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A South Korean soap opera featuring a military romance between a soldier and surgeon is sweeping across Asia, highlighting the growing popularity of Korean pop culture — and its commercial potential in the region.
韩国一部描写军人与医生之间军旅浪漫爱情故事的电视剧正席卷亚洲，突显了韩国流行文化日益高涨的人气——及其在整个地区的商业潜力。
Descendants of the Sun, a 16-episode show that first aired in Korea in February, has been viewed more than 2bn times on iQiyi, a Chinese online streaming site, irritating the authorities.
自2月起在韩国播出的16集电视剧《太阳的后裔》，在中国在线流媒体网站爱奇艺(iQiyi)上的观看次数已经超过20亿次，引发了中国政府的不满。
Warnings of the social ills of excessive viewing of Korean dramas have failed to cool Chinese viewers’ ardour, however. The hallyu, or “Korean wave”, phenomenon — which dates to the early 2000s — is extending its reach beyond dramas, films and so-called K-pop into areas including fashion, food and beauty products.
然而，政府对于过度观看韩剧的社会弊病的警告并未能浇灭中国观众的热情。可以追溯到2000年代初的“韩流”现象正在超越电视剧、电影和韩国流行音乐的范围，延伸至包括时尚、食物以及美容品在内的诸多领域。
About 4,500 employees of a Chinese cosmetics group recently visited South Korea for a hallyu experience. The trip included a dinner of fried chicken and beer — a combination that has become popular in China since the 2013 Korean drama My Love from the Star — and visits to locations of the hit drama.
最近，来自中国一家化妆品集团的约4500名员工前往韩国体验韩流。该次行程包括享用一顿炸鸡配啤酒的晚餐——自从2013年韩剧《来自星星的你》播出后，炸鸡加啤酒在中国成为流行——以及前往电视剧拍摄地。
Hallyu is breathing life into South Korea’s slowing economy amid the declining competitiveness of its smokestack industries.
在烟囱工业的竞争力日益下滑之际，韩流正给放缓的韩国经济注入一线生机。
In contrast to waning demand for steel, microchips and cargo ships — which have driven rapid industrialisation for half a century — exports of cultural products hit a record $5.3bn in 2014, with an annual average growth rate of 13.4 per cent for the five years after 2010.
相比曾在过去半个世纪里推动韩国快速工业化的钢铁、芯片和货船行业遭遇的需求萎缩，2014年韩国文化产品出口额达到创纪录的53亿美元，在2010年后的五年里平均年增长13.4%。
“I see great potential in the country’s creative industries as a new growth driver,” says Woong Park, president of Eastspring Investments, a UK asset manager.
“我认为韩国的创意产业有很大的潜力成为新的增长动力，”英国资产管理公司瀚亚投资(Eastspring Investments)总裁Woong Park表示。
“The economy can no longer succeed with its old formula, because the Chinese are now better at it, investing aggressively to build scale in traditional manufacturing industries.”
“韩国经济无法再按照老模式取得成功，因为中国人现在更擅长这种模式，他们正在积极投资、扩大传统制造业的规模。”
On the back of this growing soft power, Korean companies are increasingly focusing on areas that have been boosted by hallyu. Consumer goods exporters have found that the cachet is marketable abroad. Overseas sales of AmorePacific, the country’s biggest cosmetics company, rose 44 per cent year on year in 2015, boosted by Korea’s cool image.
在这种不断壮大的软实力背后，韩国企业正日益关注受韩流助推的领域。消费品出口企业发现，韩流在海外很有市场。受韩国形象助推，2015年韩国最大的化妆品公司爱茉莉太平洋(AmorePacific)的海外销售额同比增长了44%。
CJE&M, the media unit of the family-run CJ conglomerate, is notching up overseas sales growth of more than 20 per cent a year.
韩国家族企业CJ集团旗下的传媒公司CJE&M，海外销售额年增长率达到了20%以上。
Online games account for more than half of the country’s cultural exports, with overseas sales reaching nearly $3bn in 2014. Netmarble, the top mobile game producer, is planning a Won2tn ($1.75bn) initial public offering.
网络游戏占据了韩国文化出口的大半壁江山，2014年海外销售额达到将近30亿美元。韩国顶级手游开发商Netmarble计划首次公开发行(IPO)融资2万亿韩元（合17.5亿美元）。
Iconix Entertainment, a small animation producer, became South Korea’s biggest revenue generator on YouTube as its Pororo penguin and Tayo bus characters won the hearts of children the world over.
