I. INTRODUCTION

The International Trade Council defines cultural exchange as a two-way communications process that involves efforts to promote a nation’s image and values among other foreign audiences as well as to try to understand the culture, values, and images of other countries and their people. Cultural diplomacy is a means through which nations can increase respect and understanding of themselves among other nations. The rationale is that when a country’s culture includes universal values and interests others share, it increases the probability of obtaining its desired results because of the relationship that attraction forms and duty that it creates.

Cultural exchanges play especially a very significant role in building better relations between countries. The exchanges help to promote understanding and trust, both of which are vital to resolving disputes and strengthening bilateral relations. Tayeb (1998) opines that in many cultures, people prefer to build up a relationship and establish trust before they engage in business contracts and other activities. Culture is even more crucial during the era of economic globalization, which is characterized by more complex patterns of interdependence in economic, social and cultural domains. In this era, the balance of power among nations has become more dynamic, fragile and unpredictable.1 Taking cognizance of its salience, cultural interactions have been given greater due emphasis in the US-China relations. The US-China cultural exchange program focuses on culture and education, and includes activities such as cultural exhibitions, as well as those where Chinese and US university students study in each other’s country. Such interaction between Chinese and Americans ‒ be it students, academics or visitors ‒ draws both sides closer. The goal of this exchange is building understanding, trust and respect necessary for stable bilateral relations.

Cultural exchanges could particularly be important to Korea as it attempts to foster good relations with other countries. As a relatively small country, or a middle power country, it is impossible for Korean to compete effectively with larger countries like the US and China on hard power basis. In this context, Korea could adopt soft power diplomacy, or cultural diplomacy, as an alternative strategy to strengthen relations with other countries and insert its influence in the global community. Moreover, given its less aggressive character, Korea is apt to be more appealing to other countries for cooperation on issues of trade and development. Therefore this paper examines the potential that underlies cultural exchanges between Korea and Africa. It argues that cultural exchanges between Korea and Africa have tremendous potential in nurturing better relations, and particularly in extending Korea’s soft power in Sub-Saharan Africa (hereafter Africa), and creating opportunities for robust cooperation on myriad issues of mutual interest. From this theoretical underpinning, the paper assesses the role of cultural products, namely, Hallyu, in promoting the image of Korea among Africans, and the economic externalities that this exchange carries in terms of cultivating bilateral relations and encouraging tourist flows between Korea and East African countries.

Hallyu, which is another name for Korean Wave or Korean fever, is a term coined to refer to the rapidity and global surge of Korean popular culture (K-pop). The term encompasses Korean movies, dramas, music, soap operas, Korean cuisine and online games. Hallyu first started in China in the 1990s (Shim, 2006; Ravina, 2009). However, the growth was phenomenal, such that it rapidly gained a tremendous global traction. The growth is partly owed to the Korea government’s commitment to deploy Hallyu as a soft power strategy. While there are many studies that have documented the growth and impact of Hallyu on other regions, most of them are limited to Asia, Europe, US and the Middle East. The objectives of the paper are therefore threefold: first, to theoretically examine the traditional theories of cultural proximity and cross border exchanges, and how they apply in the context of Africa-Korea relations, citing instances of India and China; second, to theoretically examine alternative theories that explain the possible traction of Hallyu in Africa, assuming cultural distance between Korea and Africa; and third, to empirically demonstrate the effect of Korea’s cultural products as a public diplomacy tool in Africa. The paper uses the degree of consumption of cultural goods by Africans to measure the influence of Hallyu on Africans’ perception of Koreanness, as well as its impact on African consumers to buy conventional Korean commercial products. In the same vein, the paper examines whether consumption of Korean cultural goods, such as watching Korean drama and listening to Korean music, would induce the intention to visit Korea among Africans.

There are two theoretical approaches to studying how people construct the identity of other cultures (Bodomo and Chabal, 2014). Long Distance Cross-Cultural Identity Construction theory presupposes that people construct the identity of other cultures through cultural objects those other cultures produce and disseminate rather than embedding themselves in these other cultures. The other approach, in-situ cross-cultural identity construction theory, asserts that people construct identity of other cultures by travelling and living with people who practice those cultures. The present study borrows from these two approaches as it examines how respondents living in the foreign culture construct identity and meaning out of the cultural products in that culture.

The rest of this paper will progress as follows. Section II examines literature based on cultural proximity theories and alternative proximities. Section III is description of data, methodology and operationalization. Section III sub-section 3 is descriptive analysis. Section IV covers econometric analysis, discussions and conclusion.

1)Koechler, H. 2018. “Culture in the Age of Globalization” <https://doc-research.org/2018/06/culture-in-the-age-of-globalization/> (accessed August 29, 2018)

II. LITERATURE

1. Theoretical Framework: Cultural Proximity, Cross Border Networks and International Trade and Investment

UNESCO (2001) describes culture as the set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group, and encompasses art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs. This definition embodies tangible (material) as well as intangible cultural characteristics of a group of people. The most important dimensions of culture are language, religion, values and attitudes, history, manners and customs and the material elements of culture.

