Gabby Diaz-Blog Post 1
K-Pop: A Political Strategy
K-Pop: A Drive Towards Soft Power
Diving into the world of K-Pop means exploring a musical genre that has captured the world’s attention. With catchy beats that culminate largely from cultural/social influences, K-Pop has resonated with fans all over the world, namely those in North Korea and the United States. The question that arises is how K-Pop can be used politically as a means of fitting South Korea’s reconciliation efforts with other states? Soft power, as Joseph Nye would put it, is “when one country gets other countries to want what it wants might be called co-optive or soft power in contrast with the hard or command power of ordering others to do what it wants.” The Thucydides reading shows us how detrimental and fatal lack of soft powers can result in when a group or state can’t strategize allyship. In the case of popular culture, states can use soft power through popular culture as a means to define their global reputation and manage/steer political moves and policy. While one may not consider themselves a “K-Pop stan”, odds are they’ve heard hit songs produced by K-pop groups BTS or Black Pink. This rise to fame and hitting the global charts were no coincidence though– but rather an orchestrated and well-thought out plan from the Korean Government to harness power through popular culture.
History/Background
To understand how K-pop has and can be used by the South Korean government to further policies and gain international attention, we must look at why South Korea has taken this approach to asserting power. The Korean government in the 1990s issued a plan to keep their economy going strong, even go so far as to include a department dedicated to K-pop in the Ministry of Culture (which they invested a lot of money into). A “pseudo-cultural imperialism” thus began and soon surrounding Asian countries were consuming a mass amount of media and entertainment from Korea. China, feeling threatened by the soft powers of South Korea, thus started producing CDs to redirect South Korean influence to any North Koreans willing to get their hands on CDs on K-pop, even if it meant death, Between North and South Korea, this soft power became a threat to the North Korean government as many of their constituents were jealous of the seemingly prosperous South Korea.
North Korea
K-Pop’s popularity isn’t new, but actually part of something called Hallyu. Hallyu refers to the “Korean Wave” in which Korean culture has been globalized– contributing to the overall success of K-pop. But, how could this K-op make its way into a strictly controlled and guarded society? Through hard drives, usbs, radio podcasts, and CD-filled balloons, South Korean culture made its way into North Korea. With North Koreans consuming entertainment (even discreetly), K-pop as a soft power soon became a threat to North Korea’s government. With tensions high between the two states, South Korea has often resorted to using K-pop (both music and idols) instead of militaristic action. For example, in 2016, North Korea had conducted a nuclear test that immediately disrupted tourism and business in South Korea. In response, South Korea tauntingly blasted the hit K-pop song “Bang, Bang, Bang” by Big bang as a way to demonstrate that “We are sending out K-pop and information about life in South Korea” (Kim and Helsel 2016). For many northerners, this music is a reminder of the culture that resides in South Korea and briefly reminds them of the humanity of those in South Korea (dispelling ideas that South Koreans are devilish and evil). In addition, seeing K-pop groups such as Red velvet perform at the third Inter-Korean Summit in 2018 signaled South Korea’s President, Moon Jae’s, plans to prioritize peace in the process of denuclearization in North Korea (Botto 2018). Thus, with K-pop, South Korea has actually found it useful to utilize it to less alienate youth in North Korea. Could this possibly be a factor and step towards reunification? Maybe in a very ideal world, but K-Pop has certainly had its benefits in alleviating communication between the two states. In general, we see South Korea using K-pop as a way to get others to want their culture– from powerful K-pop fandoms to political activism, K-pop has reached a new sense of power.
Works Cited
Kathryn Botto, Eun A Jo. “The Aftermath of the Third Inter-Korean Summit of 2018.” Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace, Asun Forum, 30 Dec. 2018, https://carnegieendowment.org/2018/12/30/aftermath-of-third-inter-korean-summit-of-2018-pub-78057.
“South Korea Blasts K-Pop at North over Nuclear Test.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News
Group, 8 Jan. 2016, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/north-korea/south-korea-blasts-k-pop-north-over-nuke-test-n492576.
Overall this a really interesting piece on how K-Pop has definitely transformed into a form of soft power. I would say even just 10 years ago most Americans had never heard of K-Pop and today whether someone listen to it or not they are most likely aware of the genre. And I think that definitely sows the influence that South Korea has through soft power and also how much the country's power and position globally has changed over the past few decades. In general it is interesting to think about how a simple genre of music can represents so much more in so many ways.
ReplyDeleteGabby, what a fascinating choice of topic. I thought your choice of the phrase "pseudo-cultural imperialism" really stood out to me because of its implied aggression. For a second I almost thought it was too far (I mean could K-Pop really be associated with imperialism?) but upon reading about South Korea's very deliberate efforts to spread their influence internationally via this music, it seemed very appropriate. Can you think of any other examples from South Korea or elsewhere which might fit into this category of soft power imperialism? Perhaps this is a long-shot, but are there any examples of defectors from North Korea explaining that they were partly inspired by South Korea's K-Pop? Maybe its time to add K-Pop to the list of weapons of war, right of there with bag-pipes.
ReplyDeleteSam! Thank you for your comment-- I found that South Korea's intentions with K-Pop were very well thought out since the beginning seeing as it was a way to boost their economy and possibly spread global influence. I found this article talking about some defectors from North Korea explaining how American and K-Pop music helped inspire them to leave their country: https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/north-korean-defectors-inspired-american-korean-pop-8528030/ Really interesting piece to read about how music can change one's perception of a country,
DeleteI think K-pop is such an interesting topic that I never put much thought into. I did not notice how K-pop is used as a soft power for Korea to establish their global reputation. After reading your blog post I thought about how many times I have come across K-pop songs through forms of social media. It is crazy how easily this genre of music has been spread all over the world and become so popular. Social media exposes this genre to everyone further powering South Korea. I find it fascinating that the South Korean government uses music to reach a wider audience and achieves more international attention and power because of it.
ReplyDeleteHey Caitie! Yeah, I never realized how much of an influence K-Pop had until this year. Especially with social media, K-Pop has been able to reach such large audiences. You've probably come across very active and aggressive k-pop fandoms that are ride or dies for their idols and I think that just shows how much of a hold K-Pop has on individuals all over the world.
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