Hallyu' boosts Korea's GDP by 0.2%

Hallyu, the Korean Wave, is a socio-cultural phenomenon taking place across Asia, such as China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and even Russia and Mexico. Hallyu has brought increased interest in and favorable disposition towards Korean popular culture, such as TV drama, movie, and music. Currently, the preference for Korean culture has expanded from merely popular culture to Korean lifestyles in general, including food, fashion, tourism (to film locations) and sports.

Hallyu” boosted South Korea's income from merchandise, film and television program exports and tourism by $1.87 billion last year, a local think tank said on Tuesday (May 3).

According to a report released by the Trade Research Institute (TRI) under the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) on Tuesday (May 3), the vogue for Korean pop culture and Korean entertainers, generated an additional $1.87 billion, or 2.14 trillion won, in exports and tourism revenue in 2004.

Hallyu boosted Korea's gross domestic product (GDP) by 0.18 percent last year, spawning an aggregate added value equivalent to 1.44 trillion won.

“The economic effect of hallyu on merchandise exports stood at $918 million while that on domestic tourism industry amounted to $825 million last year. The research institute raised an important assignment of how to make use of hallyu more effectively to boost Korea's merchandise exports,” said Lee In-ho, a senior research fellow with the TRI.

The report showed that Korea's exports to five Asian economies _ China, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand _ soared by $918 million in 2004 from a year earlier, mainly ascribed to the economic effect of hallyu. The increment accounted for 7.2 percent of Korea's $12.75 billion consumer goods shipped to the five countries.

Electronic, electric and machinery products accounted for the biggest with 64.2 percent, or $499 million of the increase, and plastic, rubber and leather goods, and food and beverages made up more than $100 million. .

Hallyu boosted Korea's exports to Japan by $346 million, to China by $342 million, Taiwan by $104 million, Hong Kong by $88 million and Thailand $38 million.

The research institute said the number of foreign tourists to Korea increased by an estimated 968,000 in 2004 from the previous year, 66.9 percent or 647,000 of whom visited Korea due to hallyu.

The 647,000 tourists spent an aggregate sum of 944.9 billion won in Korea, creating net added value for the Korean economy of 727.7 billion won and pushing up Korea's GDP by 0.09 percent.

The think tank said it is estimated that hallyu boosted the number of Japanese tourists to Korea by 500,000, Taiwanese tourists by 98,000, China tourist by 75,000. The TRI attributed the tourist increase to the success of Korean television melodrama “Winter Sonata” and the growing popularity of Korean cuisine.

Film exports skyrocketed by 88.1 percent to $58.3 million in 2004 from a year ago, owing to the growing impact of hallyu in Japan, while exports of television programs, mainly dramas, jumped by 69.6 percent to $71.5 million.

Film and drama exports increased Korea's GDP by 0.02 percent, the TRI said.


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http://www2.hawaii.edu/~sukj/KoreanWave/hallyu.html