Week 12- Hallyu (The Korean Wave), Contemporary Korea

Hallyu (Korean Wave)

The spread and popularity of Korean popular culture around the world, especially since the beginning of the 21st century.

What does Hallyu encompass

Hallyu encompasses the popularity of K-Dramas and K-Pop as well as other Korean cultural products like Online games, animation, fashion, food and alcohol and Cosmetics

Hallyu 1.0

Refers to the rise of Korean dramas (K-dramas) as a major component of the Korean Wave.

Popularity of K-Dramas

Korea is now the third largest exporter of television dramas in the last 5 years, with Netflix acquiring 41 K-dramas in 2020 and in 2022 60% of Netflix global viewers watched one Korean film or drama series.

Hallyu 2.0

Refers to the rise of K-pop as the most popular form of Hallyu today.

K-Pop Industry

Since the mid-2000s the K-pop music market has experienced doubt-digit growth rates every year and in 2021 K-pop exports totalled nearly $ 1 billion

Socioeconomic Impact of the Korean Wave

1) The increase in exports of Korean cultural content, 2) Increase in international tourism to Korea, 3) Increase in exports of other cultural products, 4) More Positive Image of Korea, 5) Hallyu as a source of National Pride, 6) Greater Interest in Study of Korea, 7) Impact of Hallyu on World Popular Culture, 8) Hallyu’s contribution to ‘Asian Pride’

Socioeconomic Impact of the Korean Wave- 1) The increase in exports of Korean cultural content

Total Exports of Korean Cultural Contents totalled over $12.5 billion in 2021, exceeding other Korean exports like Agricultural products, Cosmetics, Electric Cars and Household Appliances

Korean Cultural Content with Highest Export Sales in 2021

1) Online Games ($9.43 billion), 2) Music ($941 million), 3) Characters ($718 million)

Socioeconomic Impact of the Korean Wave- 2) Increase in International Tourism to Korea

The number of international tourists to Korea jumped nearly 6x between 1990 (2.96 million visitors) and 2019 (17.5 million). In 2016 Korea was the 20th most-visited country by international tourists

Socioeconomic Impact of the Korean Wave- 3) Increase in Exports of other ‘Cultural Products’

Korean exports of cosmetics totaled nearly $9.2 billion in 2021 (11x increase from 2012’s $831 million) and ranked third in the world after France and USA. Korea is also largest exporter of seaweed in the world with exports in 2022 increasing from $656 million (4x increase from 2010’s $152 million)

Socioeconomic Impact of the Korean Wave- 4) More Positive Image of Korea

The Popularity of Hallyu have led to more positive images of Korea with public opinion increasing each year according to a BBC poll in 2016

Socioeconomic Impact of the Korean Wave- 5) Hallyu as a Source of National Pride

The global popularity of Korean popular culture has been a source of national pride for Koreans living in and outside of Korea.

Socioeconomic Impact of the Korean Wave- 6) Greater Interest in the Study of Korea

The has been greater enrolment in Korean language and culture classes at universities and Korean culture centres abroad. There has also been a rise in the number of foreign students in Korea, jumping from 83,842 in 2009 to 166,892 in April 2022.

Socioeconomic Impact of the Korean Wave- 7) Impact of Hallyu on World Popular Culture

Korean popular culture has made a considerable impact in the music, movie and TV industries in many parts of the world since the 2000s, challenging the ‘monopoly’ of Western, especially American, popular culture.

Socioeconomic Impact of the Korean Wave- 8) Hallyu’s Contribution to ‘Asian Pride’

Hallyu especially Kpop can be said to have inspired what can be called “Asian pride”. With Hallyu, many Asians in and outside of Asia, finally have international stars with whom they can relate to better as being the “same” Asians. Cultural superpowers such as the US have produced cultural products in which Asian presence is often ignored or non-existent or depicted sterotypically, whilst K-dramas show Korean (Asian) stories and make it cool to be Asian

Factors for the Success of Hallyu

1) Hard Power (economic competence), 2) Soft Power, 3) Technological factors (e.g., Netflix, internet), 4) Policy Factor, 5) Strategy Factor, 6) Fandom Factor

Factors for the Success of Hallyu- 1) Hard Power

The success of Hallyu is closely linked to the rapid economic success of South Korea as economic success has enabled Korean entrepreneurs to make high-quality, attractive, ‘sophisticated and stylish’ cultural products.

Factors for the Success of Hallyu- 2)Soft power

The intangible power exercised by a country through its positive image and cultural influence. This is related to Korea’s economic affluence as it has allowed a rise in soft power with South Korea being the 10th largest economy in the world with a total GDP of $1.8 trillion

Economic Success

The rapid economic growth of South Korea, which enabled the production of high-quality cultural products.

Factors for the Success of Hallyu- 3) Technological Factor

Hallyu is the first case of popular culture spreading through the use of information technology with internet-based social media and streaming services

Factors for the Success of Hallyu- 4) Policy Factor

The Korean government's support for cultural export and the promotion of the cultural industry, establishing the Korean Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) in 2009.

Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA)

A government agency that supports the development and export of Korean cultural contents.

Cultural engineering mindset

The approach of KOCCA, which includes subsidies, regional hub institutions, talent nurturing, and support for global market entry.

Factors for the Success of Hallyu- 5) Strategy Factor

K-pop entertainment agencies are experts at ‘polished packaging’ producing top-notch products as these Companies can, produce, and promote K-pop artists, managing various aspects of their careers.

Factors for the Success of Hallyu- 6) Fandom Factor

The dedicated fan base of K-pop, known for their active promotion, translation, and support of their favorite idol groups.

Structure of the K-Pop movement

1) The opportunity structure, 2) Internal conflicts and contradictions within the industry, 3) K-pop’s creativity and originality

Hallyu 1.0 vs Hallyu 2.0

Hallyu 1.0 is.a one-way flow of Korean pop culture from artists to fans outside of Korea vs Hallyu 2.0 is a multidirectional process

How Hallyu came about (according to the book)

Hallyu has come about through the co-creation among Korean cultural entrepreneurs and their fans (hallyu fandom)