MEDICAL K-DRAMAS: A CROSS-SECTION OF SOUTH KOREA’S GLOBAL CULTURAL INDUSTRY
MEDICAL K-DRAMAS: A CROSS-SECTION OF SOUTH KOREA’S GLOBAL CULTURAL INDUSTRY

Summary/Abstract: Starting off from five medical K-dramas, General Hospital 2 / 종합병원2 (2009), Brain / 브레인 (2011), The Third Hospital / 제3의병원(2012), Medical Top Team 메디컬탑팀 (2013) and Doctor Stranger 닥터이방인 (2014), this article attempts to explore different ways in which the creative content industry reflects genuine Korean cultural beliefs, moral values, political attitudes and economic goals in order to promote a successful image of Korea in the increasingly competitive soft power global context. My aim is to look beyond the specific storyline and recurring constitutive features of medical TV series and instead bring forward those elements that characterize Korea’s current soft power approach to the globalized world: professional competence, hierarchical social relations and high technology. The latter deserves special attention, as South Korea’s medical industry is currently flourishing, with state-of-the-art hospitals being built as far as the Middle East and Africa, while medical tourism is undergoing an unprecedented boom at home. In between these, the audience of medical K-dramas gains insight into Korean social relations, the dynamics of power and the human implications of any great achievement. Therefore, the creative content in these productions reflects the way South Korea wants to be perceived by the international community.

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