A semiotic model of South Korea’s cultural industry ecosystem: the K-pop industry

Abstract We explored the need for an ecosystem approach based on relational systems when conducting research on South Korea’s cultural industry. We used Mollard’s (2009. L’ingeniere culturelle. Paris: PUF) idea of the participants in the French cultural system as a key reference and extended it to the notion of the platform, which is the core concept of South Korea’s cultural industry ecosystem (CIE). We also utilized the idea of the “semiotic square of consumption values” from Floch to explicate each platform and participant, which play a significant role in South Korea’s CIE. By defining a role rooted in the relationship and values for each subject (i.e., the production, consumption, authority, and intermediary subjects), we aimed to better understand the ecosystem of the cultural industry and focused on K-pop as a specific aspect of South Korea’s cultural sector by identifying the current identity of each participant.