Japan and South Korea’s Creative Industries: Competition and the Prospects of Cooperation

The article examines a number of trends defining the specific characteristics and the global standing of the creative industries in Japan and South Korea. We highlight Japan’s relative resistance to the processes of digitalization of production and distribution on the cultural markets. In contrast, South Korean popular culture industries have been developing in close cooperation with the information technology industry since the 1990s. We examine the factors that could contribute to the success of the currently expanding collaboration between Japan and South Korea in the production of cultural goods. It is emphasized that the concept of the creative industries in its current form implies the danger of instrumentalization of culture.