K-Content News

In 2017, the Moon Jae-in administration proposed the New Northern Policy as a means to create new growth engines for the Korean economy and to promote peace and stability through collaboration with Eurasian countries. With the implementation of this policy, collaboration with Eurasian countries is expected to increase in the areas of transportation, logistics, energy, and more. Of the 14 Eurasian countries targeted in the New Northern Policy, Russia is the core targeted region. Besides being a powerful country located near the Korean Peninsula, Russia has a vast market consisting of over 140 million people and serves as a bridgehead for businesses to enter into neighboring countries, including the Commonwealth Independent States (CIS).

Despite all this, how much do we really know about Russia, the major partner of our New Northern Policy? The stereotypes toward Russia and Russians discussed in Russia Beyond, a newspaper issued by the Russian government include the following: “All Russians are communists,” “Russia is cold and it snows all the time,” “Russians raise brown bears as pets” and “Russians drink lots of Vodka.” These stereotypes are not that much different from the results of the 2017 Korea-Russia Mutual Perception Survey conducted by the Institute of Russian Studies at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. According to the survey results, Koreans most commonly associated Russia with the phrases “cold country” (11%), “the Soviet Union” (10%), “communist country” (7%), and “vodka” (4%).

Russia is one of the four most powerful countries near the Korean Peninsula along with the United States, Japan, and China and is a region with great geopolitical importance that connects Asia and Europe. Yet, Russia is still a “country of mystery” to Koreans. According to the 2017 Korea-Russia Mutual Perception Survey, only 1% of Koreans and 3% of Russians said that they knew the other country well. Of those surveyed, 46% of all Koreans and 58% of all Russians, about half of the respondents representing each nationality, showed indifference toward the other country. To sum it all up, the relationship between Korea and Russia is awkward and unfamiliar. The recent boom of Hallyu (Korean Wave), however, has increased interest between the two countries, providing ample opportunities to bring the two countries together.

Up until now, the relationship between Korea and Russia has focused primarily on politics, diplomacy, and the economy. Ever since establishing diplomatic relations with Russia in 1990, Korea has maintained a cooperative relationship with Russia, a member of the Six-Party Talks and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, to establish peaceful governance on the Korean Peninsula. Korea and Russia complement each other in terms of industry and resources, and thus each country plays an important role in the other country’s economy. In light of this mutual economic dependence, it comes as no surprise that respondents to the 2017 Korea-Russia Mutual Perception Survey from both countries named “politics” and “the economy” as the areas requiring the greatest amount of mutual cooperation. In terms of promising areas for mutual cooperation, Korean respondents primarily named “industry/energy” (58%), “politics/diplomacy” (33%) and “military technology” (22%) as their areas of choice, while Russian respondents selected “cutting-edge technology” (32%), “trade” (31%), and “medicine” (31%).

When asked to come up with an example of cultural exchange between Korea and Russia, many respondents first thought of art and culture exchanges such as the “Bolshoi Ballet Performance in Korea.” In recent years, exchanges between Korea and Russia have occurred regularly in the content category. Did you know that “Cranes,” the main theme song of the mega-hit K-drama Sandglass, which recorded an average viewer rating of 50.8%, was originally sung by popular Russian singer Joseph Kobzon? Similarly, South Korean singer Sim Soo-bong’s 1997 hit song “One Million Roses” was a remake of a song by Russian singer Alla Pugacheva.

Meanwhile, in 2001, at the Moscow International Film Festival, the first Korean movie special program “The Korean Peninsula: The South and North” was held, where the movie The Isle won the Judges’ Award and peaked Russian interest in Korean movies. Since then, Korean directors such as Park Chan-wook, Lee Chang-dong, and Kim Ki-duk have received international attention at prestigious film festivals, which has led to the screening of Korean movies on Russian television.

The type of Korean content that is most loved by Russians at the moment is K-pop. In 2004, in celebration of the 120th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Russia (120 years since diplomatic relations first began in 1884 between Joseon and Russia and 14 years since diplomatic relations began in 1990 between Korea and Russia), Seo Taiji threw a concert in Vladivostok, becoming the first Korean singer ever to perform in Russia.

In the early 2010s, K-pop spread throughout the world online, which led to the formation of online K-pop fandoms in Russia. The performance by the Korean boy group EXO at the closing ceremony of the 2013 Summer Universiade held in the city of Kazan, Russia, further sparked Russian interest in K-pop. As of 2018, 260,000 Russians are active in K-pop-related clubs, and 880,000 are members of K-pop idol fan clubs.

There have also been increased exchanges and collaborations in the gaming industry. As demands for online computer games increased in the early 2000s with the distribution of personal computers with access to high-speed internet, Korean games were promoted through word-of-mouth among Russian internet users. Ever since the first official export of “Ragnarök” to Russia in 2004, games like “Lineage 2” and “Civilization 3” have been hugely popular in Russia. In 2005, Korean-Russian collaboration in the gaming industry progressed, resulting in the creation of the official soundtrack for the game “Soul of the Ultimate Nation,” developed by a Korean company,by the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Russian Federation.

