benefit of casting an Asian superstar to attract regional ticket buyers when marketing a quintessentially American film.

The strategy seems to be on the rise with major Hollywood productions that once had limited roles for Asian actors. Aside from Lee, who plays the film’s charismatic Storm Shadow, other Korean actors are also participating in the trend.

Similar to the Korean wave of singers i.e., Wonder Girls, BoA, etc. entering the U.S. market, it’s these supporting roles that are paving the wave for greater acceptance of Koreans in the biggest media and entertainment market.  For those doubters, did you really think America would have a black president 2 years ago?  Believe in the Korean wave!