At Korean Club’s bimonthly lunch meeting on Oct. 26, members watched newly released Korean pop music videos, including Twice’s “TT”, and Monsta X’s “Fighter”. These were part of a larger attempt by the club officers to reach out more to their members.
“Last year we didn’t reach out as much to our members, so this year we’re trying to focus more on what people want, so they can participate more” said senior Yi Ling Jang, co-president of Korean Club.
This year, officers sent out a survey asking what activities members would want to focus on. Korean music video viewing was the most popular choice, with drama marathons and dance performances also high on the list. The club even set up a form for members to submit song requests from which a Youtube playlist was made.
Many members appreciate these additions to club meetings, although some question this focus on modern Korean entertainment.
While Junior Priscilla Siow enjoys learning about pop culture, she would also like more traditional activities as well, since this is an aspect of Korean culture that she is less familiar with.
“Traditional activities would be cool cause I don’t know the culture that well,” said Siow. Specifically, she would like to see the club either attend or put on a cultural festival.
Junior Haemin Jeong, who came to America from South Korea in eighth grade, agrees that a lot of the club’s activities seem to be focused on modern pop culture. However, she understands that many members are perhaps more interested in Kpop than Korean history, and that it makes sense for the club’s activities to be focused in that direction.
“I think it’s interesting because most of the people that like Korean culture are usually into K-pop and stuff like that so having music days and stuff like that really promotes and encourages members to come out to meetings,” Jeong said.
Although Jeong believes that Korean Club has currently only represented bits of her culture, she still believes that the club shows a commitment to teaching Korean culture to others that is admirable.
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