Cultural policy and the Korean Wave: from national culture to transnational consumerism

It has been over a decade since the Asian media first reported on the Korean Wave, which referred to a transnational demand for, and passionate consumption of, South Korean popular culture. By now the Korean Wave has become part of the common lexicon not just for media commentators and cultural businesses but also ordinary Korean people and overseas fans of Korean popular culture. Its soaring recognition is manifested by the growth in the volume of academic writings on this topic. The search term “Korean Wave” finds 1,940 articles on Google Scholar as of February 23, 2013 while “Hallyu,” the Korean equivalent to the Korean Wave, leads to 400-plus writings on DBpia, a Korean web search site specializing in scholarly writings, as of March 10, 2013. Researchers who contemplate the Korean Wave from external angles tend to make sense of it in relation to globalizing forces and Korean popular culture’s consumption beyond the country, focusing on the deregulation and transnationalization of the media industries especially in Asia; Korean popular culture’s hybridity and its appeal in overseas markets, its contextualized reception by overseas fans, the formation of common cultural sentiment among Asian media consumers, and their cross-border sharing of Korean pop culture via online and digital means of reproduction and distribution (Chua and Iwabuchi 2008; Iwabuchi 2010; Jung 2011; H. Kim 2002; Ryoo 2009; Shim 2006). Those who look at the inside of the phenomenon pay more attention to the increased production and export capacity of Korean cultural industries, government cultural policy and the understanding of the Korean Wave within Korean society (Cho 2005; Choi 2013; Kang 2007; Shim 2006 and 2008; Sohn 2011). While policy-and industryoriented research seeks practical measures to boost the phenomenon, critical media and cultural studies writers have raised concerns with its neoliberal and consumerist features as well as its evocation of nationalistic responses both in and outside the country (Choi 2013; Iwabuchi 2010; Kang 2007; D. Lee 2010; K. Lee 2008). They also point out the limitations of the Korean Wave in facilitating meaningful transcultural practice and dialogue where diversity and reflexivity are promoted.