Why Is K-Pop the Political Weapon of Korea?

[@manullim]

I don't think that the introduction is appropriate. "Insignificant", "out of no where"? S. Korea has been an industrial giant for decades making its presence felt in semiconductors, automobiles, consumer electronics, shipbuilding, steel, construction, nuclear power, etc. K-wave is just a cultural manifestation backed up by economy and technology. Closer Asian neighbors had their taste of K-wave since 1990s. Now, S. Korea is rising its profile in the defense industry. Again, surprise in the west??? Nope...! it's just decades of efforts and investments bearing fruits. It's wrong to say that K-wave sprang out of nowhere... when you were the ones who failed to notice in timely manner.

[@ytn00b3]

This isn't true, after 1997 AFC, everything was killed off to save $$$. No K-media content creators were government funded in Korea. Only Chinese, North Korean medias are 100% government funded that's they're failing. Most Korean gov funded cultural business did not survive. There was a cartoon company in Korea making Kimchi warrior animation series, they're 100% government funded and guess what happened to them? they no longer exist after over $10 million spent on that single animation.

[@dkskqkek1]

'Support from the Korean government' is a misunderstanding. The government's support for culture is mainly for low-income artists, and the annual support budget is similar to that of other countries.

[@JuanGarcia-bz8zx]

Not to mention when Conservative Party took power, gov. easily took away all support to diverse artist group & cultural opinion readers. It totally misunderstanding & misleading that S.Korean gov. planning K-pop culture to lead on global market to create image of country.

[@KPOPCoverDanceFan]

This channel is weird.

[@KPOPCoverDanceFan]

I think this video was made after the Japanese instructed the American KZbinr to include certain logic with the support of the Japanese government.

[@jobwesleycoxjr5103]

Do other countries normally fund their music artists?

[@현진인데용]

​@@jobwesleycoxjr5103 복지에 포함이 됩니다. 정부가 교육을 지원하는것과 문화에 지원하는게 차이가 있나요?

[@Wüstenfuchs-x2b]

S.Korea's soft power, referred to as the Korean Wave, started in China and Taiwan in 1997, swept Asean and Japan in 2000, and then the Middle East, and has now settled in Europe and the Americas. They seem to be watching the cavalry corps of the Mongol Empire that swept the world 1,000 years ago.

[@garcia4359]

According to data, Western European countries, USA, China, and Japan have invested more in culture than South Korea for a long time. Many countries invest in culture. There is a tendency to introduce it as if it is Korean.. Will investing in culture make a country's culture popular? Then, why can't some rich country's culture be as popular as Korea's? Culture can never buy people's hearts with money.. When content from Western countries is popular, the media analyzes it based on popularity itself. However, when discussing the popularity of Korean culture in non-English-speaking countries, the media ignores the reasons why people around the world enjoy Korean content and looks for other causes.

[@pannypancakes5836]

Too bad that China destroys its own work by promoting an aggressive wolf w@nker strategy and provoking all it's neighbours. Lol. Otherwise it might actually work.

[@pptstziao6937]

first could you share the data? I’m interested to see the data. Couple things that I would like to find out. What is culture when we talking about investing culture. 2 I believe that most of the popular culture in the world first comes from a great idea, then money has to follow. Japanese anime culture, US movie industry, and not sure what Europe has to offer. I bet all of these industries involved billions of investment that pushes the market. Then the idea and money mingles together that it becomes harder and harder to tell which contributes more to the culture hype.

[@skyshin39]

@@pptstziao6937 Areas where the Korean government actually provides economic support They are low-income artists. Traditional cultural artisans, independent film directors, etc. In particular, the money that goes into a K-pop agency is close to zero. Rather, the institutional and administrative support of the government at the time was very great.

[@basura4136]

There's a difference, western exports culture to other western countries, while eastern countries export culture to western

[@dewaeryadi7776]

@@basura4136 eastern countries also export culture to easten country tho, back in 80s and 90s theres strong influence of japanese culture in eastern countries, from anime to tokusatsu, japanese idols and dorama like oshin and long vacation, even with censorship theres still huge influence of japanese entertainment culture in korea, especially Johnny & Associates influence, literally the oldest idol talent agency since 1962, but the founder is an absolute monster

[@beautyhot151]

South Korea is not a small country compare to countries in Europe. Korean Peninsula's land size is almost as large as that of Great Britain with 77 million(52 million in south) people living compare to 67 million for Great Britain. South Korea ranks 10th in economic size( GDP of 1.85 trillion dollars), and ranks 5th in military power. South Korea has enough plutonium and expertise to make more than 5,000 nuclear warheads. South Korean nuclear expert testified on a TV program that South Korea can make nuclear warheads within 6 months, and produce more than 200 nuclear warheads every year if asked by the government.

[@bipolarman9246]

But US will never allow it. because of it's complicated issues regarding to a country(Japan) where nuclear warheads were actually detonated. KR and JP, arch enemies for hundreds of years, US is walking on a thin line deciding which country is trustworthy to have nuclear weapons. But right now, geo-political turmoil with USSR and CCP, must be the priority.

[@beautyhot151]

@@bipolarman9246 South Korea will build nuclear weapons if it has no choice but to build it due to imminent threats imposed by China and N. Korea. More than 80 percent of South Koreans want to build nuclear weapons since virtually no S. Koreans believe US will sacrifice L.A, New York or Washington D.C. from nuclear attack to protect Seoul. South Koreans don't care about whether US approves it or not if there is an imminent danger from nuclear attack. More than 50 percent of S. Koreans will be dead if one nuclear bomb explode in Seoul since the population within metropolitan Seoul is around 25 million people.

[@cherrybomb1229]

@@bipolarman9246 Doesn't matter when the country is threatened they will make it really quick.

[@Shambles7698]

World economic forum just updated top 10 GDP recently south Korea not in top 10 anymore fall to 12th 😅

[@aryasatya5847]

According to the article, now K-dramas is getting more popular after K-pop. I have been watching Korean dramas for a long time. As a foreigner who watches Korean drama, Korean drama is worth watching by more people.

[@user-jt3dw6vv4x]

Korean dramas were always more popular than Kpop until recently. It's only when the Korean Wave began to truly become popular in the West that Kpop surpassed Korean dramas in popularity. Before that, it was always Korean dramas over Kpop (especially in Asian countries like China, Japan, Cambodia and Nepal).

[@alice_agogo]

At least in Asia they both started becoming popular around 2005-06 (lovers in Paris 🗼, u kiss, 2en1,etc,) before that Taiwan pop culture became popular like F4. Before that Jpop was popular in the whole of Asia except Philippines. In 2001 answer the phone became a popular song in many country's. It took me 2 decades to realize it's Korean I always thought it was a Latino song 😂

[@user-jt3dw6vv4x]

@@alice_agogo Jpop was popular only in East Asia and some parts of Southeast Asia. Taiwanese pop culture also only became popular in East Asia and parts of Southeast Asia. There is truly only one form of Asian entertainment that has actually managed to become popular across the entire continent of Asia and I mean all the way to Central Asian countries like Uzbekistan and remote locations like Bhutan or Nepal too and that's Korean pop culture. There has been no other Asian country that has managed to dominate pop culture in Asia in the way South Korea has. South Korea truly reigns supreme in Asia in terms of pop culture and influence.

[@xcutioner5411]

@@user-jt3dw6vv4x south korea is just lucky be popular for temporarily , but in next 5 year this cringe kpop industry will be ded anyway ,people will bored ,nobody care with this plstic idol when getting old , this same like american/british boyband in 90s they were very popular but now nobody really care except some old fans listening for nostalgia thats it . south korea dont have huge culture to offer to the world for long-term ,they will forgotten very soon

[@user-jt3dw6vv4x]

@@xcutioner5411 Th Korean Wave began in China in the 1990s and ultimately spread to the rest of Asia by the 2000s. We are now in 2023 and the Korean Wave in Asia is bigger than it ever was and is now popular all over the world. I really don't see it ending anytime soon. It's been popular for decades. What country are you from by the way?

[@lifestyle7272]

Director Bong Joon-ho(Parasite): "In the case of the Korean film industry... Most of the support programs are focused on independent films or documentaries or those areas, Most of the Korean films that I and Song Kang-ho participate in are invested, distributed, and produced by "private companies", so I think the Korean film industry has its own health.” This is the basic film industry method of making a film, including Hollywood, in most countries

[@HKim0072]

Half of his films have been produced by CJ Group (Samsung).

