South Korean Popular Culture and North Korea

Youna Kim, Youna Kim

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781351104104
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Asian American Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Over recent decades South Korea's vibrant and distinctive populist culture has spread extensively throughout the world. This book explores how this "Korean wave" has also made an impact in North Korea. The book reveals that although South Korean media have to be consumed underground and unofficially in North Korea, they are widely watched and listened to. The book examines the ways in which this is leading to popular yearning in North Korea for migration, defecting to the South or for people to just become more like South Koreans. Overall, the book demonstrates that the soft power of the Korean wave is having an undermining impact on the hard, constraining cultural climate of North Korea.

Part I

Popular culture as soft power

1 Soft power and the Korean Wave

Joseph Nye and Youna Kim

Why South Korea should go soft

In a survey of G-20 nations published in The Chosun Ilbo, the Hansun Foundation ranked South Korea as 13th in the world in terms of national power, the ability to obtain what a country wants in international affairs. South Korea ranked 9th in hard power resources defined in terms of military and economic capabilities, but performed more poorly in soft power, ranking 12th. In the words of the paper:

State of the art factories, high-tech weapons, advanced information communications infrastructure are the key components that a country must have for a stronger international competitiveness. However, for these “hard power” ingredients to become true engines to propel the country’s growth and prosperity, they must be backed by more sophisticated and highly efficient “soft power” that runs the hardware. Unfortunately, South Korea is relatively weak in soft power.

The “Wisemen Roundtable on Soft Power in Northeast Asia” convened by the Korea Foundation, the East Asia Institute, and JoongAng Ilbo reached a similar conclusion. In short, South Korea needs to pay more attention to soft power if it is to play a larger role and command more attention in international affairs.

Power is the ability to make others act in a way that advances the outcomes you want. One can affect behavior in three main ways: threats of coercion (“sticks”), inducements or payments (“carrots”) and attraction that makes others want what you want (“soft power”). Soft power co-opts people rather than coerces them: If I can get you to want to do what I want, then I do not have to force you to do what I want. Soft power is not the same as influence, though it is one source of it. Influence can also rest on the hard power of threats or payments. And soft power is more than just persuasion or the ability to move people by argument, though that is an important part of it. It is also the ability to entice and attract (Nye 2004).

In behavioral terms, soft power is attractive power. In terms of resources, soft power resources are the assets that produce such attraction. Some resources can produce both hard and soft power. For example, a strong economy can produce carrots for paying others, as well as a model of success that attracts others. In international politics, the resources that produce soft power arise in large part from the values an organization or country expresses in its culture, in the examples it sets, and in the way it deals with others. It was a former French foreign minister, Hubert Vedrine (1997–2002), who observed that America is powerful because it can inspire the dreams and desires of others. The U.S. is master of global images through film and television; this, in part, draws large numbers of overseas students, who either stay or bring their experience back home with them.

The soft power of any country rests primarily on three resources: (1) the attractiveness of its culture, (2) its political values, when it lives up to them at home and abroad, and (3) its foreign policies, when they are seen as legitimate and having moral authority. Sometimes, these dimensions can conflict with each other. For example, the attractiveness of the United States declined markedly after the invasion of Iraq, which was seen as illegitimate in the eyes of many nations. In contrast, after the United States used its navy to assist in Tsunami relief in 2005, polls showed an impressive increase in its standing in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world. In China, former President Hu Jintao told the 17th party congress that China needed to invest more in soft power to increase its standing in the world, and Chinese soft power benefited from the successful staging of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but polls show that China’s human rights policies and censorship of free speech has limited the growth of its soft power.

A soft power strategy for South Korea

South Korea, with its population of about 50 million people, is not big enough to be one of the world’s great powers. But many small and medium-sized countries wield outsized influence because of their adept use of soft power. Canada, the Netherlands and the Scandinavian states, for example, have political clout that is greater than their military and economic weight, because they have incorporated attractive causes such as economic aid or peacemaking into their definitions of their national interest. South Korea should see to follow these examples.

Seoul has impressive potential for soft power. In addition to its stunning economic success, it has developed a truly democratic political system, characterized by human rights, free elections, and the transfer of power between different political parties. Of course, South Korean democracy is not exactly tidy; bribery scandals are all too common and parliamentary fistfights are not unknown. Even so, the fact that Korea fights it out, sometimes literally, in the open is a point in its favor.

Finally, there is the attractiveness of South Korean culture. The traditions of Korean art, crafts and cuisine have already spread around the world. The impressive success of the Korean diaspora in the United States has enhanced the attractiveness of the culture and country from which they came. Many Korean-Americans have risen to important positions, and this has created a positive view about their country of origin. Korean popular culture has proved attractive across borders, in particular among younger people in neighboring Asian countries and beyond.

What can Korea do?

