THE DIGITAL KOREAN WAVE: LOCAL ONLINE GAMING GOES GLOBAL

Abstract

In the twenty-first century, the Korean wave has been expanding with the growth of digital culture, particularly online gaming. The rapid growth of the Korean online game industry and exports to Western markets have raised the fundamental question of whether digital culture has changed the Korean wave from a regionally focused cultural flow to a Western-focused contra-flow. This article discusses the Korean online gaming industry as an example of contra-flow It also maps out the process by which local online games are appropriated for Western game users through content hybridisation and glocalisation. Finally, it questions whether this new trend can diminish asymmetrical cultural flows between the West and the East.