ABSTRACT
This chapter describes political economy of Korean pop culture and music since the 1990s and on their cultural significance in the Asian region. It briefly introduces the spread of the Korean Wave and K-Pop in Asia. The chapter discusses the South Korean government's globalization agenda, the state-national interests and strategies in enhancing Korean pop, and its effects on media and market development. It also discusses the Asia Song Festival as an example of governmentally supported events to show how K-Pop is utilized for state-national representation and cultural exchange. The chapter focuses on the audience receptions of Korean pop in other Asian countries, discussing aspects of timely coevalness, synchronicity, nostalgia, and modernity in relation to the Korean Wave. Korea's opening to foreign cultural industries in the late 1980s, resulting from international trade negotiations among GATT (General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade) member countries, prompted a great and uncontrolled influx of Western media products, especially of movies and television programs.
