Hallyu Power: A focus on soft power in Lee Myung Bak’s Cultural Policy

In this thesis the aim is to work on questions related to soft power in the cultural policies of the Lee government. As previous research on hallyu had been focusing mainly on the reason of its spread, presidencies in the early stages of hallyu, the economic aspects of hallyu and research dealing with state power was more focused on South Korea’s engagement in military peace operations and development aid not much could be found on the relation of the Lee government with cultural soft power. Even though this was eminent in his cultural policies throughout the years. Therefore this thesis focuses on the questions of how the Lee administration’s goals and uses of soft power are reflected and pursued in the cultural industry policy. How does the government see the use of cultural policy for economic and image goals and why this is deemed important. These questions were researched in a framework of soft power as coined by Joseph Nye and this framework was used while analysing the...Show moreIn this thesis the aim is to work on questions related to soft power in the cultural policies of the Lee government. As previous research on hallyu had been focusing mainly on the reason of its spread, presidencies in the early stages of hallyu, the economic aspects of hallyu and research dealing with state power was more focused on South Korea’s engagement in military peace operations and development aid not much could be found on the relation of the Lee government with cultural soft power. Even though this was eminent in his cultural policies throughout the years. Therefore this thesis focuses on the questions of how the Lee administration’s goals and uses of soft power are reflected and pursued in the cultural industry policy. How does the government see the use of cultural policy for economic and image goals and why this is deemed important. These questions were researched in a framework of soft power as coined by Joseph Nye and this framework was used while analysing the cultural White Papers that were published during the five years of Lee’s presidency. In the end the concept of soft power is very applicable to South Korea and its situation. If one were to catch the importance of soft power to South Korea in one word it would be: visibility.Show less

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Hallyu Power: A focus on soft power in Lee Myung Bak’s Cultural Policy