[@lolingkwarts3999]

​@HKim0072 thats like saying most movies, most music are published/funded by a handfull of studios. industry consolidation is common from cars computers food drinks etc. most drinks on most selves are actually produced by the same company. wtf is your point?

[@Ynhockey]

Overall it's a good video, but this is the first time I've heard Korea being called "small", except maybe in area. It has over 50 million people, which makes it on par with the leading European powers. It is a G20 economy of well over $1 trillion. It has the largest budget of any combat-ready military outside of the US, China, India, the UK and France. Combined with its large active personnel body and huge reservist force, it's probably more capable than half of those armies too. It has its own significant military-industrial complexes (not even matched by India and many other large powers), rocket launching capabilities, etc. It has a car industry with many of its own brands (small countries can't achieve this sustainably), and It's a tech superpower with some of the world's largest conglomerates, like Samsung and LG. South Korea is a "small" country?

[@alice_agogo]

You need 60 million to be considered a large country. Jokes aside and off topic but I've been saying UK 🇬🇧 or France 🇫🇷 won't stand a chance one on one against North Korea. 😂

[@YakuzaSRC]

S. Korea is a "small" country both geographically and population -wise. And the term has been used in that exact sense in this video.

[@Ynhockey]

​@@YakuzaSRC Which countries are meaningfully larger than South Korea in population? Since natural population growth (or decline) are exponential, it's worth looking at orders of magnitude. Which countries are at least one order of magnitude more populated than South Korea, i.e. there is no reasonable way that their populations could become similar with all else being equal? Just three: China, India, and the US. I realize that countries like Nigeria or Pakistan (and a few others) have a lot of people and grow much faster, so they will be in this category soon. Still, that's an awfully small number of countries. The vast majority of countries are either not meaningfully more populated than S. Korea (e.g. Japan, Germany), or less populated.

[@Shambles7698]

Just look at map Korea is so small even city of Beijing is more bigger and rich (GDP)😬

[@alice_agogo]

@@Shambles7698 what are you talking about? Beijing has a GDP of $600 billion. It's only the 4th biggest in Asia after Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai.

[@djlee8836]

kpop의 인기는 순수한 자본주의 시장경제의 경쟁 논리에 따른 결과물일 뿐인데. 애초에 한국 사람들은 가난한 후진국 시절에도 드라마와 음악에 열광하던 사람들이었고. 한국 드라마와 음악,영화 팬들이 하도 불평불만이 많다 보니 거기에 맞춰주다보니 수준이 올라간건데.

[@KPOPCoverDanceFan]

이게 맞지 ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[@성이름-t1n]

근데 요즘 아이돌 라이브 수준은 낮아진듯; 2세대때는 ㄹㅇ 다 잘 불렀었음. 드라마 영화도 옛날께 더 재밌고

[@불루재이]

As much as I and many other Koreans dislike Kpop being the main cultural export of Korea, we've come to understand it is as necessary. Soft Power is extremely important. before Kpop, most countries probably thought Korea was some back water Chinese province or something. If we would get genocided by China or Japan, nobody would care. We are in a tough spot geographically speaking, so we have to leverage everything and battle diplomatically a lot of times.

[@AS-jo8qh]

Why do you dislike k-pop? K pop is so good 😭

[@TalaySeedam]

Japan wouldn't care about Korea, but PRCh has already made plans to invade you.

[@불루재이]

​ @A S I don't care for it personally but lots of cons come along with having it as our defining soft power, not just pros. For example: Pros: Increases status of Koreans as a rich powerful country enough to maintain good soft power. Cons: Thousands of years of culture and bloody history yet most of the world only knows us as a boy band factory.

[@Wurfenkopf]

@@g2000g I love basically everything about Korea, EXCEPT K-pop😂

[@jasonk3605]

False. Korea's main export is not kpop. It exports tons of things: Semiconductors, autos, miltary hardward, large appliances, smartphones, car batteries, etc

[@dsgcloud6092]

Korean government's role is exaggerated. It's been a hindrance in some instances. KZbin and Netflix have had a much larger role.

[@killer-jw4sk]

The popularity of Korean culture did not happen overnight. It was created by accumulating fans from all over the world for a long time. The reason I enjoy K-dramas is to watch them because they are fun and worth watching in terms of the quality of the work, acting skills, and other things, not other factors. Then why do you watch American content? This is because American content is of high quality and has content worth watching.. no other factor

[@alice_agogo]

At least compared to other countries' content US 🇺🇸 content is better. France 🇫🇷 used to have the 2nd biggest film industry but I've seen some of their films and they were mediocre.

[@dhimankalita1690]

Don't tell me those cringy romantic dramas are quality. They are made for 14 years old naive girls

[@Tespri]

@@dhimankalita1690 most popular culture is made for teenager's in mind. Grown adult's down care about celebrity worship. They are too busy for that stuff.

[@alice_agogo]

@@dhimankalita1690 they're still better than the dramas from my country

[@유니스-v6g]

The boring claim that the Korean wave grew with government support is spreading here too. If Hallyu is a national policy, why do BTS enlist in the military?

[@jaejae9605]

방탄이 유승준 할수는없죠

[@KPOPCoverDanceFan]

"한국 정부의 문화지원" 논리는 몇년전부터 일본에서 들려오던 논리이다. 남한은 아직 국력이 약하다는 증거이다. 친일파들과 친중파들이 가짜뉴스를 계속 퍼뜨리고 있고 남한은 계속 당하는 입장이다. "한국계 일본인" , 페미년 , 일본인 , 조선족 , 중국인 , 동남아 일뽕 , 동남아계 일본인 등이 우리나라를 일본과 중국에 흡수시킬려고 하고 있다. 한국인분들은 대응해야합니다. 이대로는 가짜뉴스에 잡아먹혀서 나라가 망합니다. The logic of "cultural support by the Korean government" has been heard in Japan for several years. It is proof that South Korea is still weak in national power. Pro-Japanese and pro-Chinese groups continue to spread fake news, and South Korea continues to suffer. "Korean Japanese," Femi, Japanese, ethnic Koreans, Chinese, Southeast Asian Ilpong, and Southeast Asian Japanese are trying to absorb Korea into Japan and China. Koreans have to respond. At this rate, the country will be ruined by fake news.

[@Shambles7698]

Korea is a decline country

[@lifestyle7272]

Unlike the countries mentioned on this channel, South Korea has a population of 51 million and is the 6th most populous country in Europe. South Korea's population ranks in the upper 20s out of 240 countries in the world.. South Korea is far more culturally powerful than the countries mentioned on this channel. According to recent information, South Korea is the second most popular cultural content country after the United States. The popularity of Korean culture is not confined to a specific region or country. To be honest, The comparison is wrong

[@BymesYS]

But declining.

[@murderofcrows2179]

@라임오렌지나무 It is smaller than indiana, not a large state in the united states. its economy has reached top 10 last year, and the rankings are likely to change. So no long term history as being one of the larger economies. Its diplomacy for most of its modern history has been focused on north korea, china, russia, japan and us. It still lacks operational control over its own military, negotiating with US for return of that power. It did not a blue water navy a decade ago. within the past ten years, south korea has developed a prototype modern fighter jet (not engines though); launched projects into space with domestic rocket, and become a major player in next gen computer chips and a player in foriegn direct investments. do not act like that these conditions existed for more than a decade, they have not.

[@killer-jw4sk]

Some media talk about the excellence of cultural content as the factor of popularity when American, British or Western cultural contents is popular.. However, when discussing the popularity of Korean culture in non-Western countries, They look for factors other than the excellence of the content. It's never a fair point of view. I know, many countries have invested in culture from the past.. This is a natural phenomenon

[@jwo122]

well said.

[@gabbar51ngh]

Western World has been simply the dominant powerhouse for couple pf centuries. Their culture is dominant by default in contemporary times and always been under competitive pressure. The modern South Korean pop culture itself is heavily Americanized. Same goes for Japan which was influenced by Americans too. Without american comics we wouldn't even get the manga industry as it is today. West's dominance in culture is unparalleled. The fact we're using English and commenting on KZbin which is an american corporation speaks volumes. I get South Korea is great and they worked hard but it's not like it wasn't without help or Western influence.

[@jwo122]

@gabbar51ngh times are changing dude. Asian influence is spreading far and wide. yes we are heavily influenced by western culture but our version of western culture is definitely different from the origin. kpop and kdrama is definitely different from their western counterparts and that's what's attracting people from all over the world.

