K-Pow! Korea's soft power domination

Proof of a more globalised, less Anglocentric world - with the US as its centre - is increasingly obtained and then countered in geopolitical terms. Is China now the Other Big Power (OBP), on its way to becoming the Real Big Power (RBP)? Is US, despite its trimmings, still the country where aliens land and speak in English without anyone finding it odd? This year's Oscars has showcased yet another shift from its WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) antecedents when an American film brimming with Chinese immigrant characters and cultural tropes won seven awards. But the language-brain barrier remains - Everything Everywhere All At Once is in English. Perhaps 'multipolarism' is more evident not in Chinese soft power but somewhere else: in K-Pow.

If 2019 saw Bong Joon-ho's Korean-language film, Gisaengchung (Parasite), win the Best Picture Oscar, 2021 saw Ojing-eo Geim (Squid Game) as the most-viewed streaming show that year. Now, the Koreans have breached another Maginot Wall - that of the US Billboard top songs chart. On Monday, South Korean synth-pop star, Jimin, reached No. 1 in the US charts with 'Like Crazy', the English-lyrics version of a Korean ditty. So, next time you get into a China-America debate, know that the Koreans are quietly conducting world domination without much RRR or GRRR.