The Globalisation of the Korean Advertising Industry: Dependency or Hybridity?

Abstract

This study aims to examine how globalisation has moulded the identity and structure of the Korean advertising industry, and to analyse its transformations through the conceptual lens of hybridity: whether it is an industry dominated by global power, represented by transnational advertising agencies and transnational corporations, or one hybridised through globalisation. The Korean advertising industry was officially opened to foreign investment in 1987 as part of a trade pact with the United States. While transnational advertising agencies (TNAAs) have become well established in Korea over the past 20 years, local interests have come to coexist with the TNAAs through both competition and cooperation. Advertisers in the Korean market still maintain strong in-house agencies as a counterbalance to the growth of TNAA forces, simultaneously providing insight into the nature of globalisation and regionalisation. The analysis thus indicates that the Korean advertising industry represents a ‘hybrid’ rather than a ‘dependent’ mode of existence.