The Korean Wave: Cultural Consumption and Its Long-Term Sustainability

This essay delves into the sustainability of the Korean Wave (Hallyu), examining the role of cultural consumption in its enduring popularity. It explores the historical context of the Korean Wave's rise, tracing its origins in K-dramas and K-pop within Southeast Asia and its subsequent global expansion fueled by the internet and social media. The essay discusses the concept of cultural consumption, contrasting it with production-based societies, and analyzing how individual and group lifestyles shape economic relations. It highlights the impact of cultural policies and the state's role in shaping consumption patterns. Furthermore, the essay analyzes the decline of the Hong Kong film industry and the influence of Japanese animation (anime) on the global market. It identifies potential threats to the sustainability of the Korean Wave, such as market oversaturation and anti-Hallyu sentiments, and suggests strategies for fostering diversity and online presence to ensure its continued relevance. The essay also references relevant academic sources, including studies on cultural consumption, the Hong Kong film industry, and anime's impact, to support its arguments.

Running head: SUSTAINABILITY OF KOREAN WAVE
Sustainability of Korean Wave
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author note

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Korean wave refers to increase in the global popularity of the culture of South Korea
since the year 1990. It was driven by spread of the K-dramas along with the K-pop within
Southeast Asia at the initial stage. Korean wave rose from the regional development into the
global phenomenon owing to the influence of the Internet and the social media (Lee 2011). It
took place on account of the proliferation of the music videos in relation to K-pop on the
platform of the You Tube. Hallyu is indicative of a collective term which is used for referring
to phenomenal growth of the culture of Korea and the popular culture. It helps in
encompassing the areas of the music, drama, movies, online games along with the Korean
cuisine. South Korea have the goal of becoming the leading exporter of the popular culture in
the world which can help in the developing of the “soft power”. Hallyu have emerged to
become a blessing for that of the business along with the culture of Korea. The Hallyu has
been successful in contributing to that of 0.2 % in the GDP of Korea in the year 2004 which
amounted to around USD 11.6 billion. It helped in boosting the economy of South Korea.
This essay elaborates on the concept of the cultural consumption that can be said to be
relevant for the sustainability of the Korean wave. It discusses about process of Japan
animation along with the film crash that took place in Hong Kong in the year 1990. The essay
discusses about the main problems in relation to the Korean wave and how the sustainable
development of Hallyu can help in bringing benefits for the world. This essay recommends
that the developing of the diversity along with the developing of the online and the outdoor
sites can help in the introduction of hallyu in the world.
The concepts relating to the cultural consumption along with the lifestyle have grown
in the present age. There has been a transition from the society which was organized around
the production to a society which is organized around the consumption. The consumption
have superseded the aspect of the production that can be stated to be the dominant organizing
principle in relation to the consumer society (Katz-Gerro 2004). Consumption can help in

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offering the generalized explanation in relation to the everyday life of the people. The
individual or the group styles of the life are instrumental in are instrumental in shaping the
economic relations in the present age. There exists link in between the production and the
consumption that helps in exemplifying complex manner that economic has been found to be
embedded within social. The conflict taking place in between the producers and the
consumers have assumed more importance in the present age when compared to the conflict
taking place in between the classes. The element of the consumption can be said to be more
passive which involved the spending of money and it did not lead to any kind of the publicly
recognized form of the power. The mass consumption have a great amount of effect on the
homogenization of the lifestyles along with the changing of the mass orientations (Bok-rae
2015). This creates the way for the separation of the interests of the people as the consumers
from the interest as the producers. The individuals along with the groups in the present age
express themselves with the help of the consumption acts. The individuals think of
themselves to be the members of the communities having the shared habits, tastes along with
the concerns which helps in encouraging the sense of the solidarity. The cultural tastes can be
said to be contextual and hence the consideration of the combinations of the cultural fields
can be said to be of great importance. The consumption patterns which stem from the cultural
base cuts across the relationships which are generated within labour market. The state can
play an important role in shaping the consumption patterns of an individual. It can be carried
out with the help of the subsidies like the museums and the stadiums. It can be achieved with
the help of the regulated commodification that includes the national parks along with the
historical sites. The cultural policies can be said to be intertwined with that of the
politicization of the consumers and with the help of the regulation of consumption
sensitivities of public (Firat et al. 2013). There exists the cross-national differences in relation
to the allocation of the public along with the private funds for promoting the various kinds of

