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From ‘Gangnam style’ to melting ‘Butter’ Decoding South Korea’s soft power strategy

Updated: Jan 26, 2023


Image Credits : Shouts.site

Do you like wearing blue jeans, an epitome of fashion and modernity? Do you fantasize about having your breakfast from McDonald’s with a sip of your favourite coffee from Starbucks? Do you like spending your leisure hours reading English literature? Do you tackle boredom by watching your favourite shows and Hollywood movies on Netflix? Most people associate the above phenomenon with American hegemony or with the dominance of the U.S over others. Nearly three decades ago, Joseph Nye, a renowned political scientist, defined the above mentioned phenomena as 'soft power,' which refers to the capacity to persuade people to do what one wants without using coercive measures, but rather by utilizing one's diplomatic and cultural potentiality. The phenomenon was widely evident at the end of the Cold War as the globe witnessed youth in the erstwhile USSR paying their entire month's salary to buy jeans and the country’s black market was active in smuggling Hollywood video tapes, while the idea of liberalism and capitalism spread like wildfire. Those were the days when the U.S. was the sole nation using its soft power strategies.


The story has taken a drastic turn. Nowadays, teenagers are awestruck by what is popularly known as ‘K-pop’, be it the band BTS or Blackpink. Everyone wants to dress up for Halloween as a character from the ‘Squid Game’ (K-Drama ). The Asian and global cosmetic market is flooding with K-beauty brands. Korean restaurants are opening new outlets around the globe. Some might tell you that "Korean is the new trend" but this has to be rephrased as "Korea is the new soft power."


The Beginnings and Hallyu 1.0

After the Korean war, South Korea was devastated economically, culturally and politically. During the post-war period, the South Korean government was interested in developing the country's indigenous entertainment industry and thus placed screen quotas which limited the number of foreign films allowed for screening. However, due to widespread protests, the restrictions were gradually removed. During the 1990s, the South Korean president Kim Young Sam was directed to provide subsidies to local production houses after Hollywood began to dominate the Korean entertainment industry. The revenues earned by the movie ‘Jurassic Park’ had suppressed the total imports of Hyundai cars in the country prompting the administration to act upon it. This was the beginning of Hallyu 1.0.


Hallyu is a Chinese word that translates into the ‘Korean wave’. Although scholars disagree upon the exact origin, duration and number of Korean waves occurred, most scholars generally agree that there have been three waves of Hallyu. Hallyu 1.0 that began in the mid 1990s and ended somewhere in the mid 2000s was characterized by the K-drama called ‘winter sonata’ which was aired multiple times in Japan. The first wave was explicit in parts of East Asian countries such as China, Japan, Cambodia etc. Although the wide popularity garnered by ‘hallyuwood’ prompted the Chinese administration to enforce restrictions upon them, they were gradually removed signalling peace between the two. Hallyu was converted more into a soft power strategy when the government started to fund them. In South Korea, Departments of Cultural Studies were set up in almost all institutions. Furthermore the government passed ‘Basic Law for promoting cultural industries’ in the year 1999 which further exemplified the support given to these industries.


Hallyu 2.0

The second cultural wave hit between the mid 2000s and mid 2010s. Scholars have come up with their notion that the repercussions of the wave are more economic than cultural as the Koreans were globally exporting their culture like a commodity. For example, former Korean president Park Guen Hye allocated two percent of the national budget to develop the cultural industry. The second wave was fuelled by social media platforms such as YouTube that had a breakthrough when PSY’s Gangnam style became the first video to hit one billion views. This was followed by the successful career in pop established by K-bands such as Girl Generation. The magnitude of the second wave was experienced in some parts of India such as the North East. One of the key agendas of the South Korea government is to export culture. In 2019, the total worth of Hallyu was around USD 10.3 billion.


Hallyu 3.0 (Mid 2010s-present )

It was during the third wave that the Korean wave became a global phenomenon. There are many instances where the masses felt the presence of the third Korean wave when they were moved by the song ‘butter’ that topped the billboard music awards, the Oscar winning movie ‘Parasite’, the popular web series ‘squid game’ and many more. The third wave owes its popularity much to YouTube and COVID-19, because of which people started shifting to OTT platforms which aided hallyuwood to reach out to a large audience across the world. Hence, hallyuwood was able to make its way into North America, Europe and even to countries like India.


Hallyu as Soft Power

The very essence of using soft power strategies was engraved in the ideas of the Korean nationalist Kim Gu, who wanted the country to be a superpower but not through coercive means as Korea was shattered inexplicably by the Korean war. Subsequently, he gave his idea of using soft power as an alternative.


Ever wondered why in 2019 when former US president Donald Trump was greeted by the boy band EXO during his visit to South Korea or why the singers Red Velvet and Bark Jo-Young were invited by the government to perform during a concert during the first summit between Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un? The government has been inviting these celebrities at major diplomatic events and urging them to issue support prior to the major negotiations. Once when China was unhappy because South Korea had installed a US missile defence system, one of the first ways of retorting was by restricting Korean cultural exports and tourism. In other words there is a high probability that the actions of these celebrities might turn into international disputes such as how the famous singer Madonna once wore a Taiwanese flag in support of the island nation during one of her concerts and how it fuelled the divide between China and Taiwan.


Conclusion

The objective of this article was to summarize and evaluate the soft power strategies employed by South Korea and to realize how they have come to influence us in our everyday lives. Even though South Korea was an underdeveloped nation when it gained independence similar to what we were when we gained independence, the ‘miracle on the Han river’ happened within a short span of time that others could have dreamt of. Experts point out that India is no less than South Korea. Comparing the huge diaspora that we have to theirs, it may take time for the transition. Even though yoga, religious and heritage sites, and Bollywood to a certain extent have been able to replicate hallyu. However, it is unable to expand to the massive scale that South Korea did. We can continue to expand our strategies but at the same time we need to learn to counter theirs in hope of a new miracle.


 
By Aishwarya Gireesh

Aishwarya Gireesh is a First year Political Science undergraduate student at Hindu College.


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