[@bebebaba3442]

@@gabbar51ngh absolutely agreed

[@juliotancredi7468]

Japan has persistently claimed that K-Culture is solely a product of governmental intervention, and the media has echoed this assertion. However, this is incorrect. What the Korean government has done may include establishing drama and movie departments in colleges and implementing quotas for foreign movies shown in Korea, which is abolished now. These actions are not fundamentally different from what other countries have done. In fact, Japan initiated "Cool Japan" a long time ago, but it did not yield significant results. Such cultural promotion cannot be solely attributed to government intervention. Whenever I come across comments suggesting that K-Culture is solely a result of government intervention, I perceive it as a deliberate attempt to diminish its achievements, driven by plain jealousy. If you genuinely believe that government intervention played a crucial role, I encourage you to advocate for similar efforts in your own country. Why not?

[@Zeralop]

IF you believe that, then their plan has succeded. You think it just happened that A BILLION view video was a K POP 10 years ago? And that sparked the Kpop to become what is now? Kpop which is lgbt looking effeminate men? It was a all deliberate, just like tiktok is now.

[@bobnoname9159]

Interesting piece but feels a bit misleading in that it seems to imply that the S. Korean gov't built the music and film industry. While there's no doubt Korean gov't support was important, the music and film industry was already firmly established and gaining recognition internationally before large-scale subsidies and tax exemptions. Many kpop companies such as SM and YJ already existed before Kim Dae Jung came in power. Rather than building or creating these industries, the government was nurturing something that was already growing organicly.

[@GetUnwoke]

Exactly, it's really no different from what America did, whereby they subsidize the entertainment industry by giving them large sums of money and just allow the artists to do their thing. I think people are giving the SK government a little too much credit than they deserve, and just goes to show the ignorance of the topic at hand. It was in the late 80's when Korea's entertainment industry started gaining popularity and that is unironically when their government removed their censorships on the entertainment industry. So it's ironic that now 35 or so years later that people are putting os much emphasis on the government. Nothing creative can come from government intervention. Just look at present day China.

[@tringuyen7519]

@@GetUnwoke Video didn’t talk about K-dramas! Netflix, Amazon, and Apple TV studios all have their own K-dramas for US viewers. Squid games?!?

[@roar5853]

​@@GetUnwoke actually Korea gov didn't give them large amount of money😂 that's not how it worked. typical misunderstanding about K-wave

[@GetUnwoke]

@@roar5853 how'd it work then? From a Forbes article: "Fearing a brain drain and an inability to attract top talent, a Ministry of Culture (alongside tourism and sport) was created, with a specific department responsible for developing locally made and owned pop music, along with film, fashion, dance and art. This coincided with the end of state censorship (in 1996) and the removal of a cultural embargo with Japan in 2000, which led to an upsurge in Japanese consumption of Korean culture, prompting a need to meet the demand of the new audience. Music, along with other forms of culture, was seen as a way to accelerate economic recovery, so policies to support cultural development and investment to support the making and marketing of music were made." From a podcast: "Korean music is generally seen as being strangled by government oppression and censorship throughout the 1980s. In this episode, I aim to explore how such censorship shaped Korean music but more significantly how the foundation of K-Pop was laid though out the 80s." I'll link if you want to listen to that as well.

[@roar5853]

@@GetUnwokeYou have to invest your assets, take risks, start a business, and get invested. Because that's the normal way of doing business. That's why most Korean kpop companies, movie companies, and drama production companies go public. They didn't start with government money. It's an industry with a very high probability of failure and nevertheless an achievement for those who challenged it. Korea's investment in art is not much compared to other developed countries. In addition, most of the budget is allocated to areas that are difficult to maintain profitability, such as elite physical education and classical music.

[@force-f8i]

The popularity of Korean content includes the quality of the content and other enjoyable factors... Most countries invest in culture.. According to information, South Korea invests less in culture than the United States, Western Europe, Japan, China, rich some middle eastern countries. Then, why is the culture not as popular as Korea in rich and wealthy some countries?

[@pannypancakes5836]

Well for China - it's known for its Operation Fish Kill if have ties with Taiwan.

[@Andrea-d8x-h1n]

As a Korean, I have had the same question last 20 years either. My personal conclusion is....; 1. We are spending most of our time at home watching TV and PC. 20 years ago when I visit Germany, even wealthy people had a small TV in a big house and enjoyed the outdoor life as driving and tracking. Korea is a small country and most people are living in Seoul or big cities, so we are spending more time on public transportation or at home than in any other country to consume the content. Based on this strong domestic market, more money flew into the media industry like SM, YG, and Hybe. 2. The influence of Japan: In 1980 and 1990, the neighborhood and colonized country,Japan, the Japanese TV show industry was at the top level in the world, and we copied a lot of TV shows so we could learn in short time and develop our own style later. (Even the new employee in the TV studio, were asked to stay in the hotel for a month and record all the Japanese TV shows, and come back to Korea.) With the invention of KZbin, this kind of copyright problem is not happening anymore last 15 years. 3. As I was a huge Japanese fan, what I worry about is the impact of an aging society on the entertainment industry just like Japan did. A less young population causes less fandom and less profit in the industry, and also the PD and show hosts are aged, and difficult to find the next generation now. In my generation Kpop idol targeted teenagers customer like new kids on the block case, but they are targeting over 20 years olds nowadays

[@BCho-t5n]

As another Korean, I would like to talk about the basic principles of the cultural industry, which I believe are applicable to any country that wants to develop its pop culture industry. 1. Freedom - The Korean government has established the principle of supporting but not interfering with the cultural industry. While this has varied from regime to regime, it has worked relatively well so far. Also, the trend of cultural policy has been to follow and support the development of culture, not to get ahead of it and create something that doesn't exist. 2. Fairness - Although there have been a number of unsavory incidents, reforms have been made whenever they have become an issue, creating a relatively level playing field. 3. System - During the development of the cultural industry, a few pioneers created an industrial chain system that allowed the industry to develop continuously. 4. People - Koreans love theater and music. They have the historical record to prove it. This provided a good supply of manpower for content production, and the large domestic pop culture market relative to the size of the economy provided the soil for development.

[@limelight777]

Despite having the potential to be recognized globally for its excellence, Korean culture has not been as well-known as its neighboring countries such as China and Japan. To ensure support for cultural creators, the Korean government has implemented a policy of providing support while refraining from interfering in their creative process. This democratic policy has played a significant role in the current success of Korean culture, even allowing for films that criticize the government to be produced with government support.

[@동그란물-q3q]

​@@Andrea-d8x-h1n 그냥 멍청하거나 한국인척 하는 친일파네. 이 영상자체도 개솔리인게 한국 대중문화는 국가가 의도적으로 외교적으로 써먹을려고 발전시킨게 아니야 계속 닫아놓으면 도태될까바 살아남을려고 일본문화개방도 한거고. 당시 김대중이 일본문화개방 한다고 했을때 문화 전문가나 일반 한국인들이나 전부 일본문화에 잡아먹힌다고 난리쳤다. 뭔 일본의 영향이야? 차라리 유럽과 미국의 영향이라면 어느정도 말이 되지. 너님이 잘나간다고 말한 시기에도 일본 음악 영화 드라마 등은 매니아들만 즐겼지 한국이나 다른나라나 큰 유행이나 주류는 아니였다. 그리고 나라가 작아서 집에서만 있을수 밖에 없어서 음악 드라마가 발전했다?ㅋㅋ 그런식이면 저 거대한 미국대륙은 어떻게 세계최대 문화강국이 된거고 한국처럼 작은 나라들은 왜 대중문화가 발전 못한걸까? 참 한심하다. 그냥 당시 마이클잭슨 뉴키즈온더블록 등 세계적인 히트를 보고 민간기업이 돈벌려고 시작한거야. 이게 시초고 그 선두주자가 이수만이였고. 이수만 조차 국내 내수 빨아먹을려고 하다 이게 중국 대만 등에서 인기가 있자 아시아로 눈을 돌리고 가장 부유했던 일본에 공을 들여서 보아나 동방신기가 먹히면서 아시아 진출이 성공한거고. 이때부터 국가가 숟가락을 얻으면서 경제적 외교적 이득이 되겠다해서 뛰어든거다. 결론으로 돌아와서...왜 한국정부가 다른나라에 비해 문화사업에 돈을 적게 쓰는데도 이렇게 케이팝 드라마 영화가 발전했냐고? 국뽕이 아니라 그냥 한국인들 능력이고 종특이야. 애초에 잘 노는게 한민족의 특징이다. 한국인들의 대중 문화적 수준도 높아서 끊임없이 비판적인 시각에서 컨텐츠를 소비하니 소속사들은 살아남을려고 더 노력하고 그러다가 세계에서도 먹히는 수준이 된거지.

