Several authors have noted that South Korea studied the Japanese approach and implemented it more comprehensively. Firstly the industry structure and digital technology was put in place, secondly cultural academia was encouraged by the government, and thirdly the government funded both the public and private media industries. Nissim (2005) shows that the Korean wave has had economic benefits for South Korea through increased tourism and television revenue and cultural benefits in terms of higher status throughout East Asia . Kitikorn Penrote of True Music, the Thai promoter of Super Junior states,
K-pop mania in Thailand is a by-product, after a decade of product development supported by the South Korean government, whose strategy is to strengthen every industry in terms of export potential. Counting entertainment as an important medium with which to promote the country, South Korea fully supports its music, film and TV industries. And just like Hollywood influences the world by promoting American lifestyles and American brands, Korean entertainment is a powerful medium to promote tourism and culture as well as other products.
The evocation of Hollywood (the Korean entertainment industry has been variously labeled “Hallyuwood” and “Kollywood”) demonstrates the ambition of the Korean strategy. Each cultural product is designed to have wider economic and cultural benefits. For example, Tada-Amnuaichai (2007) describes how the various Korean provinces compete to be able to use the climax scene in a Korean serial to promote tourism. Streets have been renamed and monuments erected to tie in with major serials. The soft power benefits in Thailand include increased tourism to South Korea, increased awareness of South Korean culture and a surge in young people learning Korean in preference to Japanese or Mandarin. Remarkably all of this has been achieved without control of distribution networks by Korean companies.
Surveys conducted in September 2009 at a Thai university , suggest that many Korean music groups now have a similar degree of name recognition to home-grown acts. Almost every respondent could name one or more Korean artists and a slight majority ranked K-Pop as their preferred music. Japanese groups tended to have more of a cult following but awareness of the influence of J-Pop was universal. Significantly, not one respondent could name a current Chinese act, although The China Dolls was incorrectly cited by some.