Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Maria Pham
Abstract
This review discusses the research and observations of the Korean, or Hallyu, Wave
within and outside South Korea. South Koreas national history is examined, beginning with
Japanese colonialism of the nation into the second half of the twentieth century, in order to
explain the conception of the major exportation of South Korean popular culture. Besides the
reason of the Asian financial crisis of 1997, many researchers have studied South Koreas desire
to use popular culture as a major source of income. Following is an exploration into Koreas
strategic soft power and how this soft power influences international relations between South
Korea and neighboring nations, as well as an analysis of relations with the United States. The
conclusion also suggests areas of further research in which other countries may imitate the
Introduction
The United States has, for decades, been recognized as a cultural center that attracts
foreigners, but with the rise of South Koreas Korean, or Hallyu, Wave, the East Asian nation has
become a contender for such a title. Therefore, not only has the United States historically
influenced foreign nations through governmental structure, but also to what extent a nation is
impacted by its entertainment industry. This paper seeks to examine the effects, or lack thereof,
of South Koreas Hallyu Wave on international interactions between South Korea and foreign
nations, particularly Asian neighbors and the United States. Much research has been completed
into South Koreas extensive soft power efforts, especially through large entertainment
companies who specialize in putting out idol stars and actors. These artists of South Koreas
own genres of pop music, K-Pop, and soap operas, K-Dramas, have been key components behind
the ever-increasing influences of South Korean soft power. Through this examination, the history
Beyond The K 3
of the phenomenon that is South Korean (or hereby known as simply Korean) pop culture helps
explain the development of the culture waves influence on foreign nations, and the paper also
examines the historical and current diplomatic, social, and economic impacts, particularly
South Koreas National History and Its Impacts on the Korean Wave
Since experiencing Japanese colonial imperialism in the early 1900s and U.S. military
administration from 1945 to 1948, Korea has turned the tables and taken charge of their cultural
exports by exporting their own media. Joanna Elfving-Hwang in 2013 cites the Asian financial
crisis of 1997 as one of the drivers behind the exportation of Korean popular culture, where it
was not driven by the governments desire to promote a certain image of South Korea
especially given the singular merging of the two Koreasbut rather grew out of the necessity
to explore new export markets. After South Korea experience[ed] colonial domination, war,
and rapid economic growth all within the same century, and struggled to cope with a
compressed period of modernization, they sought to create not only a new image, but also new
nationalistic sentiments coursed through South Korea in a large effort to ensure that the country
would join[ed] the ranks of advanced nations, especially in the early 2000s when the Korean,
or Hallyu, Wave first began appearing in outside nations media outlets. Since the turn of the
century, the South Korean government has ridden this wave at full force to guarantee long-term
foreign publics in an attempt to bring about an understanding for [the] nations ideas and ideals,
its institutions and culture, as well as its national goals and current policies (as cited by Elfving-
Hwang, 2013, p. 15). Soft power, a form of public diplomacy, can be defined as cultivating
popularity and influence in the international community through the spread of culture and ideas.
Given South Koreas rough history with neighboring nations such as China and Japan,
Steven Kim (2016) in The National Interest asserts the importance of Koreas actions to
increase their soft power, but even surpass the hard power of larger nations such as China.
With powerful Asian neighborslike China, Japan, and Taiwanemulating the Korean Wave in
hopes of reaping the same diplomatic benefits, South Korea should be considered a contender
against the United States for its strategic use of popular culture (Kim, S., 2016). South Korea
Furthermore, Jin (2012) argues that since the turn of the century, a new Hallyu Wave
follows the older one in which the development of digital technologies and social media have
initiated and supported the popularity of local culture in many countries. By generating the
Korean Wave through digital technology, soft power spreads easier because the entertainment is
not only more readily available, but cheaper. Through the boom of technology and Korean
culture conventions around the world, Koreas soft power has proved to be a genuine political
issue because other countries must now consider the ability for creators to thrive, particularly
if the government chooses to use popular culture to influence consumers (Trunfio, n.d.). Similar
to Trunfios argument, Steven Kim (2016) emphasizes the need for other nations to allow citizens
the ability tofreely use their creative talents to develop innovative cultural content that can
Beyond The K 5
appeal to a global audience if a nation hopes to achieve diplomatic success through soft power.
Although hard power strengthens large nations such as China and the United States, South Korea
proves that soft power, appealing through culture, can exceed military might.
Conclusion
The Hallyu Waves success overseas lies partially with the South Korean cultural values
rooted in Buddhism and Confucianism, which are easily relatable due to the close proximity of
other Asian nations. It seems that Asian citizens buy into the popularity rather than the
dominance of American culture because of historically aggressive military and soft power
influences of the United States (Trunfio, n.d.). Nations like China, Japan, and Taiwan follow
suit not just because of similar values but also similar government structures, albeit except for
China. Also, by mentioning that the South Korean government has invested millions into culture
as a potential chief export, it is shown how the government plays a major role in cultural
diplomacy. Even without the hard power of military might, smaller nations can hope to make an
impact internationally by imitating the example of South Koreas soft power. The soft power of
the Korean Wave positively influences the international relations between South Korea and
neighboring Asian nations and the United States through South Koreas strategic spreading of its
popular culture.
References
Cho, H.J (2005). Reading the Korean wave as a sign of global shift. Korea Journal, 45, 147-
182.
Elfving-Hwang, J. (2013). South Korean cultural diplomacy and brokering K-culture outside
Jin, D.Y. (2012). Hallyu 2.0: The new Korean wave in the creative industry. II Journal, 2, 3-7.
Kim, S. (2016). Koreas cultural juggernaut is a soft-power strategy worth copying. Retrieved
from http://nationalinterest.org/feature/koreas-cultural-juggernaut-soft-power-strategy-
worth-copying-17246.
Trunfio, M. (n.d.). Hallyu and soft power: The impact of the Korean wave. Retrieved from
Impact_of_the_Korean_Wave.