Why People in Southeast Asia Fascinated with the Korean Wave For finding the causes of the popularity of Korean popular culture. man scholars have conducted researches about it. Doobo Shim suggests that the liberation of Korean media resulted in the increasing number of foreign films into South Korea during the late 1980s to the mid-1990s. The expansion of television channels, concurrently, brought about an increasing number of foreign television programs. But such situation posed a negative impact on local movies and encouraged public and private sectors to recognize the importance of local culture and entertainment industry. However, the popularity of soporije, which its content involved traditional folk music genre, led the Korean government to inform people and big business groups the importance of cultural industry that can boost the national economy. Meanwhile, a young generation who graduated from prestigious colleges and universities chose to work in film industries. All of them are talent and fresh personnel that have capabilities to develop the