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ThE ROLE OF sOFT POWER IN DEFINING ThE IMaGE OF ThE REPUbLIC OF KOREa 1

Lucie Šarmanová

Abstract: This article discusses the concept of soft power as applied to the case of the Republic of Korea. South Korea, defined as a middle power, strives to make itself visible in the international milieu by focusing on soft power and multilateral cooperation with other countries. One of the tools for such policies is the Korean wave (or hallyu) which refers to the increased export of Korean cultural products (mainly popular mu-sic, dramas and films) to the rest of Asia and to the world. Through hallyu, an image of a modern and cool Korea is built which attracts foreign tourists and students, and helps the branding of the nation as well as Korean products. The author introduces the various strategies, channels, institutions and impacts of Korean recent nation-branding policies and their soft power implications.

Keywords: soft power, middle power, Hallyu, Republic of Korea

IntroductionSoft power is one of the commonly used terms in international relations these days. In the case of the Republic of Korea, with the compliance with of one of the coun-try’s slogans “Dynamic Korea”, awareness of Korean culture is no longer a regional phenomenon, having spread to different countries.  It is also gaining visibility in Europe thanks to its unique character, as well as being an area of interest among professors and academics across the world. Therefore, it is ever more important to discuss it and with the growing influence of Korean economics in the world and also understand the strategies, that are generated in the cultural field, and their goals.

The goal of this paper is to find out the role of soft power in shaping the image of the country in the international milieu. Therefore, it is necessary to first introduce the topic of soft power, discuss its characteristics and related terms, such as public diplomacy, branding, or smart power. The following part introduces specifics of the Korean way to globalize its popular culture and the position of the country in the international community. South Korea is defined as a middle power; therefore, middle powers concept is introduced and specific examples of Korea’s interna tional behavior supporting its positions are elaborated. Finally, the Korean brand as a part of the nation’s branding is discussed. In this article, the role of the state and con-glomerates in spreading Korean popular music globally will be pointed out because their conscious support makes the Korean soft power more interesting and its tena-

1 This paper is an extract of a master’s diploma thesis written by the author at the Jan Masaryk Centre of International Studies, University if Economics, Prague (2014).

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city in the attempts to distance from the historical traumas with the speed of one’s own is rather fascinating.

Characteristics of soft powerPower is defined as “an ability to influence the behavior of others in order to get desired results” 2 and it is traditionally measured by the size of population, area, military, economic power, and social stability. Power depends on context and with modern times, it became less tangible and coercion less effective. Hard power, which means economic and military power of a country, has been changing: while military power in the globalized world is less significant (albeit still crucial), dependence on economic market forces has been increasing. This fact depends however on the extent of engagement in global markets. 3

According to the American political scientist Joseph Nye, 4 soft power politics is a way of achieving your goals by being admired by other countries for your values, culture, openness, and level of welfare. The soft power concept describes the ability to change the preferences of others and make others want to cooperate and achieve the same results. Appealing personalities, culture, political values and institutions, legitimate politics, or moral authority can build a country’s soft power. As an “at-tractive power” it is, however, in comparison with military and economic power intangible even though its intangibility is not a necessary condition. 5

Other potential sources of power consist of government strategies at home and abroad. It is highly influenced by foreign politics of the country and it has both short-term and long-term effects, which can be changed with a context. Government strategies of soft power both support and harm it, which is dependent on its values and approach. But effectiveness is unsure and cannot guarantee success of a country abroad. If a country enjoys a good reputation abroad, it supports its prestige and can facilitate acceptance of its unpopular and risky measures. Help to other na tions and individuals to reach their ambitions are the best way of strengthening the reputation of America abroad, for instance. 6 In long-term national interests, soft power brings wider benefits.

Despite the fact that the term soft power was coined by Joseph Nye, the concept existed before he did so. The classical realist Edward Carr called it a power over opinion, 7 which is as important as military and economic power and connected with

2 Nye, Joseph: Soft Power: The Means to success in World Politics, 6. 3 Nye, Joseph: Limits of American Power, 551. 4 Nye, Joseph: Soft Power: The Means to success in World Politics, 6–8. 5 Parmar, Inderjeet: Soft Power and US Foreign Policy: Theoretical, historical and Contem-porary Perspectives, 216. 6 Armitage, Richard: CSIS Commission on Smart Power- How American can become a smarter power, 5. 7 Carr, Edward: The Twenty Years’ Crisis 1919–1939: An Introduction to the Study of Inter-national Relations, 132 and 141.

