EU-South Korea international cultural relations in the twenty-first century: an overview

The EU-South Korea cultural relations have intensified in the past few decades. Since the signing of free trade deal between two parties in 2010, the Korean public perception of the EU has positively evolved. Both parties initiated a protocol on cultural cooperation under the EU-RoK free trade agreement where particular emphasis was placed on the collaboration of audio-visual sector. The main part of this paper has three sections. The first section refers to EU cultural policy and diplomacy. In order to explain the EU’s cultural presence in South Korea, this paper addresses European cultural exports to South Korea and the South Korean perception of the EU. The following part discusses South Korean policy orientation and diplomacy regarding culture. By introducing the statistical data on Hallyu contents export to Europe, one can understand the current situation of Hallyu expansion in Europe. Also, the European perception of Hallyu is included. Since EU cultural diplomacy worldwide still has a national dominance, the following section discusses four national EU cases―France, Poland, Sweden, and Italy―to illustrate the types of EU-South Korea ICR.