The 2016 renditions of KCON, a Hallyu concert hosted by CJ Group.

A long queue was formed in front of the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, the home of the LA Lakers of the National Basketball Association, in the afternoon of July 30 to watch KCON, a Hallyu (Korean Wave) concert hosted by CJ group. The crowd diverse in race, age and sex waited in the line extending to a few hundreds with some carrying small signs with the names of such Korean idol names as “Shinee” and “Block B” on them. 

Korean Americans formed the bulk of the spectators during the 2012 KCON, but as time goes, Hallyu aficionados have a bigger base, said a CJ group official, adding that looking at the 2016 KCON, Hallyu may no longer be considered a minority culture. 

About 90 Korean SMEs, recommended by the Small and Medium Business Administration (SMBA), including cosmetics companies, set up booths to publicize their products and brands to Hallyu aficionados at the LA Convention Center just next to the Staples Center. They also held trade negotiation sessions with buyers. The concert attracted about 76,000 spectators between July 29 and July 31, CJ Group said. 

The KCON made its debut in Irvine, California, in 2012 with the goal of creating new business opportunities by spreading Hallyu to several parts of the world. The business group has been increasing venues. Such events took place on three occasions last year Japan, Los Angeles, and New York  attracting a combined 90,000 Hallyu fans. The United Arab Emirates and France have been added to the venues where such events will take place this year. 

On the same day, CJ Griyo held a news conference in which it unveiled a vision on cultural businesses and global strategies. 

CJ Corp. Vice President Kim Hyun-joon said, “CJ E&M and CGV aim at raising the portion of overseas revenues from current 16 percent to 54 percent by 2020.” CJ will advance it to the so-called Hallyu 4.0 Era in which Korean life styles will creep into daily life of all the people around the world, not just Hallyu aficionados said Kim, adding that the business group will contribute to creating added values of relevant industries by establishing convergence business models between culture and industry. 

The Hallyu 1.0 refers to Korean drama-oriented Hallyu like “Dae Jang Geum” and “Winter Sonata” of the 1990s. K-pop-oriented Hallyu is called “Hallyu 2.0,” while Hallyu extending into cinemas and cosmetics is dubbed “Hallyu 3.0.”

CJ E&M has signed partnerships with companies in several countries, including China and Southeast Asian countries, to produce localized products. The company has gained ground in exporting individual content in the broadcasting sector as well and content formats it has developed on its own. tvN’s hit entertainment program “Grandpas over Flowers” was reproduced and broadcast via China’s Dragon China TV, and the NBC network of the United States has purchased the format to reproduce and broadcast it this year. 

The company plans to globalize hit cinemas that have made a sensation in Korea. “Miss Granny,” a film that hit a sensation in 2014 in Korea, has been remade in China in 2014, in Vietnam in 2015 and in Japan this year. The film remade in China logged about 62.5 billion won in box office sales, and the Vietnamese version raked in about 5.5 billion won in sales, becoming the most popular-ever film in the Southeast Asian country. 

CGV has a strategy to globalize a Korean theatrical culture in which customers can watch films and enjoy diverse cultural genres, including shopping, dining, performances, and exhibitions. 

The company plans to make inroads into 12 countries to secure 10,000 screens with the goal of raising the portion of overseas revenues to 65 percent by 2020. CGV, which entered China in 2006 for the first time, now operates 347 theaters with a combined 2,679 screens in seven countries, including Korea, the United States, China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Myanmar and Turkey to become a global top five theater operator. CGV, which acquired a theater operator in Turkey in April, sees its overseas theaters stand at 218, surpassing 129 theaters in Korea.

A throng of spectators assembly to watch a 2016 rendition of KCON, a Hallyu (Korean Wave) concert hosted by CJ Group. (Photos: CJ Group)