Pokémon in South Korea: Difference between revisions

Due to the rocky history between {{wp|Japan–Korea relations|Japan and (South) Korea}}, Japanese cultural imports—such as manga, anime, video games, music, and movies—were banned by the South Korean government after Korean independence at the end of {{wp|World War II}}. This ban would be in effect throughout most of the 1980s and 1990s, particularly when video game consoles began to grow in popularity in Japan and the West. Many Korean companies would find ways around the ban, such as licensing American versions of Japanese consoles; Hyundai, for example, licensed the American {{wp|Nintendo Entertainment System}} (instead of the Japanese Famicom) and released it as the 현대 컴보이 ''Hyundai Comboy''. However, for other things, including Pokémon, there was no way around the ban; almost all Pokémon-related media of this time period would never officially make its way into South Korea. This included all of the [[Generation I|first generation]] games; if anything Pokémon-related appeared in Korea, it was either a bootleg, a rip-off or an illegal version.

[[File:PocketMonstersGumEun.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Cover of Pocket Monsters Geum·Eun]] Eventually, South Korean and Japanese relations had warmed up to the point where the South Korean government's ban on Japanese cultural imports was partially lifted in October 1998<ref>[http://www.jei.org/Restricted/JEIR00/0026w3.html SOUTH KOREA EASES BAN ON JAPANESE CULTURE]</ref>. This in turn finally allowed for the release of some Pokémon titles in South Korea. In particular, the Pokémon anime first appeared on Korean television on July 1999, while the Pokémon manga series, [[Pokémon Adventures]] (포켓몬스터 스페셜 ''Pocket Monsters Special''), was released on August 1999. The first Korean-language [[core series]] game would be {{game|Gold and Silver|s}} (포켓몬스터 금·은 ''Pocket Monsters Geum·Eun''), which saw a release in April 2002 by {{wp|Daewon C.I.}}; its delay may have been due to the difficulty of including the Korean language writing system in it. The game also came in a clear cartridge as opposed to the regular [[Game Boy]]-compatible cartridges. However, neither {{game|Crystal}} nor the [[Generation III|third generation]] games would see a localized release in South Korea, potentially for the same difficulties involved in translation. There may have also been uncertainty on how to play those games, as Hyundai did not license a version of the [[Game Boy Color]] or [[Game Boy Advance]] for release in Korea. However, Daewon C.I. imported the Japanese version of {{game|Ruby and Sapphire|s}} in South Korea under the title 포켓몬스터 루비·사파이어 ''Pocket Monsters Ruby·Sapphire''; while the back cover and a short game manual were translated into Korean, the rest of the game remained in Japanese<ref>[http://bbs1.ruliweb.daum.net/gaia/do/ruliweb/family/995/read?bbsId=G001&articleId=7738840&itemId=81921 포켓몬과 함께하는 추억여행(4)-혼란기(2004-2006)]</ref>.