Korean pop culture may not (yet) turn heads in Los Angeles or London, but its impact -- economic as well as cultural -- across the developing world is startling. First taking off in China and Southeast Asia in the late 1990s, but really spiking after 2002, Korean TV dramas and pop music have since moved to the Middle East and Eastern Europe, and now even parts of South America. "Gangnam Style," a music video by the rapper/satirist PSY, has been viewed 292 million times since it was released in July. Since then he's been welcomed with open arms, and has been spotted teaching several celebrities his iconic "horsey dance."
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Indeed, the rise of K-Pop is the bellwether of a variety of trends that are changing the global economy (and emerging markets in particular) in fundamental ways. Its success as a product - but, more importantly, as a cultural brand promoting Korean exports ranging from soft drinks to cosmetics to consumer electronics -- suggests that Western countries aren't likely to have a lock on the hearts and wallets of developing countries for long. More generally, it illustrates the new reality that the North-South pattern of trade and cultural exchange that has dominated the world since the ascendance of European colonialism is giving way and making room for unexpected soft power.
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South Korea's economy, reclassified by the IMF as "advanced" back in 1997 (along with Singapore and Israel), has doubled in size since then. But unlike most advanced economies, a disproportionate share of its exports (and foreign investment) goes to developing countries. In 2011, Korean exports to China alone totaled $134 billion -- more than U.S. exports to China and about the same as those from the European Union.
Pop culture, in reality, is no more than a blip in the total Korean economy, comprising $137 million in exports out of a $1.5 trillion in 2011. However, while Korea mainly focuses on staying in front of the world's electronics, auto, steel and shipbuilding industries, pop culture has proved surprisingly important to Korea's commerce. A survey of 300 companies by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry found that 52 percent considered the Korea Wave -- the term for the success of Korean popular culture abroad -- influential in increasing exports. Another survey (this one of households across East Asia) by the Korea International Trade Association found that 80 percent of respondents said the Korean Wave led them to buy more Korean goods. "There's a confidence to the ‘made-in-Korea' label now," explained Tyler Brûlé, the editor of Monocle, the London-based lifestyle magazine. "It's fascinating."
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