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the cultural activities. The cultural policies has an effect on the lifestyle practices of an
individual that are on the basis of the socio-economic conditions.
The cinemas of Hong Kong can be said to be the success stories within the framework
of the film history. The country was popular for having a robust industry in relation to the
cinema in the world. The films that were released in Hong Kong were able to surpass the
success of the films that were released in the western countries (Sociology.hku.hk 2019).
Hong Kong was widely thought of to be production center in relation to the Cantonese films
to mainland along with the South Asian markets. In the era of the 1930’s, musical became a
popular genre which was followed by that of the literary, detective along with the romantic
genres. The young artists have to face the problem in the present situation of Hong Kong
owing to the lack of the investment along with the diminishing market. The country has been
able to gain the historical achievement in the previous years which they would not be able to
replicate in the future on account of the state of the population in the country. The audience
of Hong Kong had been previously interested in the heroic gangsters, zombies along with the
Steven Chow’s comedies. The audience started to feel bored and this made them search for
the new presentations coming from the overseas markets. The shift that took place caused the
local productions to put in more amount of the resources that can help in the development of
the new genres which can keep them competitive in the present day market. Business
production coming from the Hollywood have created a great amount of effect on the cinema
of Hong Kong. The cinema of Hollywood are comprised of various kinds of the surrealistic
genres like the science fiction, horror along with the fantasy. They take recourse to the
computer arts along with the visual effects that can produce the sensory stimulation for the
audience (Trunfio 2013). Usage of the new techniques along with the presentation methods
have been instrumental in changing taste of the audience. The audience were no longer
satisfied with genres which were produced within the framework of the local arena. It have

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paved the path for the decline of the cinema industry of Hong Kong. Transformation taking
place within the framework of the Hong Kong cinema have been instrumental in creating the
“M-shaped” local film industry. It have paved the path for the decline of Hong Kong cinema
from that of the golden era. There have been the disappearance of the middle class owing to
concept of that of “M-shaped society” which have forced the filmmakers of Hong Kong to
quit from that of their job roles (Tuk 2012). It have been found that only the actors who are
highly acclaimed can enter that of mainland market and the contents have been found to be
restricted under influence of the Chinese government.
The Japanese comics along with animation have been influential within Asia since the
1980’s to the present time. The television series which is animated in Japan have entered
culture of the important cities of Asia. They have been exported across the national along
with the cultural boundaries (Hassan, Sallehuddin and Abd Aziz 2016). The gadgets in
relation to the cartoon characters of Japan have become popular among the children along
with the young people. Anime can have the positive influence on the business men which can
help in the promotion of their products along with the services. The scenario helps in
revealing the fact that the youth culture along with the perception of the people towards
anime have changed tremendously in the present age. Anime helps in interlacing the images
of the fantasy from the culture of Japan that can be said to be relevant for that of the
globalizing world. Anime can be said to be the greatest cultural export of Japan which is
more “globally pertinent” when compared to cultural content which is transmitted within the
universities of Japan. Anime can be said to be separate from the reality and anime can be said
to be an integral part of the “fantasy cape”. The Japanese animation have become popular
within the framework of Malaysia. Process of the identification in between audience and that
of character can be said to be a mechanism with the help of which members of the audience
experience reception along with interpretation of text. The effect of the anime changes

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attitude along with the behaviour of the people over the course of the long term. Theory of
the identification can be said to be of great importance in the early stages of life as it is
dependent on the element of the emotions. Characters present in anime emerge to become the
symbols for that of the common people. Adolescence refers to the stage when the child
becomes prepared for that of the adult life. The characters become attractive as it gives the
notion that the young people can become strong and they can face the problems like the adult
people. The adults in Japan expect that the children would be able to carry out various kinds
of activities without any kind of the assistance and they have to behave well before the
people.
There are problems in relation to hallyu that can threaten its sustainability in the
present day environment. There exists a large number of the K-pop acts which would debit
annually that would lead to oversaturation of K-pop market. There also exists various kinds
of the sentiments along with the ill-feelings from the China and the Japan which would ignite
the Anti-Hallyu movements. It is evident with the help of the “Hate Korea” expressions that
can be stated to be comical yet having the offensive parodies. The pop culture of Korea
needed invigoration that can help it being relevant in the present age. A shift took place in
notion of that of cultural industries to cultural contents industries at the time of the Lee
government. The government used to offer support to the cultural contents pertaining to
Korean wave in name of the economic imperatives (Jin 2014). The people in the higher
positions in the government used to lay emphasis on corporate sphere. The government used
to downplay significance of the collective along with that of the citizen-based concerns. It did
not help in the development of cultural industries owing to issues pertaining to national
identity along with the sovereignty. The rapid commodification along with the marketization
in relation to the popular culture have raised the serious concerns. The expansion of the
cultural industries have helped in increasing the profits however there have been problems in

