Beyond Hallyuwave: Koreaphiles take the KCC’s Quiz on Korea

Part of "Beyond Hallyuwave," a series on Filipinos' fascination with Korean culture beyond KPop and Koreanovelas.

My KPop crush often excels in academic areas. On a Korean program, he showed his prowess by memorizing the National Treasures of South Korea in just a few days. He triumphed by answering the last question: the seventh National Treasure is the Bongseon Honggyeongsa, a stone stele that sits on a tortoise-shaped pedestal with a dragon head facing to the side which was built during the Koryeo dynasty by King Hyeonjong for his father.

Korea is not all about KPop and Hallyuwave. Last Friday at the Korean Cultural Center in Bonifacio Global City, 56 hopefuls put their knowledge of Korean culture and language to the test at the semifinals of the KCC's Quiz on Korea. The last contestant standing won $1,000 (P43,540), a free trip to Korea, and a chance to represent the Philippines in the Golden Bell Quiz on Korea in August.

The Golden Bell Quiz

The Quiz on Korea was patterned after a famous Korean quiz show, “Golden Bell.” Participants are seated on the floor and write answers to multiple choice questions on a card. Sometimes, celebrities and other well-known personalities ask the questions. For the Philippine round, the special questions were asked by none other than Korean Ambassador to Manila Lee Hyuk.

The quiz is divided into three levels of difficulty: easy, medium, and hard. By the hard round, only four finalists will be remaining. Questions range from Korean history to KPop, although some questions are in Hangul, so being able to speak and read Korean is a must.

Final four and coffee

For the four contestants who remained in the final round, it may have seemed like deja vu. One contestant, Rizza Corpuz, is a veteran of Golden Bell-type quizzes, having represented the country in last year’s Golden Bell finals in South Korea. Two others, Diane Young and Fermo Suson, also made the finals at last year's quiz here. Their final fate was decided by a question about Korean coffee, the same as last year but with a different outcome this time.

The contestants' motivation in joining contests like this is their curiosity about Korean culture which has transcended the shimmering glamour of Hallyuwave—Young’s passion for Korea started with KPop idols bu thas since gone beyond that. Suson even took the extra effort to learn the language and challenged his Hangul skills during KCC’s Korean Speech Contest last April 5, where he was also first runner-up.

While some Korea fans are satisfied with just ogling their Kpop idols, for many the adoration often turns into curiosity and the need to learn more about Korea as a country. As Ambassador Lee Hyuk said, “Through these activities, let’s learn more about Korea together.” Hallyuwave has served as a window to Korea, but the country is opening its doors for other nationalities to know them better—not just its colorful pop culture, but also its rich heritage and traditions. — BM, GMA News

In the last few months, the Korean Cultural Center has showcased the language, culture, and arts of Korea. On June 27, the KCC will be feeding Korean food lovers at the Global Taste of Korea contest at the LPU-Culinary Institute in Intramuros, 9 a.m. For more details, visit the KCC's Facebook page.