Dating back since the 1980’s, South Korea has faced the influence United States through various spheres of the nation. With multilaterals pressures pilling into the nation, for it to be open to the Korean markets through the name of globalization, and specifically within sectors such as television and cinema. Understanding the presented global economic dynamics, the Korean economy introduced the the production and commodification of media and cultural content, which was inclusive of film, television programming and animation. The media liberalization measure, forwarded by the citizens who were tired of state controlled media, led to a competitive domestic media environment that a set of cultivated commercially sensitive productions. As a matter of fact , the global media market openings in the 1990s catered towards the export of Korean popular culture (Huat and Iwabuchi, 2008). The Korean Wave has taken over most of the entertainment spaces within the world, specifically within the Music, TV and Cinema industries. The Hallyu wave has gone about creating a platform for itself.

It was the time period between the late 1980s and early 1990s which represents notable change for the Korean cinema industry. Now was the time the Korean cinema industry was open in the market to foreign distributers. With the influence of the USA, in 1988 the Korean government allowed foreign film companies to distribute their films without having to pass through the local distributors in Korea, to which the domestic film industry opposed it heavily. Yet, to their dismay their pleas were not heard. According to the Presidential Advisory Board on Science and Technology proposed to President Kim Young-Sam that Korea should develop cinema and other media content production as a national strategic industry (Huat and Iwabuchi, 2008). Considering the changes happening within the film industry at the time, it builds an empire for the upcoming platforms which will be known as Hallyu Cinema.

With the arrival of the Korean Wave, the Korean Television industry gained a great deal of viewers both nationally and internationally. Korean Television Dramas were widely consumed within Asia within the early 2000s. Korean Dramas such as What Is Love All About and Stars in My Heart in the late 1990s, and Winter Sonata and Dae Jang Geum in the early 2000s brought in a huge incoming of fans from within the Asian audience as a whole to Korean television drama. Stars such as Bae Yong Jun, Ahn Jae Wook, Lee Byung Heon, and Kim Hee Seon were notable favorites of the international audiences (Huat and Iwabuchi, 2008).

through the 21st century the Korean Wave has exponentially grown, creating a name for the Korean film Industry. With Notable directors such as Park Chan Wook, Kim Jee won and Bong Joon Ho. With the influx of OTT platforms, all these films are easily accessible in the present day and age. Along with the growth of Korean Pop Music and Korean Dramas in the western world, the Korean film Industry has also come under the American recognition. At the 2020 Academy Awards, Korean film Parasite (2019) directed by Bong Joon Ho was the first foreign film to receive the best picture nomination along with the best picture award that year along with winning Best Director, International Feature film and Best Original Screenplay along with more nominations. With this exposure to the western world, the Korean film industry continues to grow over time.

References

Huat, C., & Iwabuchi, K. (Eds.). (2008). East Asian Pop Culture: Analysing the Korean Wave. Hong Kong University Press. Retrieved September 13, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1xwb6n

Malkin, M. (2020, February 12). How the Academy’s international membership may have HELPED ‘Parasite’ Make OSCARS HISTORY. Retrieved April 06, 2021, from https://variety.com/2020/film/news/academy-international-membership-parasite-oscars-1203501788/