Straubhaar (2007) advanced that cultural proximity fosters the emergence of “geocultural markets” that are unified by common language, history, religion, ethnicity, shared identities, communication, clothing styles, living patterns, and climate. In the same vein, La Pastina and Straubhaar (2005) elaborated that cultural proximity was one of the underlying reasons for the successful export of the telenovelas in Latin American countries. An appreciable body of previous studies have equally documented that social and cultural aspects, such as the knowledge of a common language or colonial ties, have a positive effect on cooperation and bilateral relations. These studies demonstrate that the existence of the same spoken language in the importing and the exporting country, similarities in religious beliefs and colonial ties, significantly increase the volume of goods exchanged between countries (Cheptea, 2007). Research also shows that cross-border networks, whether business or social, encourages trade.

2. Historical Experiences

Relations created between countries in the course of history, such as the colonial period, can encourage cooperation and commercial relations. Most often, the colonized country adopts the institutional framework of the colonizing country, resulting in similarity of legal institutions which increases the security of transactions and reduces communication costs, thereby favoring international trade. Likewise, two countries which had the same colonial master could have more developed bilateral exchanges. Some previous studies demonstrate that the existence of a colonial relationship multiplies bilateral trade by 5.75 percent, whereas having the same colonizing master boosts bilateral trade between two countries by 80 percent (Rouet et al., 2007). This colonial relationship could partly explain why India, a former colony of Britain, has strong trade ties with African countries which were similarly colonized by Britain.

In cultural exchanges, studies reveal that having common historical experiences endears a country’s cultural products to other countries. For example, socio-historical context has been cited as a factor that aided the rapid spread of Hallyu in Asia. On the one hand, the Japanese can identify with Korea because it is closer to Japan in terms of development and technological sophistication than other Asian countries. This has facilitated the large export of Korean cultural products to Japan. On the other hand, most Asian countries were former colonies of Japan, and thus harbor animosity towards Japanese music or lifestyle-culture. On the contrary, Korea was a former colony of Japan, and therefore shares a similar experience with many other Asian countries. This implies that there is less animosity towards Korea in Southeast Asian region (Roll, 2018). Africa and Korea share a distant history of having been subjects to imperial powers. The more proximate historical experience is the experience of poverty and underdevelopment. Given Korea’s historical circumstances and its subsequent rapid transformation, many Africans to point to South Korea for comparative analysis, and often see it as model of socio-economic and socio-cultural success to emulate (Bodomo and Chabal, 2014). Thus African countries view Korea more favorably than western countries, as a peer. As a result, they tend to compare the socioeconomic and socio-cultural conditions of Korea with those of their own. This has the potential to nurture cooperation and better relations between Korea and Africa.

3. Linguistic Distance

Early studies on the amount of trade between countries relied on a gravity model to explain transaction cost theory. Bergstrand (1989) confines the transaction cost elements to adjacency and membership to a common trade block. This model has since been modified to include other costs related with acquiring intelligence on foreign markets. The new variables include common language and immigrant networks (Frankel et al., 1997; Gould, 1994). Effective communication is imperative to international trade. Indeed, one way of bridging the cultural differences is through language. A study by DEPS shows that having a common language or familiarity with another country’s language has a positive effect on the flow of FDI and trade. The evidence suggests that linguistic proximity increases trade flows by about 65 percent. The study further suggests that the greater the linguistic distance, measured in terms of the absence of common language to existence of perfect language similarity, the more trade decreases. Interestingly, language as a barrier to trade diminishes when there exists exchange of cultural goods, implying the greater effect of cultural exchanges. Nevertheless, Melitz (2002) also finds that both direct communication (DC) as well as translation of a foreign language promotes bilateral relations. India is known to capitalize on language similarities with many African countries in its bid to enter and expand its investment in Africa. Though complemented by other initiatives such as South-South cooperation, the Indo-African trade relations reflect a shared colonial past. As a former colony of Britain, India and most Africa counties share English as official language. On the contrary, Korea does not share a common language with African countries. Nonetheless, it is noteworthy that many of the Korean movies and dramas have been fully translated into English. But in order to propel the spread of Korean pop culture to Africa, like China, Korea can intensify its language exchange programs with African countries, both abroad and in Korean universities hosting foreign students. In the case of China, Confucius Institutes established in many African countries offer training on Chinese culture and language, with the primary goal of developing friendly relations between China and Africa, and ultimately fostering better understanding and cooperation.

