They’ve been doing this since mid 1990s for entertainment. They first targeted the Japanese market and as the industry grew they went global. This has to be one of the best returns for gov’t-led funding and initiative. They played to the strengths of their labor. Also helped that China’s economy absolutely took off during the same time.
The $40M bet that made South Korea a food and cultural power
11–20 of 72 posts
Re: The $40M bet that made South Korea a food and cultural power
#12South 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?
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
The largest city in the world is Tokyo which is about 40M people.
Re: The $40M bet that made South Korea a food and cultural power
#13South 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?
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
Are you sure?
Is that a city on Planet Earth?
Re: The $40M bet that made South Korea a food and cultural power
#14South 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?
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
Your city has 400 million people?
Re: The $40M bet that made South Korea a food and cultural power
#15This is only tangential but I remember how sushi used to be a “weird” food to most Americans. Probably as recently as 10 or 15 years ago. And now its everywhere. Its right in the mix with pizza and tacos for standard restaurant niches. I see it in rural grocery stores very far away from any sort of big city. I think kimchi just doesnt have that kind of broad appeal but who knows. This is not to deny the effectiveness…
I live in Atlanta and Korean isn’t quite taco-level ubiquity but it’s darn close. Everyone I know under the age of 40 does an h-mart run somewhat regularly and kbbq is a goto group dinner spot.
Re: The $40M bet that made South Korea a food and cultural power
#16South 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?
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.
Re: The $40M bet that made South Korea a food and cultural power
#17Another great example of diplomacy through food would be Thailand. Thai chefs come to America, start Thai restaurants here, promote their incredible food and wonderful hospitality. In-turn, I can't wait to visit Thailand one day, and you can bet I have a favorable view of Thai people if they happen to get into an argument with someone!
The article talks a lot about a similar Thai initiative.
Re: The $40M bet that made South Korea a food and cultural power
#18Re: The $40M bet that made South Korea a food and cultural power
#19There is a graphic showing number of restaurants in selected countries and comparing to other cuisines. According to that there were only 2024 Chinese restaurants in 2009.
I find this very hard to believe. TripAdvisor lists 500+ in Sydney alone!
Re: The $40M bet that made South Korea a food and cultural power
#20Lol. What does this have to do with Hubspot CRM?