Korean drama, film, music, and other forms of media have become integral to global popular culture and entertainment. Through a series of curated events, discussions, collaborations, and screenings, KSI brings together artists, scholars, and media professionals to examine the role of Korean media in shaping new forms of artistic expression. Additionally, the Institute also brings theatrical and musical performances to the USC campus, creating a platform for the critical appreciation of Korean arts and culture within academic contexts.
In curating these events, our faculty collaborates with professional schools, including the USC School of Cinematic Arts, the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, the School of Dramatic Arts, the Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, the Thornton School of Music, and more.
Book Talk with Translator Seulbin Han: Brother is a Street Musician – Viewing the Landscape of Modernity through Korean Popular Music
Wednesday, September 30, 2026, 3 – 4:20 PM
Ahn House
Brother Is a Street Musician – Viewing the Landscape of Modernity through Korean Popular Music by Zhang Eujeong was originally published in South Korea in 2006. Described as a “fascinating journey upstream into the past to understand where the current will bring the future of Korean pop music,” (Busan Ilbo Review, 2009) Brother Is a Street Musician does not deal with K-Pop as it is known today in its contemporary global iteration; rather, it visits the very first chapter of Korea’s popular music history, which in fact coincided with Japanese colonization in the first half of the Twentieth Century. Combining archival research with critical social and cultural analyses of the earliest popular songs, the early recording industry, the first modern era musicians and composers, and the first formation of the consumer masses, Zhang’s book seeks to address a question that is essential to understanding the history of Korean popular music – how did a colonized people construct their own, unique form of popular culture? Celebrating its 20th anniversary since its publication in Korea, this foundational Korean-language text is now available in English for students, teachers, researchers, and anyone interested in a deeper engagement with Korean popular music’s complex and tumultuous history of the past century. As the book’s English translator, I present an introduction and overview of the book’s core concepts, arguments, and methods, as well as some guiding resources for this text’s potential application in a variety of Korean studies courses dealing with Korean popular music, history, society and culture.
EDHI ALICE: Film Screening and Discussion with the PINKS
April 22, 2026, 6:00-9:00 PM
USC School of Cinemnatic Arts, SCA 110
USC’s Korean Studies Institute hosted a West Coast tour of PINKS (연분홍치마) and their new film EDHI ALICE (에디 앨리스) in collaboration with the School of Cinematic Arts and the Consortium on Gender, Sexuality, Race, and Public Culture. EDHI ALICE is the latest film directed by Kim Ilrhan (김일란), an important pioneering filmmaker and founder of PINKS, a queer feminist film and media collective (see this profile by the International Documentary Association). She has directed films such as Mamasang: Remember Me This Way (2004), Two Doors (2011), and Remnants (2016), all of which have now become classic films on state violence and anti-gentrification activism.
EDHI ALICE is a ground-breaking film consisting of two feature-length documentaries about two transitioning women. Following the screening, Ray Kyooyung Ra (SCA) and Caitlyn Chung (EALC) will moderate a discussion with Director Kim Ilrhan, Producer Sona Jo, Assistant Director and Producer Kwon Ohyeon, as well as the two main cast members, Edhi and Alice, and PINKS’ mamber Yeong Ran Kim.
“K-Pops!” film screening & A Conversation with Anderson .Paak and Khaila Amazan
March 5, 2026
USC Annenberg School of Communication
USC Annenberg and the USC Korean Studies Institute, with the generous support of the Korea Foundation, hosted a special screening of ‘K-Pops!’ and a conversation with Anderson .Paak and Khalia Amazon.
‘K-Pops!’ is a family comedy that centers on a struggling Los Angeles musician who moves to South Korea in hopes of revising his career by joining a K-pop band and competing in a television music competition, only to discover that his long-lost son is on the verge of becoming a K-pop superstar. Rather than using his connection to his son as another opportunity for fame, he ultimately chooses to embrace his role as a father as they grow closer together.
Starring Anderson .Paak, Jee Young Han, Jonnie “Dumbfoundead” Park, Soul Rasheed, Yvette Nicole Brown, and Kevin Woo, the film premiered at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.
Past Events
Ruin-Listening and the Sonic Afterlives of the Korean DMZ
Dr. Jeong-In Lee, Postdoctoral Fellow with the USC Society of Fellows in the Humanities, gave a talk about the affective landscapes of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, archival research, and engagements with artistic and sonic practices across material, digital, and affective sites connected to the DMZ, she discussed about the DMZ as a complex sonic terrain composed of audible sounds such as propaganda broadcasts, tourist itineraries, and the acoustic rhythms of border life, as well as spectral echoes and silences that reverberate across militarized space. The talk highlighted the Zone as a living archive where sound becomes a relational medium through which the boundaries of nation, history, and affect are continuously reconstituted.
