What do Koreans think of Lost?

October 9, 2005 9:54 PM

What's the reaction to the tv show Lost in Korea?

I know that there was concern that it stereotyped Koreans when it started. What're Koreans' views on it these days, now that the two Korean characters are more developed?

posted by Kattullus to media & arts (5 comments total)

What the hell is going on it that show period? Anyone with any interesting theories in light of the recent episodes?
posted by cyphill at 10:40 PM on October 9, 2005

"When Lost debuted on KBS2 in South Korea last December, the show grew the channel's total audience for the time period by 135%, increasing its share of total viewers by 77% compared to the channel’s previous four-week performance."

Not exactly the answer you seek, but at least you know it has aired there.
posted by mischief at 10:50 PM on October 9, 2005

According to this interview with Daniel Dae Kim:

How has Lost been received in Korea?

It's been mixed. Before the show ever aired there was a very large article in Joong-Ang Ilbo or Hanguk Ilbo. It was a pretty scathing article about my character and Yunjun's. Koreans are fiercely nationalistic and I am not saying that in a pejorative sense. They are protective of how their culture is perceived abroad as we all should be to a certain degree. So there was an uphill battle from the beginning. I think the producers and writers were also aware of that. That being said, Yunjin is well known in Korea so there was some hype and recognition that helped the show. As far as the ratings go, it is hard to say because there are so many different factors. It airs on Saturday afternoons in Korea which is not exactly primetime viewing. There were some complaints that the Korean characters were not featured enough initially. But the show does have a fan base in Korea because people like the show. I've been told that there is a cable company that is going to start to air it at primetime so I am curious to see how that changes things.
posted by arruns at 11:09 PM on October 9, 2005

Im curious how they handle the language.
Is it dubed or subtitled?
and if dubed, do they put up a notice for the scenes when they spoke Korean with no english subs saying something like "english speakers wouldnt understand this part"
?
posted by Iax at 1:57 PM on October 10, 2005

In the past, foreign language TV series shown here in Korea, and most movies as well, were dubbed rather than subtitled. When there is Korean spoken, the people who did the dubbing would would speak the lines in Korean, rather than revert to the original soundtrack.

These days, it is becoming more common, particularly on cable channels that have sprung up in the last couple of years which focus on foreign rebroadcast content (onStyle being the most popular, which targets the young and female in particular), to use Korean language subtitles and leave the original soundtrack as it was.

The major networks still tend to use dubbing, though, for movies as well.

In the case of 'Lost', I've never seen it, so I dunno.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:11 PM on October 10, 2005