4. Cross-Border (Social) Networks

Cross-border networks, both social and business can bolster bilateral relations (Rauch, 1999; Rauch, 2001; Combes, Lafourcade and Mayer, 2005). These networks are defined by common ethnic, linguistic and cultural ties of consumers and producers, and are usually measured by the stocks of immigrants in the foreign country. Migration creates transitional identity, which can span within a geocultural region (Straubhaar, 2007). There are three primary mechanisms through which the networks increase trade. The first is transaction cost, the second is “taste linkage” and the final is opportunities. Regarding transaction costs, first, the networks provide its members with better information on potential partners. This information could be unavailable on the market or available at a higher cost. Second, immigrants often possess knowledge of local customs, laws, and business practices of the country they reside in and may facilitate long-run business relationships. Since trade relies on contracts, establishing trust through immigrant networks can decrease the costs related with negotiating contracts and ensuring their enforcement. Third, the residents of the host country can become familiar with or use the immigrants’ native language, thereby diminishing the trading costs arising from communication barriers (Gould, 1994). Rauch and Trindade (2002) confirm that information arising from migrant stock in a foreign country has a positive role in international trade flow. In Africa, the Indian immigrant communities in various countries have played a crucial role in enabling Indian companies to make forays into many African markets. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF, 2015), India’s trade with Africa has been growing by approximately 35% every year since 2005, making it Africa’s fourth largest trading partner. India has a large stock of immigrants in Africa, estimated at 3 million. As a result, it adopted a bottom-up approach to building trade and investment relations with Africa. This strategy contrasts with China, which adopted a top-bottom approach, seeking first to cultivate a relationship with African governments, and then working it back to local communities.

Regarding consumption structure, immigrant networks can alter the structure of consumers’ preferences. The “taste linkage” theory holds that immigrants act as trade intermediaries (Dunlevy and Hutchinson, 1999). First, immigrants often have a taste preference for their home-country products. It is noted that immigrants’ consumption of their home-country products results in a direct increase in the host country’s import of these products (Gould, 1994). Second, immigrants may increase exports due to their preferences for goods produced in the country where they last resided. Finally, with respect to scanning opportunities, immigrants, by virtue of links to their home countries and knowledge of their home economies, may realize opportunities for trade between their home country and the host country. Indeed Head and Ries (1998) find that a 10 per cent increase in immigrants is associated with a 1% increase in Canadian exports to the immigrant's home country and a 3% increase in imports. In the case of Korea, many Africans (Nigerians, Cameroonians, Ghanaians and Kenyans among others) living in Korea are increasingly involved in export of Korean used cars and appliances to the home countries.

5. Alternative Forms of Proximity

In the current literature, it remains a puzzle how Korean cultural products could appeal to Africa. The primary arguments, mostly drawn from the theory of cultural proximity, fear that the existence of cultural distance between Korea and Africa makes it difficult for Korean cultural products to gain abroad traction among Africans consumers of cultural products. Furthermore, it is not adequate to assume that the factors that account for the spread of Hallyu in Africa are similar to those that account for its consumption and popularity in Asia. But if cultural proximity theory fails to explain the probable spread of Hallyu Africa, how then can the phenomenon be explained in Africa?

The theory of cultural proximity is predicated on the idea of cultural capital. However, as Straubhaar (2007) submits, the inclination towards cultural products is not certain, as cultural proximity is limited by social class stratification. His explanation implies that groups that might be united due to having common language or culture can be fragmented by economic and cultural capital. For example, Straubhaar finds that in the case of Brazil, people with basic education were more bound by cultural proximity, while people with higher education gained more of an open global perspective due to increased exposure. La Pastina and Straubhaar (2005) emphasize the existence of complex, multiple levels of proximities, arguing that people have multilayered, complex cultural identities. Some aspects of proximity are geographic or spatial: local, subnational, national or global, while other aspects are exclusively cultural or linguistic. Other aspects of identities could be based on gender, such as when women identify with common struggles of family life beyond geographic or cultural boundaries. This form of multilayered identities is especially true of cultural phenomena relayed through media channels such as Television. Thus whereas it is often presumed that Africa does not share cultural proximity with Korea, Korean films, drama or music, could still appeal to the African audiences. Moreover, familiarity with new cultures can be cultivated over time, meaning that prolonged exposure to Korean popular culture can instill a sense of familiarity so that aspects of Korean culture become a form of secondary proximate culture for Africans.

