The Soft Power of Korea: How K-pop Culture Reshapes South Korea’s Image in the Eyes of Global Generation Z

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-577-5_79How to use a DOI?

Keywords

K-pop; Soft Power; Constructivism; National Image; Gen Z

Abstract

In recent years, K-pop has gained popularity worldwide, influencing the younger generation’s perception of South Korea. This study explores how the South Korean government uses K-pop to reshape the national image of its Generation Z. Taking Indonesia as an example, this study analyzed the strategic promotion of K-pop under policies and its acceptance among young people in Indonesia. The research results are based on official reports and academic studies, indicating that the influence of K-pop has manifested through enthusiasm for learning Korean, consumption of Korean products, and travel willing. This process indicates that the influence of K-pop has shifted from mere attraction to active participation and internalization of values related to modernity and innovation. Theoretically, this study combines the soft power theory with constructivism and proposes an interactive model, in which the state acts as a “norm entrepreneur” and global youth actively jointly construct the national image through “norm socialization”. This research also provides strategic insights for those countries that wish to enhance their soft power through popular culture.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Wei Liu
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/15
TI  - The Soft Power of Korea: How K-pop Culture Reshapes South Korea’s Image in the Eyes of Global Generation Z
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 5th International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities and Arts (SSHA 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 772
EP  - 783
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-577-5_79
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-577-5_79
ID  - Liu2026
ER  -