1 Introduction 1
1.1 Three World-Unique Issues in the First K-Nation:
Hybrid Policies in a Homogeneous Culture Transcending
a Colonial Past 24
1.2 Two Methods and Three Global Trends in the Book 30
1.3 Accelerated Digitalization and Globalization of the Korean
Wave in Lockdown after 2020 33
1.4 Three Long Term Trends in the Korean Wave: Globally
Distributed Economic Development, Culture, and Media 36
1.5 Conclusion: Three Themes in this Review 51
References 55
Part I Out of the Past: Cultural and Organizational Success
Factors of the Korean Wave
2 The Development of Hallyu: Cultural Success Factors
that Made the Korean Miracle and the Korean Wave 61
2.1 Two Chapters to Disaggregate the Background
of the Korean Wave 61
2.2 Culture and Different Organizational Development Choices 64
2.2.1 Setting the Stage: The Developmental Split
between North and South Korea in the Same
Homogeneous Culture 64
2.2.2 Four Factors that Make a Unique Conundrum
in Korean Development and in the Korean Wave 88
2.2.3 Theoretical Summary: Two Virtuous Cycles
in Korean Culture Helped the Economic ‘Korean
Miracle’ Keep Growing into the Cultural Korean
Wave 93
2.3 Five Comparable Factors Encouraging Cultural
Homogeneity in the Korean Peninsula 99
2.3.1 Linguistic Isolation from World History 104
2.3.2 Geographic Isolation in World History 110
2.3.3 Geopolitical Isolation and Stable Cultural
Hierarchies 116
2.3.4 Ancient Homogeneous Culture, Yet Missing
an Aristocratic Leadership 121
2.4 Durable Ancient Cultural Forms Remain in the Modern
Korean Wave 137
2.4.1 Singing 137
2.4.2 Archery 139
2.4.3 Martial Arts Blending into Performance and Dance 143
2.4.4 Body Beauty, Fashion Clothing, and Public
Formal Style 146
2.4.5 Public Events 153
2.4.6 Technological Innovation: Science
and Civilization in Korea 154
2.5 Summary of Hybrid Culture and Hybrid Organizational
Choices in Korean Development into the Korean Wave 173
2.5.1 From Economic Miracle into the Proto-Korean
Wave in the 1980s 184
References 188
3 Organizational Success Factors of the Korean Wave: Modern
Development Decisions and Conditions That Made the Korean
Miracle and the Korean Wave 193
3.1 Development Gauntlets, Good Choices, and Good
Accidents 193
3.1.1 Theory: Four Levels Down the Development
Gauntlet to a Cultural Wave 202
3.2 Good Accidents and Good Choices: Ancillary Factors
Down the Development Gauntlet 250
3.2.1 Good Accidents 255
3.2.2 Good Choices 265
3.3 Digital Telecommunications: A Good Domestic National
Test Bed for the Korean Wave 285
3.4 Korean Culture: An Odd Domestic National Test Bed
for the Korean Wave 302
3.5 Conclusion 307
References 308
Part II Into the Present: Before and After Lockdown
4 The Korean Wave Before and After a More Digital
Post-pandemic Era 313
4.1 A Short Introduction to Hallyu or the Korean Wave 321
4.2 A Timeline How Regional Hallyu Became the Global
Korean Wave 331
4.3 Comparing Cultural Waves of the U.S.A., China, and South
Korea 363
4.4 Comparing the Entertainment Industry in the U.S.A.,
the U.K., and South Korea 385
4.5 Different Ways to Think of the Culture and Soft Power
of the Korean Wave 391
References 406
5 Korea’s Entertainment Industry: Lockdown as Opportunity
for Technical Innovation 411
5.1 Global Organizational Innovation in Korean Content
and Distribution Industries After 2020 413
5.2 Global Technical Innovation in Korean and American
Entertainment Industries After 2020 418
5.2.1 The Korean Wave’s Innovation in Global Music 422
5.2.2 The Korean Wave’s Innovation in Broadcasting
and Film 429
5.2.3 The Korean Wave’s Innovation in Artificial
Intelligence 434
5.3 Reconstruction of the Korean Entertainment Industry 458
