While Korean dramas and pop music continue to dominate popular culture in Asia and further afield, less is known about the radio scene in South Korea.
Over the past decade, the government has allowed the opening of English language stations.
One of them is the Seoul-based eFM.
More recently, officials have given permission for other foreign languages – mainly Mandarin – to be broadcast on the same stations.
Asia Radio Today spoke to eFM presenter Henry Shinn to find out more about the growth of English radio in South Korea.
1. Can you tell us about e-FM, your format and how long the station has been going?
-eFM is a part of TBS, a multimedia broadcaster run by the city of Seoul. eFM was launched in December 2008 with the official aim to provide English broadcasting to the rapidly growing expat population in Seoul. That said, I would still estimate the vast majority of our listeners are Koreans who have been educated or lived overseas, or have a keen interest in listening to English language content.
It’s a 24-hour network with diverse programming ranging from current affairs, K-pop, Classical, Jazz etc. Most shows run in one or two hour blocs with various news updates at the top of the hour.
2. Tell us more about your show Primetime? I know you present the show. But what is your role in its production?
Primetime is the evening drive program airing from 6-8PM, when most folks in Seoul are making their commutes back home. We strive to be a comprehensive current affairs show providing a diverse array of news coverage as well as expert analysis.
The goal is to provide an insightful reporting of Korean issues to our expat audience, who otherwise may not have a lot of access to sources in English regarding the hot topics of the day in the country. Apart from presenting, I am Editor for the programme.
But it really is an extremely collaborative process with the talented staff at the show. Everyone, from producer to writer to presenter wears many hats and has input into the whole production in creating a two-hour live program on a daily basis. hour.
3. You previously worked on Arirang TV and Channel News Asia. Do you prefer radio and why?
-I can’t say I prefer one medium over another. I enjoy both. Radio presents its own unique challenges. It’s basically you and your voice to convey a story to the audience, so in a sense it’s a more “naked” medium. Every inflection, word and way of phrasing has to be precise.
In TV, you have the aid of video, graphics etc. You can also express yourself in diverse ways through facial expressions and body language, whereby you are not solely dependent on your voice as a communicative tool.
Therefore in my personal opinion, TV is a more dynamic medium for news. That being said, fussing about with makeup and the color of your necktie everyday can be a chore.
4. Seoul isn’t known as an English speaking citiy. Any idea how many English speakers are there in Seoul?
Interesting question. It’s true that Seoul isn’t known as an English-speaking city like Singapore or Hong Kong. But I would posit that Seoul is one of, if not THE MOST English education obsessed cities in the world. The English education market is ridiculously huge here. English is compulsory in schools and is a major component of the college entrance exam.
There is also a sense that any aspiring career professional in the country needs to demonstrate English proficiency to get ahead. So billions of dollars are poured into learning English, getting certificates, degrees, etc.
Whether that results in a population considered competent in “English-speaking” is certainly up for debate. But certainly the desire to learn English and become “global” is stronger here than most other parts of the world.
5. We read that there are English stations in Busan and Gwangju too. Are there others and do they run similar formats?
Most of the major municipalities here either have, or have at least considered adding an English station as part of their city broadcaster. Stations like Busan and Gwangju have similar formats with ours.
Interestingly, both stations do produce their own content, but a large part of their programming is supplemented by TBS eFM’s shows. Due to budget and manpower constraints in providing 24-hour radio, the “other” eFMs tend to produce a few flagship programs of their own and patch through the rest of their time slots with our shows.
6. English stations were told to run other foreign language programming recently. Which other languages are you running/planning on running?
There are plans underway to add some Chinese language programming within the next year. Obviously this is reflective of the fast-growing numbers of visitors from the Chinese speaking world. It is also part of a wider trend in all facets of government and business here to broaden their language services beyond what traditionally was mainly English.
Ultimately, it is a recognition that Seoul is becoming more and more diverse, and is well on its way to transforming from a thousands-year-old homogeneous society, to a multi-cultural one.