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them. Its loss can be negative also for hard power. According to Carr, 8 morals and state’s opinions also influence the decisions of the state. Hans Morgenthau elabo-rated on the importance of prestige and pursued different ways to deal with a threat. 9 International morality and world public opinion is for him important to keep inter-national status. Neorealist Kenneth Waltz also recognizes that material power “does not always have to be the most effective in achieving main goals of a nation.” 10 The philosopher and economist Kenneth Boulding distinguished coercive, exchangeable (trade, mutual contracts and cooperation), and integrative power (through human relations on all levels). According to realists, soft power is meaningless without economic and military influence. 11

Public diplomacy is a soft power’s tool and “an activity aimed at creating and influencing positive projections of a given state, its values and activities, which it represents among foreign publics.” 12 Public diplomacy is successful among coun-tries which are mutually dependent on each other (economically or politically) and connected through transnational bonds. 13 Strategies of public diplomacy are talking, listening, conversation, and cooperation and it aims at publics abroad and builds on mutual trust of both parties which helps create long-term relations abroad. 14 The goal of public diplomacy is to maximize national interests thanks to building cooperation with civil societies in other countries and facilitating relations among non-governmental actors at home and abroad. 15 Through its methods, public diplo-macy not only helps maximize national interests, it is also a way to be a reliable and trustworthy player in multilateral world. Soft power (attractiveness or motivation to follow one’s example) is a source of public diplomacy and the soft power tools are diplomatic measures and foreign aid (humanitarian operations).

In connection with public diplomacy, we should also mention the “branding” of countries. The term branding, sometimes also nation-branding, focuses on the reputation of a country and presentation of its position abroad. The reputation of a country also becomes a part of its foreign politics and also plays a role in assessing a country’s position in international relations. Countries more and more realize the importance of national identity in a globalized world and bringing its uniqueness to attention. The goal of branding is “creation of an identity and its subsequent presen-tation.” 16 In the case of South Korea, the government actively strives to change the look at the country and soft power became the “national brand”. In order to support

8 Melissen, Jan: Public Diplomacy and Soft Power in East Asia, 13. 9 Ibid, 13. 10 Ibid, 14. 11 Waltz, Kenneth: Theory of International Politics, 190. 12 Peterková, Jana: Public Diplomacy: A Buzzword or Real Change?, 87. 13 Melissen, Jan: The New Public Diplomacy: Between Theory and Practice, 10. 14 Ibid, 16. 15 Ibid, 22. 16 Peterková, Jana: Veřejná diplomacie, 19.

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it, the government created in 2009 Presidential Council on Nation Branding, 17 whose chairman’s goal is that the country “truly becomes one of the most important leading countries in the world” 18 and its fulfilling shall be an investment for the future.

Even though hard power competences are important, they cannot guarantee safety in today’s context. On the contrary, by creating alliances of states, state and non-state actors get a comparative advantage in today’s world. Thanks to connect-ing hard and soft abilities in “smart power”, countries can better solve current and future problems. 19 Smart power is nor hard nor soft and achieves goals by “skillful combination of both“. Smart power is characterized by strong military power but finds alliances, partner cooperation, and institutions at all levels important. With the help of these sources, it helps spread the influence and create legitimacy for its members in order to do global good. Multilateral consultations are considered more effective ways to create soft power and legitimacy than unilateral promoting of values. 20 It is primarily important to be a credible partner. Ernest Wilson, describing the importance of smart power in American politics, considers soft power a less sophisticated power, 21 which is in comparison with smart power of less importance. In the case of the Republic of Korea, the discussion about smart power is meaningful because the country thinks of its modern culture as a business model. According to the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “culture has risen as an indispensable element of a nation’s competitiveness and economic resource that produces added value.” 22 The government strives to increase its economic power and its orienta-tion on economic growth by supporting culture and therefore does not create soft power in original meaning of the term. 23 Korean modern culture is then considered as a unique mixture of economics, culture and soft power which “cannot be called hard power but is not completely soft.” 24

In this place, it is also important to think about the efficiency of Korean culture. Even though a culture helps increase an awareness of a country in the global scale, the question remains what kind of influence can this fact have on other goals of the country and how can a culture penetrate also among those who do not sympathize with it. Korean culture can be effective if its fans follow the Korean example or so cialize through the culture. The country should also freely connect its national identity with a modern culture in order to raise the chance to be followed by others. 25

17 Kim, Andrew: Catching up to the Korean Wave? The Pursuit of Soft Power in East Asia, 70. 18 Presidential Council on Nation Branding: Improvements in nation branding begin today (online). 19 The term is used mainly for an American foreign strategy of following national security interests – in CSIS: Smart Power Initiative (online). 20 Melissen, Jan: Public Diplomacy and Soft Power in East Asia, 13. 21 Wilson, Ernest: Hard Power, Soft Power, Smart Power, 120. 22 Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Culture: Overview (online). 23 Kim, Andrew: Catching up to the Korean Wave? The Pursuit of Soft Power in East Asia, 70. 24 Ibid, 71. 25 Sohn, Yul: Engaging Hallyu: Theoretical and Practical Challenges, 4.

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Globalization of Korean cultureHallyu, or the Korean wave, provokes general debates on globalization in East Asia. In the case of Korean wave, prevailing neoliberalism is considered the change in po-litical and economic system, responsible for spreading hallyu in East Asia, connected with opening primarily Asian cultural markets toward foreign imports in 1990s. The competitiveness in culture and the investments to it had been increasing. 26 Cultural production has become significant and media, economics, or technology started to be influenced by globalization and by the common community identity.

In conformity with the theory of globalization, hallyu is a part of globalization and it depends on each country if it accepts it or not. In the 1990s, Asian countries began to open towards the influences of foreign cultures. The Korean cultural in-dustry as well followed this trend and started to export its cultural products, that is to other countries of East Asia – to China, Japan and Taiwan – and then further. Export articles 27 do not only consist of popular culture but also the digital games industry, books publishing, and radio broadcasting. Globalization contributes to spreading hallyu in China, Japan, and Taiwan besides other things thanks to the fact that local viewers enjoy “modern, advanced but culturally close and politically neutral televi-sion shows” but at the same time consider Western or Japanese popular culture as “ideologically threatening and emotionally unacceptable.” 28 Social proximity thus becomes a factor, why East Asian viewers watch Korean shows, which consequently leads to becoming even closer and raises the ratings of the programs.

Globalization leads to cultural hybridization; 29 that is creating new forms by mixing domestic and foreign cultures because both cultures mutually influence each other. This subsequently creates closer cooperation among members of cultural groups, greater understanding and helps revive diasporas. Thanks to hybridization, perception of foreign cultures also change because “hybrid characteristics” are cre-ated, e.g. foreign food is adapted to local needs and expectations, and then we can talk about “touristic goods” 30 rather than reviving foreign cultures. In this sense, Korean culture is also being criticized for its clear similarity with American popular culture which shall facilitate its acceptance in the West. It is also considered a part of export industry, and therefore the uniqueness of its culture disappears because it rather becomes an interesting and well-thought export article and a source of profit. Yul Sohn also argues 31 that thanks to hybridization of Korean culture with the American, it is more easily accepted, because it is easier to Asian taste rather than Western culture.

26 Yang, Jonghoe: The Korean Wave (Hallyu) in East Asia, 108. 27 Ibid, 122. 28 Ibid, 131. 29 Shim, Doobo: Hybridity and the rise of Korean popular culture in Asia, 27. 30 Schirato, Tony: Understanding Globalization. The Global Subject and Culture, 158. 31 Sohn, Yul: Engaging Hallyu: Theoretical and Practical Challenges, 3.

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This trend can also be described as “glocalizing” 32 in order to approach global markets. It is represented by weakening of ties between a culture and its location by removal of cultural characteristics. In praxis, it means adapting films or songs to the target group: e.g. by setting movies in an international environment or using foreign words in songs. This is dependent on the final target group. In the case of South Korea, a good example is the more and more present English lyrics in Korean songs or setting foreign actors in movies which became blockbusters and also by setting their scenes abroad. As a good example serves the movie Snowpiercer 33 shot in the Barrandov Studios in the Czech Republic or, in South Korea, the very popular drama Lovers in Prague which made Prague famous in Korea. 34 Korean popular songs are more and more inspired by alternative American music styles which we can see in the song “Hangover” by Korean rapper Psy and American rapper Snoop Dogg. Korean musicians are also often compared to their American counterparts in order to raise their familiarity.

South Korea as a middle powerAccording to Jinwoo Choi, 35 a country is considered a middle power, which means a country which is in the size of political, economic, and military power ranks among great powers and small powers, if “it has enough sources of hard power which are taken into account at least in regional context by neighboring countries”. It also has to behave “according to the international codes of conduct which are required by responsible members of the international community” and “be able to actively cooperate with like-minded countries”.

Middle powers are defined as “neither strong, nor big” 36 and earlier, sizes of countries were determined by obvious criteria such as size or the population, area of the country, or its economy. But as Eytan Gilboa puts in “The Public Diplomacy of Middle Powers”, middle sized countries which lie somewhere between small and great powers could not effectively be recognized according to these viewpoints. 37 On the contrary, according to Duy-Heyong Cha, middle powers bridge the differences between super powers and weaker countries and their role will be even more impor-tant. Their task might be the key in cases, in which big countries strive for their favor in resolving disputes; they might play a crucial role in resolving territorial disputes, or climate issues. 38 They thus become a bridge between great powers and small states which stress the meaning of cooperation by looking for multilateral solutions. Yul Sohn deals with another view when he recognizes a middle power according to the

32 Tomlinson, John: Globalization and Culture, 29. 33 Kim, Kyung Hyun: South Korean Cinema’s “Localizing Global” Strategy, 99–104. 34 Unless otherwise stated, “Korea” or “Korean” refer to the Republic of Korea. 35 Choi, Jinwoo: Korea’s Role as a Middle Power in the Global Public Policy. 36 Gilboa, Eytan: The Public Diplomacy of Middle Powers (online). 37 Ibid. 38 Gilley, Bruce: Middle powers rising. The Global Edition of the New York Times, 9.

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topics to which the country is dedicated, 39 usually the environment, technologies, and developing aid. Further areas of interest are world safety, ecological develop-ment, foreign aid, and global health. 40 They commonly focus on soft power and try to resolve problems multilaterally and base their approach on norms.

Middle power countries promote stability and legitimacy of the international en-vironment, build networks and mechanisms open to them. In the long-term outlook, their activities lead to peace and safety in the world. In order for a country to become a middle power, it has to be a leader in its area of interest and they need considerable advantages. The necessity to build coalitions is significant mainly among such big countries because they can reach success only with partners and by cooperating with others. Yul Sohn emphasizes networking even more and considers networks together with soft power as the basis of Korean public diplomacy, 41 because networking gives, thanks to the access to sources of information, the actors not only bigger strength and competences but also the mediator can improve through information flows and socializing. They influence preferences of other governments or international players and are as well respected for their attractiveness, not by coercion or for material incentives.

