K-transformation – South Korea as a Model of Modernity for Developing Countries: Case Study of the Republic of Mongolia

Abstract

This article provides a synthesis of the transmission mechanisms of Korean influence in the areas of technology, economy and culture. The expansion of new trends from South Korea is visible in Western countries primarily through pop-culture, but in developing countries it has many other dimensions, including economic, technological and socio-cultural one (like gender relations). Indeed, aesthetic transformation in Asian countries, but also in the broadly speaking Global South, is linked to the absorption of the idea of modernisation the realms of the in the former peripheries. Korea is perceived by the former Third World, as unencumbered by the atrocities of colonialism, as it is often the case of other economic super powers, and embodying economic success, becomes a model and determinant of the aspirations of the new urban middle class there. Analysing the Korean phenomenon, the case study of Mongolian society, which, despite its different social conditions, is being transformed by the so-called Korean wave, will be analysed. Mongolia uniquely embraced Korean influences, including the rejection of secularisation.