1 Attracting more foreign students to South Korean universities would be one way to reinforce the country’s role in this transnational youth culture. This would involve more emphasis on English as well as Korean language instruction, as well as scholarships for students from other countries.

2 Korea can increase its overseas development assistance to raise its profile on other continents besides Asia. Many African countries that are seeing increases in Chinese aid but worry about Chinese domination, would welcome the diversification that Korean aid could provide.

3 Korea could sponsor more exhibits, visiting speakers and broadcasting to convey the story of Korea’s success to other countries. In 1960, Korea and Ghana had the same per capita income. Today Korea is not only a member of the OECD, but has become a democratic success story. The Korean government can help convey this story, but the credibility would be enhanced if Korean companies, universities and non-profit organizations also conveyed the message.

4 Korea can host major international conferences and events that draw attention to its successes. The fact that the G-20 met in Seoul in 2010 and the 2018 Winter Olympics was held in Korea is a good example, but an active program of sponsorship of non-governmental events would help as well. Topics such as health, development and climate change are issues that would draw attention to Korea’s efforts.

Korea has a message for the rest of the world, and it needs to see itself as more than a regional actor and think of the ways in which it can contribute to global public goods that are well received throughout the world. This will enhance Korea’s standing and create an enabling environment for the pursuit of Korea’s foreign policy interests. In short, South Korea has the resources that produce soft power, and its soft power is not prisoner to its geographical or demographic limitations.

Korean Wave popular culture as resources

Since its release in July 2012, Psy’s music video “Gangnam Style” (one of the most watched videos on YouTube) has prompted more people around the world to seek information on South Korea, the sudden attractiveness or sarcastic humor of an actor’s culture. The emergence of Korean popular culture, as exemplified by Psy’s “Gangnam Style,” is a ready-made export that is enhancing the country’s soft power (British Council 2012; Daily Mail 2012; Forbes 2012). Under conditions of globalizing market forces in a digital age, popular media culture such as “Gangnam Style” has become a “cool” cultural brand promoting Korean exports ranging from mobile phones to cosmetics to consumer electronics. The nation can be reinvented as a more favorable and lasting brand by the government’s cultural policy that global circulations of media cultural products promote the construction of soft power, an attractive image of the nation as a whole.

Earlier in 2005, for the first time in the Middle East, Korean popular culture began spreading the non-economic side of its soft power to the political sphere, when the Korean TV drama Winter Sonata hit the airwaves in Iraq (Kim 2007). The South Korean government (Defense Ministry) reported that the drama signed a broadcast agreement with Kurdistan Satellite Channel, a broadcaster operated by the Kurdistan government. The goal was to generate positive feelings in the Arab world towards the 3,200 South Korean soldiers stationed in northern Iraq. Originally, the Defense Ministry considered providing Korean movies in Iraq, but this was repealed due to concerns that a flock of moviegoers might lead to possible accidents or terrorist attacks. So the final decision was made to broadcast the TV drama Winter Sonata which had already proven popular worldwide. The drama was aired with Kurdish subtitles, every Thursday at 5:00 pm with re-runs every eight hours. Furthermore, the South Korean government purchased the rights to provide Korean TV dramas for free to broadcasting stations in more Arab countries in an effort to create a favorable image of the nation.

The South Korean government (Overseas Information Service) also gave the popular drama Winter Sonata to Egyptian television in 2004, paying for Arabic subtitles (Kim 2007). The broadcast was part of the government’s efforts to improve the image of South Korea in the Middle East, where there is little understanding and exposure towards Korean culture. The state-run broadcaster ERTU (Egypt Radio Television Union) aired the drama daily except Fridays on its satellite channel. This led to thousands of fan letters to the Korean Embassy in Egypt, indicating a warm reception by Egyptian audiences. A flood of e-mails and phone calls were received at the Embassy when another Korean drama Autumn in My Heart was broadcast in 2004. Many of them called for inviting the leading actors of the drama to Egypt. One of the e-mails was from a professor at a University of Cairo saying that he had watched the drama every night with his wife and two children. A female fan asked the Embassy to broadcast the drama again and to introduce more Korean dramas. Egyptian viewers have launched a Korean drama fan club and website, expressing a newly found interest on the Internet: “I wish I could visit Korea some day” (an Egyptian fan, KBS Global Marketing 2005). The expression of these thoughts indicates that the Korean Wave popular drama is understood in the Arabic cultural sphere. Importantly, the Korean Wave popular culture helps young people in the Middle East to raise interest in Korean studies and the Korean language (Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism 2013).

These cases signify the Korean Wave popular culture’s potentiality as soft power resources that may have a significant and complex impact on cultural diplomacy as well as on trade, tourism, academy and other national interests across various contexts. Popular culture has become a potentially important resource for soft power diplomacy, transcultural collaborations, dialogues and struggles to win the hearts and minds of people. Such a potentiality is evident in the region of East Asia that is still haunted by colonization and violence (Chua 2012). Culture – particularly, popular, media and consumer culture – transcends borders with such frequency and intensity as to constitute an irrevocable and irresistible force that regionalizes and possibly transforms identity (Berry et al. 2009). It is this power that governments seek to promote through the articulation and legislation of cultural policy and the promotion of cultural industries, with a renewed focus on identity, culture and nation branding as an essential component of foreign policy thinking.