[@containedhurricane]

It's South Koreans' soft power. Highly effective to improve the country's image and gradually competing with the Caucasian beauty trend

[@sleepete12]

is that why they do so much plastic surgeries to have caucasian features?? lol

[@Dudenier]

Korean drama has always been popular in my household( Vietnamese) since the early 2000s

[@JamesKerLindsay]

This is a fantastic topic. Well done. Soft power and cultural diplomacy is such an important factor in modern international relations. And K-Pop has been an absolutely brilliant example of this. It’s certainly gained a huge following here in the U.K. Interestingly, SW London (New Malden) apparently has the largest Korean community in the world outside of the Peninsula!

[@-whackd]

No it isn't. K-Town in LA must have many multiples more Koreans. Kpop hadn't done anything for the peninsular situation other than being general Korean language media that sneaks into the DPRK.

[@fallendevonish1869]

As someone from the UK I can say that K-pop is not big in the UK, no K pop act has toped the charts, and I have never met someone who watches K drama's Im not saying they are not out there but its not like in the US or Aus, and that comment about the UK having the largest Korean population outside of the Peninsula is BONKERS, Nigerian population, yeah, Indian, Pakistani, sure, Polish, absolutely but Korean, what drugs are you smoking, the west cost of America is basically Korean and Mexican there's no way London has more Koreans then them.

[@FlamingBasketballClub]

K pop, J pop, C pop. How many pops are there? 🤔🤔🤔🤔

[@FlamingBasketballClub]

It would be interesting if you did a future video on the political effects of Cacao industry in Africa and South America. Been asking for quite sometime.

[@kimandre336]

@@-whackd Actually, the last time I visited LA, the Korean community is shrinking very rapidly. The whole "LA is a heart of the Korean community outside of Korea" is a 1980s impression that isn't applicable in the 21st century. You'll be finding a more robust Korean community in Atlanta than in LA in 2023.

[@Hope-le8lh]

Simple! Korean entertainment is fun to watch!

[@mashitta5969]

Actually Korean movie, drama and music were popular among the Asian countries. Now, they are widespread all over the world.

[@sng1867]

Well, I do know that Netflix has plenty of great Korean shows.

[@garcia4359]

This is an honest point of view.. When Some Western countries content is popular, the media analyzes it based on popularity itself. However, when discussing the popularity of Korean culture in non-English-speaking countries, the media ignores the reasons why people around the world enjoy Korean content and looks for other causes

[@murderofcrows2179]

When kpop group becomes popular, the explanation by media and other western experts is to explain the korean industry as manufacturing robotic talents, dehumanizing the artist and taking away agency, to view it as artificial to avoid the conclusion that talent and skill exists outside of the western world. when industry is superior or growing faster to the surprise of westerners, then obviously its the product of government money. As if south korea ever had the luxury of creating an entire creative industry by pouring money into it. China spends ten times more annually in soft power than south korea. Its popularity has gone down to lowest in almost all developed countries and cultural offices shut down or banned in most. its movies are horrible with required propaganda content now. Government can only subvert and coopt art, never create it. Japan is learning this after directly transferring billions to corporations instead of artists, under the Cool Japan project (created in response to Hallyu success). Japanese will attempt to explain the relative success of korean cultural productions, to Japanese disinterest in global markets because of the size of domestic market. The increasing size of the korean music industry versus the decrease in japan music industry contradicts this conclusion. And Japan is an export dependent economy, because of its needs for imported inputs and food, makes this explanation nonsensical.

[@FlamingBasketballClub]

South Korea has been a influential country from a technological perspective.

[@Shambles7698]

Corrupt country will never succeed forever

[@loongdechuanren1008]

Nope, There isn't any tech like Huawei Mte60, DJ drones, TikTok, Shein, and TEMU that are monopolizing the market now so far...and Space, Quantum Tech, Artificial Sun, etc.

[@FlamingBasketballClub]

@@loongdechuanren1008 You support Temu?

[@maccurtis730]

South Korean moves are great to remind me of back in the 80s-90s, when America could make great action flicks but America has forgotten soft power.

[@davidford3115]

Because Hollywerid decided to take a page out of 1930s Soviet "ministry of culture" where ideology and "right think" took priority over telling a good story. The Japanese, Koreans, and Taiwanese have managed to aquire that "secret sauce" of storytelling that Tinseltown has forgotten. And I hope our Asian allies bury the American industry.

[@GetUnwoke]

American music artists are recognized all over the world, and they know Hollywood. That is America's soft power. California has silicone valley, and Hollywood, and that is why it's the 4th or 5th largest economy in the world. They just don't care much anymore because it's already firmly established into mainstream culture. But yeah, Hollywood movies suck so bad now. There's no creativity anymore.

[@maccurtis730]

@@davidford3115 I wory about socialist acid burning away all resistence to American Dictatorship because Woke is desined to drive people to the right.

[@davidford3115]

@@maccurtis730 Nice copium. Woke is a LEFTIST ideology. Mindy Kaling (Velma showrunner) is a leftist. Most of your dictators in the world today are leftists. The right does not have the institutional power your ideology has enjoyed over the last three decades. If people are being driven to the right, it is because your ideology's failures have been exposed for all to see.

[@maccurtis730]

Then why is Woke designed to repel people?

[@syntaxerrorrvg3087]

역시 아직까지도 일본의 영향력은 대단하구나. 한국 컨텐츠와 문화의 세계적 유행이 정부지원과 주도로 시작되었고 발전했다는 일본의 개설레발을 아무 생각없이 고대로 따라서 주절거리는 언론과 유툽 인간들이 이렇게나 넘쳐나는걸 보면.

[@Jinvj-h2s]

그렇게 퍼트려놓고 정작 진짜 국책 펼친 일본의 쿨자판 개같이 멸망 ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[@JMM33RanMA]

You are absolutely correct that two keys to South Korea's success are hard work and commitment to education. I taught in Korea for six years at intervals, 1970's, 1980's and 1990's, and later taught Korean college students in the US. A form of good-bye used in Korea was, sugo haseyo [work hard or get to work], or to students, kongbu manhi haseyo [study hard]. I saw this happening, and while gratified that I may, in some small way, have helped, I was not surprised at Korea's success. 대한민국 만세! 한민족의 번영을 기원합니다!

[@dolezhang9265]

감사합니다만 제가 오랬동안 분명히 느낀것은 뭔가 의도적으로 한국 대중문화가 갑자기 몇년사이에 세계 대중문화의 변방에서 주류문화로 바뀌었고 여기에는 반드시 정치적인 이유가 있습니다. 분명한건 이것을 가능하게한 정치적 동기와 이유는 대부분 한국 국내가 아닌 국외로부터 비롯되었습니다. 왜냐하면 명백하게 한국은 그럴만한 능력이 없었습니다.

[@JMM33RanMA]

@@dolezhang9265 It is complicated. When I taught in Korea in the 1970's, Koreans talked about reunification. Since then, younger Koreans began to regard the north as a different country, or at least a different culture. This would return Korea to the ancient division of Unified Silla vs Koguryo. 한국의 긴 역사에서 현재의 남북 분단은 이전에 일어났습니다. 얼마나 오래 계속될 수 있는지는 알 수 없습니다. 젊은 노동력에 대한 남한의 필요와 식량과 현대 생활에 대한 북한의 필요가 상호 도움과 화해로 귀결될 수 있습니다. 고생하신 대한민국 국민 여러분의 건투를 빕니다.

[@sjpro2301]

@@dolezhang9265 외부적 요인에 의해 한국 문화가 갑자기 주류로 바뀐다는 것이 타당한 말이기나 하나? 저질 문화를 아무리 주류로 밀어도 절대 세계적 인기를 받을 수 없습니다. 무슨 음모론 을 말하고 싶은가 보네. 아이디 보니 중국인 같은데 그냥 한국인이 오래 노력해서 얻은 결과라고 인정하세요.

[@davidford3115]

@@JMM33RanMA Indeed. When I was stationed over there from 2009-2011, I came to realize that while the deepest, darkest, most desperate desire of the older population was reunification, the younger generations were much less enthusiastic about that. They perceived it as a nice idea, but one with serious difficulties that could threaten to destabilize their society and culture.

[@clarie_8654]

​@@dolezhang9265 풉 뭐래

[@LinZhiying-yd2qw]

The popularity of American content thanks to cultural investment? Is the popularity of American and British pop due to cultural investment? Since the 2000s, Japan has created a cultural organization called "Cool Japan " Japanese government has invested heavily. Some wealthy countries have been investing heavily in culture. According to information, I read an article that "Cool Japan", led by the Japanese government, has failed

[@v.d.2738]

Cool Japan is just an export promotion campaign, which tried to export something already popular(like pop-culture, food) more. Also the name "Cool Japan" is from "Cool Britannia".

