Raising Soft Stakes: Culture

industry cooperation between

India and Korea
Tilak Jha, PhD candidate,
Centre for East Asian Studies, SIS
Jawaharlal Nehru University, N. Delhi

tilakjha@gmail.com

After the 1990s economic crisis, the East Asian tiger economies including South Korea
signaled a turn towards cultural industries. Before that, the South Korean cultural
industries focused on domestic market alone. Overcoming traditional western
domination, within two decades since 1990s, the Korean cultural products have witnessed
sharp upswing in export of cultural products. TV and film industry exports have jump
manifold and as of 2003, the Korean cultural and creative industry accounted for 6.6. per
cent of national GDP. This has been achieved by policy relaxation like media
liberalisation, capitalisation and commercialisation of the cultural industries. Viewed as a
sustainable and high return economic development trend, the cultural and creative
industry in South Korea is now decisively heading towards creating a niche Korean
model.
Indian cultural industry is most visible in the form of film and entertainment industry
which has emerged as one of the worlds largest and most competitive. Other cultural
industry like design, fashion, publishing and advertising among others are picking up.
The culture and creative industry has been growing in double-digits in India and is
expected to exceed USD 42 billion by 2016. According to some studies by government
agencies, cultural and creative industries contribute nearly one-third of the GDP and
employ 30% of the workforce in India.
Indian and Korean cultural and creative industries have been cooperating at various levels
though it is far from realising its potential. Korea became partner country for FICCI
1

FRAMES probably the largest convention of media, entertainment and information

industries in India in March 2013. A 50 member Korean delegation participated in the
event. Korean Tourism Organisation that promotes Korea as the new film destination also
announced 30 per cent rebate on Indian films shot in Korea.
One of the oldest civilisational states with rich history and tradition, India and the
Republic of Korea are well placed to cooperate comprehensively in the field of culture
industry in contemporary post-colonial and post-imperial period. Similar social-political
and economic values and a common legacy of Buddhism to which most of South
Koreas national treasures root only add to the commonalities these two emerging
economies share. The nature of culture industry being generating more than economic
returns, India and Korea have the potential to unleash globally competitive and landmark
cultural products. Korea's success in building high-end technologies and India's untapped
cultural-historical potential spread over a landscape that hosts world's most diverse
people can create winning cultural industry models for the world market. More than
anything, it would multiply the many small entrepreneurial, low-investments, low-risk
success stories that are bound to create soft stake embankments to tide over common
challenges on other policy fronts namely security, foreign policy and traditional
economic cooperation.
This paper proposes to explore the existing and the prospective possibilities of two-way
movement of cultural and creative commodities between India and Korea. It will do so by
underlining the individual and institutional initiatives, drawing parallel with other
countrys fast growing cultural industries, particularly that of China and Japan, and then
analysing the role of policy push from governments. At a time when economic aspects of
culture and consumption is picking up, this paper will ultimately draw attention towards
whether a deepened cultural economy cooperation can create sufficient soft stakes to
counter other major problems.