The Era of “K-Everything” Arrives, with the Market Expected to Reach 27.3 Trillion Won by 2030
Overcoming Structural Challenges Such as Reliance on Global OTT and Limited IP Acquisition
Proposals for a “Korean Hollywood” and Expandable Funds
As the phenomenon of the Korean Wave, which began with K-pop and other content, expands into all sectors of the economy—including food, beauty, fashion, and tourism—ushering in the era of “K-Everything,” a set of policy proposals has been put forward to transform this trend from a temporary fad into a sustainable driver of national growth.
The Korea Economic Association (KEA) announced on August 23 that it had commissioned Professor Shim Sang-min of Sungshin Women’s University’s Media and Communication Department to prepare a report titled “Industrial Growth and Global Expansion Strategy for K-Culture.” The report assesses the economic ripple effect of K-Culture and presents three key initiatives for its sustained growth.
The report assesses that K-Culture has moved beyond a mere cultural phenomenon to become a core industry driving Korea’s economy. One prominent example is the “BTSnomics” effect, with BTS’s world tour generating an estimated total revenue of $1.8 billion (approximately 2.6 trillion won), stimulating spending in related industries. In addition, it notes that Korea’s cultural competitiveness is evidenced by sweeping the world’s top four cultural awards—including the Academy Awards (film), Grammy Awards (music), Emmy Awards (broadcasting), and Tony Awards (musicals).
This influence is spreading to related sectors including manufacturing and consumer goods. Samyang Foods’ “Buldak” series has surpassed cumulative sales of 10 billion units, becoming the brand of choice for U.S. Generation Alpha (those born after the early 2010s). K-beauty is also taking over global distribution networks like Amazon in the United States, with independent brands at the forefront. According to the report, the global potential market related to the Korean Wave could expand to as much as $198 billion (approximately 27.3 trillion won) by 2030.
However, the report also warned of structural risks behind the success of K-Culture. These include the lack of industry clusters and limited capital strength, making it difficult to secure original intellectual property (IP), as well as the risk of becoming a mere subcontractor base due to dependence on global over-the-top (OTT) distribution networks. Another challenge identified is the lack of inter-industry linkage, where the popularity of K-Culture does not spill over to exports by general manufacturers or small and medium enterprises.
In terms of policy, the fragmented structure between government ministries, the lack of a control tower, and insufficient legislative and institutional foundations have been highlighted as inadequate policy and social infrastructure that hinder sustainable growth.
Accordingly, the report proposes that, in order to turn K-Culture’s global success into a sustainable national growth engine rather than a fleeting trend, the core strategies should be: enhancing content competitiveness; fostering global expansion; and establishing policy frameworks.
First, the report emphasizes that to enhance the competitiveness of Korean content, an integrated “Korean Hollywood” (K-Culture cluster) must be established to organically connect creation, production, investment, and distribution commercialization. The aim is to build an open content industry ecosystem—similar to Hollywood in the United States—where planning, production, investment, distribution, and IP commercialization all take place seamlessly within the cluster. This would create a platform for collaboration between large corporations, smaller production firms, and creators to work on joint projects. The report also proposes establishing an “expandable K-Culture fund” to help secure original IP and create a virtuous cycle connecting content with related industries such as food and beauty.
Suggestions were also made for linking global interest in K-Culture with tangible export results in related sectors such as K-food. It recommends evolving K-food from simple product exports toward a “B2B integrated food materials distribution system” encompassing quality, branding, supply chain, and distribution; establishing unified standards for the quality and safety of K-food ingredients; and supporting joint branding and local marketing tailored to the consumption characteristics of different countries and regions.
The report further underscores the importance of formulating a policy base that not only develops the content industry but also links it with the service sector for the sustained growth of K-Culture. This includes enacting a “Framework Act for Service Industry Development” to systematize research and development (R&D), taxation, and financial support; and introducing a “K-Culture Pass,” modeled after France’s Culture Pass, to continue expanding cultural experiences and fan bases among youth and long-term foreign residents.
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