The theory of cultural shareability, which contradicts the theory of proximate culture, asserts that some countries may produce cultural programs that contain common values, images, archetypes and themes across cultures. These attributes allow such cultural content to appeal across cultural boundaries (Singhal and Udornpim, 1997). Similarly, the theory of value proximity contends that some drama series carry cultural prototypes and ethos, which span many cultures, or values that go beyond cultural particularities (Straubhaar, 2007). Studies regarding Hallyu have equally documented that they project values that are compatible with African cultures (Yang and White, 2016; Kwon, 2011). For example, based on its Confucius tradition, Korean culture upholds family values and cohesion, interpersonal harmony and non-confrontational way of life, which are all compatible with African heritage. Korean drama and movies series are also less vulgar, obscene and violent, while at the same time, they are erotic and emotionally appealing (Kaisii, 2017). In the Middle East, Mozafari (2013) aptly notes that Korea is among the countries that produce moral and ethical films and drama series, which not only are compatible with the Iranian broadcasting policy, but also palatable to the taste of Iranian viewers. He explains that the Korean TV drama series called “Jumong” was so palatable to the Iranian audience that Iranian journals featured Jumong’s photos on their cover pages for several months. On the contrary, in spite of conventional assumptions that Hollywood films have greater appeal to Africans, some scholars contend that some Western values conveyed by Hollywood films stand in complete contrast to African worldview (Yang and White, 2016). Moreover, for some people, Western culture and values typify exclusivism and imperialism, tendencies which subordinate rather than synchronize with other cultures. It is this perception of cultural or civilizational hegemony that, for instance, has made Western values less persuasive in some regions of the world, especially in countries that are predominantly Muslim. Yet, as the International Trade Council rightly observes, when a country’s culture contains shareable values and intersecting interests, it increases the probability of obtaining desirable outcomes due to the relationship of attraction and duty that it creates. Another factor that could make Hallyu more appealing to Africa is thematic proximity. Singhal and Udornpim (1997) expounded that themes, such as hard work and patience, resulting in upward mobility from poverty to material success appeal to people across many countries. These themes are common in Korean movies, and would resonate well with the African audience when they are communicated from a country like Korea, which is associated with a history of poverty and underdevelopment and famed for subduing these challenges in a record period of time. The other themes that could be attractive to the African audience include the images of the rurality of everyday life and themes of family and love.

6. Globalization and Cultural Hybridization

Theories predicated on cultural proximity are no longer tenable in a rapidly globalizing world that is permeated by technology and the mass media, which are making trendy lifestyles more shareable. Technological advancement has added impetus to the process of cultural globalization. There is no denying that globalization has become a dominant paradigm which has tremendously changed how economic, cultural and political interactions take place. The defining feature of globalization is that it intensifies at par with information revolution and the changing of media image from scarcity to abundance. The process of cultural globalization unmistakably, also involves cultural hybridization simultaneously (Kaisii, 2017). Featherstone (1990) views globalization as a process that enhances cultural integration and cultural disintegration, thereby leading to the emergence of “third cultures.” Globalization can homogenize the world by fostering the exchange of any semblance of cultural heritage (Banks, 1997). Appadurai (1990) opines that the main problem of today’s global interaction is the tension between cultural homogenization and cultural heterogenization. This tension necessarily results in the growth of cultural hybridization or hybrid cultural identities. The Korean wave is itself a blend of the Korean tradition and Western traditions, and thus an outgrowth of cultural hybridization. Yet it has been packed in such a way that it is saleable in the global media market and entertainment industry without compromising and diluting the distinct features of the Korean tradition (Kaisii, 2017).

At the same time, the media is perpetuating exposure to global cultural contents, leading to acquisition of a more globalized version of personal identity and minimizing cultural proximity. This can result in the preference for global music or drama to local ones. The new drift is building a strong sense of generalized secondary proximity. For example, Buonanno (2002) observed that conventional forms of proximity, like historical ties to neighboring European nations, were being diminished by a generalized secondary affinity felt with U.S. cultural products, as advanced in Television programs. This secondary layer of proximity can be partly explained by the people’s desire for proximity with modernity. In this view, cultural products reflect proximity, not based on true cultural familiarly, but rather a desire or aspiration (Straubhaar, 2007). In this way, people from Africa would identify with Korea’s cultural products if they represent modernity to them. Mozafari (2013) confirms that one of the reasons for the popularity of Korean dramas in Iran is because they present Korea as a land of culture, civilization and modernity.

Another way to look at the issue is to appreciate the fact that the mass media itself, such as television, is a source of cultural capital, in the form of what people get to know about other countries and cultures. In playing such a defining role, the media leads people toward or away from cultural proximity (Straubhaar, 2007). Indeed, it has been acknowledged that K-TVs (Korea Televisions) package Korean cultural programs in such a way that they are of high quality and globally marketable (Roll, 2018). In fact, satellite TV channels, cable TVs, social media platforms, including Facebook and YouTube, have played indispensable roles in popularizing Korean drama series across the globe. Jin (2018) explains that tech-savvy young people have shifted their consumption of pop-culture by depending heavily on social media, signaling a remarkable breakthrough in the circulation and consumption of pop-culture. With its bulging youthful populations that are relatively well educated, Africa is not likely to be exempted from using modern technology platforms or watching foreign TV dramas with images of modern lifestyles and exotic flavors.

