Korean media consumption in Manipur: A catalyst of acculturation to Korean culture

Korean media consumption among young people in Manipur acted as a catalyst to adopt Korean culture, a blend of Western and Korean culture, in the recent decade. The emergence of Korean media is a corollary to the banning of satellite Hindi TV channels, except Doordarshan, and screening of Hindi movies in theatres and at home in the state by insurgents in the valley. The adoption of Korean culture is widely prevalent irrespective of a household’s economic background, education level, religion, occupation and ethnicity. These people have been motivated by the Korean media, especially movies and dramas. They adopted some components of Korean culture such as food, hair style, make-up, movies, clothing and language that suited and fascinated them though many of them do not know the country of origin, i.e. South Korea, of these cultural features. People of Manipur are open to new or modern cultural adoption, but they have also retained their inherent culture.