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

Abstract

By employing digital soft power as a theoretical framework, this article examines the increasing role of domestic digital platforms in the New Korean Wave and their contributions to cultural diplomacy. It discusses the ways in which digital soft power becomes the primary vehicle in cultural diplomacy related to the Korean Wave. As there are tensions and conflicts between these private platforms and the Korean government, this article critically analyzes the crucial relations between these two major parties in executing cultural diplomacy and digital soft power. As its methodological framework, the utilization of social media by the Korean government, particularly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was used. It selects the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Facebook posts between 1 January and 31 December of 2022 to determine the ways in which the Korean government utilizes social media as a soft power tool. It develops discourse analysis in tandem with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Facebook posts to determine several major strategies the Korean government has advanced in the digital platform era.