How COVID-19 has changed K-Industry

K-pop and k-dramas are now loved by anyone and everyone. K-pop has been always popular for its amazing music, choreography and MV’s, and k-dramas for its entertaining content. But now coronavirus has changed our daily life in many ways. But is there any change in the k-industry?

Everyone thought that 2020 will be another happy year. Nobody thought it would change our lives completely. More than 1.09 million people died because of coronavirus. But, how has it changed our lives?

We can’t go outside like before. We always have to carry a sanitizer and have to wear masks. We also have to maintain social distaining. Students have to do online classes to carry on with their studies. If our friends or family are affected with coronavirus, even though we want to meet them we can’t. But some people are still not taking this virus seriously which is causing more deaths every day.

South Korea was one of the countries that had the first cases of COVID-19 outside China. When the cases started to get out of hand, South Korea tried their best to get control of it. The government also provided the public with free testing and masks. And people started to take it seriously.

Being a k-pop fan becomes really good when you get to see their concerts and tours. But, after coronavirus, most of the k-pop concerts were canceled. SUPER JUNIOR, GOT7, BTS, TWICE, and more groups had to cancel their concerts and tours because of coronavirus. BIGBANG’s return at Coachella was also postponed. Until now no k-pop stars have been reported to have coronavirus. But 2 k-pop stars were in quarantine. They are Chungha (soloist), Tzuyu (TWICE).

In March, MNH Entertainment (Chungha’s current agency) said that two of their staff were diagnosed with COVID-19. Thankfully, Chungha tested negative for coronavirus. The agency then requested Chungha to undergo self-quarantine. As for Tzuyu, it was revealed that she went back to her hometown Tainan, Taiwan on 3 March. So she was under a 14-day isolation. Even at this time, they are giving us such amazing songs.

Many k-pop groups had comebacks this year, including, BLACKPINK, GFRIEND, WEKI MEKI, EVERGLOW, LOONA, DREAMCATCHER, ITZY, CHERRY BULLET, etc. They still did music shows like- Inkigayo, the show, M countdown, Music bank, show champion. Even sitting at home we can still enjoy their music. Performing on a stage where there is no audience or fans can be hard for the idols. But if everyone is safe, their hard work can pay off.

Then what about k-dramas? There are no big changes in k-dramas even in COVID-19. We can still feel entertained while watching k-dramas. Unlike other countries where filming was stopped in March, South Korea continued shooting dramas despite coronavirus.

Some k-dramas were halted because of COVID-19. There are more dramas that will be releasing really soon, like: ‘Start-Up’, ‘The Search’, ‘Love Alarm Season 2’, ‘True Beauty’ etc. While watching these dramas you won’t feel that you are in lockdown. You will feel like it’s your vacation and you are watching k-dramas and chilling in your house. If you are a k-pop or k-drama fan, then even in this pandemic everyday will be entertaining.

Nufaiysa M Rahman is a 7th grader at Viqarunnisa Noon School and College, Dhaka