November 12. 2025, 10:00-11:30 am
Ahn House
Tuesday, October 7, 2025. 5:00-6:30 pm
School of Cinematic Arts, SCA 112. Albert & Dana Broccoli Theater
KSI hosted the screening and the creative team of Wylde Pak, Nickelodeon’s 2D-animated series about a blended, multigenerational Korean American family. Inspired by the real-life experiences of co-creators and executive producers Paul Watling and Kyle Marshall, the 26-episode series follows half-siblings Lily and Jack as they adjust to life under one roof. Check out the event highlight video!
The event featured a behind-the-scenes conversation with the show’s creative team and cast. Moderated by Professor Esther K. Chae, the discussion explored creative collaboration, cultural authenticity, and representation in children’s animation. Here is the link to the bios of the speakers – Link to the Bios
Students, faculty, and community members discovered how Wylde Pak brings vibrant and relatable characters to life for audiences everywhere.
Billboard Korea Artist Spotlight: A Conversation with Yugyeom
Friday, March 28 · 11am – 12pm PDT.
Annenberg Auditorium (ASC)
3502 Watt Way Los Angeles, CA 90089
Yugyeom is a multi-talented K-pop artist known for his impressive dance skills and songwriting abilities. He debuted as a member of GOT7 under JYP Entertainment in 2014, quickly gaining recognition as the group’s main dancer with his charismatic stage presence. In 2021, after GOT7’s contract with JYP Entertainment ended, Yugyeom signed with AOMG, a label known for hip-hop and R&B. Since then, he has continued to grow as an artist, showcasing a more mature and creative side through his solo work, while writing and composing songs that reflect his unique musical style.
In this exclusive artist talk, Yugyeom shared insights into his journey as a K-pop artist and discuss the creative process behind his music and choreography, the challenges of transitioning from the “maknae (the youngest member)” of a group to establishing himself as a solo performer, and the changes he’s witnessed in the K-pop industry throughout his decade-long career.
Watch Yugyeom at USC on YouTube.
Photo by Aaron Ogawa https://www.uscannenbergmedia.com/2025/04/07/k-pop-artist-yugyeom-speaks-with-usc-students/
Behind the Scenes of K-pop
Friday, October 18
Annenberg Auditorium (G26)
Renowned for their remarkably active, passionate, and omnipresent fanbase, K-pop artists enjoy unparalleled exposure and engagement on the global stage. From sold-out world tours to staggering album sales, K-pop is making its mark.
Behind the Scenes of K-pop is an exciting, all-day symposium featuring insiders and experts who will foster conversations about the art, culture, business, and future of the international music sensation.
Frida: The Last Night Show
Produced by Korea’s leading musical theatre company EMK, Frida: The Last Night Show is an virtuosic homage to Mexican artist Frida Kahlo’s life and work. Marking the 70th anniversary of Kahlo’s death In a concert format featuring four female actors, the show’s first U.S. showcase stars Korea’s musical theatrical phenom Sohyang Sophie Kim performing a female-centered, coalitional identity that transcends national borders and delivers a message of hope to the audience.
After the performance, a panel on transnational creativity and the ethics of cross-cultural representations in musical theatre will feature Sohyang Sophie Kim and Frida: The Last Night Show’s writer/director Jung Hwa Choo and producer Sophy Jiwon Kim, along with USC faculty including English and American studies and ethnicity professor David Román and School of Dramatic Arts professors Esther K. Chae and Luis Alfaro (moderator). What are the impacts and implications of musicals such as Frida, Hamilton, and SIX, in which actors perform identities from other cultures? As the entertainment industry becomes increasingly globalized and cultural texts travel beyond national borders, how do local identity politics become legible in different contexts?
USC Korean Film Festival Archive, 1996-2018
The USC Korean Studies Institute has hosted Korean film festivals since 1996. This program was first launched by David E. James of Critical Theory in the School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) through his organization of Dir. Im Kwon Taek’s first North American retrospective hosted at USC. Beginning in 2007, then KSI associate director Elaine Kim brought a new momentum to the institute’s film-centered initiatives. With contributions also by EALC faculty Youngmin Choe, and Sunyoung Park, as well as other SCA faculty, including Akira Lippit, KSI hosted annual film festivals through 2018, screening films in 35mm and digital formats, often also inviting film scholars, critics, and experts in Korean entertainment as well as Korean film directors.
Over the years, organizations that supported the Korean film festival have included the School of Cinematic Arts, the Korea Foundation, the Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles, the Korean Film Council, the Academy of Korean Studies, USC East Asian Studies Center, USC Korean Heritage Library, USC Center for International Studies, USC Center for Feminist Studies, and the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures.