Week 1 -- Stephen Nienu

South Korea, Riding the Sustainable Hallyu?

The author describes a story that resonates with Asian-American youth growing up in the United States. My parents come from Nagaland, and on many occasions I have had similar experiences to the author’s throughout my childhood. Many times people would ask me “Are you from x”, I would respond yes because 99% of people don’t know where Nagaland is, and at the time I had little knowledge of my cultural background so it made sense to give a quick, simple answer and go along with my day.

In 1965, South Korea’s per capita GDP was less than Ghana’s and North Korea’s per capita GDP. Today, South Korea is the world’s fifteenth largest economy. In 50 years, South Korea has managed to catapult their economy, cinema, and social culture to dominating the Asian scene. This wave of popular culture is called “Hallyu”. The success of Korea’s technological boom can be attributed to government intervention.  Korean government’s campaign has proposed five-year plans that focus on developing technology, media icons, and pushing K-Pop culture. This has ultimately helped the economic and social image of South Korea. One five-year plan was that the government invested in the Internet. Korean government offers a 1 gigabit per-second connection to all households in Korea. This is key for the explosion of Korean media. For an example, if everyone in Korea can access K-Pop, then K-Pop will explode, and it did. It’s no fluke on how this Hallyu happened, but moreover, how Korea can sustain the large economic boom. In my opinion, I think government intervention for certain things, like universal internet access was a good thing, and helped Korean media. However, government intervention is not always the right answer for every issue. In order to achieve a national aesthetic status I think Korea needs to do more. Korea is successfully dominating music and technology, but how about medical breakthroughs, As a nation, they have to break free from their older brother, and keep building on their own brand.

Questions

1.     How can South Korea separate itself from the image of North Korea?

2.     How can South Korea sustain this economic boom?

References

1.     Eung Hong. “The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation Is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture.”

2. http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/27/travel/10-things-south-korea-does-best/