In the international measure, the Republic of Korea ranks a middle power, be-cause it fulfills the above-mentioned criteria. As the 14th biggest economy 42 and 10th in military size, 43 the Republic of Korea has capabilities of being a hard power but is also respected because it keeps global norms and is taken seriously by like- -minded countries. In the praxis, the diplomatic activism can be seen in the sup-port of creating the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in the 1980s or the strong support of the role of the Group of Twenty (G20) in resolving the global financial crisis. In the G20 summit, Seoul also advanced the poverty solution in de-veloping countries and found a decrease in differences in the levels of development in their efforts to reach a “fair economic order.” 44 South Korea also specializes in nuclear energy, building nuclear power plants (the country won in 2009 a contract to build four nuclear reactors in the United Arab Emirates) 45 and non-proliferating of nuclear weapons and therefore supports the Nuclear Security Summit, which the country itself organized in March 2012. Thanks to building coalitions, it also has abilities to influence like-minded countries, which the country actively exploits in

39 Sohn, Yul: Searching for a New Identity: Public Diplomacy Challenges of South Korea as a Middle Power, 78. 40 Gilboa, Eytan: The Role of Middle Powers in Public Diplomacy, 52–53. 41 Sohn, Yul: ‘Middle Powers’ Like South Korea Can’t Do Without Soft Power And Network Power, 32. 42 The World Bank: Data. GDP (current US$) 2013 (online). 43 Choi, Jinwoo: Korea’s Role as a Middle Power in the Global Public Policy, 52–53. 44 Song, Sang-ho: Lee’s ‘Global Korea’ initiative gives boost to Korea’s diplomatic profile, 1 and 7. 45 World Nuclear Association: Nuclear Power in South Korea (online).

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economic agendas. Recently, it also stresses the importance of development, human rights, and investment in resources and extraction.

South Korea is aware of the necessity to solve global problems in cooperation with others which it proves through its engagement in the human rights agenda and humanitarian aid and development assistances. Since 2010, the country is a member of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (the club of sponsors) and the year after hosted the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, 46 which is a symbol of a transition of the country from the receiver of development assistance to the donor. 47 The country supports common interests, values, and rules of behavior, and is a member of wider international community. It takes part in international forums, hosts key diplomatic events and its citizen’s work in international organizations on all levels up to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and thus fulfills conditions of a definition of a middle power.

In 2013, Incheon became the seat of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), a fund within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Korean government expects that this step will globalize Incheon which shall become an international city on the level as Geneva or New York and also the organization GCF global as the World Bank Group (whose president in 2012 became the South Korea-born Jim Jong Kim) of the International Monetary Fund. The country itself is also 2013–2014 non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. The 2018 Winter Olympics are scheduled to take place in the South Korea’s Pyeongchang.

South Korea has attracted an increasing amount of attention, partly thanks to its rapid economic rise, but also by organizing international events (such as the 1998 Olympic Games and the 2002 World Cup). The change of an international setting created pressures in East Asia. With the “Global Korea” strategy, it also becomes the venue of international meetings of top state leaders, namely at the already mentioned G20 Summit or two years later at the Nuclear Security Summit. Public diplomacy is also supported by hosting conferences or seminars with Korean topics directly in Korea or abroad. Since 2006, Korea hosted six conferences of International Mone-tary Fund, the last one in 2013 48 with the topic of stability and growth in Asia. An important institution engaged in public diplomacy is the Korea Foundation, granting support to cultural centers, libraries, or think tanks all over the world.

In this development, Korean political representatives play a crucial role. Former president Chun Doo-hwan built in 1988 the Seoul Arts Center, the first and most important art and cultural complex of the country. 49 Kim Dae-jung (1998–2003 in office), called the President of Culture, decided to support cultural industry and also legally set this project, inspired by American movies and British musicals. The

46 Robertson, Jeffrey: Time to start debate on Korea’s role as middle-power, 13. 47 Song, Sang-ho: Lee’s ‘Global Korea’ initiative gives boost to Korea’s diplomatic profile, 1 and 7. 48 International Monetary Fund: IMF Seminars, Conferences, Workshops and Economic Forums (online). 49 Seoul Arts Center: About SAC (online).

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former president Lee Myung-bak’s merit is the increase of international influence and a profile of the country in diplomacy and creating the policy of Global Korea. During his office in 2008–2013, the global importance of the country then increased. His strategies united the position of Korea as a middle power, searching for answers on global challenges. Apart from organizing important events, the president did not leave out environmental themes, where he promoted sustainable economic devel-opment based on lower use of carbon. Except for long-term and short-term strategy of ecologic growth, a plan was set to decrease the emission of greenhouse gas by 30% 50 until 2020. A project to build an ecologic city near Saemangeum is evidence of compatibility of economic growth with the protection of the environment; it should serve as “business and logistic center of East Asia” and be “another miracle of the Korean economy” 51 based on ecologic development in the purpose to improve the quality of water and national parks. The incumbent president Park Geun-hye strives to continue in the success of her predecessor, even though she did not dedicate attention to culture in her presidential campaign. The increasing economic value and cultural exports and the role of culture in supporting the Korean image abroad, however, got her attention and she is occupying herself with innovation, creativity, and richness in the cultural sector. 52 In addition, public diplomacy became a pillar of Korean foreign politics. 53

