Putting creative labour in its place in the shadow of the Korean Wave

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study re-evaluates the current Korean Wave from the perspective of creative labour, an issue insufficiently addressed in previous research. By focusing on the roles of the Korean state, cultural industry, and creative workers as crucial actors in the creation of the Korean Wave, this study examines whether a proper place for creative labour has been established in the context of the Korean Wave’s success. To answer this question, this study explores how each crucial actor within the Korean Wave has viewed and treated the problem of labour. First, it analyses how the Korean state has continuously promoted industrial policy while undercutting labour policy in its cultural industry. Second, it traces how the industry has legitimised unfair labour practices as unavoidable to exploit its creative workforce. Third, it traces how creative workers themselves have largely promoted their self-identity as cultural entrepreneurs and artistic creators while diminishing their identity as creative workers. Based on this overview of the continuity and change in the Korean cultural industry, this study reorients industrial sustainability discourse on the Korean Wave, examining its possibilities and future direction as a venue for alternative cultural production by putting creative labour in its place.