Koreanization of Nagaland: A Report truly Unheard

Stella Paul July 05, 2010

Wokha of Nagaland is just another hill town of the North Eastern India with the usual picture of poor civic facilities and rich tribal traditions. Like the rest of the region, people here are emotional about three things – forest, land and ethnic traditions. And like the rest of the state, people in Wokha too are supportive of the Naga’s struggle for self-rule.

Ironic, therefore, is the fact that, despite the decade-long fierce struggle to save it's tribal identity and refusal to be ‘Indianised’, Wokha, quite like the rest of the state is today having a unique scenario where the young generation is under a spell of Korean culture.

The most watched TV channel in the state is the Korean channel Arirang TV, the DVD and CD shops are bursting with Korean films, the hottest hair-dos offered by salons are the ones flaunted by popular Korean actors and actresses, shops are selling street fashion that are currently in vogue in Korea, cultural events in the state has special ‘Korean songs’ contests, sport events now have categories like ‘Korean wrestling” and if these are not enough, the entire media is so quiet on this whole issue, as though this wave of Korean culture is the most natural phenomenon to have happened.

Breaking this barrier of this incomprehensible silence, one IndiaUnheard Community Correspondent from Wokha has recently filed a story on this silent Korean cultural invasion. Shot on streets of Wokha, the video report of Renchano Humtsoe, captures the disturbing trend of accepting all things Korean by young Naga population, without a question.

Says Renchano,“ I always felt, this isn’t normal that everyone is adopting Korean style and Korean culture so much. But I wasn’t sure if that’s worth making a news story because nobody seemed to talk about it.”

However, once Renchano’ story was done, there was more revelation made by IndiaUnheard’s other correspondents from the region: From Ukhrul of Manipur to Itanagar of Arunachal Pradesh, the influence of Korean culture has been growing at an alarming speed. In fact in Manipur the insurgents have banned Hindi films which has, in turn, thrown the gate wider for Korean consumer goods and films and videos to flood the state.

As I watched Renchano’s video, it sparked a number of questions: How do the Korean consumer goods manage to reach the market so easily? Why do the cable operators subscribe to Arirang TV? Why did people choose to prefer Korea over Thai, Taiwanese or, for that matter, any other Asian country of the region? Why people who are so vocal against Hindi, have no issues with the Korean?

But above all, the story makes me wonder why the media, which is always so quick to point out the foreign invasion of any kind, especially in the region, is so silent about this overwhelming influence of Korean cultural especially on their young generation?

These are surely questions that many will ponder over in coming days. Meanwhile, reporters like Renchano should take a bow for bringing forth a story that has gone unheard for a long time.