Could Malaysia emulate the South Korean ‘Hallyu’?

FROM lagging behind Malaysia in GDP during the 1960s to emerging as one of the world’s high-income nations, South Korea’s rise is nothing short of remarkable. Beyond economic success, the country has harnessed its cultural assets to become a global powerhouse through the Korean Wave, or Hallyu. The crowning of Golden from the KPop Demon Hunters movie as Best Original Song at the Oscars last month underscores South Korea’s success in leveraging soft power on a global scale.

Hallyu’s impact is widely recognised in academic studies. As early as 1996, South Korea’s then Culture and Sports Ministry identified key cultural symbols for international promotion, including the hanbok (traditional costume), hangul (writing system), kimchi, taekwondo, and the country’s – then emerging, now globally renowned – K-pop idols.