Historical Evolution of Korean Cultural Genes and Their Manifestation in K-Culture

초록

This paper examines the global success of K-Culture not as the product of a transient trend or deliberate industrial strategy, but as a manifestation of Korean cultural genes—historically formed patterns of sensibility and practice that have been continuously re-contextualized across time. While existing scholarship has extensively analyzed K-Culture through the lenses of media studies, industry, and cultural hybridity, comparatively little attention has been paid to the long-term continuity between Korean traditional culture and its contemporary popular cultural forms. This study addresses that gap by proposing an analytical framework that categorizes Korean cultural genes into two axes: dynamic elements, encompassing Shinmyŏng (collective exultation), haehak (wit), and p'ungnyu (leisurely enjoyment); and static elements, encompassing Chŏng (affective communal bond), choha (harmony), Han (suppressed sorrow and endurance), and perseverance. Drawing on historical sources, traditional performing arts, food culture, literature, and architecture, the paper traces how each of these cultural genes was formed in pre-modern Korean society and how it has evolved into new forms within contemporary K-pop, K-drama, and K-food. The analysis suggests that K-Culture's distinctive capacity to simultaneously generate sensory dynamism and emotional depth for global audiences derives from this dual structure of dynamic energy and static depth that has characterized Korean cultural expression since antiquity. The findings contribute to a humanistic and historical understanding of K-Culture that complements existing media-and industry-centered approaches, while acknowledging that the mechanisms of continuity between tradition and modernity remain a subject for further inquiry.

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