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The Korean wave, or said otherwise: the Hallyu (hangul: 한류; hanja: 韓流) refers to the worlwide diffusion of the Korean culture. It symbolizes the rapid development of Korea's cultural industries and its exports of cultural products in Asia since late 1990s, presenting itself as a major Asian presence on the media globe. It refers as well to a surge in the international visibility of Korean culture, beginning in East Asia in the 1990s and continuing more recently in the United States, Latin America, the Middle East, and parts of Europe.

Over the past decade, Korean popular culture- music, dramas, or TV realities shows- has spread infectiously throughout the world, becoming a way of international identification.

Overview
South Korea experienced two different eras of the Korean wave. Hallyu in late 1990s, or as called Hallyu1.0 was a relatively overlooked sector imposing itself on a regional level and focused on film and television programs as the major products to be exported. Hallyu2.0, from 2008 to the present, went beyond the goals of Hallyu1.0 to include the convergence of creative content and digital technologies which led to the expansion of the cultural markets for Korea- from Asia to America (North and South), Western Europe and even the Arab countries.

The fast growth the Korean wave experienced, and still does, which enabled it to change from a mostly regional interest into a global powerhouse results from shifting the notion of global cultural flows of local popular culture thanks to the emergence of smartphones, social and technological trends, the evolution of social media, and its influence on the audience.

History
The MENA region is an abbreviation which refers to the countries in the Middle Eastern and North African territories. This acronym is usually used in American academia. This region spans from Morocco (North Africa) to Iran (Western Asia) including 36 different countries, with their unique combinations of various ethnicities (Arab, Berber, Persian), political systems, religions, customs, and dialects if not sometimes different languages

Korea and countries in the MENA region can be traced to the middle of the ninth century. These exchanges date back to the ancient dynasties of the Korean Peninsula and Middle Eastern and North African countries. The economic and cultural exchanges between South Korea and some of the Arab countries led to the establishment of the Korea-Arab society on May 26, 2008. This association is an incorporated foundation was founded by Korean and Arab governments which aims to enhance development in diverse areas in economics, arts, culture, sports, and academia.

Background
MBC4 (Middle East Broadcasting Channel) played a major role in increasing the Korean wave’s popularity in the MENA region (the Middle East and North Africa). This broadcasting channel hosted a series of Korean drama starting 2013 such as "Boys Over Flowers” (أيام الزهور), “You're Beautiful" (أنت جميلة), “Dream High" (حلم الشباب ), “Coffee Prince" ( مقهى الأمير). Some Arab countries opposed Korean shows (dramas and reality TV shows) because of the fear they would lead to Islam youth to abandon their traditions wholesale in order to adopt Western modernity wholesale. However, this did not stop the Korean industries from exporting more Korean dramas to the Arab world in the following years such as “The Heirs” ( الورثة).

The popularity of Korean dramas in the MENA region-and its continuous growth- originates from the content of these dramas. As the majority of the plots of Korean dramas focus on social issues (love between different social classes or conflicts between the in-laws for instance), the Arab audiences fit themselves and could relate to the Korean socio-cultural values portrayed in the Korean dramas as they seem appealing to them. So, Korean dramas play the role of an equilibrium point where two, somehow, different cultures could create a new cultural space where these two distinct cultures could meet. Korean TV shows in this sense help break down traditional barriers thanks to their transnationalization.

Egypt
The Korean wave planted its first seeds in the MENA region thanks to the contract signed between KBS World and the Egyptian communication satellites Nilesat in April 2009. This collaboration resulted in broadcasting Korean TV shows, which varied between Korean dramas, reality shows, documentaries, and Korean language educational programs, to more than 330 million audiences in the region. In the span of a year, the number of tourists from the MENA region visiting South Korea experienced an increase of 19% comparing the precedent year.

This collaboration led to the creation of the first fan club of the Korean drama and shows in the MENA region in 2004, precisely in Egypt. By 2010, the fan base expanded its members to include about 2000 people, where men and women both get to discuss the mixture and inclusion of Korean shows and culture in the region.

Israel
In Israel, the introduction of the Korean wave came through television food programs as well. Ananey communication, cable channel Hot and satellite channel Yes- three of the biggest and most important communication and television satellites of Israel- collaborated and broadcasted shows that aimed teaching how to cook korean food such as kimchi (김치), gochujang (고추장) and bibimbap (비빔밥).

With Korean TV reality shows and dramas, the audience in Israel and Palestine, as in the rest of the countries in the Middle East, launch into a journey of pilgrimage which enables them to explore new cultures and senses accompanied by a sentiments of fulfillment far from cultural differences. The Korean wave is considered a symbol of hope, peace, and understanding in this disputed territory. Through Korean shows and soap operas, the audiences can successfully find common ground for peace that is not related to politics.

Morocco
In December 2013, Morocco’s Marrakech International Film Festival, the largest film event in the Middle East and Africa, opened with Korean percussion music Samulnori performance and screened more than 40 Korean movies, including “Painted Fire” (취화선) by director Im Kwon-Taek. The same festival’s top prize, the Golden Star, went to the Korean movie Hang Gong-Ju by Lee Su-Jin.

On August 31, 2014, the "Moroccan fans of Korea" association invited the Korean-American K-pop singer Eric Nam to Rabat, Morocco to take part in the finals for the regional competition for KBS’s K-pop world festival, where participants competed in dancing and singing. Eric name became the first Korean pop singer to perform in Morocco and almost 500 people participated.

Korean TV shows on MBC4 are widely watched by Moroccans, even though the dialect in which these shows are broadcasted (Levantine) is totally different than the Moroccan dialect (Darija). This is basically because these Korean shows in so many ways reinforce the traditional values of confucianism which Moroccans find more closely aligned to Islamic norms. So the reflection of traditional values played by Korean shows is understood as a filter for western values in Morocco as well as other countries in the MENA region resulting in, perhaps, the evaporations of cultural and linguistic barriers between these different nations.