Cultural Diplomacy through the People: A Case Study of the Political Significance of the K-Pop Industry

Over the past decade, the K-pop industry has experienced unprecedented global growth, transforming Korean music into a central component of South Korea’s cultural and economic influence. However, these effects reach past this into international politics. While previous scholarship has largely focused on “great powers” and their efforts, this paper explores how middle powers, particularly South Korea, utilize cultural industries to expand their global power. Through an extensive examination of the K-Pop industry and its expansion across the globe, as well as a statistical analysis of listening and tourism data, this paper argues that the K-Pop industry has served as a model for industries and nations across the world to use cultural diplomacy to impact political outcomes.