[@KPOPCoverDanceFan]

@@v.d.2738 Do you know Arashi, a Japanese singer who goes to the audience to see BTS talking at the Grammy?😂😂 It is the most famous singer in Japan. Why is Japan so inferior complex?

[@KPOPCoverDanceFan]

@@v.d.2738 I saw them say that they can enter the world if they speak English well. But only RM is good at English among BTSs. The government did not apply, and BTS had no intention of entering the world. 😂😂😂 This is living proof.

[@RubyDoobieScoo]

Before I heard K-Pop I supported South Korea over North Korea.

[@jieunko665]

Actually there are some state from North korean that they wanted come to South Korea with K-POP So yeah it is influential to our crazy brothers...North Korean..

[@koolqeee]

I think soft power is extremely hard to earn, but extremely rewarding once it's earned. Many people misunderstand that the result of Korean soft power is the result of many years of the entertainment industry growing with freedom with no intervention from the government. Yes, the Korean government invested money (just like any country does in important industries), however you can't just throw money at it and expect to earn soft power. A good example of this is China where they are trying to have their own industry in movies, fashion, music, etc but have failed to do so due to government censorship. Another one is Japan's recent government campaign "Cool Japan".... obviously nothing is cool when it's inorganically shaped by the government.

[@LinZhiying-yd2qw]

The popularity of American content thanks to cultural investment? Is the popularity of American and British pop due to cultural investment? Since the 2000s, Japan has created a cultural organization called "Cool Japan " Japanese government has invested heavily. Some wealthy countries have been investing heavily in culture. According to information, I read an article that "Cool Japan", led by the Japanese government, has failed

[@skyshin39]

The Korean government's only contribution to kpop is the establishment of arts and culture schools and arts high schools. This is what many developed countries do by default. The Korean government has not contributed materially. According to statistics from the Korea Creative Content Agency, 60% was invested in independent films and preservation of traditional culture. The amount of investment that goes into Korean entertainment companies is extremely small. Culture cannot be bought with money. Freedom must be guaranteed. Japan's Cool Japan project spent four times more money than Korea's. Money cannot buy culture.

[@alice_agogo]

@@LinZhiying-yd2qw it failed because the fund was corrupted.

[@kakaungranduomo2666]

The government-led cultural industry is doomed to failure. It‘s bcuz the soft power of a particular country does not win the admiration of foreigners through planned promotion, but rather foreigners themselves find, admire, and pursue the culture. If soft power is strengthened through promotion, it’s hard power, not soft power. Promotions require a lot of money, and economic power is a representative element of hard power along with military power. Through this, we can see why Japan and China's soft power strengthening is stagnant. The Japanese government's Cool Japan policy and the CCP's policy try to solve everything with money. They use hard power (economic power) as weapon to strengthen soft power. This creates big contradiction between goal and means. In the past, Japanese Anime was able to spread to the world because the level of Japanese Anime itself was excellent, not the Japanese government developed Anime. If a culture is attractive, it spreads naturally without trying to spread it.

[@v.d.2738]

Cool Japan is just a export promotion campaign, which tried to export something already popular(like pop-culture, food) more. It's not the gov't that makes the products. Also the name "Cool Japan" is from "Cool Britannia".

[@Panorama-memory]

I am Korean and I have seen Korean culture before it was known to the world at all. To be precise, it is not correct to think that we suddenly appeared out of nowhere to sell to the world. Decades ago we went on for our own enjoyment. The world just didn't know. Because in the past, there was no way to show it. It is only now that the world is connected through the Internet network, and accessibility is only now available through messengers and video services shared by people around the world. Talking about the past, it's been a very long time. There was a time when idols in Korea almost went bankrupt, and there was a crisis in which Korean movies almost went bankrupt. There was a time when only garbage-like works were mass-produced. People gradually turned away from it. The breakthrough was to make it well after all. The reason why it had to be made well was because the competition had started. Even now, we dont think of the world first and do not create anything. they can't afford it You have to survive the competition in Korea for the next one. Very few survive. Even idols earnestly risk their lives to make their debut. Hundreds of such teams compete fiercely, and only 4 or 5 teams survive.

[@avamusic8176]

Banzaiiii let go

[@sinnopal1]

Qatari and israeli examples are not right. These countries' success on exporting their culture is limited. And S Korea does not spent money on culture any more than any other countries. How do you explain that S Korean pop culture has been dominant in Asia for 3 decades?

[@user-jt3dw6vv4x]

Yeah nobody is idolising Qatar

[@Ynhockey]

Unfortunately many English speakers underestimate the influence of al-Jazeera. For a long time, it wasn't just the biggest Arab TV channel, it was the *only* Arab TV channel with professional content that wasn't run by the local Arab government (e.g. in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, etc.). Al-Jazeera is credited with starting or contributing to regime change in multiple Arab countries; and nothing it does is independent of the Qatari government's hand. I don't think when they say "influence" they necessarily mean good influence, but Qatar is extremely influential for its tiny size.

[@user-jt3dw6vv4x]

@@Ynhockey True but as you said, Qatar is known for the wrong reasons only. There is actually nothing positive associated with that country, that's why it has such a negative perception. Their influence is also not far reaching, only within the Arab or maybe more broadly Muslim world but beyond that, the influence is non-existent.

[@darkz1563]

@@user-jt3dw6vv4x almost all people from other countries expirienced their culture wdym

[@user-jt3dw6vv4x]

@@darkz1563 Almost all people experienced their culture? No, that's wrong. Hardly anybody knows anything about that country's culture.

[@lajo142]

If its political tool the gov would not allow bts to do military service. Not allow kdramas to criticize the government. In fact the government does little for kpop. I dont get why some people think kpop is made and controlled by the government. Its just like japanese anime and hollywood. Creative private industry

[@discordbait]

The intro is very misleading. South Korea has a large population, large military, and well developed military technology. It doesn't rely on soft power for its global influence.

[@ha-meemfirozezaman1417]

Using soft power as a tool to create influence around the world is not new. In fact, USA did that using Hollywood (before it became a superpower), Japan (after WW2) is also doing it by using anime, J-pop, philanthropy (such as JICA), etc. Now South Korea, Israel, Canada, Qatar, & others are also following the same trajectory.

[@user-jt3dw6vv4x]

No offence but nobody is going to obsess over a country like Qatar or any of those Arab Gulf states. They haven't built themselves up in the way South Korea or Singapore or any of those nations have for anybody to have respect for them. They extracted oil, sold it and got blue and white collar workers from all over Asia, Africa and the West to do everything for them. Not to mention a multitude of other reasons as to why they have such a negative perception on the global stage. The only time I have ever seen such universal negative remarks directed towards a country, it has always been towards a Gulf nation. I am yet to see a single positive comment about any of those nations. The closest I have seen are defenders of Arab Gulf states who all happen to be from other Arabic-speaking Muslim-majority nations but that doesn't count at all.

[@alice_agogo]

Good luck with Israel, though 😀

[@00oncina16]

What you are overlooking is the fact that the Korean government supports the cultural world but does not interfere. President Kim Dae-jung said that he supports but does not interfere because he knew that culture loses its creativity when power intervenes. Such a view of yours is a prejudice that came about when the logic of disparaging the Korean Wave was passed on to the West when Japan was powerful. Successive Korean governments, such as the Kim Dae-jung administration, saw through to the influence of the Korean wave sweeping Asia and supported the development of the cultural industry in terms of laws and institutions, but the state did not invest funds to subsidize some kind of K-pop agency or make this or that movie. It's true. The Korean government watched the growth from the sidelines and only put a guard on it. The main reason for the growth of the Korean Wave is the democracy won by the people shedding blood while resisting the military dictatorship. Democracy won by itself infused creativity into society and culture as a whole, and in harmony with the unique Korean cultural DNA that has been handed down through 5,000 years of history, the Korean Wave was expressed. .

[@00oncina16]

Korea is the only country in Asia that has succeeded in winning democracy on its own, not forcibly transplanted by colonial rule or the military government of foreign forces (Japan). Imagine how well the people themselves will be able to demonstrate their creativity based on freedom and democracy. The answer to the growth of the Korean Wave can be found in this.

[@00oncina16]

It is also the reason why China, a one-party dictatorship of the Communist Party, cannot overcome its eternal rival (?) the United States.

[@00oncina16]

Culture feeds on freedom and grows.