South Korea is among the world’s 13 largest economies but still does not have its own unique brand or unique cultural identity, partly because for the past decades South Korea has been focused on building the country, not marketing it (BBC 2012). The G-20 summit held in Seoul in 2010 increased awareness of South Korea by almost 17%, making it one of the country’s most successful marketing events. The 2018 Winter Olympics hosted by South Korea promoted the country’s soft power push, and the world’s media covered not only sporting stories but also the controversial integration of North Korea in sports diplomacy (British Council 2018; Washington Post 2018). In Europe, people still associate South Korea mainly with the Korean War or North Korea, sometimes with mobile phones or cars, more than with its culture. South Korea brings its culture to Paris with “Korea Week,” an event that aims to enhance the country’s international standing and change the image of its economic hard power far outweighing its soft power in the eyes of the global community (France 24 2011).

The South Korean government, along with the private sector and the academy, has been working on the re-creation of its national image and cultural identity for multiple effects of soft power by integrating the Korean Wave popular culture since the late 1990s. The Kim Young-Sam government (1993–1998) and the official globalization policy (segyehwa) started to respond to neoliberalism and regulatory practices imposed by the U.S. and other Western countries. In 1999, the Kim Dae-Jung government (1998–2003) provided financial support of $148.5 million to the culture industry. Focusing on the so-called three Cs – Content, Creativity and Culture – the government encouraged colleges to open culture industry departments, providing equipment and scholarships. The number of such departments rose from almost none to more than 300 by 2004. The Roh Moo-Hyun government (2003–2008) advocated “cultural diversity” and vitality as well as creativity.

The Lee Myung-Bak government (2008–2013) sought to promote “Brand Korea” to enhance the nation’s image and soft power through popular culture in a wide range of areas from K-pop music to Korean food. In 2016, the world’s largest K-pop festival was held in Paris with the attendance of former President Park Geun-Hye, attracting about 13,500 Korean Wave fans and offering exclusive visibility of Korean culture (Le Figaro 2016; Le Monde 2016). The number of Korean Wave fans in the world is estimated to be around 60 million. In the summer of 2017, President Moon Jae-In revealed his plan to increase the number of Korean Wave fans to 100 million in the next five years (Korea Herald 2017). Various organizations including the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) set aside budgets for programs to promote the national image. To a great extent, the global circulation of Korean popular culture for the creation of soft power is the consequence of Korean national policies.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has been intensely promoting Korea through “Visit Korea” campaigns with the marketing slogan “Korea, Sparkling” and the official tourism website that provides information about popular TV dramas and movies including storylines, filming locations and leading actors and actresses. The government has also appointed the Korean Wave stars as tourism ambassadors, while hosting events for overseas fan clubs of the Korean Wave. For instance, fans of Jewel in the Palace can visit the historical drama’s shooting site, Jeju Folk Village, and experience traditional culture such as hanbok (traditional clothes), hanok (traditional house) and hansik (traditional food).

Scenery, as a marker of foreignness, constitutes a mode of visual tourism. Avid fans of Korean TV dramas can become so enamored by the sceneries that the locations become “must see” places and storytelling of the mobile self (Kim 2007 and 2011). “You know, there’s this scene where they went up by cable car and got caught in a snowstorm? We went up, too. I even went to the restaurant where the two of them sat” (a Singaporean fan of Winter Sonata, Straits Times 2003). As picturesque romance dramas like Winter Sonata and Autumn in My Heart have dominated TV screens, the snow slope and the beach where the memorable scenes were filmed have become a popular destination for overseas fans.

About 13 million foreign tourists visit Korea each year (Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism 2016). In the past decades, Korean TV stations and drama producers were often accused of putting too much focus on dramas and unrealistic escapism at the expense of more educational programming, but now they are honored for bringing home foreign currency. Furthermore, the engagement with the Korean drama Winter Sonata has created a new awareness among the Japanese, and the number of private language schools that teach Korean has increased in Japan: “Watching the drama, I just wished I could understand what he was saying in Korean” (a female fan, Yomiuri Shimbun 2004). Language learning is often about a desire to reinvent oneself in transnational spaces and that desire is crucially influenced by media discourses (Piller and Takahashi 2010).

About 100,000 international students come to Korea each year, and about 41% of American fans of the Korean Wave popular culture are learning the Korean language (Yonhap News 2013; Korean Ministry of Education 2016). A survey in Singapore, for example, shows that the initial motivation for many university students to learn the Korean language is “to gain greater exposure to the ...