Korean Wave as a Hybridization of Asian culture

This paper aims to analyze the contents and effects of the Korean wave in order to understand the current situations of the Korean wave and its future in Asia. This study considers the Korean wave as a hybrid subculture across Asian countries, not just as a trend or boom rising from the success of Korean pop culture. Korean wave swept through Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, and then all over the world including Latin America and African countries. Korean popular cultural products are unique in that they are mainly Western in form but mostly traditional Confucian in contents. The contents of Korean wave may not be wholly traditional or uniquely Korean; it could be a kind of hybridity. It may have contributed to reinforcing the identity of East Asian popular culture, and thus, to East Asian regionalization. For the Korean wave to be rooted in local culture, the Korean wave must be hybridized by incorporating local cultures. The future of the Korean wave is on how it can be further rooted in the local culture as a glocalization process.