Thanks to the propagation of Korean games in the early 2000s, many games, including “Battle Ground” and “ArcheAge” continue to be exported. Recently, demand is increasing for Korean mobile games such as “Lineage 2” and “Lineage M,” reflecting the growth of the mobile game market in Russia.

Why is it that so many people are still indifferent to Korea-Russia relations despite 30 years of exchange efforts and the political importance of Russia as the core axis of the New Northern Policy? According to the 2017 Korea-Russia Mutual Perception Survey, in addition to the “domestic and overseas political situation” and “geographical distance,” respondents named “prejudice toward the other country (ranked second among Korean respondents at 28% and ranked fourth among Russian respondents at 11%) and “lack of information” (ranked third among Korean respondents at 25% and ranked fourth among Russian respondents at 11%) as major factors hindering the development of a better relationship between the two countries.

Therefore, efforts must be made to promote the relationship between Korea and Russia by broadening understanding through human interactions and amicable exchanges. The Korean Wave is expanding opportunities for contact and is increasing favorable feelings between the two countries. Content exchange and collaboration is expected to provide new energy to develop the positive relationship between Korea and Russia.

In an effort to strengthen cooperation and exchange with Russia in the content industry, the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency hosted the “K-Content EXPO 2019 Russia” event in Moscow from August 31 to September 4. On August 3 and September 1, a B2C event was held at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow with over 10,000 Korean Wave fans in attendance. Fans explored displays and interactive experience zones in the categories of broadcasting, games, animation and characters, cartoons and webtoons, traditional culture and Korean food, and medical technology, showing great interest in Korean culture and contents. Many fans took pictures in front of K-drama cutouts of popular dramas such as Guardian: The Lonely and Great God and Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth and wore the costumes of the cartoon and webtoon characters from Princess Hours and Suddenly a Lady.

Hallyu fans typically show particular enthusiasm for K-pop, as evidenced by the high popularity of K-pop in Russia. Russian K-pop fans started waiting in long lines early in the the morning on August 31 to attend the performances of Soyou, SF9, CLC, and ONF to be held later that day. While waiting, they showed off their dance moves at a cover dance event and random dance event, raising everyone’s anticipation of the upcoming show. Once the performance began, over 5,000 fans raised the official glow stick of each artist and chanted artist slogans to cheer them on. Some Korean Wave fans in their teens and twenties who attended the concert said, “It’s moving to see the artists in person who we’ve only seen in internet videos.” They continued, “The audience was particularly heated up in this concert thanks to the cover dance and random dance events.”

The B2B export conference held on September 3 and 4 as part of the expo consisted of networking and business matching events for 30 Korean content companies and 89 buyers in Russia and CIS regions. The B2B event was a valuable opportunity for providers of Korean content to seek ways to enter new markets in Russian-speaking regions where Korean contents are not widespread and to promote collaboration with Russian companies.

Korean companies that participated in the B2B event spoke of their expectations for the development of the niche market. A broadcasting official said, “We plan on collaborating with Russian companies based on Russia’s demand for K-pop.

We must expand opportunities to allow local companies with established capital and a wide distribution network to confirm the demand for Korean Wave in the region and explore the possibility for collaboration.” An official from one game company explained, “Russia is a country where the new game market involving VR technologies has just begun to form. I got the impression that Russia is more active in its desire to introduce new gaming technologies than other countries. Russia will serve as a great testbed for entry into the European market.” Many attendees from the animation and character industry focused on the characteristics of the MD market, which has recently experienced increased demands in Russia, and stated that support is necessary for Korean companies to enter the Russian market.

As the New Northern Policy marks a milestone in Korea’s collaboration with Russia, which had previously been limited due to economic sanctions imposed by the West, many people are excited about the opportunity to do business with Russia. In order to develop a meaningful relationship between Korea and Russia in the era of New Northern Policy, we must overcome the limitations of the past, and adopt a strategic approach to future cooperation. In order to do so, it is important to expand understanding and the scope of interest between the people of Korea and Russia.

In this regard, spreading the Korean Wave through on-site collaboration and consumer-friendly exchange is a very important task. Rather than viewing Russia as a new market for the expansion of the Korean economy and its position, we must consider ways to expand the cultural experience of Russians and to contribute to the development of Russian culture and society through Korean Wave contents. We must expand the understanding of and interest in Korea across Russian society by positively impacting Russia through the use of Korean Wave contents.

There are plenty of opportunities for Korea and Russia to become closer friends. Now, all we need to do is work hard to cooperate and develop a genuine and practical friendship.