Finally, Schlesinger (1993) argued that the absence of cultural and linguistic coherence in a region makes it a potential import market for foreign cultural content. Africa is a diverse region, fragmented not only by its former colonial lingua franca, which includes French, Portuguese and English, but also by the numerous indigenous dialects. The effect of this cultural and linguistic fragmentation is that African countries do not exhibit strong ties to regional cultural products, which in turn leaves Africa permeable to foreign cultural products. In fact, even people within one country often exhibit multiple cultures and espouse less national cultural identity. This is one reason for the lack of national cohesion in African countries.

7. Could Exchange of Cultural Products with Africa Go Beyond Commercialization of Korean Wave in Africa?

Cultural exchanges constitute a strong explanatory variable for the different aspects of international exchanges in goods, services, foreign investments and migratory flows (Rouet et al., 2007). An underlying feature of cultural products is that they are themselves a subject of trade, exchange and profit, but they simultaneously produce economic externalities(Mozafari, 2013; Johnson, 2000). Hence besides the direct commercialization of cultural products in Africa, there could be indirect influence and economic and socio-cultural externalities. These include the effect on exchange of other merchandise and services. More particularly cultural goods could project the image of a country positively, and in so doing, they encourage people to purchase and use a country’s commercial products. The rationale is that when a country is viewed favorably, people tend to identify with it and buy its products. In fact, many countries have used cultural goods as a means to establish themselves a market in unfamiliar territories. Cultural exchanges were the earliest areas of cooperation between China and African nations. Since the 1950s, China signed agreements of cultural exchange programs with newly independent African nations. These cultural programs focused on the exchange of Chinese and African artistic troupes. These Sino-Africa cultural exchange programs were bidirectional. A broad appraisal reveals that, relative to its African counterparts, China has put more investment in the form of human and financial resources in the promotion of the cultural exchanges between the two continents, and has gained more from them (Gountin, 2009). For instance, China initially used its popular movie star, Jackie Chan, to position itself in Africa before settling for a booming trade with many Africa nations. Koreans visiting various countries in Africa bear the experience that they are often referred to as “Chinese” (for example, an interview with Sim Dashom, a Korean who lived in Tanzania as KOICA volunteer). This is a testament to the fact that South Korea is little known in Africa. This should, nevertheless, not be mistaken to imply that Africans perceive all Chinese engagements in the continent in positive light. Rather, it bespeaks the untapped potential that cultural exchanges between Korea and Africa could generate.

In addition, international exchanges involving trade in products with an important cultural component can also be seen as exchange of a country’s cultural features, beliefs and value systems. In the main, trade in cultural goods leads to interchanging information, preferences and beliefs. This is primarily because cultural goods often carry information on the market of origin. Hence, import of cultural products implies import of information on consumer preferences in the country of origin, its market and public institutions, practices, trade opportunities (Cheptea, 2007). Moreover, consumption of cultural goods such as reading foreign magazines, or watching foreign movies often encourages young population to adopt foreign values and life styles, which is reflective of an altered consumption package. A research with the United Nations Comtrade database establishes that trade in cultural goods carries a positive and significant influence on exchanges of all goods. According to the study, an increase of 10 percent in exchanges of cultural goods increases trade in traditional goods by 1 percent. Similarly, exchanges of cultural products have influence on foreign direct investment flows (FDI).

Furthermore, cultural goods can induce people to visit the originating country. Through the movies and dramas, people might become interested in the country’s history of civilization. Su et al. (2011) examined the impact of Korea dramas on Taiwanese customers’ attitudes towards locations where the dramas are filmed. She finds that the effect of locations where the films are taken had a stronger influence on the viewers who perceived cultural proximity with Korea and increased their propensity to visit. It is also notable that the number of Chinese tourists to Korea has also increased dramatically since the advent of Hallyu. Socio-culturally, Korea is known to be a country that upholds a greater degree of cohesion, patriotism and national identity, which are commonly lacking in Africa. It is not implausible that these values could be transmitted to Africa through Korean movie and drama series. When these exchanges become bidirectional, Korea could also learn from Africa values, such as diversity and integration. It should be understood that Korea is a mono-cultural country, while Africa has diverse cultures. The rising number of multi-cultural marriages in Korea is another factor which will necessitate it to embrace cultural diversity.

III. DATA, METHODOLOGY AND OPERATIONALIZATION

This section provides analysis of the influence of Korean wave on the perception of East Africans of Korea. It further empirically examines whether the consumption of Hallyu would promote a better image of Korea among Africans and the potential effects on other commercial exchanges between Korea and East Africa, namely, willingness to buy other Korean products and motivation to visit Korea.

