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South Korea has only 40 million people yet has a significant worldwide cultural influence, definitely punching above its weight. I wonder if China were to impl

South Korea has only 40 million people yet has a significant worldwide cultural influence, definitely punching above its weight. I wonder if China were to implement the same tactics South Korea uses for cultural diplomacy, would the worldwide cultural influence of China reach levels 30x greater than South Korea?

School-Cotton 3y ago
Heavily censored popular media makes it hard to become a cultural powerhouse.
- AYBABTME 3y ago
  That's true. Korea itself only developed its cultural industry abroad when the government relaxed censorship rules.
nusaru 3y ago
That’s crazy, my city alone has more than 1/100 the population! Edit: 10x to 1/10 Edit 2: 1/10 to 1/100
- elbigbad 3y ago
  The largest city in the world is Tokyo which is about 40M people.
- firecall 3y ago
  Are you sure? Is that a city on Planet Earth? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_cities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_cities
- foota 3y ago
  Your city has 400 million people?
  - carabiner 3y ago
    Coruscant
alephnerd 3y ago
It has started to happen in ASEAN - Chinese Pop Music has really taken off in Vietnam+Thailand (along with the Chinese diaspora in Malaysia+Indonesia+SG). Chinese media will probably be increasingly exported over the next 20-30 years, and tbf - PRC right now is roughly at the same comparative level economically+social development wise with Taiwan+SK in the 1980s. Both those countries soft power exports only really took off in the 90s and 2000s respectively, so it's reasonable to assume a similar media push happens in the late 2020s/early 2030s. This has already started with Thailand (who's developmental indicators are comparable with SK in the late 1990s/early 2000s) and their media+music exports within ASEAN+SK+JP. For example, for higher education most middle class families in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos prefer sending their kids to study at Thai universities now if they can't afford Australia/SG/JP/SK. And a similar impact has occurred with Turkiye's (similar developmental indicators to SK in the mid-late 2000s) media and soft power exports within the Balkans+Ukraine+Russia+Levant+Central Asia. That said, I doubt the age+racial/cultural demographic on HN are the type that consume Asian media, so I'll probably be downvoted by China Hawks for the soft power statements and Wumaos for the 1980s statement.
waboremo 3y ago
Part of South Korea's rapid reach stems from how Americanized its modern culture is. I am not just talking about global corporations like mcdonalds. It's everything, even the choice of coffee over tea, a rarity for an asian country. Easy for western nations to embrace. For China, the same game plan wouldn't work not without heavy alterations. It does however have substantial ability to influence those not already heavily Americanized.
okdood64 3y ago
Yea no, C-pop is not has good as K-pop. It’s a nonstarter.
ahzhou 3y ago
Media is horribly neutered because of censorship, but cultural exports like food are seeing increasing traction.

School-Cotton 3y ago

Heavily censored popular media makes it hard to become a cultural powerhouse.

AYBABTME 3y ago
That's true. Korea itself only developed its cultural industry abroad when the government relaxed censorship rules.

nusaru 3y ago

That’s crazy, my city alone has more than 1/100 the population! Edit: 10x to 1/10 Edit 2: 1/10 to 1/100

elbigbad 3y ago
The largest city in the world is Tokyo which is about 40M people.
firecall 3y ago
Are you sure? Is that a city on Planet Earth? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_cities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_cities
foota 3y ago
Your city has 400 million people?
- carabiner 3y ago
  Coruscant

alephnerd 3y ago

It has started to happen in ASEAN - Chinese Pop Music has really taken off in Vietnam+Thailand (along with the Chinese diaspora in Malaysia+Indonesia+SG). Chinese media will probably be increasingly exported over the next 20-30 years, and tbf - PRC right now is roughly at the same comparative level economically+social development wise with Taiwan+SK in the 1980s. Both those countries soft power exports only really took off in the 90s and 2000s respectively, so it's reasonable to assume a similar media push happens in the late 2020s/early 2030s. This has already started with Thailand (who's developmental indicators are comparable with SK in the late 1990s/early 2000s) and their media+music exports within ASEAN+SK+JP. For example, for higher education most middle class families in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos prefer sending their kids to study at Thai universities now if they can't afford Australia/SG/JP/SK. And a similar impact has occurred with Turkiye's (similar developmental indicators to SK in the mid-late 2000s) media and soft power exports within the Balkans+Ukraine+Russia+Levant+Central Asia. That said, I doubt the age+racial/cultural demographic on HN are the type that consume Asian media, so I'll probably be downvoted by China Hawks for the soft power statements and Wumaos for the 1980s statement.

waboremo 3y ago

Part of South Korea's rapid reach stems from how Americanized its modern culture is. I am not just talking about global corporations like mcdonalds. It's everything, even the choice of coffee over tea, a rarity for an asian country. Easy for western nations to embrace. For China, the same game plan wouldn't work not without heavy alterations. It does however have substantial ability to influence those not already heavily Americanized.

okdood64 3y ago

Yea no, C-pop is not has good as K-pop. It’s a nonstarter.

ahzhou 3y ago

Media is horribly neutered because of censorship, but cultural exports like food are seeing increasing traction.