The increasing diplomatic influence of the country is caused not only by public diplomacy, supported by the state, which influences the public opinion abroad, but also by the popularity of Korean popular culture, which should serve as means of understanding and increasing awareness of local culture and make the country more attractive abroad. Middle powers such as South Korea are motivated to increase its soft power by spreading its economic influence 54 as well as compensating for the lack of hard power, and thus the goal of strategic building of soft power in East Asia is generally reaching bigger influence and getting importance. 55 The third reason is then the change in perception of national identities of countries. Yul Sohn connects directly South Korean soft power with the security on Korean peninsula. 56 Long–term effort could, according to him, indirectly contribute to increasing safety for South Korea.

Public diplomacy is an opportunity, thanks to which middle powers can exert certain influences 57 in global politics owing to engaging in coalition building, gaining international, support and reaching wider recognition. They also widely

50 Young, Soogil: Harnessing green growth and climate change, A7. 51 Na, Jeong-ju: Lee Pledges Eco-Friendly Development of Seawall, 2. 52 Do, Je-hae: Park to put policy priority on Culture: President-elect to increase cultural budget, diversity ‘hallyu’. The Korea Times, Dec 21, 2012. 53 Ma, Young Sam: Korea’s Role in Global Public Diplomacy, 65–66. 54 Melissen, Jan: Soft Power in East Asia, 4. 55 Ibid, 5. 56 Sohn, Yul: Engaging Hallyu: Theoretical and Practical Challenges, 3. 57 Sukma, Rizal: Middle Powers and Public Diplomacy, 54–55.

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cooperate with more and more important non-state actors in order to reach their goals, and use their power. In this changing international milieu, Korea can find space to play an important role in the coordination with great powers and newly emerging actors.

Korea also has normative advantages which help the country in international success. The country was also acknowledged as valuable partner in peace-keeping cooperation (e.g. in Lebanon or in the Republic of South Sudan) 58 and in interna-tional development aid. They are motivated to contribute to world peace and safety and improve their status in the international community and at the same time to create a safer world.

Creation of hallyuKorean cultural sources comprise of Korean modern culture including Korean popular music (K-dop), drama (K-drama) and films and also food, fashion, classical music, arts, literature, dance, and technology (K-tech). They are called hallyu (or sometimes also allryu or hanryu; a term coming from Chinese) or Korean wave which is related to the increased exports of Korean cultural products in Asia and the world 59. All these areas became the main source of business. 60 The democratic government allowed the consecutive “waves” of Korean popular culture, which thanks to the production of fresh and diverse genres and their different aesthetics, create persisting impressions on viewers all over the world. These cultural waves are not always defined equally but generally three are identified. Distinction among them rests not only in their beginning but also in the form of culture which is leading them.

The first wave was the result of the government’s endeavors and events were organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. 61 Its spread was facilitated by television channels and mass media. 62 At the beginning, Korean dramas were the propulsion power because they represented a cheap alternative to Japanese shows. According to the general belief, hallyu started in 1999 in China with a successful drama but outside of the country, it was still rather unknown. “Winter Sonata” is considered the pioneer drama which reached success in China and Japan (where products connected to the series earned 2,3 billion dollars) 63, and so contributed to the propagation of the country. The romantic series made the main character

58 Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations: Peacekeeping Operations (online). 59 Kim, Andrew: Catching up to the Korean Wave? The Pursuit of Soft Power in East Asia, 63. 60 Shim, Jae-yun: Hallyu seeks to bridge different worlds. The Korea Times, 5. 61 The Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism was created following the reorgani-sation in 1998, and replaces the former Ministry of Culture and Sport. 62 Ahn, Shin-Hyun: Girls’ Generation and the New Korean Wave, 85. 63 Joo, Jeongsook: Transnationalization of Korean Popular Culture and the Rise of “Pop Na-tionalism” in Korea, 494.

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a women’s idol (“which was more popular in Japan than the then prime minister”) 64 and the island Nami, where the show was shot, became an after-sought touristic location, which was within 10 years of the screening visited by more than a million of tourists. 65 In 1999 the series “Star in my Heart” became a hit in Taiwan and China and since then, it was shot in primetime in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, and Vietnam. The critic Lee Joung-mi ascribes the success also to the situation after the financial crisis, after which people found relief in romantic stories. In Hong Kong, the most watched drama in 2003 was the historical drama “Jewel in the Palace.” 66 Thanks to advanced conditions for production, film stars, rich supply of genres, spread of domestic film companies and the support by the film promoting and developing agency Korean Film Council (KOFIC), the country succeeded to gain dominance on the domestic market and international reputation. The series finally spread all over Asia. Korea is the 7th biggest film market in the world which yearly attracts 119 million viewers. Joo in this context defines the Korean wave as some-thing, “what various people in eastern Asia watch, listen to, and play.” 67 Korea is a country of blockbusters beating Hollywood on its domestic market, recognized by critics abroad, and commercially. One certain drawback is the fact that the series and films are much more successful on the Asian market, where they spread much easier. Although movies reach foreign markets, they are still rather a part of specific film festivals. The first wave of Korean culture thus rather remains a regional affair.

