S.Korean Relations in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia is an area that is unfamiliar to me. When arriving to Cambodia for example, I barely knew anything about the whole place. A few things I knew about was the Angkor Wat temple and that Cambodia is a backpack friendly country with sleeping busses and cheap beer. 

The strong South Korean wave has reached and made an impact all over the world. The dramas, music, the korean beauty, the korean cuisine, fashion, cosmetics... you name it. 

Traveling around Southeast asia, I have realized that South Korea and all it has to offer, is something trendy and hip in these countries. Turning on the TV, they will be showing k-pop talkshows and performances, dubbed k-dramas and even korean commercials. 

Walking along the streets there will be plenty of korean BBQ restaurants, korean markets, korean cosmetic shops and advertisements using korean models. 

All these korean influences has probably reached these islands for a reason. Scrolling through news on the internet, South Korea has become Cambodia's biggest investor mainly focusing the manufacturing of garment, electronic parts, toys etc. One example, that came across while buying a pair of sunglasses was: "Good quality, made in Korea. Chinese quality bad, Korea good!" I got no clue whether this was true, were they actually made in Korea, or does it sound better if the product I'm buying is made in Korea instead of China?

South Koreans are also very active when it comes to traveling. People from China tend to be everywhere, but traveling in Southeast Asia, tourists from Korea appears to be everywhere aswell. South Korea provides the biggest tourist market to the Philippines and there is thousands of koreans living around Southeast Asia.  

Being exposed to all of the korean inspired things, makes me miss South Korea. There is a lot of things in me that has changed during my time there and I have started to enjoy and appreciate things I didn't before. This is how I feel after five months in South Korea. How will I feel when it's time to return to Finland and say goodbye to everything?