Hallyu boosts South Korean power

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Hallyu boosts South Korean power

Published: 24 Sep. 2024, 20:08

Ramon Pacheco Pardo
The author is a professor of international relations at King’s College London and an advisor to the JoongAng Ilbo’s Rest Korea Campaign.

Let me start this article with a confession. A few years ago, I didn’t really believe in soft power. I could certainly understand that, in the case of South Korea, hallyu was helpful to offer a positive image of the country, attract tourists and create jobs and economic opportunities in the cultural industries. But could South Korea and other cultural powerhouses really use their soft power to sway economic and diplomatic decisions by other countries? I had serious doubts about it.

So let me continue with a second confession. I was wrong. Over the years, I have come to realize that South Korean soft power actually matters. Hallyu brings tangible economic and diplomatic benefits to South Korea.

I vividly recall teaching a summer class in Seoul National University in which one of my students was working in the dance choreography business. This student, who hailed from Europe, explained to me how K-pop’s creative choreographies were setting the standards for dancers in other parts of the world. As a result, choreographers from other countries were seeking to partner with and learn from the likes of SM Entertainment. This meant more business for South Korean entertainment agencies, not only in their own country but also in Europe and elsewhere.

This would be obvious, you may say. After all, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism estimates that South Korean content exports were valued at $ 13.2 billion in 2022. This exceeded the value of electric vehicles or home appliances.

But there are also examples well beyond the realm of the entertainment industry. Last year, South Korea attracted record inward foreign direct investment. Certainly, the country’s high-tech and innovative economy and high skilled workers, coupled with China’s economic woes and its competition with the United States are key reasons behind South Korea’s success.

Yet, so is South Korean soft power. The allure of the country’s culture helps to entice would-be investors, entrepreneurs and their families to move to Seoul, especially, and other cities across South Korea.

As a case in point, a few years back I found myself conducting interviews with foreign entrepreneurs in the Seoul Global Startup Center in Yongsan. Three key reasons were driving entrepreneurs to decide to launch their start-ups in South Korea: the country’s creative and tech-driven economy, support from the South Korean government and hallyu. Many had grown up watching dramas, listening to pop or reading webtoons by South Korean creatives. More often than not, this had helped to tilt the balance in favour of South Korea over other countries in which these mobile professionals could have settled.

Moving on to the world of diplomacy, it is well-known that successive South Korean governments have used hallyu to create a positive image of the country and, crucially, seek to advance their foreign policy goals. Soft power may not help Seoul to persuade China to take a less aggressive stance in security matters. It won’t the United States to take the interests of South Korea into consideration if Donald Trump were to win the November presidential election either.

Yet, soft power helps South Korea in other ways. When conducting research for a book on South Korea’s grand strategy, I found out that many foreign diplomats expressed a warm feeling towards the country at least partially related to hallyu, which either themselves, their families or both enjoyed. So while obviously they had to defend and promote the position of their own countries, soft power gave their South Korean counterparts a starting point to break the ice in negotiations, a degree of goodwill or sometimes a shared interest and experience to help reduce tensions.

Plus, hallyu stars helps South Korea to drive attention towards its foreign policy priorities. The Yoon Suk Yeol government enlisted multiple artists such as actor Lee Jung-jae or K-pop sensation Itzy to support the Busan 2030 Expo bid. While ultimately unsuccessful, these stars helped to raise the profile of the bid and, as a result, Busan. Meanwhile, the Moon Jae-in government appointed BTS as special presidential envoys for future generations and culture. This helped to make the band and, by extension, South Korea a more recognised voice in the United Nations on issues affecting young people.

This partnership between governments and artists may be controversial for some fans. But from a purely diplomatic perspective, they give South Korea an edge when promoting its diplomatic initiatives over countries lacking similarly world-renowned artists.

These days, I stress the point that whether one likes K-pop or not, and I certainly do, if your job is based in South Korea or relates to Korean issues, you should be thankful for the likes of BTS, Blackpink, Stray Kids or aespa. For these artists bring attention to South Korea as a whole, not only to its cultural industries. And this interest in turn translates into greater opportunities for those of use whose attention and work relates to the country.