How to ride the K-Wave

Staff reporter

From Blackpink and BTS to bibimbap and barbecues, the Korean Wave has long captured the hearts and minds of Hongkongers, while the wheels of trade and commerce between the Asian tech powerhouse and the city remain well greased.

With this in mind, Hong Kong and Korean entrepreneurs and investors should build on these bonds and leverage the strengths that both places offer, especially in areas of cutting-edge technology, a conference was told.

The Seoul technopreneur program, as it was called, was held at the Kim Bo Seong Art Center under the initiative of a new France-based think tank Korean Europe & You, also known as KEY, Preface, a Hong Kong startup, and Pauline Yeung, KEY member and chief curator of the event.

Founded by Tommie Lo, who is also its chief executive, Preface is a tech-driven content company which provides fast and validated technology content and curriculum to coprorates, government, schools and individuals.

Targeted at entrepreneurs and businesses from Hong Kong, the meeting of minds saw government officials, academics, experts and entrepreneurs offer views on how to further foster business, trade and cultural ties between the SAR and Korea. And KEY gave the event global color with expertise from a European perspective.

Growing pains for the economy

South Korea is a technological and cultural powerhouse and the fourth-largest economy in Asia after China, Japan and India.

An exports titan, it is also the world's second-largest producer of semiconductors.

Hong Kong was its sixth largest trading partner and 10th largest export market and there were 146 Korean firms in the city as of the end of 2023.

In the first half of 2024, more than 250,000 Hong Kong tourists visited Korea while the number of Korean visitors to the city jumped 270 percent to 420,000 over the same period from a year before.

However, Korea's economy has been slowing amid geopolitical challenges and a weak global economy and the Bank of Korea kicked off its easing cycle with a 0.26 percentage point cut last week.

Korea's gross domestic product grew 1.3 percent last year and is projected to rebound to 2.6 percent this year before slowing to 2.2 percent in 2025 on lower exports.

Exports rose 7.5 percent in September from a year ago, decelerating from an 11.2 percent rise the previous month amid slower US shipments.

While Korea is known for its strategic industries, its private businesses are now spreading their wings globally, KEY founder and president Philippe Li told the event.

Li works for Kim & Chang, one of the biggest legal firms in Korea, which advises international firms looking to do business in Korea as well as local firms looking to go global.

A former chairman of the French Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Li is no stranger to Hong Kong, having visited the city before.

He said there are opportunities for Hong Kong and Korean businesses to collaborate on, though current high interest rates and China's sluggish economy pose challenges.

And while Korea is already a manufacturing powerhouse, there's plenty of room for startups to flourish, he said.

Call to startups

Preface, which also has a presence in London, Singapore and Tokyo and is looking at expanding into Dubai, wants Hong Kong to up the ante for startups.

Lo said that while government support is growing and venture capital is flowing in, Hong Kong does not have any successful startup tale to relate, unlike Silicon Valley.

Although Northern California may not be the most livable destination, people still flock to Silicon Valley as it is the strongest tech hub in the world, he said.

Korea will be pumping up its spending next year to prop up its slowing economy. As much as 6.2 trillion won (HK$36.4 billion) will be lent to semiconductor, battery and biotech sectors while 2.9 trillion won will be earmarked to support K-pop, content creation, advanced nuclear technology and arms exports.

The country is also promoting its metaverse expertise which has been put to good use in automotive manufacturing, extended reality devices and the creation of digital twins for smart construction projects.

Geopolitical Web

But amid its push for economic growth, Korea has to navigate a complex geopolitical web, according to Koo Mingyo, a professor at Seoul National University's Graduate School of Public Administration.

He said South Korea's trade tiff with Japan impacted its economy last year.

While Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix produces two-thirds of the world's chips, Japan is its largest supplier of crucial materials in chip production, he pointed out.

Korea exports more than 70 percent of its chips to China and Hong Kong. But though Korea and Japan are both US allies, he believes it is unlikely that America will be able to team up the two nations, which have complex relationship, against China.

Lee Janghyuk, a professor at Korea University Business School, said Korean venture capitalists mainly invest locally as they lack the know-how to go global.

Korea's startup industry is relatively small compared to the US, China and Europe, he said.

Both Lo and Lee believe that inequality can be a driving force for innovation.

Citing the entertainment industry as an example, Lee said startups and technology have helped lesser-known artists get into the ladder in a winner-takes-it-all industry traditionally dominated by superstars.

Rising wave

The event also touched on the Korean Wave - also known as "hallyu" - which has swept the world and earned billions of dollars for the country, thanks to K-pop superstars like boy band BTS and girl band Blackpink.

In a little over a decade, the number of hallyu fans worldwide has soared 24-fold to 225 million, according to the Korea Foundation.

The hallyu market is expected to double to 273 trillion won by 2030.

Deputy Minister for Culture, Sports and Tourism Yu Byungchae attributed the success of Korea's soft power to its "export-oriented thinking" and cited scholar Lee Jangwoo's definition of the strategy as "idealization, monetization and globalization."

He revealed that Korea will host a Hong Kong Year event in 2025 which will include performances from the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and Hong Kong Ballet.

Korean art was also featured at the forum, with the spotlight on the late Nam June Paik, a pioneer of video art and whose works are featured in the Guggenheim Museum.

Jin Youngsun, mural artist and professor emerita at the Korea University's School of Art and Design, said Paik was a visionary who was "100 years ahead of his time."

Delegates were also taken on a tour of Seoul's museums including the Samsung Innovation Museum and the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, a pre-eminent venue for art, fashion and cultural events designed by the late great architect Zaha Hadid.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's largest event for Korean culture - Festive Korea 2024 - is now under way. Held under the theme Jam Korea, it features arts, films, sports, food, concerts and educational events until the end of November.

And watch out for Blackpink's Lisa who will also jetting into the city to meet Hong Kong's Blinks next month - more testimony of the city's enduring love affair with all things Korean.