[@killah7973]

한국인도 모르는 정부의 지원이 뭔데 나도 좀 알자

[@jonaslapinas3648]

Lithuania - a small country played well with opening a Taiwanese representative office, despite threats from China. Lithuania and Taiwan become best friends - both small countries far away who both have big aggressive neighbours. Later on, Taiwan invests in the making of semi-conductors in Lithuania. Despite the so feared Chinese sanctions, this might actually be a start to something preeeetty good :)

[@alice_agogo]

Lithuania had nothing to lose.

[@jonaslapinas3648]

@@alice_agogo What do you mean? What is your source?

[@alice_agogo]

@@jonaslapinas3648 your mom

[@ersatzvitamin1]

Go Leitis!

[@jasonk3605]

May God bless Lithuania and Taiwan.

[@ismailnyeyusof3520]

An absolutely fascinating subject indeed, very eye opening and may I add, very mind bending. Popular culture as a source of very firm political influence is certainly a thing. Please do more episodes to explore this aspect of a developing global trend.

[@menumlor9432]

It's still crazy to me the s. Korea's kpop industry makes up 1% of their GDP.

[@murderofcrows2179]

maybe off there, i think bts generated a little more than 1% so kpop makes up 2% of gdp.

[@menumlor9432]

@@murderofcrows2179 that's crazy

[@ItakenoBS]

Government support in Korea is only as good as other countries. The Korean government is not competent enough to save entertainment. Rather, as regulations were lifted and democratization progressed, culture exploded. Don't keep getting involved with the government, that's a misunderstanding

[@kevincinalaska2551]

Hollywood was the same for the USA

[@dolezhang9265]

Of course, and all the entertainment industries for thier own countries.

[@DavidHalko]

But Hollywood went woke & wicked… consumers turned far east to South Korea

[@c62west]

Governance is business. The first rule of business is advertise, advertise, advertise.

[@ReviveHF]

One thing thing that US, South Korean and Japan does better than Russia and China is utilizing entertainment industries and pop culture to achieve dominance in softpower criteria.

[@ArthurCSchaperMR]

Soft Power ... great topic 👏

[@skyshin39]

The Korean government's only contribution to kpop is the establishment of arts and culture schools and arts high schools. This is what many developed countries do by default. The Korean government has not contributed materially. According to statistics from the Korea Creative Content Agency, 60% was invested in independent films and preservation of traditional culture. The amount of investment that goes into Korean entertainment companies is extremely small. Culture cannot be bought with money. Freedom must be guaranteed. Japan's Cool Japan project spent four times more money than Korea's. Money cannot buy culture. What should the Korean government be praised for? These are examples of administrative and institutional support for artists. Also, he realized the importance of art infrastructure from an early age and created many art schools. Director Bong Joon-ho also graduated from the Korean Academy of Film Arts.

[@phunk8607]

Nobody will touch my Kdrama!!!!

[@Hello-xz7iu]

60% Netflix user watched Korean contents last year. Korean government somehow influenced choice of millions of user ?

[@musnahterinjak]

In Indonesia, everything is almost Koreanised since 2010s, thanks to Korean cultural imports. My sister love it, her friend playing music from the age of Super Junior, Psy to BTS and Blackpink (yuck, even receiving "dancing plastic" slur from some) and streaming platform offer Korean telenovelas to watch. Local TV stations rarely interested on Korean drama for....... TVs are for uneducated poor. It is cool today to Indonesians to visit Jeju or Seoul than, lemma say, visit Yogyakarta or Bali, and leave some rose-tinted impression about it. Recently I saw milk for sale with Korean-related branding, which personally could drawing ire from regionalists and nationalists. Indonesia need to enhance their cultural offer to increase soft power, however hyper-politicisation, cultural nationalism ("Kearifan Nusantara", to what extent?), lack of interest on local contents, economical hurdles (the bank's lending is deeply conservative) and society's overdependence to Government are all the barrier.

[@naknak790]

If K-pop were a national strategy or weapon, then why don't other countries create similar cultural products? Other countries can also create weapons like K-pop and sell them worldwide!

[@user-jt3dw6vv4x]

It needs to be appealing

[@leroi5342]

Korean didn’t create K-pop music genre they recycled it from Black American Culture so call it imitation instead

[@hepsima]

@@leroi5342 what

[@voumes5081]

​@@leroi5342 stop being jealous lol

[@leroi5342]

@@voumes5081 Jealous of What? our culture is better we created every music genre from Reggae, hip hop, r&b, jazz, funk and many more. we don’t give damn f about trash k-pop we just want them SKorean to stop stealing our culture. Lol

[@alen6466]

Countries with strong communist influence are very active in lobbying in other countries.

[@JohnLee-db9zt]

Why the F are you talking about Qtar? The title is about Korea. Click bait.

[@user-jt3dw6vv4x]

Exactly, nobody wants to hear about Q*tar. The 2022 World Cup was enough. No more.

[@iamzoone]

I am Korean. I would like to say, "Projects directly funded by the government were generally garbage." I believe that the moment government money and specific purposes are involved in the entertainment industry, it just turns into propaganda. K-culture is not propaganda. Many people have failed financially in this market, and only the content that has survived the endless competition has survived.

[@zachmiller9189]

What a ridiculous click bait title. The notion that any popular music genre is a political weapon for any country is just stupid. K-Pop is a political weapon for Korea as much as hip-hop is for the USA. Which is just totally BS.

[@Zeralop]

Hip hop is literally a weapon against USA people, specifically black people. To make them in a state of war. Thats the point of it. TO cause unrest in a group of people

[@phunk8607]

Driving a Kia is not even a downgrade (unless you are clueless brand snob) it’s actually now seenas progressive value lead high tech cars

[@BxLiteKid]

Your comments about Cuba were sickeningly racist. Calling Cuba backward and saying that all Latin American countries have the same culture is offensive and inaccurate. Is Kosovo backward because it's a relatively poor European country? Do all Balkan countries have the same culture? No! So why make these heinous assertions about Latin America. The hubris in which you speak is as disturbingly problematic.

[@sleepete12]

lol, if cuba is not backward country then that term has no meaning, cope XD

[@DavidHalko]

You are right, Cuba does not have the same culture as other Latin American nations. Cuba’s Communist culture is one of imperialism, foreign intervention, invasion. 1959 Panama invasion attempt 1959 Dominican Republic invasion attempt 1963 Algerian Sand War deployment 1964 / 1965 Congo intervention 1967 Venezuela Machurucuto raid 1972 Yemen war 1967-1973 Dominican Republic insurgency 1973-1975 Yom Kippur War, Cuban defeat & loss of Golan Heights to Israel, and Cuban retreat 1974-1975 Angola intervention 1973-1990 Cuban armed intervention in Chile 1977-1978 Cuban participation of Somali invasion of Ethiopia 1988 intervention & retreat in Angola 1992 failed Venezuelan coup d'état attempts 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempts Nicaragua, Grenada, etc. Communist Cuban culture… a country of never ending wars

[@zZ38PYB50guA9PUuDhAI]

Kim Koo, one of the founding fathers(?) of ROK hoped that his home country would influence the world by its culture, not by war or violence. I'm glad that his dream has come true.

[@declinedtosignonstagnant5402]

Dreaming is easy.. Nowaday Kpop is just made by Kpop Entertainer&Enterpriser and global media..

[@declinedtosignonstagnant5402]

@@zZ38PYB50guA9PUuDhAI 케이팝을 성공시킨 것은 기업가와 플래폼입니다. 박진영, 양현석 같은 기업가들이 지속적으로 나온다면 케이팝은 지속될 수 있습니다. 그러나 HOT, 동방신기, 엑소 등의 흥망성쇠를 보면 알겠지만 아이돌은 대체가 가능합니다. 군대 보낸다고 큰 문제는 아닙니다. 이이돌을 만들 수 있는 시스템을 관리하는 사람이 중요하지 아이돌 자체가 핵심 변수는 아닙니다. 한국의 k-pop이 세계에서 서브컬쳐로 성공할 수 있는 요인에 김구나 국가가 언급되는 것은 옳지 않다고 봅니다. 서태지를 시작으로 한국 대중음악의 판도가 바뀌었고 박진영, 이수만, 양현석 등이 스테이지에서 나와서 사업가가 되어 한국 대중음악의 주도권을 잡았습니다. 그들은 한국의 폐쇄적인 음악시장을 바꿔 놓았습니다. 가수, 작곡가, 연주자 등 재능이 있는 사람들이 도전하고 대중을 만나게 하는 시스템을 만들었습니다. 그리고 유튜브가 kpop이 세계 시장으로 뻗어나가게 해주는 통로 역할을 해주어서 세계음악의 장르로써 자리를 마련할 수 있었습니다. 더군다나 케이팝은 우리나라 재벌들과 달리 국가의 지원을 받지 않고 스스로 자본을 마련하였습니다. 자신들이 직접 가수활동을 하면서 자본을 모은 다음 사업가가 되어서 파이를 키워간 거에요.

