Hallyu And Multitrack Diplomacy of South Korea by SM Entertainment

For the past decade, the spotlight of Pop culture global sensation head to South Korea, Hallyu, Korean Wave, known as South Korea’s public diplomacy which promotes Korean culture, start to spread in the mid-1990s and got bigger in 2000 with the boom of Korean Pop (K-Pop). As a tool of public diplomacy, Hallyu not only depends on the South Korean Government's direction but also encourages the private sector to take a part in promoting Korea culture. SM Entertainment (SME) as one of the big entertainment management in Korea also take a part, not only through the entertainment industry activity which is the main business but also in promoting public diplomacy through cooperation with Non-Government Organization (NGO) and supporting Saudi Arabia goverment. SME promotes Hallyu not only through regular public diplomacy also by applying multitrack diplomacy. Using the qualitative methods by applying the Multitrack diplomacy concept, this paper will explain how SME activity does not only reflect public diplomacy but is also part of the Multitrack diplomacy of the South Korean Government