The New Korean Wave in China: Chinese Users' Use of Korean Popular Culture via the Internet

Abstract

Although the Korean Wave originated in China, its presence in this country had been faltering for some time. Recently, however, Korean Wave star centered K-drama via online video websites, Korean Wave TV programs with high ratings, and idol group centered K-pop with glocalization strategies are all popular in China once again. The purpose of this paper is to explore Chinese teens and twenty year olds as the main consumers of Korean popular culture and the how preferred genres, motives, and behaviors of Korean pop culture use and Korean image affect one another. According to the study results, media use via online video service was most common, and among the preferred genres, K-drama has the highest usage rates. In addition, it was discovered that motives and behaviors associated with the use of Korean pop culture had a considerable influence on a positive Korean image.