Arts, Culture & Creative Industries
The Korean Wave: Culture as Export
How South Korea turned its music, dramas and films into global exports, the role of government support, and the lessons for other countries.
From the late 1990s, South Korean popular culture spread rapidly across Asia and then the world. This phenomenon is known as Hallyu, or the Korean Wave.
Global success
- K-pop: groups like BTS and BLACKPINK built global fan bases. BTS topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2020.
- Television dramas became popular across Asia, including in India, and reached global audiences through streaming. Squid Game, released on Netflix in 2021, became one of its most-watched series ever.
- Film: Parasite won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2020, the first non-English-language film to do so.
- Beauty and food: Korean cosmetics and food gained popularity worldwide.
Why it happened
- Government support: after the 1997 Asian financial crisis, South Korea’s government invested in cultural industries as a growth sector, funding training, infrastructure and promotion.
- Entertainment companies developed intensive training systems for performers and sophisticated marketing.
- Digital platforms: YouTube and social media let K-pop reach global fans directly, and streaming spread Korean dramas.
- Quality and investment in production.
Economic effects
Hallyu boosted exports of cultural content and related products, such as cosmetics, fashion and food, and increased tourism to South Korea. It also enhanced Korea’s soft power: its ability to influence others through attraction rather than force.
Critiques
Critics point to intense working conditions for young performers in training systems and pressures of the entertainment industry.
A viewer in India watches a Korean drama and admires the characters' skincare routines. She begins buying Korean beauty products online. Across millions of viewers, cultural exports create demand for related goods. Economists call such links spillovers from culture to other industries.
Lessons
India, with its own large film and music industries, has explored how to expand the global reach of its culture. Streaming has helped Indian films and series find international audiences.
Hallyu grew from deliberate investment by companies and government, combined with skilful use of digital platforms. Luck played a role, but so did strategy.
- The Korean Wave spread Korean music, dramas and films worldwide.
- BTS, Squid Game and Parasite are landmark successes.
- Government support after 1997, industry training systems and digital platforms drove it.
- Cultural exports boosted related industries, tourism and soft power.
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