The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation Is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture -- Euny Hong, Paperback

A FRESH, FUNNY, UP-CLOSE LOOK AT HOW SOUTH KOREA REMADE ITSELF AS THE WORLD'S POP CULTURE POWERHOUSE OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

By now, everyone in the world knows the song Gangnam Style and Psy, an instantly recognizable star. But the song's international popularity is no passing fad. Gangnam Style is only one tool in South Korea's extraordinarily elaborate and effective strategy to become a major world superpower by first becoming the world's number one pop culture exporter.

As a child, Euny Hong moved from America to the Gangnam neighbourhood in Seoul. She was a witness to the most accelerated part of South Korea's economic development, during which time it leapfrogged from third-world military dictatorship to first-world liberal democracy on the cutting edge of global technology.

Euny Hong recounts how South Korea vaulted itself into the twenty-first century, becoming a global leader in business, technology, education, and pop culture. Featuring lively, in-depth reporting and numerous interviews with Koreans working in all areas of government and society, The Birth of Korean Cool reveals how a really uncool country became cool, and how a nation that once banned miniskirts, long hair on men, and rock 'n' roll could come to mass produce boy bands, soap operas, and the world's most important smart phone.

Author: Euny Hong
Publisher: Picador USA
Published: 08/05/2014
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.55lbs
Size: 8.51h x 5.47w x 0.79d
ISBN: 9781250045119

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 06/15/2014 pg. 110
Kirkus Reviews 06/15/2014
People Weekly 08/31/2014 pg. 15
Entertainment Weekly 09/05/2014 pg. 69

About the Author
Euny Hong is a journalist and author with international experience in web, print, and television news. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal Europe, International Herald Tribune, New Republic, Boston Globe, and The Forward. She is the author of one previous book, the novel Kept: A Comedy of Sex and Manners. She is fluent in English, French, German, and Korean.