Make Me Smart The economics behind the rise of BTS and Korean culture
Mar 20, 2026
Michelle Cho, a researcher of East Asian pop cultures at the University of Toronto, explains how decades of strategy and investment turned K-pop and K-culture into global engines. She traces government cultural policy, the trainee system’s hybrid roots, streaming’s role in spreading K-dramas, and how music success reshaped tourism, beauty trends, and global perceptions of Korea.
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Government Built The Korean Wave As An Export Strategy
- The Korean wave began as a deliberate export project in the mid-1990s backed by government policy.
- South Korea shifted to investing in cultural IP after seeing film profits and the 1997–98 Asian financial crisis reshaped economic strategy.
Cultural Content Became A High-Return Economic Hedge
- Cultural industries appealed to investors because small input could yield huge returns compared with manufacturing.
- After the Asian financial crisis, venture capital targeted media as a way to insulate Korea from supply-chain and resource vulnerabilities.
K-pop Is A Cultural Hybrid Of American And Japanese Models
- K-pop developed as a hybrid model borrowing from Black American music and the Japanese entertainment system.
- Producers blended R&B, New Jack Swing and single-gender group formats, adapting Motown-like cues through Japanese pop production.