The strategies behind the Hallyu and South Korea’s efforts to win global hearts

The government’s commitment to cultural exportation speaks volumes. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism invested trillions in promoting Korean content abroad. The budget for 2024 was KRW6.95 trillion–up 3.17 per cent from 2023–with the content sector to get KRW1.74 trillion in policy funds, the most in the domestic industry’s history. Additionally, funding to open 10 additional content business centres to support exports from the sector reached KRW17.2 billion, a jump of KRW7 billion.

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A new investment of KRW9.2 billion will be funnelled into content production using artificial intelligence technology as well as KRW1 billion in human resource development for broadcast video content on over-the-top platforms.

South Korean entertainment companies revolutionised how content reaches international audiences. Hybe, the entertainment powerhouse behind BTS, developed Weverse, a fan communication platform offering real-time, machine translations in over 10 languages. This technology allows K-pop idols to interact directly with global fans, breaking down language barriers instantaneously.

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The development of sophisticated fan engagement tools has also been crucial. Bubble, by SM Entertainment, provides personalised artist-to-fan communication with instant translations, while VLIVE offered groundbreaking live-streaming capabilities before merging with Weverse. These platforms have created intimate fan experiences regardless of geographical location.

Netflix’s partnership with Korean production houses has been game-changing. In 2023, off the success of wildly popular shows like Squid Game and The Glory, the streaming giant announced it would commit KRW3.34 trillion to South Korean film and TV production over the next four years, double the amount it has spent in South Korea since 2016. Netflix’s sophisticated subtitle system, particularly refined for South Korean content, ensures nuanced translations that capture cultural context.

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Competing streaming platform Disney+, which saw immense success with the breakout hit of its original South Korean series, Moving, pledged to expand investment in the production of South Korean content to reach a wider audience. Moving was the most-watched show on its platform in the Asia-Pacific region, also topping Disney+’s global chart and Hulu in the US in the first week of its release.

Strategic partnerships have amplified South Korea’s global reach. BTS’ collaboration with Coldplay on My Universe sung in both Korean and English, exemplifies this approach. It debuted at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart with 11.5 million streams and a combination of 127,000 downloads and physical single sales.

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Similarly, Blackpink’s partnerships as a group with international brands like Adidas, Oreo, and Starbucks, and as individual members with Chanel and Calvin Klein (Jennie), Dior and Cartier (Jisoo), Yves Saint Laurent and Tiffany & Co. (Rose), Louis Vuitton and Bulgari (Lisa) have positioned K-pop in the global luxury market.

South Korea leads in social media engagement strategies. The development of platforms like Bubble and Weverse has created new standards for artist-fan interaction.

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BTS’ record-breaking X (formerly known as Twitter) engagement showcases how Korean entertainment leverages existing platforms while developing bespoke solutions for fan communication. With over 48 million followers, @BTS_twt is the account with the most followers for a music group in the history of the platform. The K-pop group’s tweets each get an average of more than 330,000 retweets, replies, and likes.

As technology evolved, South Korea’s entertainment industry continued to pioneer new ways to connect with global audiences–especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Virtual concert technology redefined fan experiences. SM Entertainment’s Beyond LIVE platform, launched during the pandemic, offers high-quality virtual concerts with real-time translation and interactive features such as augmented reality (AR) and Live Sync Camera Walking.

The service raised its curtains with the first concert, SuperM – Beyond The Future by SuperM on April 26, 2020. The show, an alternative to their indefinitely postponed Japan Tokyo Dome concert due to the Covid-19 pandemic, was a full-fledged, two-hour-long live concert which attracted 75,000 viewers from over 100 countries.

Read more: How VR is revolutionising K-pop experiences and bringing fans closer to their favourite idols

Blackpink, too, circumvented the Covid-19 lockdown by holding their premiere virtual concert, The Show, in 2021, which recorded approximately 280,000 paid subscribers and generated more than KRW10 billion from ticket sales, with virtual concertgoers from the US (19.2 per cent of the total concertgoers), Thailand, the Philippines, Japan, India, and Mexico.

The success of these strategies is evident in the numbers.

The South Korean music industry achieved an all-time high sales revenue of around KRW11 trillion in 2022, as well as an export value of about US$927.6 million, a steady increase ever since 2009, when K-pop began to become a global phenomenon.

K-dramas have become streaming platforms’ most-watched non-English content, demonstrating Hallyu’s mainstream acceptance, and people are visiting South Korea in droves, with pre-pandemic (2016 to 2019) figures showing over 240 million international tourists annually, peaking in 2019 with 344 million international tourists.

See also: A K-pop and K-drama fan’s ultimate guide to South Korea

As South Korea continues to refine these strategies, the global reach of Hallyu seems set to expand further, proving that strategic planning and technological innovation can indeed help a culture transcend borders and capture hearts worldwide.

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