Comment by throwawayq3423

8 hours ago

Government can't create culture and art anymore than a tech company can. They can only allow it to grow and spread, or block it.

Mostly true but the exception is K-Pop, which as I understand was the creation of a project by the South eKorean government. There was a severe financial crisis in the late 1990s where the country almost went bankrupt. Desperately seeking sources of revenue, the government funded K-Pop groups which eventually become a global phenomenon (BTS et al). At least that is what some Koreans have told me.

  • Funding is one thing, but they didn't create any of it. The people did. A small but important distinction imho.

  • I am Korean, and what you are saying is a lie created by anti-Korean people in Japan. Do you really think it makes sense for a government experiencing an economic crisis to desperately seek revenue sources and hope to overcome the crisis by funding a cultural industry that hasn't even succeeded yet?

    • I've always wondered about this, turns out there's a wikipedia entry for it

      > To protect the South Korean culture industry, the South Korean Ministry of Culture received a substantial budget increase, allowing for the creation of hundreds of culture industry departments in universities nationwide.[21] It has justified its financial support for Hallyu, estimated to be worth US$83.2 billion in 2012, by linking it to South Korea's export-driven economy.[22]

      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Wave

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