[@Dhtdhrtv]

Abstaining from imposing regulations such as contents limit was the biggest one out of the successful Korean government's culture industry promotion policies. Excep for it, there is rare financial supports.

[@STUPEEEEEEEEEED]

Next video: Why is JAV the Political Weapon of Japan?

[@seoul_9584]

Um.... South Korean government did not involve in Kpop or Korean movie/dramas. Lol

[@khairulhelmihashim2510]

the first cultural export from Korea is taekwondo.

[@Geomaverick124]

just think. In a few presidential terms, we will have someone in the White House who would have grown up with Anime, Jpop, Kpop, and manga. Soft power can have an effect that can influence nations for generations

[@davidford3115]

The Greeks culturally conquered the Romans as Roman culture basically became a continuation of the Greeks after the Latins conquered the Near East. Why do i bring this up? I see Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan very easily being to the West what Greece and Greek culture was to the Roman Empire.

[@Brian_Duke]

I very much doubt that something will happen, it would most likely be a normal, very nationalist president like almost everyone. Culture is not a virus or something like that, to begin with, globalization has conditioned us to grow up surrounded by foreign culture and yet countries have never broken down their borders. There are young presidents like the one from El Salvador and Chile who most likely grew up surrounded by American culture and still seem to have very nationalist ideas.

[@darkz1563]

@@davidford3115 🤣

[@jasonk3605]

Kcontent is very high quality and inexpensive to make. Squid Game cost only $21M to make. We're gonna see more Kcontent in the coming years. Also we will see more non english content.

[@Guckkasten85]

Well seems like the "soft power" worked on me. Moved to South Korea many years ago and prefer it over Germany.

[@kitu260]

Korean culture is still a niche market in the Western world, but I think the achievements of KPOP and KDRAMA, non-English-speaking Asian cultures since the 20th century, have their own symbolic meaning.

[@user-jt3dw6vv4x]

It's not a niche market, it's mainstream enough for people who don't listen to Kpop to know what it is. Those Kpop groups have enough fans in the West to get their songs to chart in the top 50 in Western countries. Not to mention the success of Squid Game in the Western world in late 2021. It may be largely forgotten now but that drama had such a bizarre impact on English-speaking Western countries at the time. It really is quite surreal thinking about some of the bizarre stuff that happened in the months after that drama came out, all because almost everybody had watched it.

[@KPOPCoverDanceFan]

@@user-jt3dw6vv4x As a Korean living in South Korea, I am also amazed. Even Koreans do not see their own culture in large numbers. The total population is small, so how many people will it be if you summarize the people you see? However, as the viewing time of the squid game has risen to the "world's No. 1," I realized that many people like Korean culture. Proof that the "instigate tactics" of Japan, China, pro-Japanese group, and pro-China groups are not working. I am proud of Korea as a Korean.🥰 Our national power is weak, but perhaps we have the power to shake the earth.

[@phunk8607]

Ummm not Niche mate. Not niche at all

[@user-jt3dw6vv4x]

@Differently alike One of the biggest songs in the world right now is a song by a Kpop group called "Cupid" after going viral on TikTok. That song has remained at #2 on the official charts in my country (Australia) for the past few weeks and they play it on the radio on the nightly chart countdown radio show.

[@megahamartolos6638]

You omitted saying something you undoubtedly know that makes South Korea's success on the global stage even more amazing: it has been continuously at war with the North for the past seven decades. BTW, "Hyundai" is pronounced "hyoon-day."

[@doujinflip]

현대 sounds more like "hyun-day". Although even their official ads butcher it to "hun-day" or "hyun-die" because Korean reputation was fairly weak (especially in the car market) until fairly recently when more than military, missionaries, and migrant teachers became familiar with the language.

[@megahamartolos6638]

@@doujinflip Doubtlessly you know that the Koreans themselves can't agree on how to transliterate. "Lee" and "Rhee" is the same name. A Korean friend pronounces the car's name as "Hun-da." "Pusan" is often pronounced "Busan," and Koreans have no problem with it. The same thing occurs in Japanese. "Osaka" is sometimes pronounced "Ozaka."

[@17Trees33]

@@megahamartolos6638 yes, we don't really mind, it's mostly dialects/accents inside korea itself that decide the spellings or pronunciation. similar to the US with different accents all over the country which all have their own pronunciations. And the example you used with Lee and Rhee is a good one, 이 is another way to spell it, romanised is Yi, but obviously the Y is not sounded. most words which are very old or names have inconsistent spellings.

[@szvqorwnpstahskypfwmp9821]

K-POP is the best thing that came out of Korea!! The influence of K-POP is tremendous culturally, economically, socially, and politically. It's called SOFT POWER!! This moderator is 100% spot on!! Korea rocks with KPOP!! I love BLACK PINK!!

[@NewAb22]

But for how long can they keep it up. South Korea's population is now increasingly facing the same problems plaguing Japan for decades. Which is people are not having enough babies. Can Kpop be sustained in the long term if there's not enough young people of the culture representating it?

[@gurunhitam3414]

Now that's an alarming situation I've been thinking on too

[@COYS-o2i]

You don't need worry about South Korea and its people

[@eric7758]

Oh yea they will survive for along time as long as they are allowed to use black culture and style in their music.

[@crbkqw]

KPop is sadly a closeted slave contracting culture.

[@747appro3]

As a South Korean I don't think it'll last forever, but this is not something to worry about. In East Asia, for the past few decades countries took turns on the cultural hegemony. In 1980s movies from Hong Kong dominated East Asia, then in 90s and 2000s the lead shifted to Japanese culture. Later it was perhaps Taiwanese culture and now we have worldwide people listening to K-pop. So as I see it, it's more like a cycle of life where nothing is everlasting. Maybe Hong Kong or Japanese drama aren't as it used to be, but they are still great countries to live and leading world partners. The golden era of K-pop would surely end in some time and maybe a new contender such as Chinese culture could take its place, but I guess that's how the world goes.

[@mc0014]

As a German it sometimes feels as if half of our culture IS our industry. But at least another quarter is regional nationalism (because national nationalism is verboten since WWII), so there´s that?

[@S_Warden]

That sounds counter productive

[@ohamatchhams]

@@S_Warden Not as counterproductive as Indonesia's failed attempts to do similar, unable to copying the best parts of East Asia and Western Europe/North America's better merits, and only taking the worst ones under the veneer guises of "your friendliest SEAsian country" facade At least Germany have a looooooot to offer by comparisons to my country considering the scale it is

[@musnahterinjak]

@@ohamatchhams Which part you're referring about "failed to do similar, unable to copying the best part of East Asia and America"? Or are you just copying what the Indonesian opposition is saying? For every Visualpolitik reader, remember that Indonesian opposition are mostly filled by corrupt foolish politicians hungry for power.

[@mc0014]

@microwaveeee I never talked about exporting culture, but about the cultural idea of the perfect german worker: punktual, precise, motivated and very perfectionist. This culture helps export german technical workers (enginiers, architects, ...) all over the world.

[@grock7971]

And Kpoper said, let Kpop group stay away from the politic, and they belive without politic the world will be better 🤭

[@darkz1563]

without the government no one would know abt korea lol

[@rhobot75]

Jang-Geum (2003-2004) is magnificent. South Korean period soap opera about the first female physician and her intrigues in royal court and of course romance. Great stuff. Beautiful sets and costumes.

[@Vasco-hm8we]

Oh! Dae Jang Geum is My Favorite.

[@Vasco-hm8we]

See the Ju Mong

[@rhobot75]

@@Vasco-hm8we Thank you for the recommedation. As a Note, I just wrote "Jang Geum" b/c that is the IMDB entry on its website, but yes I remember now that you wrote it out that it's "Dae Jang-Geum". Thanks again.

[@markcreamer6179]

Korea is awesome.

[@Victorchaint]

Whatever it is , we love Kpop and Kdramas , that's lol.

[@darkz1563]

whos we

[@KPOPCoverDanceFan]

@@darkz1563👈👈👈 Koreans should protect our country from these foreigners. We need to protect our country from Japan and pro-Japanese groupn countries. Our country can be absorbed by Japan or China by these foreigners.

