Putting creative labour in its place in the shadow of the Korean Wave

The rise of digital platforms as a soft power apparatus in the New Korean Wave era

“…In the Korean Wave tradition, a handful of scholars (Ayhan, 2017;M. S. Kim, 2022;Kim & Jin, 2016;Nye & Kim, 2013) have paid attention to local popular culture as a source of soft power over the past decade. As Yoon (2023, p. 17) points out, "increasing discourses about Hallyu as a soft power resource in international relations have been influenced by, and have influenced, the ways in which the cultural wave is signified both in local and global contexts."…”

“…In the Korean Wave tradition, a handful of scholars (Ayhan, 2017; M. S. Kim, 2022; Kim & Jin, 2016; Nye & Kim, 2013) have paid attention to local popular culture as a source of soft power over the past decade. As Yoon (2023, p. 17) points out, “increasing discourses about Hallyu as a soft power resource in international relations have been influenced by, and have influenced, the ways in which the cultural wave is signified both in local and global contexts.” As is well-documented, the Korean government utilizes various popular cultures, such as dramas and K-pop, “as an effective way to create and sell a dynamic image of the nation through soft power, a cultural weapon to entice, attract, and influence international audiences without coercion” (Y.…”

“…Contemporary soft power utilizing popular culture is related to public diplomacy in support of foreign policy goals (Mark, 2009), as popular culture has been confined to “the promotion of one nation’s culture abroad to strengthen relations with other nations” and “to enhance cooperation or to promote national interest” (Kozymka, 2014, p. 9). Popular culture implies “the exchange of ideas, information, art and other aspects of culture among nations and their peoples to foster mutual understanding” (Cummings, 2003, p. 1), and popular culture has been considered as the most important element of public diplomacy because culture as a tool of foreign policy is also a field of international relations (Kim & Jin, 2016).…”

“…A body of literature that has discussed the formation of digital technologies as a new digital power continuously grows, although more literature has concentrated on the general concept of soft power (Y. N. Kim, 2021; Kim & Jin, 2016; J. Nye, 2004).…”

The Korean Wave as the Globalization of South Korean Culture

“…In his inaugural speech, President of the Republic of Korea Kim Dae-jung emphasized that "our energy should be directed towards the globalization of Korean culture as a whole" (Kim & Jin, 2016). This speech became largely directive, and it can be assumed that the Korean Wave is the implementation of the course towards "globalization of Korean culture" ( Kim & Jin, 2016). Moreover, the phenomenon is supported by the country's authorities.…”