The Bulletin of the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences № 3/2025. World Economy. 

Georgii D. Paksiutov

Cand. Sci. (Econ.), Senior Researcher, Center for Japanese Studies, Institute of China and Contemporary Asia, the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

ORCID: 0000-0001-7153-4315

JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA’S CREATIVE INDUSTRIES: COMPETITION AND THE PROSPECTS OF COOPERATION

181-198

341.31 KB

Full text

The article examines a number of trends defining the specific characteristics and the global standing of the creative industries in Japan and South Korea. We highlight Japan’s relative resistance to the processes of digitalization of production and distribution on the cultural markets. In contrast, South Korean popular culture industries have been developing in close cooperation with the information technology industry since the 1990s. We examine the factors that could contribute to the success of the currently expanding collaboration between Japan and South Korea in the production of cultural goods. It is emphasized that the concept of the creative industries in its current form implies the danger of instrumentalization of culture.

Keywords: creative industries, cultural industries, cultural goods, Japan-South Korea economic relations, «Korean wave», Cool Japan.

JEL: Z1, N75

EDN: ZBVZUK

DOI: https://doi.org/10.52180/2073-6487_2025_3_181_198

References

1. Towse R. Creative Industries // Towse R., Navarrete Hernández T. (eds.). Handbook of Cultural Economics (Third edition). Cheltenham and Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2020. Pp. 137–144.
2. Muzychuk V.Yu. Creative Industries: Challenges for the Non-Commercial Segment of the Cultural Sector // The Bulletin of the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 2023. No. 5. Pp. 7–39. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.52180/2073-6487_2023_5_7_39. EDN: BXIKUF.
3. Demir E.M. On the Current Situation of Creative Industries in Turkey // Etkileşim. 2022. № 9. Pp. 224–239. DOI: 10.32739/etkilesim.2022.5.9.162.
4. Kim S. Aggressive Yet Benign: Korea’s Engagement in Creative Industries in Africa // International Journal of Cultural Policy. Vol. 26. № 7. Pp. 929–941. DOI: 10.1080/10286632.2020.1828383.
5. Scott A. Hollywood and the World: The Geography of Motion-Picture Distribution and Marketing // Review of International Political Economy. 2004. Vol. 11. № 1. Pp. 33–61.
6. Lee H.-K. Introduction: Understanding of the Cultural and Creative Industries in Asia // Lim L., Lee H.-K. (eds.). Routledge Handbook of Cultural and Creative Industries in Asia. London and New York: Routledge, 2019. 24–39.
7. Newsinger J.A. A Cultural Shock Doctrine? Austerity, the Neoliberal State and the Creative Industries Discourse // Media, Culture & Society. 2015. Vol. 37. № 2. 302–313.
8. Beirne M. et al. Autonomy and Resilience in Cultural Work: Looking Beyond the ‘Creative Industries’ // Journal for Cultural Research. 2017. Vol. 21. № 2. DOI: 10.1080/14797585.2016.1275311.
9. Flew T., Cunningham S. Creative Industries after the First Decade of Debate // The Information Society: An International Journal. 2010. Vol. 26. № 2. Pp. 113–123. DOI: 10.1080/01972240903562753.
10. Oyama S. In the closet: Japanese Creative Industries and their Reluctance to Forge Global and Transnational Linkages in ASEAN and East Asia // ERIA Discussion Paper Series. 2019. Vol. 295. Pp. 1–25.
11. Jin D.Y. The Korean Government’s New Cultural Policy in the Age of Social Media // Kawashima N., Lee H.-K. (eds.). Asian Cultural Flows: Cultural Policies, Creative Industries, and Media Consumers. Singapore: Springer, 2020. Pp. 3–17.
12. Otmazgin N. State Intervention Does Not Support the Development of the Media Sector: Lessons from Korea and Japan // Global Policy. 2020. Vol. 11. № S2. Pp. 40–46. DOI: 10.1111/1758-5899.12821.
13. McGray D. Japan’s Gross National Cool // Foreign Policy. Vol. 130. Pp. 44–54. DOI: 10.2307/3183487.
14. Paksiutov G.D. Economic Contribution of Japan’s Content Industry // Japanese Studies in Russia. 2019. No. 1. Pp. 51–72. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.24411/2500-2872-2019-10004. EDN: ZCWHWX.
15. Steinberg M. The Platform Economy: How Japan Transformed the Consumer Internet. Minneapolis and London: Minnesota University Press, 2019.
16. Matsui T. Nation branding through stigmatized popular culture: The «Cool Japan» craze among central ministries in Japan // Hitotsubashi Journal of Commerce and Management. 2014. Vol. 48. № 1. Pp. 81–97.
