ABSTRACT
Since the late 1990s, South Korea has emerged as a new center for the production of transnational popular culture referred to as the “Korean Wave” or “Hallyu,” including TV dramas, K-pop music, films, animation, online games, smartphones, fashion, cosmetics, food and lifestyles. National images of Korean society were negatively associated with, and limited to, the demilitarized zone, division and political disturbances, but such images are gradually giving way to the vitality of trendy, transnational entertainers and cutting-edge technology in a digital, cosmopolitan world. The success of Korean popular culture overseas is drawing an unfamiliar spotlight on a culture that was once colonized or overshadowed for centuries by powerful countries and has long been under the influence of Western and Japanese cultural products. Digital mobile generations look for diverse sources of entertainment, culture and identity, not necessarily American or European. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
