ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the history of the Korean Wave through both the lens of Hallyu practices and academic discourse, given that each projects different trajectories. This chapter historicizes the evolution of Hallyu beginning in the mid-1990s, then divides the Hallyu era into three significant periods of growth based on government policies, major cultural genres, and digital technologies. It discusses the development of Korean cultural content as an export as well as the evolution of Korea's cultural industries as separate but connected forces in establishing Hallyu's legacy. This chapter also contends that the Korean Wave has not been driven by any one cultural form, in particular broadcasting, but rather by the combined efforts of multiple cultural industries to drive the growth of Hallyu.
