The Korean experience demonstrates that it is possible to achieve soft power benefits through the careful manipulation of cultural content. This has implications for both Japan and China in their (friendly?) competition for influence in Southeast Asia. South Korea has created enormous goodwill throughout Asia by sharing the profits of their products with companies from other nations. By concentrating on content production, South Korea has, by and large, (apart from in Thailand) managed to avoid accusations of cultural imperialism. However, with many writers now claiming that the Korean wave is spent , Asia is waiting for the next “big thing”. The rise of China could be the catalyst to push Asian pop onto the world stage.