[@혀재이]

As a korean You are right. Good information

[@keosan]

Thought this video was about south Korea lol

[@otisphilips1011]

The only thing Western people have to know is this: Korean Government's support = let me get a piece of what is already successful without my intervention.

[@primarch02]

agreed 😂😂

[@GanzcastGermany]

That kind of system also works really well for regions inside of bigger countries, just look at Bavaria.

[@lemagnifique1573]

USA with Hollywood. Japan with Anime. South Korea with K-Pop. Italy with Pizza. India with Bollywood. China with its Belt Road Initiative. Brazil with football. Germany with high-quality products. Hispanic countries with Latin music. Qatar with hosting major sport events. Saudi Arabia with its 2030 Vision. Literally you don't need any military power to conquer the world

[@userre85]

India with Yoga and spirituality, not shitty movies

[@murderofcrows2179]

Italy gets a pass for all of the cringy things done because pizzas are so damn good.

[@trelax3600]

Obviously way much better than Cool Japan policy and Confucius institute.

[@憲灋を変える男]

🇰🇷😂

[@憲灋を変える男]

soft power rank 4🇯🇵 5🇨🇳 🇰🇷……

[@samthesuspect]

Watching this video made me hungry, now I am going to get Korean BBQ, thx visual politics for making me fat... (JK great vid keep up the good work)

[@sleepete12]

how can you get fat from few pieces of badly prepared meat and bland tasteless side dish?

[@BrakeCoach]

I find it how not a lot talked about anime and japan, but then we made kpop and everyone's like "umm... acktsually..."

[@alexlarsen6413]

Another example of a great brand country would be Switzerland. Norway could do way more with its sovereign wealth fund which is double the size that of Qatar.

[@murderofcrows2179]

have you ever heard anything negative about norway or norwegians? I have never, so norway has that.

[@alexlarsen6413]

@@murderofcrows2179 Actually I have, but the point is: Norway has double the amount of money saved (and growing) compared to Qatar. It can do way more with it in this respect of soft power. Not everything is about never hearing anything negative.

[@williamjones7821]

I find it strange -- years ago, the North Korean dictator saw "RASHOMON" and wanted NK to become a powerhouse in film. And they made "PULGASARI", the most horrid monster movie ever. And after 70 years, SOUTH Korea is the real powerhouse ! Just before Covid-19, Hollywood was trying to ram "superhero" movies down my throat in the USA. So I discovered "Keys to the Heart", "In Our Prime", and "1987: When the Day Comes" on DVD. Honestly, I will pay to see more content like this !

[@Gravitygrvity]

The U.S. is because Americans wanted listen to exciting songs and try to eat delicious food, and the quality of American culture has increased, and that's why it's spread all over the world. Did the U.S. government try to create and export American culture? The same goes for Korea. I don't care how you misunderstand it, but please don't distort the success of K culture into the achievements of the Korean gov. It is not their tropies. It is true that sometimes the Korean gov often attempts to use the power of Korean culture politically. But all of we know that cultural projects created by the government have always failed and will continue to fail. The lessons of ancient Greek, American, and Korean culture are clear. As a country's democracy develops, its culture develops and the number of countries friendly to increases. We are the only country that has sent half of former presidents to prison. Culture flourished due to developed democracy, and as a result, I guess that is the reason to K culture sweeps the world. When Korea was a dictatorship, K Culture was sexual, dirty, tacky, inflammatory, and low-quality. As culture develops, a society's diversity, transparency, identity, and freedom increase, and as a result.............>>>>> The ‘probability’ of Korean politicians going to jail increases!! So, do you still think the Korean gov do something to Korean culture?

[@raneroandres]

Do you guys think El Salvador is gaining popularity worldwide and almost political influence in Latin America with Bukele and his way of governance?

[@murderofcrows2179]

MS13 is it most successful export, so not yet.

[@soondori3364]

Playing Chinese music on topic of South Korea…. 😅

[@KPOPCoverDanceFan]

What is your nationality? Don't make me switch to attack mode ^^

[@KPOPCoverDanceFan]

Tell me your nationality. I will change the attack level according to your nationality.~~~~

[@KPOPCoverDanceFan]

Japanese songs are playing more openly. What is the nationality of this child who barks KPOP as Chinese music? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@KPOPCoverDanceFan]

I have never heard a song made in Chinese in South Korea. The only country I've heard is the "KPOP Cover Dance Russia Channel," which has the largest number of KPOP dance channels in the world. 🤣🤣 There are a lot of Russian women's kpop cover dance teams.👍

[@KPOPCoverDanceFan]

Don't instigate foriegner with nonsense. ^^ Of course, I agree that all the Japanese and Chinese groups and Southeast Asian groups should be expelled. Adding foreigners to a KPOP group creates a perfect situation for bugs like you to have seizures. I only support the "Korean group". ^^ I unsubscribed from BLACKPINK. I don't hate Lisa completely because she was on Japanese TV and sided with Koreans. However, to protect the country, it is natural to support only the Korean group. 😂 I will protect our country from you guys. 📌This is the first reason I hate groups that include foreigners.📌

[@hambatuhan3165]

An ads of korean influenced food from my country, Indonesia, popped out In the middle of video while I was watching

[@michelvondenhoff9673]

In East Germany they broadcasted West German police series during the 8 o'clock news...

[@BsBsBock]

Korea is running out of kids

[@darkz1563]

thats japan

[@greenvil2030]

1. Koreans good looking 2. Taleants 3. Own crazy history and daily culture 4. Wealth 5. High education of creators from Western including USA and etc. 6. Desire for succees and hard working.

[@v.d.2738]

😅

[@koharumi1]

Also in part, it could be used as propaganda against North Korea.

[@murderofcrows2179]

why would you need it to be propaganda, listening to it in north korea is already a crime punishable by death, and teenagers have already been publicly executed.

[@KPOPCoverDanceFan]

@@murderofcrows2179 You know it well. A North Korean who distributed the k-drama "Crash Landing on You" was also executed.

[@alexdecarie5593]

What's the song they had playing when talking about Cuba?

[@porytlim8508]

Hyundai, Samsung, Kia, LG, so on… Korea is doing fantastic. But the problem is that only people who work in Chaebol companies earn much money😢

[@gloryg3943]

The Funny thing is, Koreans themselves don’t really watch Korean Dramas nor listen to K Pop 😂 It’s the same with Anime and Japan, only a portion of Japanese ppl actually Anime.

[@murderofcrows2179]

there is a domestic market for korean pop music, otherwise it wouldn't be called pop=popular music. I do not listen to american pop, but acknowledge that its there.

[@KPOPCoverDanceFan]

@@murderofcrows2179 According to comments from English-speaking Koreans, the video says that Korean culture has become famous with government support. The logic is that the Japanese have been barking for years.😂😂. I'm really getting goosebumps that an American channel said the same thing. Koreans should stay alert and protect our country from the "instigate tactics" of the USA, Japan, China and Southeast Asia.

[@gloryg3943]

@@KPOPCoverDanceFan Government support? That’s honestly bullshit, the Japanese people are just being jealous about it. Chinese Pop should be the most famous around the world if that logic is true 😂 If they say not the government, but the social media then I could agree. The Korean government started to somewhat utilise and advert K pop after the success of Gangnam style. In other words, Gangnam style succeeded itself not by the help of the government. Wonder Girls were nameless in the U.S when they went in 2009 or 2010ish, nobody knew. I can say that the success of KPOP was 60% due to Psy. He allowed the western media to show interest in K-Pop. K-Pop was already relatively famous in Japan and South East Asian countries before 2010 btw.

[@drink_pp]

​@@KPOPCoverDanceFani don't understand. Your saying is exactly same with the korean nationalist politician who weaves all their country's Criticism into Japanese intrigue. It gives me creep that even the Kpop lover's political tendencies are the same as Korean politicians.

[@drink_pp]

​@@KPOPCoverDanceFanmusic has to be a area of peace. Not political propaganda. It seems Korea use their tool really well for their national interest.

[@TheSaltyAdmiral]

Have they not also done this with food? I might be mixing it up with some other country, but I remember reading something about a deliberate strategy to make their nations food popular across the world.

[@user-ht2js9xx3p]

Thailand.

[@Thinkingaroundthebox]

South Korea does very well for itself given its size and being so close to two hostile nations

[@senorfrog5605]

If Korea really wanted to spread the Korean language, why not do it the way Spain actually did? By colonizing a continent, letting those colonies rot for a while, then have the people illegally emigrate to a wealthier nation.

[@asimplenight8220]

Are you insane?