The KPOP industry is seen as a model. But what are its origins, and how far can it go? How come it was born from the financial crisis of 97', from the massive government investment in 2005 and from the rise of Youtube in 2010?

1. Convergence Digital /
KPOP in Korea
Jean-Baptiste Soufron
FWPA Avocats / Technikart
jbsoufron@fwpa-avocats.com
It’s a WIP!!!

2. K$O$
• 2013 : $5 billions from pop culture export
• 2017 : x2

3. Digital + Content
• 1997 : 1st turning point
• Financial Crisis
• Kim Dae-jung, President and Nobel Prize decides that digital
and content will be priorities
• IT : electronics, videogames, web
• Samsung moved to digital and phones
• 1999 : launch of Naver
• Content : movies, music, dramas

6. Hallyu
• Without the 97 crisis, there would be no hallyu
• Strong gov support
• tax incentives for videogames, digital and music
• 2005 : $1 billion investment in pop industry

7. Becoming a local power
• Survive the decline of J-Pop and Canto-Pop
• Japan culture succeeded « by luck » in anime, manga, videogames
• Unable to get the japanese market to real maturity, instead relying on niche
demand and getting more and more dependent on Akiba and the otaku market
• Get the Korean culture market to maturity
• Digital Business Model :
• Strong on Piracy
• Make content available as much as possible
• Generate revenues from digital by-products

9. Becoming a global power
• US-like strategy:
• Lee Soo-Man was a student at USC Northridge
• He witnessed the emergence of MTV
• 2 sources of digital soft power:
• Hollywood-like soft-power
• Silicon Valley-like soft-power

13. DPOP
• Digital-POP?
• The rise of Youtube after 2005 had a huge impact
• Easy global reach
• The digital dividend works full speed : the more you invest, the
more you benefit… if it works for Hollywood, it works for everyone
• The digital lead is key:
• Naver and Samsung are essential to tech independence.
• The rise of online videogames is helping share the love. Who is the
biggest star for -18 people in France: Faker or Federer?

16. The Japan Trap
• Does Girl’s Generation really has an impact outside of Asia?
• What about the AKB48 temptation?
• How to maintain global reach? There is KPOP, there is Hip-Hop, but what about?
• Who will invest to help achieve global reach? Are we talking about interesting niches benefiting from
the elite club effect, or are we talking about Taylor Swift / Selena Gomez / Kim Kardashian mainstream
culture art?
• What about the business side?
• Is it generational?
• Is it as global as the japanese culture movement was?
• Where does it reach? Middle-East, South America?
• How to stay relevant without being for long in the EU - still the biggest market in the world, and in the
US - the most powerful market in the world.
• The turn over is huge. But how does it help?

18. from KPOP to GPOP?
• Heavy dependance on foreign content and technology
• Youtube
• League of Legends, Starcraft, etc.
• Can it last and stand against Sili-Wood without connecting to other
local cultures?
• Other are very active: Nolywood, French Movies, South American
TV, British POP, Eurodance, etc.
• Other died before: HK movies, Cinecitta, African Jazz, etc.
• Should there be a Global POP movement?

19. Next next
• Logical move : after Youtube, Netflix could be the
next wave, leading Korean actors and singers to the
global stage for long
• Protective moves from abroad: chinese quotas, etc.
• Why not others?