小型动画制片公司Iconix Entertainment成为了YouTube上收入最高的韩国企业，其制作的小企鹅Pororo和巴士Tayo的动画形象赢得了全世界孩子们的心。
Culturally the country had long been overshadowed by its bigger neighbours, China and Japan. But in recent years it has punched far above its weight. As it grew from the ashes of the Korean war to become the world’s sixth-largest exporter within a generation, South Korea has developed a unique offering to which global audiences relate.
在文化上，韩国长久以来一直笼罩在块头较大的邻居中国和日本的阴影下。但是近年来，韩国频频打出远超其重量级的重拳。走出朝鲜战争后，韩国在一代人的时间内就成长为全球第六大出口国，目前已经发展出一套切合全球受众的独特产品。
“The country, heavily influenced by the US culture in the past, has successfully combined some magic formula from Hollywood with Asian sensibilities and tastes,” says Yoon Ho-jin, a director at Korea Creative Contents Agency, which is affiliated with the ministry of culture, sports and tourism.
“韩国过去深受美国文化的影响，现在已成功地把来自好莱坞的神奇配方与亚洲人的情感和品味结合在一起，”韩国文化体育观光部下属文化产业振兴院(Korea Creative Content Agency)的导演尹浩镇(Yoon Ho-jin)表示。
“Those who love Korean dramas and pop music have developed a liking for Korean products and come to visit.”
“那些热爱韩剧和韩国流行乐的人对韩国产品产生好感，并且来韩国旅游。”
Hallyu has also boosted South Korea’s popularity as a tourist destination, with 13m foreigners visiting last year — up from 8.5m in 2010.
韩流也推动韩国作为旅游目的地的人气高涨，去年有1300万外国游客到韩国旅游，而2010年为850万人。
Beneficiaries of hallyu have become the darlings of investors. AmorePacific is the country’s eighth-largest stock with a market capitalisation of nearly $20bn. CJE&M was added to the MSCI Korea index last November instead of struggling industrial giants Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering and Hyundai Merchant Marine.
受益于韩流的企业成为投资者的宠儿。爱茉莉太平洋的市值将近200亿美元，是韩国第8大股票。去年11月，CJE&M被纳入MSCI明晟韩国指数(MSCI Korea index)，取代了苦苦挣扎的工业巨头大宇造船和船舶工程公司(Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering)和现代商船公司(Hyundai Merchant Marine)。
“We’ve learned what works in Asia and beyond by trial and error over the past two decades,” says Mike Suh, senior vice-president at CJE&M. “I believe hallyu will last for the next 10 years at least, which means infinite opportunities for content exports.”
“我们通过过去二十年的反复尝试和失败，知道了什么能在亚洲乃至全世界成功，”CJE&M高级副总裁Mike Suh称，“我相信韩流至少还将持续十年，这意味着内容出口企业拥有无限机遇。”
However, there are growing concerns over how long South Korea can keep its cultural edge in the region as its large neighbour tries to tap into its magic touch. China has made deep inroads into its “creative economy”, investing $2.5bn in games, movies and entertainment over the past five years, according to South Korea’s Small and Medium Business Administration.
然而，随着较大的邻国尝试韩国的神奇配方，有关韩国在亚洲的文化优势还能保持多久的担忧日益加深。据韩国中小企业厅(Small and Medium Business Administration)表示，中国已经深入进军“创意经济”，过去五年在游戏、电影和娱乐方面的投资达25亿美元。
Chinese companies have taken over groups such as Chorokbaem Media, with some famous television producers moving to China, while Korean entertainment companies are forming partnerships with cash-rich Chinese groups to produce content together.
中国企业收购了绿蛇传媒(Chorokbaem Media)等韩国集团，一些著名的电视剧制作商已经迁往中国，与此同时，韩国娱乐公司正在与资金雄厚的中国企业建立合作关系、共同制作内容。
“Fortunately, the battle in this business is more about creativity and effective planning than it is about lowering production costs like in manufacturing,” says Mr Suh.
“幸运的是，该行业的竞争更多是在创意和有效策划方面，而非像制造业那样降低生产成本，”Suh称。
“But I am not sure how long we can have the upper hand here. China is catching up fast in this industry too.”
“但是我不确定我们在这方面的优势能持续多久。中国在该行业也在迅速迎头赶上。”
