Jimmyn Parc

South Korean pop music, widely known as K-pop, has sustained strong global prominence, drawing considerable scholarly attention to the foundations of its success. A defining feature of K-pop is the role of girl groups as one of the industry’s central pillars. Existing scholarship has predominantly examined girl groups through a gender-critical framework, emphasizing sexual objectification, emotional labor and systemic exploitation. While acknowledging the value of existing critiques of neoliberal market logic, this chapter advances a more complex understanding by adopting an agency-centered perspective that foregrounds how girl groups actively navigate their environments rather than functioning solely as passive victims. By situating girl groups within a broader historical and industrial context, this chapter offers a nuanced account that moves beyond victim-centered narratives and provides a more comprehensive understanding of their significance within both South Korean society and the global cultural economy.

There is an established international consensus that a stricter copyright regime enhances financial rewards for authors and offers economic incentives for creators (Towse, 2001). Proponents includi...

Une approche éclectique de l'amélioration de la compétitivité des avantages concurrentiels des nations : une analyse des facteurs du succès des économies d’Asie de l’Est à travers l'exemple de la Corée du Sud: Les théories économiques existantes se concentrent sur les avantages que possède chaque pays en tant que facteurs essentiels pour le développement. Cependant, le succès sans précédent des économies d’Asie de l’Est, comme Hong Kong, Singapour, Taiwan et la Corée du Sud, ne peut pas être convenablement expliqué par ces théories antérieures car ces économies ont commencé leur développement sans avantages significatifs. L’examen du succès de ces économies devrait être abordé dans une perspective différente. Le but de la thèse est de développer une nouvelle approche laquelle permet de mieux déterminer les facteurs clés de la réussite du développement économique des quatre « dragons asiatiques ».

On affirme souvent que la culture doit être protégée et préservée, et qu’il doit en être de même pour les produits culturels. Cependant, l’émergence internationale de la musique pop coréenne ou K-pop raconte une histoire bien différente – celle d’une industrie qui a su saisir au vol toutes les opportunités offertes par la mondialisation et l’arrivée du numérique comme nouveau vecteur culturel. De plus, l’exercice stratégique des droits d’auteur adopté dans ce contexte par les entreprises concernées a permis d’amplifier la diffusion de la K-pop dans le monde. Celle-ci s’est alors imposée comme une nouvelle composante de la diversité culturelle mondiale ; le soft power de la Corée s’en est trouvé considérablement renforcé.

There is a widespread belief that the higher the level of subsidies, the better the performance of film industries (both in quantity and quality). This article focuses on film quality—evaluated by audiences and critics—and scrutinizes this assumption through four selected countries—France, Korea, UK, and US. The main findings of this article are summarized through two points. First, despite the Korean film industry receiving the lowest level of public support, its film quality is higher than that of other selected countries. Second, the impact of subsidies on film quality turns out to be positive for the French, UK, and US films while it is negative or nil for Korean films. Although these results reflect partly differences in the background of each film industry and its public support in the four countries, they suggest that the effectiveness of subsidies and enhancement of film quality can be best achieved by better designing the subsidy schemes—not by increasing their amount.

In recent years, there have been many voices in Korea arguing that a few commercially successful films take up the opportunities for the exhibition of other films and thus limit the selection of titles available for moviegoers, a trend dubbed the “screen monopoly”. In seeking a solution, a number of scholars have looked to the anti-screen monopoly “regulations” in France, but without providing rigorous or persuasive evidence. By comparing the appropriate variables of Korea and France, this paper argues that the Korean film market is less monopolised than France despite the non-existence of these regulations. Furthermore, it demonstrates that Korea has more diversity than France. As a result, this paper concludes that introducing the French anti-screen monopoly regulations in Korea does not seem a beneficial option. The findings in this paper suggest a strong need to re-examine the effectiveness of government policies in the cultural industry.

Hollywood studios have actively sought to export more films to China in order to benefit from its huge film market. Facing this expansion, the Chinese government has introduced quotas in order to restrict the market access of foreign films while protecting its domestic film industry and preserving Chinese values. Nonetheless, this protectionism has brought about an unexpected effect; a limited number of Hollywood films in China have been able to attract large audiences and even exert a strong influence upon society. This paper examines how this paradox has been possible. First, it compares the level of China’s overall protectionism with other countries. Second, China’s two main policy instruments in the domestic market are scrutinized: import quota (buy-out and revenue-sharing models) and screen quota. In revealing their true effects, this paper demonstrates that these instruments of protection have produced unexpected negative business practices that foster rather favorable conditions for US films in China which is contrary to what the Chinese government is seeking to achieve.