| Good morning or good evening, it's Sohee in Seoul. I've traveled across continents over the past year, going from LA to Paris and from Tokyo to Jakarta, and wherever I went, I could feel a little scent of home. But first... Three things you need to know today: • Russia, Iran and China are trying to influence the US election
• The Olympics have turned France into a hotbed of cybercrime
• ByteDance's CapCut may lure users away from Adobe and Canva K-pop stars and Korean actors now habitually beam out at me from billboards and vitrines in airports and malls. Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min is in ads everywhere, starring as a Tumi brand ambassador. In Mumbai, I see BTS singer Jung Kook striking a pose on an ad poster.
This familiarity, the subtle sense like I'm still in Seoul, is something I could not have imagined a decade ago. The Hallyu — Korean wave — started with the big K-pop idols and dramas surging in popularity in Asia, and it's been carried to global fandom with the help of social and short-video platforms like TikTok. It's not just about the out-of-reach stars. People are also trying out spicy Korean noodles or coming to Seoul to experience for themselves the mix of modern and ancient culture that they've seen in dramas and viral videos. South Korea is a point of fascination to the globe much in the same way that Japan has been for a generation or more. Distant, different, intriguing. But I also discovered something new on my travels. Now there are "localized" idol groups popping up, kind of a pop version of fusion cuisine. Korean agencies and entertainment companies are co-producing bands like Japan's XG and America's Katseye. On my journeys, people proudly shared their own idol bands inspired by K-pop: From girl group BINI and boyband Hori7on in the Philippines to Mirror from Hong Kong, Thai band 4EVE and Russia's X:IN. And the trend will soon become even more global. K-pop agency SM Entertainment will launch its first UK boyband, while JYP Entertainment will start auditioning fir a Latin American girl group.
No one's yet sure how to categorize or define this new type of music band. There are labels like P-pop, T-pop and R-pop for groups in the Philippines, Thailand and Russia, respectively, and X-pop for a mix of Japanese and Korean pop. Not exactly catchy, are they? As Korean agencies work to calibrate their offerings to Western markets — the UK and US, in particular — it'll take time, but there's a marked possibility that the next BTS or Blackpink might be neither made in Korea nor, to a great extent, made by Koreans.
So is this new form of creative fandom an aid or a threat to the spread of Korea's influence and culture? If the Korean entertainment industry leads and defines the new initiative, it can still be a boon and amplifier for its reach. But the salient cautionary tale is Korea's neighbor, Japan. After all, Korean cultural exports are themselves built out of an admiration of J-pop and Hong Kong films. South Korea's influence has grown as that of its role models has faded. The task now is to avoid the decline. The first step could be to redefine the cultural phenomenon that originated in South Korea. Is the K-pop industry confident enough to keep the title K-pop when they promote localized bands in Paris, Brazil and Mumbai? If so, the term could be recognized as a genre in its own right, making Seoul the main stage for international bands and turning the city into a Hollywood-like hub. Or the art could be redefined as "idol music," to include all the new types of bands from different regions. For more on this fascinating and rapidly evolving sector of entertainment, I encourage you to check out our in-depth feature just published, featuring beautiful video, art and all the hip band names you need to know to be up to speed with the kids these days.—Sohee Kim Please note: Our email domain is changing, which means you'll be receiving this newsletter from noreply@news.bloomberg.com. Update your contacts to ensure you continue receiving it check out the bottom of this email for more details. Tesla's autopilot feature nearly got an analyst into a car crash. Elon Musk said during Tesla's last two earnings calls that investors won't understand the company unless they're using the driver-assistance system billed as "Full Self-Driving." William Stein, a Truist Securities analyst with a hold rating on Tesla's stock, took this as his cue to test-drive one of the carmaker's vehicles — and narrowly avoided a collision. Xiaomi buys a $116 million site to expand EV production. ON Semiconductor hit a two-year high after beating earnings expectations. Pearson's new CEO unveiled a cost-saving strategy India's biggest e-scooter maker is seeking as much as $734 million in an initial public offering. | 
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