1. Data

The subject of public diplomacy is not new in literature. However, there is a dearth of evidence in relation to Korea’s public diplomacy towards Africa. One of the difficulties in solving this dilemma is lack of data. This study is not exempt from this limitation. Therefore to cultivate new evidence in this subject in relation to Korean public diplomacy towards Africa through Hallyu, this study carried out an online survey among Africans from East Africa living in Korea. The study was based on a random sample of people from Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda. Of the respondents surveyed, 67.1% were from Kenya, 20.3% were from Tanzania, 8.9% were from Rwanda, 2.5% were from Uganda and 1.3% from Burundi. The survey was carried out in October 2018. Most of those polled were students studying in Korea (75.3%), employees (23.5%) while the rest (2.2%) were doing business in Korea. Their length of stay in Korea ranged from 7 years to less than one year. 53.1% of the respondents were holders of post-graduate degrees while 46.9% were holders of college or university degree, which implies the sample consisted of a well-informed group capable of comprehending the questionnaire items. Before the final survey questionnaire was sent out to the target group, pilot survey questionnaire items were administered among African students studying at Kyung Hee University. Their responses provided the basis for refining the questionnaire items that were used in the ultimate survey. After follow-ups, a total of 100 responded to the survey questions. After dropping those who did not complete all questionnaire items, a total of 89 responses were valid for analysis. It should be acknowledged that this is a small sample for making a rigorous analysis. However, this is not uncommon as it is also notable in econometric literature that a sample of 30 can form a basis for analysis. Nonetheless, caution must be exercised when making a generalization based on such small samples. Thus, this study is foundation on which future studies can build with regard to the subject of Korea’s public diplomacy towards Sub-Saharan Africa.

2. Operationalization

The following equation is applied in the analysis:

γ = α₀ + α₁ Exposure_kc + α₂ β2 Res_Xtics + α₃ Country + ε

γ=dependent variables are, influence to buy Korean products, or alternatively,

Watching Korean popular culture (K-pop), Desire to visit shooting locations and Positive opinion about Korea after coming in contact with Hallyu. The variables are constructed in dummy form.

Independent Variables:

Exposure_kc= Exposure to Korean Culture: Watching Korean films, Speaking Korean, Korea’s historical experience.

Control Variables:

Res_Xtics= Respondent characteristics, including age, length of stay in Korea and level of education and country dummies. Gender is a dichotomous characteristic for male or female. All these variables take dummy form. The length of stay in Korea is included in the analysis to control for the possible biased effects of cultural immersion by respondents in Korean culture. ε=random error term. Country dummies were omitted from the final analysis once data is pooled.

3. Descriptive Analysis of Respondent’s Perception of Korea through Hallyu

During the interview, one of the most salient survey questions was whether the respondents think that their knowledge of Korean language has influenced their attitudes towards Korea. Altogether, 85.2% of the respondents answered the question in the affirmative. By gender, 92.3% of female respondents and 82.5% of male respondents affirmed this position. By level of education, 79% of post graduate respondents and 90.7% of those having college or university degree agree that knowledge of Korean language has influenced their attitude towards Korea. The figure below depicts the responses.

From the results in Figure 1, it can be clearly observed that most people from East Africa living in Korea acknowledge that knowledge of Korean language has a favorable influence on their perception of Korea, most likely because it enhances their understanding of Korean values, lifestyle and society in general. The implication of this result is that the Korean government can enhance its relations with these countries through language. For instance, China has actively promoted itself in many countries by establishing Confucius Institute, which specializes in teaching Chinese language in foreign countries. Korea has similarly opened language centers in some African countries. In addition to this strategy, the Korean government should actively promote language exchange programs in Korean universities.

Another noteworthy aspect of public diplomacy as already identified in the literature section is the country’s socio-economic context. Thus in the survey, respondents were asked whether knowledge of Korea’s historical experience could have shaped their views and perception of Korea. Figure 2 below summarizes the results of this survey item.

In all, the majority of the respondents (81.3%) contend that Korea’s historical experiences have had an impact on their perception of Korea. When disaggregated by gender, 95.8% of female respondents answered this question positively, compared to 75.5% of male respondents. This seems to suggest that historical experiences impact the perception of female respondents more than the males. Among the survey respondents, 88.2% and 75.6% of postgraduate degree holders and college or university degree holders, respectively, affirmed that knowledge of Korea’s history has a positive influence on their views of Korea. It is worth pointing out that many African countries, those in East Africa included, view Korea as a peer and a role model, especially in terms of economic development. Once a poor country, Korea transformed rapidly into an industrialized and donor country. This could be corroborated by the large number of government officials coming from these countries to benchmark Korea’s development trajectory. The survey further reveals that people from East Africa are not excluded in the direct consumption of Korean cultural products, such as Korean movies, drama or K-pop. When asked this question, altogether 75.3% of those polled agreed that they watch Korean movies, drama or listen to K-pop. When considered by gender category, 80.8% of female respondents and 73.7% of male respondents responded to this question affirmatively (See Figure 3). When disaggregated by education level, 65.8% of post graduate degree holders and 80.8% of college level or university degree holders also answered in the affirmative. When probed further to name some of their favorite Korean movies, drama or songs, they pointed out “Gang nam style”, “Boys over flower”, “Misaeng”, “Train to Busan”, “the man called God”, “Stranger”, “My girlfriend is a fox”, “My Love from the star”, “descendants of the sun”, “city hunter, Pinocchio”, “Jumong”, among others.