The global success happens only with the second wave (sometimes also called as “New Korean wave”), led by Korean popular music. The main difference is 68 that fans itself searched for it, who in addition drives it by their activities and enthusiasm. They organize auditions and cultural events all over the world. According to Keith Howard, in the musical industry, this wave arrived already in 1999 with a mem-ber of the group CLON Jun Yup’s duet “I can’t wait” with a Taiwanese singer Yuki Hsu, 69 even though generally it is connected with the H.O.T.’s performance later the same year. Because Korean popular culture was earlier not too internationally recognized, Koreans view the global success of hallyu as national pride. 70 Before creating big entertaining agencies, singers became famous thanks to live perfor-mances or through broadcasting and only then signed with a manager, agency, or record company. 71 Lee Soo-man, founder, chairman and the biggest shareholder of the biggest entertainment agency SM Entertainment, however, changed this trend.

64 Lee, Claire: Remembering ‘Winter Sonata,’ the start of hallyu, 1. 65 Ibid, 5. 66 Salmon, Andrew: New wave of pop culture redefines Korea, 14. 67 Joo, Jeongsook: Transnationalization of Korean Popular Culture and the Rise of ‘‘Pop Na-tionalism’’ in Korea, 490. 68 Ahn, Shin-Hyun: Girls’ Generation and the New Korean Wave, 85. 69 Howard, Keith: The Foundations of Hallyu – K-Pop’s Coming of Age, 67. 70 Joo, Jeongsook: Transnationalization of Korean Popular Culture and the Rise of ‘‘Pop Na-tionalism’’ in Korea, 489. 71 Kim, Hyung-eun: SM Entertainment and the birth of the Hallyu, 12.

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His goal was to find talents and grow with them; the company organized castings, propagation, marketing, and sales. With the new system of managing talents from their beginning and spreading on global markets, the Korean music industry was changed. As a consequence of globalization, every artist at SM Entertainment has to produce their work in English and Korean. Today, the talent scouts search all over the world, mainly in the USA and China, in order to ensure continuous growth at home and abroad.

Approximately since 2010, hallyu has been led by Korean pop that became a recognized category of music genres and promising business even though it was considered only a temporary thing at the beginning. K-pop became an identifiable brand like Samsung and it is getting such attention which traditional Korean culture never got. Popularity of music reached outside of Asia to Latin America, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. K-pop is particularly popular on the Internet. In 2011, even before Psy’s hit, K-pop hits have been seen by 2.3 billion viewers from 235 countries in one year. 72 Popularity of Korean popular culture has an economic effect: in 2012 was the first time it surpassed exports of cultural products of their imports. According to the Korean bank, the country exported products worth 1.25 billion dollars 73 and most of these cultural products are related to hallyu. Export sharply rose since 2011 and its success is ascribed to boom of music groups.

Historically, probably because of Confucianism, the entertainment industry did not enjoy high social recognition. 74 But artists gradually gained respect even though they have low education and financial success. Fame becomes a new possibility for success, which leads to shift in Confucian traditions. In recognition of their increased status, the group Girls’ Generation and Super Junior became honorary ambassadors of the quarter Gangnam. 75 President Lee Myung-bak considers the international success of K-pop as “one of the biggest successes of his country” 76 and the govern-ment administrates Korean wave Index for measuring the craze for cultural exports. The creativity of Korean youth becomes an impetus of Korean economics – local entertainment industry is significant and growing export article and Korean stars in neighboring countries are sometimes getting more attention than local stars. 77

The concerns are currently about the sustainability of hallyu and its future. Korean culture could, according to negative predictions, lose its strength within several years. Therefore the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism tries to find ways to prevent this. In this regard, we are talking about the third wave of hallyu which focuses on globalization of traditional culture. High level of products should be reached by unique and universal Korean cultural values: traditional culture should be the base of cultural products which, thanks to propagation with the help of

72 Seo, Min-Soo: Lessons from K-pop’s Global Success, 60. 73 Kim, Rahn: Korea posts 1st surplus in culture account, 11. 74 Jones, Jeffrey: Time to support entertainment in Korea, A7. 75 Oh, Kyu-wook: Fest to show hallyu Gangnam style, 16. 76 The Korea Times: K-pop’s slick productions win fans across Asia, 22. 77 Jones, Jeffrey: Time to support entertainment in Korea, A7.

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modern culture will be globally successful, yet unique. 78 Less popular genres shall get more support from the government: writers who create on the basis of traditional Korean legends or alternative music groups which want to breakthrough abroad. Setting a supporting center is also planned 79 which should help companies in law and financial issues and in case they are interested in exporting abroad also suggests a marketing strategy and provides information. The role of the government and companies is very evident in the support of Korean culture.