5.3.1 Lockdown Response from the Entertainment
Industry 458
5.3.2 Regional and Cable Broadcast to Global Online
Streaming Sales 462
5.4 Conclusion: The Korean Wave is Contributing to a General
Trend of Globally Consolidated Intellectual Property
Empires in Entertainment 472
References 476
6 BTS 481
6.1 Fandom to Digital Fandom 482
6.2 History of BTS’s Growth as a Digital Fandom 487
6.3 Bang Si-Hyuk’s Leadership in Leveraging New
Technologies 498
6.4 Conclusion 502
References 504
7 Cosmax 505
7.1 History and Growth of Cosmax 508
7.2 Lockdown as an Opportunity 512
7.3 Cosmax’s Success Factors 514
7.3.1 Reinforcement of Research Capacity and Global
Intellectual Property 515
7.3.2 Management Advancement Through Digital
Transformation 517
7.3.3 Globalization of Cosmetic Markets 519
7.3.4 Strengthen Consumer Accessibility by Expanding
OBM Business 521
7.3.5 Collaboration with Subcontractors
and Outsourcing Companies 522
7.3.6 Expansion of Online Business Dominance 522
7.4 Conclusion and the Growing Global Empire in ‘K-Beauty’ 524
References 525
8 Squid Game Between Global OTT Services 527
8.1 Squid Game: Korean Tragedy and Korean Success Factors 529
8.1.1 The Charm of the Korean Wave Leading American
Netflix to Further Sell the Korean Wave 535
8.1.2 Comedic Dystopias: Korean Cultural Content
Gains a Global Sympathetic Reception 536
8.1.3 Attractive Visuals Help Cross Global Language
and Cultural Barriers 538
8.2 Quid Game: Four Factors in Netflix’s Long OTT Market
Growth and the Start of Its Slight Market Decline by 2022 540
8.3 Conclusion 554
References 557
Part III Into the Future of the Korean Wave, Korea, and an Ever
More Digital World
9 Summarizing Past and Present Synergies in the Korean Wave 567
9.1 Unique High Levels of Synergy 567
9.2 Organizational Smallness: Handicap or Optimized? 577
9.3 Ongoing Synergy Now as the Vanguard Sector 580
9.4 Added Synergies of Decentralized Digital Media Networks 581
9.5 Korea: Once Closed to Cultural Assimilation, Now Open
to Global Trade 587
9.6 Rapid Growth in a Cultural Empire upon Which the Sun
Never Sets 591
References 593
10 The Future of Korea and the World 595
10.1 Future Wealth or Collapse of Nations in a Global Digital
Economy and Culture? 595
10.1.1 The Triple Global Storm Building in the Korean
Wave 599
10.2 Korea’s Good Choices and Good Accidents Got It Through
the Digital Bottleneck 619
10.2.1 Korea’s Three “Good Accidents” Helped It
Through the Digital “Goldilocks Zone” 620
10.2.2 Korea’s Good Choices and Good Accidents
Combine to Get Through the Digital Bottleneck 641
10.3 Heterogeneous Cultures’ Six Innovations and Ethics May
Be Lost Without Finding Policies to Keep Them 672
References 682
11 The Future of the Korean Wave and the World 687
11.1 Four Scenarios in the Future of the Korean Wave 687
11.2 A ‘Fifth Gauntlet’ or Just a Slowly Developing Problem
with the Third Gaunlet, Undermining the Future
of the Korean Miracle and Korean Wave? 695
11.3 Conclusion: Learning Excellence from Harbingers
and Outliers 710
References 711
Appendix 1: Fifty ‘World Firsts’ of the Republic of Korea: South
Korea as the Emerald City of Digital Development,
a List and Timeline, 1984–2022 713
Appendix 2: Summarized Comparative Methods Chosen to Think
About the Development Outlier of South Korea 723
Appendix 3: Comparing Good Choices and Good Accidents:
Summarized Comparative Methods Chosen to Think
About the Development Outlier of South Korea;
Organized in a Chart of Comparative Factors
Between South Korea and North Korea 727
Appendix 4: The Seven Regimes of Communication, a List
and General Timeline Over the Last 5,000 Years 737