The Influence of ;;Thai Wave;; Celebrities in Korean Popular Culture on the Thai Peoples' Image held by Koreans: Focusing on Thai K-Pop Idols

Korean Wave;K-POP;Idol from Thailand;Thai Wave;Stereotypes;Soft power;327.17

국제대학원 국제학과 ;

University:서울대학교 국제대학원

关键词: Korean Wave;    K-POP;    Idol from Thailand;    Thai Wave;    Stereotypes;    Soft power;    327.17;   

Others  :  http://s-space.snu.ac.kr/bitstream/10371/137526/1/000000145959.pdf

美国|英语

来源: Seoul National University Open Repository

【 摘 要 】

When the Korean Wave’s sustainability became questionable due to the anti-Korean movements in countries that had formerly embraced the Korean Wave, global entertainment companies began to recruit foreign members for the Korean idol groups under their wings as a strategy for reducing the cultural rejection of K-Pop. Since the appearance of the first Thai K-Pop idol, Nichkhun, who debuted in 2008, many idols of Thai origin are now active in the K-Pop market. Alongside these Thai K-Pop idols, the number of Thai people migrating to Korea, in their admiration of the Korean Wave and Korea’s economic successes, has also increased. Together, they introduced Thai culture to the Korean society and caused the ;;Thai Wave (泰流)” phenomenon, thereby exposing the Korean public to the transnational cultural transference of K-Pop and the Korean Wave.The number of migrants to Korea from Southeast Asia, including Thailand, has been annually growing, causing Korea to rapidly move toward a multicultural society. Unfortunately, Korea has not been able to keep in time with the changing pace of society, and Korean society is still being noted for holding exclusivist attitudes and prejudice against foreigners. In particular, strong, unfounded prejudices and discrimination against Southeast Asian people is highly apparent in Korean society.Against this background, this paper first explores how the Thai stereotypes have formed in Korean society based on the theoretical discussions of Orientalism and the Advanced Country discourse. Then, using media analysis, this study investigates how the biased images of the Thai people are communicated and diffused among the Korean public by the media. The negative image of Thais created through and by the media is a critical obstacle for Korean society’s progress into a multicultural society, and Korean society’s exclusivity to other countries is cited as one of the largest cause of anti-Korean sentiments overseas, which raises questions about the sustainability of the Korean Wave. Second, the public perceptions of Thai K-Pop idols are analyzed by looking into online netizen reactions to see whether Thai idols, as a soft power resource, have changed the Thai stereotypes held by the Korean public and raised the national image of Thailand. Through this analysis, this study aims to examine whether soft resources can be transformed into the cultural soft power of Thailand.Keyword: Korean Wave, K-POP, Idol from Thailand, Thai Wave, Stereotypes, Soft power