Hallyu in Indonesia: Koreanization through advertisements

Due to a weak government and failed policies, Indonesia is lagging behind globally in terms of media and cultural development, opening the door for strong culture industries like South Korea to penetrate the Indonesian market. In contrast to Indonesia, Korea’s model of development in creating a culture industry with Hallyu has created a global craze. Constant exposure to Hallyu has led to the Indonesian public to develop a taste for Korean cultural products, leading to advertisements using Korean celebrities for promotion. This paper aims to explore how advertisements as mass culture and reality are intertwined through an analysis of South Korean celebrity advertising campaigns in Indonesia. Findings of the study show the promotion of six Korean elements that have also translated to real-life in Indonesia. The promotion of these elements will continually increase Koreanization in Indonesia where the ideal is then to become as Korean as possible.