Seminar Report: Cultural Industries: Pivoting to Asia?

A report from a seminar organised under the ECIPE-AKS Project: Cultural Industries in the World: Korea, the “Game Changer”

The last decade has witnessed the largely unexpected rise in the world of “Hallyu” or the “Korean Wave” of successful movies, TV dramas, and pop music. This project seeks to analyze the emergence, successes, and challenges of Hallyu within an international context, and to assess the role of Korea as a game changer in the world cultural industries. It will adopt a multi- disciplinary approach centered on business economics, economics, and media, and it plans to bring together scholars and private and public decision-makers. The project aims to contribute to world cultural diversity that will result in “cultural excellence,” rather than “cultural exception.” By the same token, it wants to create or expand the desire in Europe, Korea, and East Asia to learn about each other’s present and future cultures.