The Hallyu wave has transformed from a small deliberate force in promoting Korean culture to a global powerhouse bringing in billions of dollars for the South Korean economy. Not that many years ago, the South Korean entertainment industry was aggressive in its efforts to expand its global reach. Across multiple Latin American countries, several Korean dramas are being shown through agreements with cable TV providers to attract foreign markets. Now, they may not even have to lift a finger; online platforms such as Netflix allow the entertainment industry to churn out as many films as they can, the internationalization of social media platforms reduces the required overhead to promote shows in certain countries, and thousands of enthusiasts around the world create their own individual content showing how beautiful South Korea is. Not to mention, even back then with the Internet being less advanced than it is now, Korean films and content that were available online were being translated by diehard fans so that others could understand the dialogues. While it is commonplace for countries to aggressively promote their own cultures, South Korea has now successfully mobilized (whether intentionally or not) its global markets to do the promoting for them, and as such, it has become the standard case study of leveraging one’s culture for soft power.

This achievement by South Korea to become a massive force in cultural domination is impressive considering their circumstances. When telenovelas originating from Latin American countries first rose in the 1990s, they were already enjoying a naturally large base of Spanish speakers who could resonate with the content through their native language. Similarly, Chinese films and content that were pretty definitive of what the West thinks of “Asian content” are enjoyed by Chinese speakers around the world. Korean, however, is not as widely used (or even known) as these two mentioned languages. And for a relatively small country with only about 50 million residents, amazing is an understatement to describe the success of globalizing its markets. Furthermore, it wasn’t until recent years that South Korean talents started to regularly appear in American shows. Although certain trends have arguably been propelled more into popularity due to big breaks into the Western market, the South Korean case is clearly different; although it is influenced by Western standards, their success was otherwise homegrown and they have been enjoying a huge market of their own that is largely independent of the West even before then.

This can be attributed to South Korean culture’s evolution. As one of the few countries that were untouched by major conquerors in the colonial era, South Korea has had relative independence in maintaining and evolving its culture, away from external influences. It is this uniquely evolved culture that successfully reached out to more viewers; it gave global audiences a new “world” that they have not seen before. A simple look at several K-dramas would point you to various aesthetics, from historical backgrounds with the characters gowning traditional hanboks, to modern cityscapes highlighting the ensemble of urban and mountainous nature. Primarily for the latter, it may have looked similar to Chinese historical films — understandably, since China and South Korea have a shared history — which could have been an advantage in appealing to familiar markets. South Korea’s culture has also evolved quite conservatively until recently, which contributes to its earlier films’ themes that are more family-centric, less sexual, and deeper into the individual storylines — almost an antithesis of the Western formula for content.

The rapid rise in cultural popularity of South Korea is expected to continue in the years to come, and that itself is already becoming a point of concern for some with nationalist tendencies. The globalization of any culture is argued to potentially shadow one’s actual cultural identity, such as when one actively dresses, acts, and consumes content as frequently as many people consume Korean content. Although this is partly true, especially with how Western content also holds significant cultural control in several countries, cultural globalization is inevitable in a society that is becoming more and more welcoming to multicultural diversity; such concerns are not only unfounded on reasonable thought but also backward-oriented. One does not need to reject all forms of foreign influence to validate his nationalism, much as one should not be defined merely by his country of origin. If anything, the story of South Korean cultural domination should be a source of inspiration — that a relatively small nation has built its own global market rather than be a success story of an already existing market, now inflicting its own cultural impact independent of the validation or control of any other giant cultural hegemon.