Soft Power and Cultural Nationalism

This chapter explores the development of the Korean Wave and its complex implications with soft power and cultural nationalism. The globalization of the Korean Wave is a facet of de-centralizing multiplicity of global cultural flows and its meanings and significance can be seen as a conscious, and often intentional, way to counter the threat and insensibility of the Western-dominated media market. The Korean cultural industry has been developed for socioeconomic, cultural and political reasons since the late 1990s. The Korean cultural industry is seen to commodify the nation, exporting its popular culture as a cool national brand. Digital fandom, as one of the most distinguishing aspects of the Korean Wave, becomes a virtual knowledge community that is encouraged to connect with their celebrity, produce their own vernacular discourses and build the celebrity's brand community on social media.