President Lee Jae-myung met with director Maggie Kang of the Netflix animated film ‘K-Pop Demon Hunters’ (Kedeheon). He stated, “The opportunity to properly showcase the power of Korean culture is officially beginning.”
On the 20th, President Lee appeared on Arirang International Broadcasting's program ‘K-Pop: The Next Chapter’ and responded to the host's question about how far South Korea has come as a cultural powerhouse by saying, “We have just entered the beginning.”
In attendance were director Maggie Kang of ‘Kedeheon’, Jihyo and Jeongyeon from the original soundtrack (OST) group TWICE, music producer and DJ R.Tee, and critic Kim Young-dae.
President Lee acknowledged the criticism that while the South Korean cultural industry may appear glamorous on the surface, it is hollow and its roots are decaying, stating, “The government will create strong roots, and it starts now.” He continued, “We will establish a solid foundation to make it a core industry,” adding, “I plan to create a proud cultural powerhouse.”
He further remarked, “For a great tree to grow, the grass must be well tended. Support and nurturing of the pure arts are also necessary,” emphasizing, “That is not the market's responsibility, but the government's.”
President Lee noted, “We need to create opportunities in the cultural and artistic fields so that everyone can challenge themselves, but it has been largely neglected,” and assessed, “It is truly remarkable and close to a miracle that such great works and artists have emerged.”
Additionally, he stated, “We need to make significant investments and support for the cultural soil so that more people can take on challenges,” and added, “You can expect it. TWICE and Maggie Kang 2, 3, and 4 should come out.”
President Lee highlighted the most impressive scene in ‘Kedeheon’ as the characters eating Seolleongtang with Kkakdugi. He said, “Seolleongtang and Kkakdugi were the best,” and expressed, “I thought, can we use that as a prop? It might be limited, though.”
He identified the tiger ‘Duffy’ and the grim reaper as impressive characters from ‘Kedeheon’. Regarding Duffy, he said, “With humor, he makes a tough situation enjoyable,” and emphasized, “It is important to show everything about our culture by transforming the animal that our people feared the most, the tiger, into something lovable and cute.”
When the host asked him to recommend Korean food featured in the work, he mentioned, “For Korean food, bibimbap is the healthiest dish in the world.”
‘Kedeheon’ tells the story of the K-Pop idol group HuntRix fighting evil spirits and protecting the world with their songs. It ranked first in Netflix's all-time original animated films in its sixth week of release. The OST ‘Golden’ sung by the idols has reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the UK Official Singles Chart Top 100, creating a global phenomenon.
[Yang So-young, Star Today Reporter]
