Oxford Korean Popular Culture Symposium

In the first Oxford Korean Popular Culture Symposium, various topics in Korean popular culture will be discussed, in particular, Korean film and K-pop, by two guest speakers from Paris along with three scholars at Oxford. Here are abstracts from guest speakers:

“Korean film industry between protectionism and globalization”

By Patrick Messerlin, Sciences Po Paris

This presentation shows that the Korean film industry has “outperformed” all the industries of the major film producers in almost all the conceivable dimensions, in a remarkably short period of time and—last but not least—with much less public support than the other countries and with an increased cultural diversity. This multidimensional outperformance is likely to come as a surprise to many, including those well versed in the film industry, because the Korean film industry has not attracted a lot of attention so far. This outperformance is important on its own, but its impact on our understanding of how film policies work is even more crucial. Until now, it has been taken as granted that no non-US film industry could face Hollywood dominance without a strong support of its government. The French film policy has been the best illustration of this belief, and its apparent success has led many countries to mimic it. The Korean film industry offers a living proof that facing successfully Hollywood dominance does not require huge barriers on foreign films and/or massive incentives to domestic films. In many respects, it is a “game changer.

“K-pop’s Rise to International Success: The Business Strategies of the Korean Music Industry facing Digitization”

By Jimmyn Parc, Sciences Po Paris and Seoul National University

Korean pop songs or K-pop has been widely popular around world. Understanding the key to its success can thus produce meaningful lessons which can be applied to the music industries of other countries for their own further take-off. In an era of rapid technological advancement, Korean companies understood the evolution that was taking place in the music industry and embraced it; from analogue to digital, from albums to songs, from possessing to accessing, from audio to visual, and from end products to promotional products. This adaptation has significantly enhanced the viability of K-pop in the global market.