In Korea, a problem has arisen regarding the business of hallyu. Although the country’s reach has has expanded across the globe,Already, there are estimates that the influence of hallyu will end in roughly 5 years, and currently Korea’s “national prestige” is standing at a crossroad.In March, Korea’s Economic newspaper published a report about how Korea’s hallyu wave effects it’s economy. Factoring in exports like music and dramas, in 2003 profits were 86 million dollars, but jumped to a staggering 220 million dollars in 2008.This has had a ripple effect on all of Korea’s industries, crossing over entertainment and culture. In 2012, it’s estimated the car industry brought a result of a 2.7 trillion won increase (about 190 billion yen), and broad industries like games, food, tourism, consumer electronics are seeing an increase in about 12 trillion won. At this rate, it’s estimated that all these industries will rise to 19.8 trillion won in 2015, and 57 trillion won in 2020.On that note, the problem arises with the high degree of dependence the Korean Wave has on Japan. Although K-Pop has mainlined to the point whereOingyu, head of the Hallyu Research Center in Daejeon, Korea points outand it’s ongoing “revenue imbalance”. Regarding that circumstance, although Japan is K-Pop’s biggest market in the world, Korean industry cannot directly sell in Japan due to “licensing agreements”.In Korea, recognition of the revenue imbalance is gaining strength, and although Korea is directly tied up with Japan in the telecommunications industry, and are attempting to find a way around online music selling, the view that it’s “impossible to operate in Japan but ignore Japan’s entertainment distribution network,” as stated by Korean company promoters, has become a popular view.The final blow to all of this is a poll taken in by economic newspaper. This February, the paper asked 1,200 people made up of Chinese, Japanese, and Taiwanese people questions regarding hallyu.Source: sankeibiz.jp Translated by: omoxi