드라마 ‘별에서 온 그대’와 ‘상속자들’이 한국과 중국에서 선풍적인 인기를 끌면서 제 2의 한류를 다시 일으키고 있다. 신데렐라 이야기라는 특징을 공통적으로 가진 두 드라마는 녹록치 않은 현실의 벽에 부딪친 많은 젊은 여성들의 환상을 채워 줌으로서 큰 인기를 끌고 있는 것으로 보인다. 중국의 드라마의 경우, 역사를 왜곡하거나 외국 제작물을 베끼는 경우가 대부분이다. 반면, 한국 드라마는 정부의 도움을 바탕으로 국내 시장은 물론, 해외 시장의 성공적인 진출의 발판을 마련했다.

[1] The Korean Wave is again sweeping across China, with many Chinese women worshipping South Korean actors Kim Soo-hyun and Lee Min-ho as demigods. Chinese netizens have always been divided over South Korean TV dramas, but there is no doubt that programs from the neighboring country are now enjoying a new round of popularity in China. And a big part of the credit for that goes to “You who Came from the Star,” the South Korean TV series which is on the air now.

sweep: 휩쓸다
worship: 신봉하다
demigod: 반신반인
credit: 신용

[2] Top South Korean actors Jun Ji-hyun and Kim Soo-hyun recently earned a popularity rating of 24.8 percent in their country, considered strong by Nielsen Korea. “You who Came from the Star” and “The Heirs” have been subjects of hot online discussions throughout Asia. Besides, the book “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane,” read by the hero in “You who Came from the Star,” was a hard-to-get item on Amazon for a while.

[3] The two TV programs have several common elements: a tall, handsome, and rich hero who loves the heroine blindly and always protects her, and an equally handsome man madly in love with the same woman. Both programs portray the purity of love, which is expressed through a kiss or a warm hug. Perhaps that’s the secret of their success; perhaps people are still fascinated by Cinderella-type stories.

hero: 영웅, 주인공(heroin: 여자의 경우) 

[4] The widening wealth gap is a matter of social concern both in South Korea and China, and the challenges that young people face in their quest for a better life might have prompted many ordinary girls to dream of marrying rich, caring men. This is precisely what the popular South Korean TV dramas portray. In fact, South Korean TV dramas are tailored to meet the market’s demands.

wealth gap: 빈부격차
quest: 추구
prompt: 야기하다, 초래하다
tailor: 기획, 제작하다

[5] In contrast, Chinese TV schedules are flooded with knock-offs and poorly made soap operas. Most of the Chinese TV dramas either distort the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression or blindly copy foreign programs. The lack of good stories has of late resulted in loads of TV series on time travel or fights in the harems of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) emperors. These, in short, are the bane of Chinese TV productions.

be flooded with: 홍수, 넘치다
knock-off: 가짜 모조
the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression: 중일전쟁
in short: 간단히 말하자면
harem: 첩 (royal harem: 후궁)
bane: 골칫거리

[6] In contrast, South Korean TV dramas have reinvented themselves. In fact, 2013 could be said to be the year of the rebirth of South Korean TV dramas. Shortly after the enormous craze generated by “Daejanggeum (Jewel in the Palace)” in 2003, South Korean dramas lost much of their popularity in other Asian countries thanks partly to better produced programs from the United States and the United Kingdom.

reinvent: 재창조하다
craze: 열풍, 대유행

[7] Many netizens even said at the time that South Korean TV dramas had become passe because of their stereotyped plot features: traffic accidents, cancer and other incurable diseases. But all that has changed with the success of “You who Came from the Star” and “The Heirs,” which Chinese directors can use as examples, as well as inspiration, to improve their productions.

passé: 구식의 유행이 지난
stereotype: 고정관념, 정형화된 이미지 생각
incurable: 고칠 수 없는, 불치의

[8] The resurgence of South Korean TV dramas can be attributed to the joint efforts of the country’s government and TV series makers. The South Korean government implemented a policy to help TV productions in the late 1990s, when the first wave of popular dramas emerged from the country to capture the imagination of the people in the rest of Asia. Just before the turn of the millennium, the South Korean government issued regulations saying at least 80 percent of the TV programs had to be domestically produced. It also fixed the minimum number of domestic TV series to be broadcast in the country. That not only helped South Korean TV productions gain a firm foothold in the domestic market, but also laid the foundation for their successful foray into overseas markets.

resurgence: 재기, 부활
attribute sth to sth: ~을 ~의 결과로 보다 
implement: 시행하다
capture: 잡다, 차지하다
issue: 발표하다
fix: 고정시키다
foothold: 발판
foray: 시도, 진출

기사전문: http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140304000914 

팟캐스트: https://itunes.apple.com/kr/podcast/koliaheleoldeu-paskaeseuteu/id686406253?mt=2

팟빵: http://www.podbbang.com/ch/6638