An even more puzzling finding is that for some of those surveyed, Korea was not their first contact point with Korean pop-culture. For example, some respondents explained that they first learnt about Korean pop-music in universities in Kenya and Tanzania. However, YouTube ranked first among the channels through which they first came into contact with Korean pop-culture. In fact, one online commentator (not survey respondent) said “While on YouTube, I stumbled onto this song (“Pour up”), which is currently is my favorite tune. For a second, I had Kanye and Jay out of my head.”

The survey further sought to establish whether Korean culture as conveyed through pop-music, movies and drama, has economic externalities to Korea arising from East Africa. The respondents predominantly expressed positivity after their contact with these Korean cultural products. Table 1 provides a summary of the results by gender as well as level of education.

The results provide further evidence that cultural products may play a role to promote Korea’s relations with East African countries. This implies that Korean cultural products project a positive image of the country among Africans living in Korea; taken together, 75% of those surveyed confirm this assertion. More female respondents (79.2%) agree to this position compared to male respondents (74.1%). In addition, Korean culture conveyed through movie series, dramas or songs could impact people’s intention to visit Korea, and thus lead to a surge in the number of tourists visiting Korea from East Africa. For instance, through its movies and dramas, people may become interested in the history and present culture and civilization of Korea. To test this assumption, those who were interviewed were asked whether Korean historical locations conveyed in the movies and dramas they watched would motivate them to visit those locations. In sum, a large majority of them, 83.5%, responded in the affirmative. 87.7% of male and 80.8% of female respondents gave positive responses. All things considered, this result confirms a potential tourist effect by these cultural products on audiences from East Africa. Literature also documents that pop-culture can impact people’s economic decisions by influencing their purchasing behavior. For example, a favorable view of national image could enhance a consumer’s preferences for products with the “Made in Korea” label. Moreover, movie heroes may act as a reference point to their fans that get to like their characters and tastes. Following this logic, one questionnaire item asked respondents whether Korean movies/drama or movie actors have influenced their buying decisions; in sum, only 45.3% answered that they have been influenced. More females at 56.5% agree to this opinion compared to 40.7% of male respondents.

Another crucial aspect of the survey sought to establish whether Korea’s values conveyed in the movies or drama accord with the values of the respondents’ countries. What underpins this question is the proposition that shared values endear countries to cooperate because of the perceived narrow psychic distance. When asked this question, altogether, 59.5% answered positively. Similarly, when considered by gender, 66.7% of females affirmed this position relative to 55.8% of their male counterparts. To further probe the respondents, they were asked what aspects of Korean culture they find most interesting. Figure 4 represents the aspects the people polled find most interesting. It is instructive to note that people from East Africa find Confucius values, such as filial piety, respect for the elder and thrift, most appealing to them. Some respondents stated that these values are also practiced and upheld in their countries. This finding contradicts commonly held views that Korean culture is incompatible with African culture. The respondents also pointed out their admiration for Korea’s culture of innovation and good business management. What is most surprising is that even though many Africans are increasingly getting involved in the purchase of Korean cars and importing to their home countries, the respondents did not point out the success of the automobile industry as one of the areas they find appealing in Korea.

IV. ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS

1. Econometric Results

The results of our econometric analysis are shown in Table 2 below. Column 1 tests the influence of speaking Korean language and knowledge of Korea’s historical experience on watching Korean popular culture (K-pop). This is akin to the theory of cultural proximity, which presupposes that knowledge of another country’s language or history promotes the growth geocultural market. The findings show that the two variables have a positive and significant association with the respondents’ predisposition to watch K-pop. Column 2 provides evidence that watching movies and speaking Korean language all contribute to the respondents’ inclination to form favorable attitude towards Korea. The variables Watch Movies/Drama and Speak Korean language are all statistically significant with positive signs. Historical experience enters the equation with a positive sign but is insignificant. The equation in column 3 examines the influence of dramas and movies on the attitudes of East African consumers towards the onscreen locations where the dramas or movies were taken. It further examines whether knowledge of Korea’s historical experience would motivate the respondent to visit Korea, i.e. the potential tourism effect. The results show that watching movies has no statistically significant effect on the respondents’ inclination to visit Korea, especially the locations where the movies were recorded. The coefficient is insignificant. On the other hand, knowledge of Korea’s development history bears a positive and statistically significant effect on the respondents’ inclination to visit Korea.

