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K-pop Fandoms and Protest Culture

Joseph Hwang In the 1980s, South Korea achieved democracy through a constitutional amendment that allowed direct presidential elections in response to civil resistance against military rule. This constitutional shift came at a significant cost, with ordinary citizens sacrificing their lives so that future generations could establish a nation grounded in their cherished values. Today, the older generation of South Koreans plays a pivotal role in this democratic legacy, as the freedoms and values they fought for have nurtured the global rise of K-pop. For this generation, protests are ingrained in their culture, yet they believe such actions should not be necessary. The term “martial law” is particularly sensitive for them, as they are acutely aware of the oppressive military dictatorships in South Korea’s history, where it was a tool for controlling dissent. Just hearing the phrase triggers memories of the violence that occurred during pro-democracy protests. However, on December 3, 202...
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Posted by Joseph Hwang

Transcript of an Interview with Mr. Kim Hyung-suk, Composer-producer of the Godfather of K-pop and BTS, at the Sheldonian Theatre, Hosted by Faculty of Music, Oxford University. Part 8

Joseph Hwang


* On July 4, 2024, Mr. Kim Hyung-suk, the godfather of K-pop and one of Korea’s leading composers and producers, gave a lecture and interview at an event hosted by the Faculty of Music at Oxford University. Here, I will post a series of interviews based on the Korean summary of Mr. Kim’s interview, with some of my commentary.


** I am incredibly grateful to Ms. Jieun Kiaer, a professor at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, for arranging and hosting this lecture and interview.


Question #8. 

Virtual bands like “Sa-gong-i-ho” and the AI era go hand in hand. It is widely predicted that AI will surpass humans in the future. Will AI take over the creative field once considered humans’ domain? How is the creative paradigm shifting today? 


Answer #8. 

The creative paradigm is shifting rapidly due to artificial intelligence (AI) advances. What used to take humans hours to do, AI can do in minutes, and we’re seeing this not only in menial tasks but also in creative fields. While AI undeniably changes the current creative paradigm, human creators’ original ideas and flair are still important. We believe that AI can create more significant synergism by complementing and supporting these human creative capabilities. 


Many people ask me. 

“Will human creativity ever surpass AI? Is it unethical to use AI to create art?” 


I think both questions are nonsense. And it’s much more essential to think about how to ride the wave than to worry about getting wet when the big wave comes. 


In particular, I would say that the most significant difference between humans and AI is our imagination, and the second is our imperfection. We should pay attention to this human imperfection. Because of our imperfections, we have narrative and story, conflict, and drama.


So I suspect that in the future, artists will be divided into two types: first, there will be artists who create their unique works by merging various AI solutions, and second, there will be artists who go deeper into themselves and produce over a long period.


In other words, there will come a time when the artist will be more important than the art, and the artist’s authenticity will be combined with philosophy and the humanities. Japanese philosopher Hisashi Inoue expressed the basic philosophy of popular art as follows: “I believe the fundamental philosophy of pop art and music is to express complicated things simply.”


* Joseph’s comment:

The questions and answers above reflect concerns about AI having human-like personalities and intentions rather than the dangers of AI having more capabilities than humans. Humans do not fear human creations or inventions that are functionally superior to humans. We don’t tremble at the features and capabilities of cars, airplanes, and computers. We are only afraid of whether they have the consciousness and intention to think and judge for themselves without human interference and intervention, or we are concerned and afraid of non-human personalities in human creations.


Humans have considered creation and invention to be uniquely human-conscious activities. This means we have self-imposed, tacitly agreed upon, and shared a sense that creation and invention can and should be controlled within human ethics and intentions.


However, “generative AI” has created a sense of crisis that this natural social consensus may be broken. Until generative AI reached a certain level of sophistication, humans developed the “uncanny valley” fallacy, in which they sought to reassure themselves by denigrating AI’s capabilities and existence as technologically or cognitively inferior.


We should doubt that creation and invention are concepts that only humans can and should do. We should also doubt whether the existence of personality is an exclusively human concept and whether “free will,” which is a human privilege, really exists. These are complex problems, and there are no easy answers.


* References and quotations:

https://www.music.ox.ac.uk/event/k-pop-from-the-godfather-of-k-pop-and-bts

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/art/2024/07/398_378556.html


* Series Posts

Part 1.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim.html


Part 2.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim_0392194405.html


Part 3.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim_01853689220.html


Part 4.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim_0403319480.html


Part 5.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim_01180798555.html


Part 6.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim_01478571272.html


Part 7.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim_01463072176.html


Part 8.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim_01523246664.html


Parts 9. & 10.

https://www.musicbusiness.co.kr/2024/07/transcript-of-interview-with-mr-kim_0571719258.html


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