South Korea's Influence through Entertainment
Stemming from the end of the Korean War, the Korean peninsula found itself in economic turmoil. In South Korea, where a developmental democracy was established, Western powers instilled the importance of a strong economy to ensure a strong nation. This thrust South Korea into a developmental state of government; somewhere between communism and capitalism. Here industries are created by the government with the sole purpose of kick-starting the economy and providing to the public. Some of the industries include technology conglomerates, or chaebol, that include companies like Samsung and LG. Another industry growing in South Korea is plastic surgery and beauty. However, one of the most successful of the industries in South Korea is that of entertainment: through television, film and musical exports. Because of the government’s investment into Korean culture as a brand, it has increased South Korea’s GDP and has given them a name in the global market.
According to the Economic Times, South Korea allows one-third of their venture capital to entertainment. From 1997 to 2014 television exports when from $8 million to $336 million. Similarly, from 2005-2014 musical exports when from $22 million to $335 million. K-pop is now claimed to be a $5 billion dollar industry, and as K-pop continues to sweep to the globe, the South Korean economy gains more money. According to the Hyundai Research Institute, Global superstar boy band BTS brings in $3.6 million alone to the Korean economy. Beginning with the first steps of the “Hallyu Wave” that mainly hit China in entertainment exports, South Korean entertainment exports has spread even farther worldwide to include much of the Western world.
In the United States, the Korean language is the fastest growing language to be learned and taught, according to the Modern Language Institutes reports from 2016. From 1958 to 2016 there has been a 53,500 percent increase in Korean language enrollments. This, compared to Japanese which has increased 8,000 percent. As more of the world is exposed to South Korean popular culture, there is more interest in learning the language.
As a Korean language minor at UNC, I myself was influenced by K-pop and K-dramas to enroll in Korean. It has since inspired me to want to work in South Korea one day as a journalist.