Between EXO and South Korean Diplomacy in Indonesia

The wedding of Kahiyang Ayu (the daughter of President Joko Widodo) with Bobby Nasution, not only drew the attention of people in the country but also included world leaders. Thank you for Kahiyang's help, including a welcome from South Korean President, Moon Jae-in. Not only received welcome from world leaders, President Moon Jae-in prepared a special wedding gift for Kahiyang Ayu. A number of high-ranking officials and world leaders specifically congratulated Kahiyang's wedding, including congratulations from the President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in. Did not just give congratulations, President Moon Jae-in prepared a special wedding gift for Kahiyang Ayu.

            Interestingly, the gift given by the Korean president to Kahiyang Ayu was EXO's album complete with the original signatures of the personnel. EXO is a famous Korean boy band. It is known that the daughter of President Joko Widodo is a K-Pop fan, especially EXO boy band. The gift was given by South Korea's number one person directly to Joko Widodo on the sidelines of his state visit in Indonesia, on November 9, 2017. President Moon Jae-in's visit to Indonesia was his first state visit to Southeast Asia since he was appointed as a president. Being the first country visited and the awarding of an EXO album during an official state visit shows how important Indonesia and K-Pop are as diplomatic instruments for South Korea.

            K-Pop fever has hit people in various parts of the world, including the Indonesian people. The phenomenon of Korean boy bands and girl groups like EXO, Super Junior, Big Bang, SNSD or solo singers like Psy is part of Korean Wave or also called Hallyu. Hallyu, which has become a global phenomenon in the last decade, begins with the popularity of Korean dramas and films. During its development the second wave of Hallyu also struck through its music industry. The presence of K-Pop soon became a phenomenon on a global level, it could even penetrate the US music industry.K-Pop has become very popular because it offers a complete package. Starting from an interesting music beat, sang by young musicians with a good body figure and a handsome and beautiful face, which is complemented by energetic dance movements, and unique fashion styles. Everything is packed in a music video that is very interesting.

            K-Pop has an important meaning for South Korea. As part of culture, K-Pop is able to change the perspective of the international community about South Korean culture, which is known for its traditional eastern values. Culture itself will not only have a social impact but also affect the political and economic fields of a country. Seeing this opportunity the South Korean government began to promote the export of cultural products to foreign countries. K-Pop indirectly boosts the promotion and sale of Korean cultural products. The economy of South Korea is increasing rapidly due to increased exports of products from the entertainment industry sector such as music albums and drama films, food, manufacturing, and technology. Not only that, concerts from South Korean musicians abroad were also taken into account, not only to boost the economy, but also promote South Korean tourism and strengthen cooperation with the destination countries. This is increasingly encouraging foreign tourists who come from abroad because they are interested in visiting places they see in the drama or visiting the place of their favorite K-Pop artists.

            According to the data from the Ministry of Culture, Sport, and Tourism of South Korea in 2008 to 2012, the South Korean economy resulting from exports of cultural products increased to 4.61151 billion US dollars with an average increase of 18.5%. The music industry itself has increased about 94.46%. The rise on exports of cultural products from the music industry every year, make K-Pop a soft power that can be relied upon by South Korea. Even now K-pop is considered the "South Korea's New Economic Growth Engine" on Biztech Report. Therefore, the South Korean Government strongly supports the popularity of Korean pop music abroad so that it can continue to attract 20 million foreign tourists every year until 2020 as an effort to increase the country's economic strength.

            K-Pop is one of the important aspects in developing South Korea’s image in Indonesia. The image that South Korea wants to build is a product of social construction that is built from a world view, national character and personal views without being determined by the country's ideology. Imaging is also very important to do by a country to market its products throughout the world, inviting investors from other countries to invest their capital so as to support the country's economic growth. Through Hallyu wave the Government and people of South Korea built the nation's image in introducing political, economic and cultural identity while achieving national interests in various fields of cooperation with Indonesia.

            The success of K-pop as one area of ​​Hallyu brought developments in the relationship between Indonesia and South Korea which has existed for almost 40 years. More than 40,000 South Koreans live in Indonesia, about the same number as Indonesia's population currently living and making a living in South Korea. Until now there have been many exchanges in the field of human resources, natural resources and various economic cooperations between the two countries. Economic cooperation between Indonesia and South Korea has experienced a rapid increase over the past few years. Currently, Indonesia is one of Korea’s main trading partners ranked tenth. The total trade between Indonesia and South Korea in January-May 2017 is US $ 7.3 billion or an increase of 22.6% compared to 2016.

            After being inaugurated, Moon announced The New Southern Policy, a policy aimed to strengthening South Korea's relations with Southeast Asian countries. Indonesia holds a central role in President Moon's new policy, where the target volume of trade between Indonesia and South Korea is US $ 100 billion by 2020, and the increasing flow of South Korean investment in Indonesia. In this regard, increasing economic cooperation with Indonesia is important for South Korea. K-Pop is used as an attraction to establish bilateral relations with Indonesia in order to invite investors into Korea or Korean investors to invest in Indonesia and attract Indonesian tourists to Korea. It can also increase economic and trade cooperation between the two countries and accelerate the growth of the industrial sector. The increasing awareness of the Indonesian people towards South Korea through K-Pop became a bridge to the growth of consumption of non-cultural products of South Korea. This proves that K-Pop as a soft power is also able to support the affairs of high politics.