The power of the Korean Wave… LA middle and high schools learn K-pop

A class teaching K-pop is expected to be opened as a regular elective in public middle and high schools in Los Angeles (LA), California, USA.

The LA Consulate General announced on the 12th (local time) that it recently signed an agreement with the local education authority, LA Unified School District (LAUSD), to support the opening of K-pop courses. Both sides are pushing for a plan to open K-pop courses as regular electives in four middle and high schools under LAUSD jurisdiction starting this fall semester.

According to the Consulate General in LA, the K-pop subject focuses on music and entertainment marketing. The course content consists of six major sections, including the history of Korean popular music and K-pop, K-pop’s special marketing and development of related industries, and analysis of K-pop bands, music genres, and dance. The final project also includes a process in which students form their own K-pop band and plan a world tour.

The LA Consulate General has been collaborating with LAUSD since last year for this purpose, and is currently waiting for the LAUSD-approved study plan to be approved by the University of California (UC) as an elective subject for admission. In middle and high schools in California, UC’s entrance exam standards are considered an important factor in the adoption of elective courses.

The K-pop subject was planned as a ‘pure elective subject’, a subject that can be freely opened without being categorized into a specific subject area such as music or history. The Consulate General explains that this makes it easier for the subject to be adopted in schools.

Once the subject curriculum development is completed, the Consulate General in LA plans to upload it to the electronic library (kasonline.net) opened and operated by the Consulate General and the Korean American Education Foundation to inform local teachers of Korea’s development. The purpose is to enable K-pop subjects to spread throughout the United States.

The LA Consulate General said, “We expect that this will be an opportunity to promote Korea as a cultural powerhouse through subjects that explore the global phenomenon of K-pop.”

Meanwhile, the ‘K Culture Festival Dubai 2024’ event, which showcases a B2B platform by combining new technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain with Korean fashion, opened on the 12th in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the financial center of the Middle East. At this event, which was held at the Arjaan by Rotani Hotel located in Media City in downtown Dubai, a large number of local dignitaries, including Princess Seika Mara of Dubai, and figures from Dubai’s cultural and business circles participated, showing interest in the artificial intelligence fashion platform through K Culture.

Reporter Lee Min-kyung [email protected]

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