ARTICLE: A Possibility of the Korean Wave Renaissance Construction Through K-Pop: Sustainable Development of the Korean Wave as a Cultural Industry

by Yeojin Kim*

I. Introduction

 
Mankind has built civilizations through exchange and communication. Human history involves everything from barter in the ancient times to the exchange of new technologies across cultures in modern day. In the past, it took a long time for a trend to flow into another country. Nevertheless, the Information Technology ("IT") Revolution that occurred near the end of the twentieth century promoted habitual exchange among civilizations. ¹ With the birth of the "digital road" that transcends time and space, the paradigm for exchange has changed drastically. ²

In the era of the "digital road," Korean popular music ("K-Pop") has disseminated into every part of the world. In fact, South America, the farthest continent from Korea, goes wild for K-Pop, and the craze moves on to other continents naturally. Without Koreans having to recommend K-Pop, if listeners of K-Pop around the world believe that K-Pop has some charm, they absorb the trend and pass the music on to others. It has now come to the point where government agencies, the press, and entertainment management companies do not need to promote K-Pop because foreigners are consuming K-Pop feverishly on their own.

Nowadays, people are sharing K-Pop on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and other Social Networking Services ("SNS"). ³ Thanks to the help of such SNS sites, on July 15, 2012, a momentous event in K-Pop occurred: Psy introduced his new song "Gangnam Style" and his song became the most searched music on YouTube. In two months, his ...