Korean brandPictures that a country projects on a political scene as well as by wider public play “a very important role in assessing the position of a state on the international scene.” 80 The concept or branding appears in Korea with the initiatives of Lee Myung-bak, 81 which shall support economic and social success of the country abroad and attract not only foreign tourists but also investments. A brand differentiates its products from their rivals on the market by creating certain emotions and behavior and means a certain quality for them. 82 The Korean brand has a significant name in the competitiveness in the field of technology, science, or economics but the country is still rather remembered with North Korea and the Korean War, which are the most commonly mentioned negative connotations. 83 According to the survey, people even confuse both Koreas. 84 According to the professor Yoo Jae-woong, 85 the global image of the country lacks behind its transnational companies such as Samsung or Hyundai.

The country strives to improve its image abroad by two ways: in 2009, it in-troduced an official government campaign for supporting branding and even the modern Korean culture lead to the change. By improving the international image of the country, they want to prevent companies from being disadvantaged “only because they are from South Korea.” 86 The key projects of branding of the country are increasing of development aid according to the Korean model of success, de-velopment of programs for multilateral families in the country, promoting education according to the global norms and supporting student exchanges, and thus pro-viding education in the country to foreign students. The country also sets the goal to

78 Shin, Hae-in: Korea to promote 3rd Hallyu: Minister Choe (online). 79 Cho, Chong-un: Korea to turn hallyu into industry (online). 80 Peterková, Jana: Public Diplomacy: A Buzzword or Real Change?, 91. 81 Na, Jeong-ju: Korea urged to revamp overseas PR system, 5. 82 An, Ji Yoon.: An Exploration of Korea Brand and its strategy, 21. 83 Ibid, 32. 84 Pike, Andy: Brands and branding geographies, 294. 85 Na, Jeong-ju: Korea urged to revamp overseas PR system, 5. 86 Ibid, 5.

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provide 3,000 volunteers per year 87 under the program World Friends Korea, while direct personal contact of the volunteers with the local inhabitants is important. This “grassroots diplomacy” shall promote Korean soft power all over the world. 88 Organizing of the Vietnam-Korean Week, where Koreans connected cultural and economic diplomacy, could serve as an example: they introduced popular culture and food to local inhabitants as well as organized business forums and seminars for strengthening business relations. With the help of creating a worldwide network of Koreans living abroad, this connection shall serve to promote the country abroad. Another goal is also to advertise Korean food, taekwondo, tourism and language. The government also wants to support the connection of successful companies with the country of origin, which allegedly distances from the country because Korean products are considered less prestigious. While economic development helps to improve the reputation of the country, thanks to culture and education, foreigners can better understand the country and, therefore, the government shall strive – with the help of politics and diplomacy – to inform about its country in compliance with the needs of the foreigners. 89

The country also uses logos and slogans for its ministries which represent Korean potential. So, in 2002 with the motto “Dynamic Korea” and five years later “Korea Sparkling”, the government wanted to attract foreign investors and tourists. These slogans were abandoned because they did not bring desired results. 90 In 2010, the slogan “Korea, Be Inspired” was launched but according to the critics, it was too arrogant. 91 With the new motto “Imagine your Korea”, the country wants to focus more on foreign tourists – by 2020, the government plans to attract 20 million, 92 which means almost twice as much as the current number. The country should be according to the slogan “exciting and modern“, inexpressible with one word. Apart from the traditional richness, the enticement is of course modern music and series. Nevertheless, with these often changing slogans in accordance with the changing governments, it might give the impression of unpredictability especially to the in-vestors.

Media became a strategic industry which shall again reinvigorate the sector of economics and tourism, where they with the state and travel agencies are all involved. Too much of American culture in 1980s created a wave of nationalism 93 in the coun-try and craving for restoration of their own identity and together with globalization led to the idea of selling of Korean cultural products on the global market. In the

87 Kim, Regina: Searchers and Planners: South Korea’s Two Approaches to Nation Branding, 150. 88 Na Jeong-ju: Korea Seeking Grassroots Diplomacy to Enhance Global Image, 2. 89 Na, Jeong-ju: Korea urged to revamp overseas PR system, 5. 90 Na, Jeong-ju: New Government Logo Planned, 1. 91 Lee, Chang-sup: Tourism agency changes slogan again (online). 92 Lee Woo-young: ‘Imagine your Korea’ new tourism slogan (online). 93 Huang, Shuling: Nation-branding and transnational consumption: Japan-mania and the Korean wave in Taiwan, 5.

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purpose of support of media industry on the global level, the Division of cultural industry was created. Cultural industry gradually and successfully becomes na tional pride with which the inhabitants identify and which creates “cool, popular, and a modern country,” 94 upgrades its status and helps their citizens to get confidence.

Koreans have big ambitions in advertising activities – the government subsidizes their works abroad or provides them for free with the aim of spreading a positive image of the country all over the world. 95 Thanks to the support, it expects future profits. Thanks to the popular culture, it creates bonds to international audience, which percepts it as an ideal image, 96 helping them to better understand Korean culture. With the help of marketing strategies, Korean brands shall become brands on the world level. Korean conglomerates take advantage of product placement 97 in television programs and Korean stars represent brands. Thanks to this strategy, Korean cosmetics in Taiwan became successful since 2005, where it was considered lower quality 98 products in comparison with the Japanese cosmetics.

