Soft power has great importance in the discipline of international relations, and contrary to the general belief, it can appear as a deflecting factor in politics.
The media and media management, which has the capacity to mobilize the masses in the 21st century, which is considered as the era of high technology, has become a tool of soft power and, when used effectively, has brought success to countries in international politics.
Since the development of the film industry and the spread of using television in the mainstream media, Western and especially American figures have always been talked about. However, since the 2010s, the popular culture elements of South Korea, which have emerged from Asia, have started to spread all over the world, and the music and movie industry that has become symbolic of this country has increased the soft power of South Korea in the international arena.
As it is known, for over 120 years, the American film industry Hollywood has been closely watched not only in the United States of America (US); but also in all over the world and a cultural icon has been built. These films were exported all over the world and the US economy benefited from this immensely. With the increase of sound cinemas since the 1930s, movie starshave stood out even more, and their lifestyles were followed closely and people tried to resemble them.
Along with the movie industry, American culture has spread all over the world, with chain fast food restaurants and coffee shops. Thus, the US spread its hegemony all over the world with its soft power brought by ‘Americanization’ as well as her hard power. However, with the millennium, American hegemony started to lose its monopoly in the cultural field as well as in other fields and found new rivals.
Among these competitors is South Korea, one of the “Asian Tigers” whose soft power is gradually growing in popular culture. The Chinese word “Hallyu”, which was introduced to the literature in the early 2000s, can be translated as “Korean Wave”, and is an expression describing the importance of rising South Korean popular culture.
First, South Korean drama series began to be exported to the international market. Then, the use of Samsung branded technological tools became widespread around the world. While these developments were taking place in the early 2000s, the South Korean state became aware of the economic-cultural development in question and began to strive to turn this effect into “soft power”.[1] Because, according to the news published in the BBC in 2012, the brand manager of the Seoul administration, Peter Kim, mentioned that a cultural brand has not yet been created in South Korea.[2]
When it was reached 2022, South Korea has signed “the firsts” in the popular culture. In 2012, South Korean Pop Music singer Psy’s “Gangnam Style” has remained in the top of the music lists for a long time.
On the other hand, in 2020 the Oscar Academy Awards, for the first time, the best movie prize is given to a non-English film; to South Korean movie named “Parasite.”
In addition, it was a series of South Korean made “Squid Game”, which is one of the most monitored sequences in Netflix, is one of the most monitored sequences in Netflix and has made approximately 900 billion dollars.[3]
In addition to the film industry, the prestige of the popular music groups of Korea has started to increase worldwide. The adamorous groups played an important role on the basis of the growth of these music groups known as K-POP. The number of Hallyu-related organizations that are cooperating with the Korean culture is increasing every day, while the number of these organizations is increasing 7%, and the number of the members increased 36% in each year.
As of 2020, the total number of members participating in the organizations on Hallyu in all countries of the world has reached approximately 100 million.[4] It is estimated that the famous K-POP group BTS has contributed more than $ 3.6 billion per year to South Korea economy alone. In the period before Covid-19, it is stated that approximately 800,000 tourists visiting South Korea are affected by this group. Moreover, this figure is 7% of the total number of tourists.[5]
This success of course not coincidence for South Korea. Because the Seoul administration has been striving to remove national brand lack since 2012.
Creating the “South Korea” brand should not simply be called a nationalist movement. Because it includes much more. In addition to economic benefits, it also provides soft power, which is an indispensable element for medium-sized states such as South Korea.
As a result, the importance of soft power for states is increasing day by day, despite many “high” policy-related factors such as military alliances, the size of defense systems and economic sanctions. South Korea is one of the most successful states in this regard.
[1] “How South Korean Pop Culture Can Be a Source of Soft Power”, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, https://carnegieendowment.org/2020/12/15/how-south-korean-pop-culture-can-be-source-of-soft-power-pub-83411, (Date of Accesion: 21.02.2022).
[2] “Selling South Korea: No ‘Sparkling’ Brand Image”, BBC, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16713919, (Date of Accession: 21.02.2022).
[3] “How Much Money Did Squid Game’s Creator Really Make From Netflix?”, Looper, https://www.looper.com/651415/how-much-money-did-squid-games-creator-really-make-from-netflix/?utm_campaign=clip, (Date of Accession: 21.02.2022).
[4] “Hallyu to the World: The Incredible Rise of Korean Culture”, The Drum, https://www.thedrum.com/news/2021/10/27/hallyu-the-world-the-incredible-rise-korean-culture, (Date of Accession 21.02.2022).
[5] “Beyond Security: South Korea’s Soft Power and the Future of the U.S.-ROK Alliance in a Post-Pandemic World”, Center for Strategic and International Studies, https://www.csis.org/analysis/beyond-security-south-koreas-soft-power-and-future-us-rok-alliance-post-pandemic-world, (Date of Accession: 21.02.2022).