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relation to diversity of cultural contents that have raised the challenges in the path of Hallyu.
There has been a great deal of commercialization in relation to the popular culture of Japan
which had a detrimental effect on cultural industries present within South Korea.
The financial crisis that took place in the year 1997 caused a loss in the GNP of South
Korea and it made the President declare the President Proclamation on Culture. It signifies
the importance of the cultural products of South Korea. The crisis caused the government of
South Korea in restructuring the industry. The policymakers of Korean government had to
establish the knowledge-based society which can help in facilitating the political along with
the economy support of media along with the culture industry. There was exportation of the
television programs however it was found that the revenue that was gathered was much less
as compared to the previous times.
There are various measures that can be adopted that can help the Korean wave in
sustaining itself in the present age. The developing of the diversity along with the level of the
cultural contents can aid in the process of the sustainable growth of that of the Korean wave.
It can be achieved by building the ecosystem for the creativity which can work to the benefit
of the Korean wave (Sociology.hku.hk 2019). The ecosystem should be built which can foster
the creativity that can help it in expanding to the new markets. It be stated that the culture
market would become vulnerable without the elements of the creativity along with the
control. It can help the creators in receiving the fair amount of the returns which can help in
the expansion of the Korean wave. The online media like that of the You Tube can help in
adding the explosive catalyst to spread of the Korean wave (Tuk 2012). Platform strategy
can be taken recourse to which can combine the online along with the offline that can help in
maximising global expansion pertaining to the Korean wave. The online platforms should
comprise of various kinds of languages that can help in catering to the needs of global
consumers. The offline spaces like the overseas platforms can also be used like Korean

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Culture Center along with King Sejong Institute that can help in spreading the Korean wave.
The Korean restaurants, concert halls along with the cafes can be used that be instrumental in
spreading the elements in relation to the Korean wave. The overseas Korea Towns can also
act as the focal point that can help in experiencing the Korean culture.
The Anti-Korean sentiment within China along with Japan is acting as a hurdle in
relation to the sustainable development of Korean wave. The two-way cultural exchange
which is on the basis of the mutual understanding can help in bolstering the co-operation that
can prove to be advantageous for the Korean wave. The festivals along with the award
contests can help in carrying out the communication with the culture of the other countries of
the world. The joint production with that of the foreign companies can help in minimizing the
risks and at the same time it can raise the marketing effects which can help Korean wave in
advancing overseas. Scope of the joint production ranging from the capital, manpower along
with the technological support can help in communicating with that of the foreign
broadcasting companies that can bring benefits for the Korean wave (Lee 2011). The
customization of the element of marketing to that of the individual countries can help in
spreading various aspects in relation to the Korean culture. The entry strategies should be
determined by the division of the regions on the basis of the self-awareness, interest along
with the preference. The contents of the Korean wave should be aligned with that of the
characteristics of the advanced markets that can help Korean wave in being sustainable. The
mimicking of the western culture cannot help in guaranteeing success of Korean wave. The
cultural DNA of Korea can be combined with that of the foreign content in a creative manner
that can help in the creation of the irreplaceable value. The unique stories of Korea can be
recreated by the integration of the global sense along with the perspective.
Consumption patterns rise from cultural base which cuts across relationships within
the framework of the labour market. State can play an integral role in shaping consumption

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patterns of the people. The young artists are faced with challenges in Hong Kong on account
of factor of dearth of investment. South Korea have been successful in gaining historical
achievement that they would not be able to recreate in future owing to state of population.
The animation of Japan have played an important role since 1980. Television series that is
animated within Japan have been able to enter the culture of cities of that of Asia. There
exists a great deal of K-pop acts which have paved the way for oversaturation of that of K-
pop market. There occurs ill-feelings in the people of China that have been instrumental in
stemming Anti-Hallyu movements. Development of diversity can help in bringing about
sustainable growth of Korean wave which can have a positive influence in the world. The
building of the creative ecosystem can help Korean wave in getting the advantages that can
ensure its sustainability.

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