17. Rubinshtein A.Ya. Creative Economy of the Paternalistic State: What Does the Coming Day Hold for Us? // Journal of the New Economic Association. 2022. Vol. 54. No. 2. Pp. 209–212. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.31737/2221-2264-2022-54-2-11. EDN:
19. Kawashima N. ‘Cool Japan’ and Creative Industries: An Evaluation of Economic Policies for Popular Culture Industries in Japan // Asian Cultural Flows: Cultural Policies, Creative Industries, and Media Consumers. Pp. 18–36.
20. Kwon S., Kim J. The cultural industry policies of the Korean government and the Korean Wave // International Journal of Cultural Policy. 2014. Vol. 20. № 4. 422–439. DOI: 10.1080/10286632.2013.829052.
21. Jin D.Y. Construction of Digital Korea: The Evolution of New Communication Technologies in the 21st Century // Media, Culture & Society. 2017. Vol. 39. № 5. 715–726. DOI: 10.1177/0163443717709441.
22. Jung S. Korean Masculinities and Transcultural Consumption: Yonsama, Rain, Oldboy, K-pop Idols. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2011.
23. Lee H.-K., Lim L. Culture, Digitalization and Diversity: Asian Perspectives // Routledge Handbook of Cultural and Creative Industries in Asia. Pp. 527–547.
24. Kim Y. Sell Your Loneliness: Mukbang Culture and Multisensorial Capitalism in South Korea // Routledge Handbook of Cultural and Creative Industries in Asia. Pp. 363–382.
25. Putnam R.D. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000.
26. Kistanov V.O. Relations between Japan and South Korea: Problems, Trends, Perspectives // Japanese Studies in Russia. 2019. No. 3. Pp. 33–48. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.24411/2500-2872 2019-10019. EDN: VNXHTQ.
27. Chua B.H., Iwabuchi K. Introduction // Chua B.H., Iwabuchi K. (eds.). East Asian Pop Culture: Analyzing the Korean Wave. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2008. Pp. 1–12.
28. Toshiyuki B. Changes in International Competition Regarding Auto-parts in China, Korea, and Japan // Journal of International Economic Studies. 2016. Vol. 30. Pp. 27–40. DOI: 10.15002/00012843.
29. Bown C.P. How the United States Marched the Semiconductor Industry into its Trade War with China // East Asian Economic Review. 2020. Vol. 24. № 4. Pр. 349–388. DOI: 10.11644/KIEP.EAER.2020.24.4.384.
30. Gnyavali D.R., Park B.-J. Co-opetition Between Giants: Collaboration with Competitors for Technological Innovation // Research Policy. 2011. Vol. 40. № 5. Pp. 650–663.
31. Kuwahara Y. Introduction // Kuwahara Y. (ed.). The Korean Wave: Korean Popular Culture in Global Context. New York: Pulgrave Macmillan, 2014. Pp. 1–12.
32. Shin S., Balistreri J. The Other Trade War: Quantifying the Korea-Japan Trade Dispute // Journal of Asian Economics. 2022. Vol. 79. DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2022.101442.
33. Hoskins C., Mirus R. Reasons for the US Dominance of the International Trade in Television Industry // Media, Culture & Society. 1988, Vol. 10. № 4. Pp. 499–515.
34. Takara Y. Do Cultural Differences Affect the Trade of Cultural Goods? A Study of Trade in Music // Journal of Cultural Economics. 2017. Vol. 42. №. 3. Pp. 393–417.
35. Holloway I.R. Foreign Entry, Quality, and Cultural Distance: Product-Level Evidence from US Movie Exports // Review of World Economics. 2014. Vol. 150. Pp. 371-392. DOI: 10.1007/s10290-013-0180-3.
36. Kuwahara Y. Hanryu: Korean Popular Culture in Japan // The Korean Wave: Korean Popular Culture in Global Context. Pp. 213–222.
37. Iwabuchi K. Recentering Globalization: Popular Culture and Japanese Transnationalism. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2002.
38. Бурдье П. Формы капитала // Экономическая социология. Т. 3. № 5. С. 60–74. [Bourdieu P. Forms of Capital // Economic Sociology. 2002. Vol. 3. No. 5. Pp. 60–74. (In Russ.)].
39. de Valck M. Film Festivals: From European Geopolitics to Global Cinephilia. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2007.
40. Paksiutov G.D. «Soft Power» and «Cultural Capital» of Nations: The Case of Film Industry // World Economy and International Relations. 2020. Vol. 64. No. 11. Pp. 106–113. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.20542/0131-2227-2020-64-11-106-113. EDN: HWSIJI.
41. Rubinshtein A.Ya., Burakov N.A. Cultural Economics. Moscow: Studio School Moscow Art Academic Theater, State Institute of Art Studies, 2024. (In Russ.). EDN: GHRTJJ.

Manuscript submission date: 20.04.2025

Manuscript acceptance date: 30.06.2025

For citation:

Paksiutov G.D. Japan and South Korea’s Creative Industries: Competition and the Prospects of Cooperation// Vestnik Instituta Ekonomiki Rossiyskoy Akademii Nauk. 2025. № 3. Pp. 181-198. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.52180/2073-6487_2025_3_181_198  EDN: ZBVZUK

  Creative Commons 4.0