Korean culture or K-Pop has gain a lot of global attention particularly after the outbreak of COVID-19. It is growing and expanding at international level as it is evident by the success of Squid game, Parasite, and BTS. The South Korean government uses this factor in its soft power diplomacy, a non-violent means to influence other states in the global political process. The post-cold war era witnessed the rise of soft power in the foreign policy of East Asian States such as Japan, China, and South Korea. Yet, operational dynamics, and interpretation varies.
Analysts argue in a paper, published in Center for Statistics and International Relations that although S.Korea is not as big as China and Japan, its soft power helped it to turn into an economic powerhouse. The origin of South Korean soft power can be traced back to 1990’s Hallyu, a Korean culture wave that started in China and expanded towards Japan and East Asia before rising to a global scale. However, there are some limitations to soft power as well.
The evolution of cultural diplomacy is deep-rooted in the political history of South Korea. At the end of WW2, Korean peninsula, a former colony of an imperial Japan, was divided along the 38th parallel-a modern day border line between the North and South Korea. This line was synonymous with the “Iron Curtain” in Europe where ideological divisions were the basis of political alignment. Initially, the aspiration for united Korea was dominant in the strategic thinking of the both states. But, in a first move, the communist North Korea attached South Korea on 25 June 1950. This event was followed by the collective security measures by the Untied Nations.
General Macarthur led the army from inchian and pushed the North Korean military back towards the Yalu River, a border between China and North Korea. To conclude, a bloody 3 years war ended in 1953 with a peace treaty and demilitarized zone was re-established. However, millions of innocent civilians paid the cost of the power politics. After the war, the autocratic regime of Sungman Rhee was restored in South Korea. This event was followed by the student revolt of 1960 and the 2nd republic was established. The cycle of instability continued until 1988 when the 6th republic, based on the democratic principles, was formed by Roh-Tae woo.
This was the emerging point of modern South Korea. The summer Olympic of 1988 is credited with improving its soft image at the global level. Democratic measures, such as freedom of expression, uplifting of international travel ban, and the autonomy of the educational institutions were ensured. Roh’s Nordpolitik, an official unification plan, helped S. Korea in establishing the diplomatic ties with China, modern day Russia, and Eastern European states. Moreover, the negotiations, and high level exchanges between two Koreas resulted in a joint communiqué in 1991. This ended up making both Koreans the members of the United Nations. These events expanded the global outreach of South Korea.
Furthermore, globalization helped it to achieve the soft power goals. For instance, the Post-Cold war period was marked by the Segyehwa, a policy by the president Young-Sam to globalize the Korean economy and society. In this regard, KII project was launched in 1995. Under this, S. Korea built nationwide broadband network and developed fastest internet facility. The Asian Financial Crisis Of 1997 was the triggering point in this regard as Japan refused the help S. Korea.
In retaliation, the national boycott movement against Japanese film industry was started. To fill the gap, a political shift towards non-traditional industries, such as entertainment, and the cultural nationalism was stated. It led to a local content production and indigenous creativity in the film industry in S. Korea. The Korean TV drama “What is Love?” was aired in China in 1997, marked the first wave of Hallyu, a collective term used to indicate the exponential growth in the Korean culture, including the music industry, drama shows, video games, and films. In China alone, this show was played millions of times.
Inspired from the western and Japanese models, S.M entertainment and JYP initiated idol training systems for the production of exportable music and artistic work. This was the starting point of Institutionalization of the Korean cultural industry. President Kim Dae-Jung started treating K-culture as an economic asset, and made it a part of Korean cultural diplomacy. Establishment of KOCCA further boosted the global outreach of the industry. Following this, “H.O.T” and BoA further increased the craze of the Korean culture through live performances and global radio broadcasts.
In a broader sense, S. Korean entertainment industry is leading the previously western dominated arena, and has taken the world by storm in the 21th century. Political strategists in the government has utilized this as a tool of soft power, a concept given by the American political scientist Joseph Samuel Nye Jr. in 1980’s. Over time, due to investments in the cultural industry, the soft power-as a means-helped S. Korea in maintaining its status. However, there is a need to understand that unlike strait forward nature of hard power, soft power draws its influence from a nation and its people as a whole. Sometimes, the soft power doesn’t serve the purpose. Yet, it is used as a supplement to hard power where the lateral falls short, predominantly in the geopolitical and diplomatic issues.
South Korea has tactically brandished its soft power in international relations to resolve the bilateral disputes. As a case study, for instance, there were historical grievances, anger, and trauma of colonialism between Japan and South Korea. Over the past decades, meetings and bilateral
Visits were arranged to settle these contentions and realign the strategic ties on the modern lines. Nonetheless, Hallyu provided avenues for the collaboration and mutual understanding. According to Hyundai Research Institute, only the cultural industry of both states surpassed the $4 billion profit in the recent trade figures. Moreover, mutual measures, such as revival of Japanese film industry in S. Korea and broadcasting of Korean dramas in Japan helped in molding the public perception in both states. In addition to that, people are becoming passionate to learn Korean language. Particularly, after the release of the first season of Squid games, Duo lingo, a language learning app reported the 76% increase in the user registered for the Korean learning in U.S. and 40% in Britain.
This power, however, continues to fail in some aspects. For example, excessive government interference in the entertainment industry has resulted in quasi-nationalist agenda promotion through the media control. This top-down approach, coupled with public awareness about Hallyu has resulted in backlash against the K-Pop. Anti-Hallyu sentiment in the global audience has continued to rise over time. Demands for free media, and independent film industry are growing among the audience as they see it synonymous to what North Korea is doing internally with its population.
Moreover, South Korea has historically been a close ally of the United States. But, nowadays, it has become dependent on China for its economic stability. The balancing approach towards both is not been regarded successful by the experts as China blames S. Korea for its close connection with the U.S. and vice versa. It resulted in U.S. weakening its strategic cooperation with Seoul.
From the public point of view, Korean dramas, and films has increased the beauty standards. To achieve the Korean look, males and females both, particularly from the developing states have become overly dependent on the Korean skin care products. Apart from that, Korean businesses are using the already popular forums to expand their outreach (e.g., Korean food companies, and fast fashion brands). The critics are regarding this a worst form of capitalism.
In a nutshell, K-Pop culture has both positive and negative aspects. Different factors such as emergence of social media, COVID-19 lockdown, and anti-western sentiments among youth have increased the craze of the Korean culture.
