The Journal of Culture Contents ISSN:2287-2256(Print) 2671-7026(Online) 문화콘텐츠연구

Korean wave, which began in the mid-1990s, has reached its peak in the mid-2000s. The success came from the spread of K-POP music through TV, YouTube, and social networking services such as Facebook. This phenomenon brought wonder and confusion to the Korean People, as it was the first time in history that the Korean culture became an international sensation. As a result, in the beginning of its development, there were many discussions regarding its essence and extensive researches were conducted on the sustainability and conomic impacts of K-POP, which gained its worldwide fame in the Korean Wave 2.0. With the beginning of the government’s intervention to promote the diffusion of Korean wave and declaration of cultural policy ‘Korean wave 3.0’ aiming to expand interest in Korean pop culture to Korean culture as a whole, the Korean wave rose as a national project in which governments, private firms, and all Koreans participate. If the Korean wave broadens its range on a worldwide scale, the economic benefit originating from it is considerable. For instance, it not only increases sales of cultural content, but also boosts export of all kinds of Korean products by attracting tourists and improvement of image of Korea. Ergo, many government and private firms are taking advantage of this ripple effect of Korean wave to enlarge sales of content industry and to promote exportation of related industry and manufacturing. Especially from 2000s, the inception of the global convergence era, the government set forth a new objective known as inter-industry convergence. Hence, the convergence in Korean culture, which enerates synergy through combination of Korean culture, Korean wave, and manufacturing industries, has become a major issue since the “creative economy” became the key policy word of Park Geun-hye administration. However, there is a clear consensus that the convergence of Korean wave is easier said than done. There exists a substantial gap between the production companies fully prepared with all the resources of Korean wave and small and medium companies in manufacturing sectors Setting aside the high cost, converging two companies with difference interest in business is challenging. Even if both parties would like to make business together, the problem arises from the absence of connection and unstandardized merchandising methods. Therefore, at the beginning of the convergence of Korean wave, the role of governments is necessary which can act as a catalyst to help both parties to make new business and lead the business to success. As a member of one of a KOTRA team whose main focus is to lead the convergence, I was exposed to variety of experience in all aspects of the business of the convergence of Korean, suggested many ideas about Convergence of Korean wave, and underwent many trials and error. Consequently, I was able to understand the nature of the convergence of Korean wave and figured out where the problems lie in. Also, I am able to understand the essentiality of the convergence of Korean wave business, and figure out what the problems are. Thus, this study aims to expound on the Korean wave, the economic Korean wave, and its boosting effects of increasing exports, and, why the Korean small and medium companies cannot utilize the Korean wave. Also, it also analyzes successful export case studies with the support of KOTRA by dividing into six categories. Finally, this study will enumerate problems, such as high cost, absence of standardized contract, rising when carrying out the business, and offer some solutions to those problems so as to give suggestions to government and firms trying to invigorate the convergence of Korean Wave.