Finally, the analysis in equation 4 tests whether watching Korean movies/dramas, speaking Korean language or knowledge of Korea’s historical experience would influence the respondents to purchase Korean products. This test is predicated on the idea that when people become familiarized with another country or view it favorably, they are more likely to buy its products. That knowledge could be transmitted through multiple means including learning a country’s language, culture, lifestyle, values, beliefs, myths, behavioral patterns or history. The result of the analysis confirms a positive association between Korean wave and buying Korean products. In the same vein, speaking Korean language and knowledge of Korea’s history have positive and significant correlations with the respondents’ willingness to purchase Korean products. A time variable ‒ that is, the length of time the respondents have stayed in Korea ‒ was included in each equation to measure the degree of cultural immersion, and whether this would lead to variations in the respondent’s disposition to consume Korean cultural products, as well as whether it alters the way they perceive of Korean culture. It is imperative to include a proxy for cultural immersion since cultural immersion helps people to gain a deeper understanding of a place, a people, their worldview and lifestyle. The extent of cultural immersion could vary with time and would certainly affect how foreign individuals perceive or otherwise relate to a foreign culture. Thus, alternatively, time variable is used as a control variable in the analysis to ameliorate the undesirable effect their stay in Korea may have on the results. It is instructive from the analysis that the length of stay in Korea has no variable effect. For the most part, the time variables are insignificant across the different specifications shown in column 1 to column 4. Another illuminating aspect of the analysis is with regards to the gender variable. The descriptive analysis shown in Table 1 to 3 seemed to suggest that female respondents tended to consume Korean cultural products more, are impacted by Korean by history more and have a more favorable attitude towards Korea after contact with Korean cultural products. However, when the variable for gender is included in the econometric analysis, it remains insignificant in all the equations examined. This implies that the extent to which Korean popular culture impacts the respondents from African does not vary with gender category.

2. Discussions

Cultural exchanges carry a great potential of bettering cooperation between Korea and Africa. The results of the study show a majority of those surveyed feel value harmony with Korea. This is interesting because conventionally, it is widely understood that Africa and Asia do not have cultural affinity. It is even confounding that among Korean values, the respondents find Confucianism the most appealing, and in fact, compatible with their own practices. Given this positivity, it is arguable that Korea can capitalize on this perceived value proximity to further better bilateral relations with East African countries. This result must however be interpreted with caution given that those who were surveyed have lived in Korea. To control for the biasness of the fact that the respondents live in Korea, their length of stay was included in the analysis. Then results show that length of stay in Korea have no differential effect. Further analysis suggest that exchange of cultural products between Korea and Africa may have positive influence on trade in other merchandise, such as buying other conventional Korean products. This is partly because those who consume Korean cultural products develop a positive attitude towards Korea as a country and are therefore likely to prefer products with the brand “Made in Korea.” Moreover, those who come in contact with Korean wave as well as those who understand Korea’s history also express the desire to visit various locations of shooting Korean movies or films. This result seems to indicate that Korean wave could stimulate tourism visits from Africa to Korea. Existing evidence shows that many African governments that find Korea’s history of civilization appealing, send their officials on study visits as they see Korea as an archetype for socio-economic and socio-cultural success.

Despite being fascinating, the findings of this study should not be over-extended. This study is based on in-situ cultural identity construction theory, thereby relying on respondents who live in Korea to assess how cultural products have shaped their attitudes towards Korea. While this approach is not unique to cultural studies, the results may not be exhaustive enough to make the final conclusion on the potential that cultural exchanges may play in promoting relations between Korea and Africa. Future studies based on survey of respondents who have never been to Korea may be necessary to extend and validate these findings. The findings of this study are intriguing to encourage such future studies.

V. CONCLUSION

Overall, Korea and Africa should do more to tap into the potential that lie in cultural exchanges and social networks. As a developed country, Korea should take a proactive approach to promoting social networks with Africa. For example, until recently, Korea had dragged in tapping into African immigrant networks in Korea to further their relations. It was only until recently that Korea started serious cultural engagement with African countries. Moreover, in addition to trade in culture products and embracing migrant networks, tourism would be the most vital way of promoting cultural exchange and nurturing culture intimacy. Tourism will create opportunities for visitors from both sides to understand the local cultures, enhance cultural approval, as well as to be attracted by the local products. Such interactions are important in view of the fact that familiarity with new cultures can be cultivated over time through exposure and socialization. To cultivate such social ties and fully take advantage of their externalities, it is imperative to review the regulations that impede the flow of goods and people between Africa and Korea. These include visa requirements as well as rules governing export and import of goods between Korea and Africa. For African countries to benefit from these exchanges, they need to formulate clear public policies toward Korea.

APPENDIX A: Demographic information of the respondent