Moon Jae-in, South Korea’s president, is not the first world leader to hope that co-opting cool kids may have political benefits
”, which had just won the Oscar for best picture. More recently he appointed the members of BTS, the world’s biggest boy band, as “special presidential envoys for future generations and culture.” The stars appeared alongside him at the UN in September to promote covid-19 vaccination and sustainable development.
Mr Moon is not the first world leader to hope that co-opting cool kids may have political benefits. During the Cold War, both America and the Soviet Union enlisted artists in their ideological confrontation, a practice that prompted Joseph Nye, a political scientist at Harvard, to“soft power”. Tony Blair, Britain’s prime minister between 1997 and 2007, invited artists and rock stars to his flat in Downing Street.
Yet it is hard to tell if such efforts pay off. Some might argue that American pop culture contributed to the demise of the Soviet Union, but the eastern bloc’s dysfunctional economic system probably had more to do with it. Soft power is not strong enough to overcome great missteps or weaknesses. The best South Korean film and television draws far too much attention to social problems to lend itself to nationalist PR campaigns.
The best evidence for the political importance of South Korea’s culture may thus be attempts to suppress, rather than co-opt it. Since the K-pop gig in Pyongyang, North Korea has
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Lebanese judge charges 68 over deadly clash south of BeirutA Lebanese judge has charged 68 people in this month's deadly clash in Beirut that left seven people dead and dozens wounded, the state news agency reported Monday. The clash south of Beirut on Oct. 14 was the worst fighting in the capital in years and broke out during a Hezbollah-organized protest against the judge leading the investigation into last year’s massive Beirut port blast. The National News Agency said Government Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Fadi Akiki charged the 68 people with crimes including murder, attempted murder, inciting sectarian strife, having unlicensed weapons and sabotage.
Read more »
Analysis: Moon's push for South Korean military independence may echo far beyond his presidencyWhen South Korean President Moon Jae-in arrived this week at Seoul's largest weapons expo ever in the back seat of a fighter jet, he didn't present the image of a leader bent on making peace with North Korea.
Read more »
South Korea's leader vows final push for talks with NorthSEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s president said Monday he’ll keep striving to promote peace with North Korea through dialogue until the end of his term next May, after Pyongyang raised animosities with a resumption of provocative weapons tests.
Read more »
Routing error caused network outage, South Korean telco KT saysSouth Korean telecom service provider KT Corp said a widespread outage on Monday was due to a 'routing error' and not a cyber attack as initially suspected.
Read more »
Column: Who is buying those expensive houses in South L.A.? Is it really just white people?“As it turns out, there are some Black people who can and, more importantly, are willing to fork over the eye-popping down payments & accept the exorbitant mortgages that have become the norm of homebuying in South L.A.,” writes columnist Erika_D_Smith
Read more »