According to the president of the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), hallyu contributed to increasing the national brand of the country, 99 it is thanks to the advertising for Korean national image and the increased interest in it, that the understanding of Korea is growing. Furthermore, it has positive economic effects. Positive images are projected by indirect experience with cultural content of the country (via TV shows, films, advertising) as well as direct (travelling to the country, meeting with local people and enjoying their products). In this way, the Chinese also learn about the country, who like Korean series and entertainment shows and therefore positively think about Korea. 100 Also thanks to hallyu, the Chinese prefer and consume more Korean products – foods and sweets but also mainly cosmetic products that are mostly bought by Chinese tourists during their visit to South Korea. Hallyu projects positive images as a marketing strategy and uses stars in adver-tising. Positive perceptions towards the nation then leads to positive images of the product. 101 This marketing strategy relies on spoken words – on the fact that positive attitudes toward a nation will be transmitted on its products. Hallyu stars are used as models in marketing. Prevailing favorable feelings towards Korea improves the images of its products and the society will positively feel this trend if the products are clearly identified as Korean, based on Korean values. The biggest consumer show with electronics in Europe, the Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA) in Berlin, serves as an example, where the company LG attracts attention to its televisions with the

94 Ibid, 7. 95 Ibid, 9. 96 An, Ji Yoon: An Exploration of Korea Brand and its strategy, 30. 97 Huang, Shuling: Nation-branding and transnational consumption: Japan-mania and the Korean wave in Taiwan, 9. 98 Ibid, 9. 99 KOCCA: Greetings from the President (online). 100 C. Min Han: The Korean New Wave in China, 17. 101 Ibid, 17.

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help of Korean popular stars that enable the company to get more attention all over the world. Companies exploit the growing popularity of the stars for expanding to global markets and therefore, the culture is not only a motor of economic growth but also improves the image of the country. Thanks to the positive promotion, export profits rose.

The goal of the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism is to create job opportu-nities with the help of culture, constant increasing of added value of cultural industry should be assured, strengthening of tourism, and further cultivating of new markets. With the aim of diffusing the value of culture, the cooperation and cultural influence shall be further spread and dynamically adapted. 102 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs includes cultural diplomacy as one of its pillars in order to increase the brand of its country 103 and its prestige in the international milieu. Cultural exchanges in the field of arts, sports, and media are based on a Cultural Agreement. 104 Through its embassies, the ministry supports Korean culture abroad and helps facilitate mutual understanding. Business people, journalists, government assistants, or artists are invited to the events and the audience also gets the chance to express its opinion in the survey of satisfaction. The Ministry also supports the screening of Korean dramas in places, where they are hard to penetrate (mainly in Africa and Latin America). The Ministry also supports spreading Korean films at festivals in Cannes, Venice, or Berlin and attracts foreign creators to Busan International Film Festivals, and in addition it organizes film festivals abroad. Since 2008, global cultural events 105 are also a part of cultural diplomacy of the country, connected with raising awareness of global issues – poverty, climate change, and ecological growth. One of the projects was organized by the fans of the singer Seo Taiji themselves on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of his debut; they called a forest after him “Seotaji Forest” in Brazilian rainforest Guapi Assu. British environmental organization World Land Trust was engaged in the realization. 106

ConclusionBefore the “creation of hallyu”, there existed a Korean culture which was pene-trated to the world. But the difference lies in the look at the country: while earlier, it was connected with oppression, war atrocities, and post-war poverty, nowa-days it is attractive for its rapid economic development and tries to be connected through culture with modernity, fun, beauty, or high living standards. This picture is projected with significant help of Korean stars, associated with perfect appearance and style, and thanks to them, the government also tries to make their products visi-

102 Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism: Vision (online). 103 Ministry of Foreign Affairs Republic Korea. Culture: Overview (online). 104 Ibid. 105 Ibid. 106 Cho, Chong-un: K-pop still feels impact of Seo Taiji & Boys.

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ble abroad and thus contribute to their sales abroad. Exactly this role of government and companies in the spread of hallyu is crucial.

Korean culture plays an important role mainly because it increases interest in cultural products of the country. Companies are aware of the stars popularity and they take advantage of it in marketing of its products. This leads subsequently to the increase of consumption of their products. In addition, the number of tourists has been steadily increasing and the increasing number of foreign students is an evidence of successful branding in education, embodied in the Korean plan from 2009.

South Korea is in diplomacy defined as a middle power and on the grounds of this position, it exerts diplomatic activities which successfully promote the country on the international level. Thanks to organizing international conferences, sports events or fairs, the country strives to become visible and asserts itself as a reliable partner in the matters of development aid or ecology. Apart from the well-thought governmental strategies, Korean modern culture also becomes a part of “Korean brand” and based on the newest slogan “Imagine your Korea” one of the lure for tourists, whose number should reach 20 million within next 6 years. The Repub-lic of Korea, in their efforts to develop not only economically but also to become a popular tourist destination and globalize more, promotes ambitious plans. In order to reach them, not only entertainment companies but also the government and Ko-rean conglomerates connect and finally not only stimulate but also control Korean modern culture.

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Contact: Lucie Šarmanová, graduate student, Department of International Relations and Diplomacy, University of Economics, nám. Winstona Churchilla 4, 130 67 Prague 3, Czech Republic, [email protected]

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