Always more K-Pop and Squid Game. South Korea’s new president, Yoon Suk-yeol, elected last May, announced massive investments this summer to make his country even more “culturally attractive”.
Almost $5 billion more will be used over the next five years to support the audiovisual production or fine arts sectors. The objective is to support 10,000 new talents. A large project will renovate and transform an old palace into a Korean “Versailles” with the aim of attracting tourists by the millions.
The Land of the Morning Calm is thus giving itself the means to establish and increase its enviable position as a cultural minipower in the world. The strength of this soft-power was confirmed recently by the dystopian drama Squid Game, topped the charts on the Netflix network in more than 80 countries.
This TV success prolongs that of the cinema. The same international platform is broadcasting no less than 230 Korean feature films at the moment. Do we really need to add K-Pop? In 2018, the Bangtan Boys (aka BTS) became the youngest recipients of the President’s Order of Cultural Merit in recognition of their contribution to spreading Korean culture around the world.
How to explain this success ? “It’s not at all a random success,” replies journalist and author Euny Hong, a specialist in Korean culture. (See box)
“The Korean government, together with major corporations in the country, has been investing in the production and dissemination of culture for over 30 years. This alliance has created an ecosystem by betting on a simultaneous breakthrough of several elements. K-Pop videos, for example, were shared for free on YouTube while artists around the world tried to remove their clips from the platform. The strategy was to bet on virality before sales, and it succeeded. »
The country’s cultural exports now bring in nearly $15 billion annually. “The new investments announced pursue the same idea, explains Ms.me Hong. Let’s say that the first version of the plan, version 1.0, exported popular culture, while the current version 2.0 focuses on culture, let’s say, more elitist, the arts in particular. »
To elitist art
Seoul is becoming more and more essential on the visual arts market, with the Frieze and Kiaf fairs as well as the Busan Biennale, held in September. President Yoon Suk-yeol also announced that he intended to circulate in the country the collection of some 23,000 works linked to the Samsung company now under state control. The presidential palace Cheong Wa Dae, also called the Blue House, will be transformed to host exhibitions in the coming years and a sculpture garden this fall.
Mme Hong finally explains that the Korean strategy for the development of cultural and other industries, in the country as elsewhere, will rely heavily on the metaverse. “Very, very, very unfortunately,” she said. The government and corporations focus on the virtual world, including for culture. Public funds invest a lot to support research and development. I myself am against that. The metaverse is the end of civilization! We will cross the threshold where dreams become more desirable than reality. »