North Texas Daily

Will Jaeger

Intern

@WillNTDaily

Korean pop culture, language and dance are just a few of the items on the agenda for the Korean Cultural Exchange, set to take place at 5 p.m. Thursday in Sycamore Hall, room 203. KCE also has Korean exchange students who help Americans learn the language, who in turn teach English to the exchange students.

Nearly 80 students attended KCE’s first-ever meeting two years ago, and their numbers have grown steadily since then. Their Facebook page now has 274 likes.

“We just want to provide a place for people with an interest in South Korea to come together and celebrate this culture and get some Texas culture,” said Mary Collins, international studies senior and KCE president.

Each semester, the group hosts the Korean Culture Festival on the library lawn. The event includes games, special performances of K-pop songs and free food. This semester, the festival will be April 18 and is open to everyone.

“KCE exists to create a cultural bridge and understanding for anyone interested in Korean culture,” said Yunju Langran, KCE staff adviser and communication design graduate student.

She said the group is a social club immersed in the entire spectrum of Korean culture, as well as aspects of American culture that mirror Korean trends.

Members watch Korean dramas and learn about Korean music – especially K-pop, a South Korean form of pop music that is growing popularity around the world. K-pop most closely resembles Western boy bands in its fan base and visual style, while lyrically focusing on Korean issues and ways of life.

K-Pop is what led Cody Parker to found the group..

“A friend of sent me a link to a Korean pop song back in 2005,” Parker said. “From that point forward, I was hooked.”

Parker began searching for more Korean pop music, which eventually sparked a desire to learn the language, and was fluent in a relatively short amount of time.

“I now classify that as my main attraction to the culture,” Parker said.

He graduated in 2012 with a degree in communication studies and a minor in Japanese. He now works as a transcript evaluator in the admissions office.

For more information, visit their website at www.untkce.wordpress.com.