Reading the ‘Korean Wave’ as a Sign of Global Shift

Reading the ‘Korean Wave’ as a Sign of Global Shift

This article uses discourse analysis of newspaper and magazine articles during 2001 as well as fieldwork to reveal how the Korean Wave allowed Koreans to develop a different perspective on globalization. It identifies three perspectives that emerged from analysis: a cultural nationalist perspective, which emphasized pride in Korean culture, an industrialist and neoliberal position, which emphasized culture as an industry and focused on the sale of Korean products, and a postcolonial perspective, which emphasized the Korean wave as only the product of capitalism. The Korean wave has continued to grow, sparking a second Korean wave that generated less ideological and more information-based discourse.

Cho Hae-Joang

Korea Journal. 45.5 (2005): 147-182