The Korean Wave in a Postpandemic World

This book presents an analysis of how the economic Korean Miracle spread into the cultural “Korean Wave” (Hallyu). First only in Asian countries and then around the world, the rising popularity of the Korean Wave continued within the pandemic—despite or even because of policies of digital lockdowns. Partially, this has been by design as Korea for decades has had a very strong fast development drive in telecommunications and that aided the growth of its cultural wave. Partially however, this became exclusively by default how the Korean Wave had to spread increasingly in a digital manner after 2020 globally, in response to many countries’ rules regarding the COVID-19 pandemic in their attempts to enforce a decline in face-to-face content consumption. In retrospect, this has meant only more digital growth and innovation for the Korean Wave in past years compared to other cultures' entertainment complexes that suffered more. Korea's earlier digital readiness combined with later lockdown conditions and pushed the Korean Wave further ahead.

This book presents an analysis of how the economic Korean Miracle spread into the cultural “Korean Wave” (Hallyu). First only in Asian countries and then around the world, the rising popularity of the Korean Wave continued within the pandemic—despite or even because of policies of digital lockdowns. Partially, this has been by design as Korea for decades has had a very strong fast development drive in telecommunications and that aided the growth of its cultural wave. Partially however, this became exclusively by default how the Korean Wave had to spread increasingly in a digital manner after 2020 globally, in response to many countries’ rules regarding the COVID-19 pandemic in their attempts to enforce a decline in face-to-face content consumption.

We're filling up the world with technology and devices, but we've lost sight of an important question: What is this stuff for? What value does it add to our lives? So asks author John Thackara in his new book, In the Bubble: Designing for a Complex World. These are tough questions for the pushers of technology to answer.