Hallyu could be the results of the glocality of Korean popular culture, in particular, by its institutional and technological infrastructure. Social network service became a common communication of enjoying Hallyu among its fans. This research aims to emphasize the characteristics of Hallyu as glocal culture and to rethink the value of Hallyu contents for building empathy between the foreign Hallyu fans and Korea. With the cases of K-pop K-drama K-film etc., this research discusses the characteristics of Hallyu fans and the impact of two-way communication on fostering familiarity and favorability. Empathy is an ability of accepting foreignness and of appreciating others’ emotions even without directly experiencing the same situations with others. To develop cultural empathy, the Hallyu industry needs to build a platform for collecting cognitive information about the Hallyu fans in the world. It can expand the meaning of Hallyu’s popularity for the fans to participate in Korean culture and to ultimately build empathy. Thus, this study suggests to find a way of developing on-going two-way communications between Hallyu content receivers and Korean cultural industries toward building empathy.
Abstract
Introduction
Theoretical Background
Glocal Culture and Hallyu
Conclusion
References