The Linkage between the U.S. Commercial Media System and the Crisis of the Korean Media Industry

Reports on the Korean culture’s gaining popularity among foreign audiences have filled the Korean news media for more than a decade by now. On the other hand, some observers have begun to argue that the hyper-commercialism has brought the Korean cultural industries to a crisis. By examining a brief history of U.S. commercial media system’s global spread, this paper makes an effort to understand the Korean media industry within an international and historical framework. Secondly, it analyzes the processes of Korean media industry losing its competitiveness following the Korean Wave success. Based on the research findings, this paper warns against the potentially detrimental effects of commercial media system. KCI Citation Count: 0