Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation Is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture

Surprisingly, given our increased exposure to South Korean media, food and technology, there aren't that many easily accessible books on the country. 'The Birth of Korean Cool' goes quite a long way towards addressing this shortage.The book's focus is on South Korea's largely government-sponsored cultural "Wave" or "Hallyu" - basically the mass export of Korean pop music, tv dramas and movies. This is a really fascinating subject itself, and the book is worth a read on that basis alone. The book explains how, in developing countries around the world, people are devouring Korean pop culture, where they once might have sought US or UK offerings. This new pop culture apparently accounts for a pretty significant portion of South Korea's GDP.However, you should also give this book a read if you are interested in South Korea more generally - the author sheds a lot of light on pop culture, the Korean social scene and family life, in a way that few other books do. It's also a very readable and humorous book too.Only a few gripes (and not enough to reduce the book to four stars): there's been some sloppy editing here and there in terms of grammar and spelling, and some other fairly trivial mistakes like referring to Kim Jong il's favourite drink, Hennessy, as "Whiskey", rather than Cognac. But that's all pretty minor stuff, and really shouldn't put you off.5 stars because: the subject matter is interesting in itself, it fills a void when it comes to books on modern South Korea and it's funny and highly readable.

A well written insight into some of the more surprising factors in the success of the Korean economy and the consequent rise in living standards that also highlights some of the costs.

The postwar rise in the living standards and economic performance of South Korea is both well known and generally quite meticulously documented (one of the better sources being How Asia Works: Success and Failure in the World's Most Dynamic Region). What may come as a surprise to many, is the concerted attempt by the Korean government and private enterprise to extend their export dominated business model to areas beyond manufacturing and construction - namely to pop culture.The author - a Korean American journalist that returned to South Korea with her parents in the 1980s - is well positioned to provide a reasonably nuanced perspective on both how far the country has come since her culture shock 1980s time there and on how the basic business model employed for conquering the world with culture exports works.Be it K-Pop music, Korean soap operas or computer games, all are covered, with plenty of the interviews with the stars, the creators and the government agencies promoting and regulating the industry that were the basis for the research being summarized or partially reproduced for a richer 'voice'.While many approaches will be familiar to readers who have studied the Japanese and Korean export based manufacturing growth models, it is quite fascinating to read how one can - and successfully at that - transfer those principles to a segment that is much more heavily dependent on creativity and less on process optimization.While at current levels neither of the Anglo-Saxon entertainment powerhouses need be fundamentally worried in the short run, an understanding of what may follow and how to prepare for it - remember, no one took their electronics or automotive attempts seriously for a long time, either - is probably a good thing to acquire. And for that - even if the book cannot be classed as an in-depth industry study performed by an insider / expert - this is one of the best possible starts. On a lighter note, if you are just baffled by the Psy phenomenon, the book will enlighten, too.

Gift for a friend who was moving to Korea. Very pleased. Seems like a good book.

I decided to read this book in order to know more about South Korea as my girlfriend is Korean. The book details how South Korea is exporting its brand to the rest of the World through pop culture. It provides a very interesting look into Kpop and Korean society. The author spent the first years of her life in the USA before her parents relocated the family back to Korea in her early teenage years. She explains how Korea was far from cool back in those days and how the Korean government has changed the image of Korea by funding "Halyu" (the Korean wave) and exporting it to the World.

Great stocking filler and really interesting read

A truly great perspective and interesting book to read about South Korean softpower and visionary public policy behind supporting the creative arts and production industries.

Dommage qu'il n'existe pas une mise à jour récente! C'est vraiment un livre interessant pour décrire la stratégie des gouvernements coréens pour développer l'"industrie" artistique coréenne!

I had heard of K-Pop, of course, but I had no idea that South Korea was making a concerted effort to conquer large parts of the global entertainment industry. The author has done a huge job of researching this book, and my only complaint is that sometimes there's just more information than you really need or can absorb.

I loved this book. It is essentially a collection of essays on the various aspects of Hallyu and reads like one long magasine article. While it's not a research/ clinical study with control groups etc. and thus is anecdotal and empirical in its analysis, but born out of numerous interactions and chats with successful Korean stakeholders. So there should be enough validity in all of it. The prose is tongue-in-cheek and witty and makes it a fun and easy read. I do not remember the last time I read a book that I felt was unputdownable, that too a non-fiction, but this one was it! The writer talks about how non-koreans cannot feel 'han'- the feeling of collective and individual angst at being wronged. I disagree. India with our similar history of being colonised and taken advantage of, certainly has a wellspring of 'han'. This book can then be an important pointer to how we can own and channel our own 'han' and create a striving population with equal cultural achievements.

Amazon's targeted email marketing definitely works, and I one-clicked this book's icon through my Kindle app in the middle of the night (it is too easy to purchase books these days, requiring less than a minute to download). As a Korean-American who is very familiar with both cultures, I can testify that the most of this book's content is dead-on accurate, with just the right amount of sarcasm and humor (though I am more sarcastic than average to begin with).It is a must-read for Americans with Korean blood who might always have wondered about the corky nature of Korean culture and things their parents (or grandparents) are obsessed about. For Americans who have more than just curiosity about the Korean culture in general, this book provides very unique perspective that cannot be found in other books about Korea, and it will make you smile every few pages along the way, too. The author chose her words very carefully, and such craftsmanship comes through each paragraph.This author was born and raised in the States and moved to Korea with her parents in 1985 and attended middle school and high school in posh district of now infamous Gangnam. That is great for me personally, as I moved to the States in 1983 and missed much of Korea's recent economic and cultural transformation up close. I am still very familiar with most of the subject matters touched in this book, but I have to admit that I have learn a few things, and I laughed out loud like a mad man more than a few times.I strongly recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn more about Korean culture beyond the scenes in Psy's music videos.